Acceptable Use Policy

1.1 Access to our facility is available between 09:00 and 18:00 Monday to Friday on the terms below. Out-of-hours access can be arranged at the discretion of our Head of Datacentre Operations through the same contact channels.

1.2 You must maintain an up-to-date list of named contacts authorised to attend the facility. Named contacts must permit a photograph for security purposes and carry valid photo ID at all times.

1.3 Employees or third parties not on the named contacts list may be admitted on at least 24 hours’ prior notice by email to [email protected]. Authorised contacts must escort third parties at all times.

1.4 All visitors must sign the visitors’ book on entering and leaving.

2.1 No food, drink, or liquids are permitted in the datacentre.

2.2 No packaging may be left in the datacentre.

2.3 Public walkways must not be obstructed.

2.4 Maintenance must be carried out in your own area or the designated workbench area only.

2.5 You must not touch, tamper with, or interfere with equipment that does not belong to you.

2.6 All cables deployed under the floor must be low smoke zero halogen (LSZH).

2.7 You must not remove, tamper with, or lift floor tiles without our prior written permission.

2.8 No noxious substances, firearms, ammunition, or offensive weapons may be brought onto the premises.

3.1 Circuit installation must be notified at least 24 hours in advance to [email protected].

3.2 Deliveries must be notified at least 24 hours in advance. Unscheduled deliveries will not be accepted.

3.3 Deliveries will be stored free of charge for a maximum of 14 days. All equipment must be unpacked in the designated unpacking room.

3.4 You are responsible for disposal of all waste packaging.

4.1 You shall use our services only for lawful purposes and are responsible for all activity associated with your use of the services, including end user activity.

4.2 You shall not use, and shall ensure end users do not use, our services for:

(a) transmitting or storing material that violates any applicable law or infringes third-party rights;

(b) sending or facilitating spam or operating mail infrastructure used for spam;

(c) conducting, facilitating, or participating in DDoS attacks in any capacity;

(d) operating proxy networks, anonymisation infrastructure, or VPN services used to facilitate abuse or illegal activity – see Clause 5 for permitted commercial proxy and anonymisation services;

(e) hosting, distributing, or facilitating malware, ransomware, spyware, or exploit kits;

(f) conducting port scanning, network probing, or vulnerability scanning of third-party systems without the explicit authorisation of the system owner – see Clause 5 for permitted commercial scanning services;

(g) intercepting or attempting to intercept communications on our network or any third-party network without authorisation;

(h) hosting content illegal under English law or the laws applicable to your end users;

(i) any activity causing our IP space to be listed on abuse blacklists or causing reputational damage to our network – see Clause 5 for customers operating services involving IP rotation or high-volume outbound traffic;

(j) web scraping or automated data collection in violation of target systems’ terms of service or applicable law – see Clause 5 for legitimate commercial data collection services;

(k) any other activity we reasonably determine to be abusive or harmful.

5.1 We recognise that certain legitimate commercial services involve activities that, when operated by bad actors, constitute abuse. The following activities are permitted where you have submitted a written Extended Use Declaration to [email protected] and received our written confirmation prior to commencing operations:

(a) Proxy and VPN services – commercial proxy networks, residential proxy services, VPN infrastructure, or anonymisation services, provided that: your service has appropriate terms of service prohibiting illegal use, spam, or fraud; you implement abuse monitoring and response on your platform; and you respond to our abuse notifications within the timescales in Clause 7.

(b) IP rotation and traffic management – rotating IP addresses or managing high-volume outbound traffic for legitimate commercial purposes (including data intelligence, ad verification, brand protection, and market research), provided that: you operate within the terms of target platforms or hold authorisation from the target system owner; you implement rate limiting and respectful crawling practices; and you do not target systems that have explicitly prohibited automated access without authorisation.

(c) Web scraping and automated data collection – commercial web scraping, data aggregation, or automated data collection services, provided that: collection is limited to publicly accessible data; robots.txt directives are respected unless you hold explicit authorisation from the site owner to do otherwise; applicable data protection law is complied with; and rate limiting is implemented to avoid degrading the performance of target systems.

(d) Security research and scanning – commercial vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, security research, or network enumeration services, provided that: all scanning is conducted against systems owned by or explicitly authorised by your client; you hold appropriate written authorisation for each engagement; and records of authorisations are maintained and available to us on request.

(e) Web3, blockchain, and decentralised infrastructure – nodes, validators, relay services, or other Web3 infrastructure, provided that: your services comply with applicable financial regulations in the jurisdictions in which you operate; and you do not operate infrastructure used to facilitate money laundering, fraud, or sanctions evasion.

5.2 We may request evidence of lawful operation, appropriate end-user terms, or authorisation records from you at any time. Failure to provide such evidence within 48 hours of request may result in suspension of the affected services.

5.3 Extended use authorisation does not exempt you from the core prohibitions in Clause 4 or from your abuse response obligations in Clause 7. You remain responsible for ensuring your services are not used for spam, DDoS, or illegal activity.

5.4 We may withdraw extended use authorisation on 7 days’ written notice where we reasonably determine that your operations are causing material harm to our network reputation or generating sustained abuse reports. In cases of serious or imminent harm we may suspend services immediately and provide notice as soon as practicable.

6.1 Where you provide services to end users, you shall:

(a) ensure end users are bound by acceptable use terms no less restrictive than this AUP;

(b) remain solely liable to us for end user acts and omissions;

(c) promptly investigate and respond to abuse reports relating to end user activity;

(d) not represent to end users that they have any direct relationship with us.

6.2 You shall indemnify us against all claims arising from end user conduct.

7.1 We operate a 72-hour response SLA for abuse reports submitted to [email protected], applying to initial acknowledgement and triage.

7.2 Where an abuse report implicates your services, we will notify you simultaneously with our acknowledgement of the report. You must investigate and respond to us within 48 hours.

7.3 Where you fail to respond within 48 hours or abuse continues, we may suspend your services or null-route IP addresses without further notice.

7.4 We may null-route IP addresses immediately where they are actively generating or receiving attack traffic. We will notify you as soon as practicable.

8.1 You are responsible for the security of your own systems and data hosted on our infrastructure.

8.2 You must promptly notify us at [email protected] if you become aware your services are being used for abusive purposes or your systems have been compromised in a way that affects our network.

8.3 We may implement temporary traffic controls, rate limiting, or null-routing where necessary to protect network integrity, with reasonable endeavours to notify you promptly.

9.1 Breach of this AUP may result at our discretion in: written warning; service suspension; service termination; equipment removal; or reporting to law enforcement.

9.2 We will not be liable for losses arising from action taken in good faith in response to an AUP breach.

9.3 Our decision in AUP enforcement matters is final, subject to the dispute resolution process in Clause 15 of our Terms and Conditions.