Our Terms of Service are evolving

From September 16, 2022, the General Terms and Conditions (GTC) will change at Scalingo.

Find out what is changing, which parts will interest you, and what new benefits you will be able to enjoy. After a recap of what the GTC are and what they contain. We will share with you the most important changes for the users of the platform.

Of course, at the end of the article, you will find practical information on where to check the new GTC and how to access it. You will also find out everything about the acceptance process. Let's get started!

What is the purpose of the GTC and what do they contain?

What are the General Terms and Conditions?

The GTC is a contractual document that is sometimes disliked, often little read but always important! Why are they important? As mentioned in francenum.gouv.fr: This contract binds the company to its customers.

How does it work? By "defining and framing the terms of use" of the Scalingo PaaS, and "determining the respective rights and obligations of users and the publisher (Scalingo) in the context of its use."

In short, it is a contract between Scalingo and its users.

The GTC formalizes the information of the users to the general functioning of the platform and indicates the modalities and rules to be respected by the users. The document also frames and defines the responsibility of Scalingo, but also that of the user, by specifying what a user is allowed to do, or not. Such as users who would use Scalingo for cryptocurrency mining: this is prohibited in the GTC.

In case of non-compliance with the terms of use, this contract also provides for preventing future use of the platform. This would also be the case for a user who mined cryptocurrencies.

Another important point for users is that the GTC also guarantees the proper functioning and performance of the platform.

Finally, you should also know that when you access the Scalingo platform, you accept the General Terms and Conditions but also the General Terms of Use.

What will change and why

Until now, the General Terms and Conditions (GTC) and the General Terms of Use (GTU) were mixed together under the same heading: the "Terms of Use". The GTC and the GTU now have their own, separate existence.

The GTC and the GTU are 2 contracts and the GTC includes 2 annexes: the DPA and the SLA.

We would have preferred to present the differences point by point in a before/after, but it is a complete overhaul of these contracts, so it was not the appropriate method.

Instead, we propose to show you how these new contracts are organized and what they contain:

• The GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS (GTC) govern the fundamental aspects of the service provided by the platform and in particular, all aspects related to ordering, payment, and invoicing.

• The GENERAL TERMS OF USE (GTU) defines the terms and conditions to access and use the platform. They define, for example, the acceptance of the GTC, the terms of access to the platform, its use, guarantees, responsibilities, etc.

• The DATA PROCESSING AGREEMENT (DPA) defines Scalingo's commitment to data protection. This new version details more precisely when Scalingo is considered as a Subcontractor, when Scalingo is considered as a Processor, the list of treatments on personal data and the list of our subsequent subcontractors.

• The SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLA): This part of the GTC is completely new. It now contracts our service commitments in terms of platform availability and what happens in case of unavailability. This part should interest you!

Reasons for the change

Scalingo has been around since 2015 and since then, this is probably the first time you've seen information about a change to the GTC. But Scalingo is growing. So it became necessary to streamline, formalize and clarify the reciprocal rights and duties between our users and us. We do this for 2 reasons:

1. Scalingo is growing and has more and more important customers. And we are delighted! These customers need to be supported by clear and defined contractual elements: This was also an important reason for changing our GTCs. In particular, we have integrated our service level agreements (SLAs) in a contractual manner.
2. Secondly, there was another reason for the decision to update the Scalingo GTC: To prepare for compliance with ISO 27001 and HDS certifications.

We are working hard today to offer you an even better platform tomorrow. For all the reasons mentioned above, it was, therefore, the right time to update our GTC.

The conditions of acceptance

In practice: how will it work?

From now on, the traceability of consent is done on the platform.

As of today, you will see a banner appear in your Scalingo dashboard.

You will be able to accept the new GTC directly on your dashboard for 30 days. After this period, the absence of a response will be considered as an automatic acceptance of the changes.

If, however, there is an explicit refusal of the new GTC changes, the previous contract will remain temporarily in effect. However, ordering new resources won’t be possible.

If you have any questions about these new General Terms and Conditions, please contact Scalingo.

Scalingo evolves

Since 2015, Scalingo has been evolving and growing along with our clients. The time had come to update and contractualize all our mutual commitments in the GTC.

We are proud to move towards HDS and ISO 27001 certifications and to offer you these new General Terms and Conditions. Because they are favorable to our users, we invite you to read and accept them.