Groundskeeper Terms of Use
Plain summary (not the legal bit)
Groundskeeper is software for schools. You install it on your own server and use it to watch your own IT systems. It only reads; it does not change anything. The data it reads stays on your network unless you switch on a cloud AI provider. It is a helpful tool, not a guarantee that your IT is secure or compliant, and we are not responsible for what it misses. The free editions come with no warranty and no liability. If you pay us, our liability is limited to what you paid in the last twelve months. The full terms below are what apply.
1. Agreement
1.1. These terms are an agreement between you, or the organisation you act for ("you"), and RSJ Software Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales ("RSJ Software", "we", "us").
1.2. By installing or using Groundskeeper (the "Software") you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not install or use it. If you install it for an organisation, such as a school, an academy trust or an IT company that supports one, you confirm you may accept these terms on its behalf.
2. Editions
2.1. Community is free, with a limited number of connectors and a free licence key renewed each year.
2.2. Early Access. While Groundskeeper is in Early Access (before version 1.0) we may give a school a Pro key free of charge. A free Pro key is treated as a free edition under these terms. It lasts until the date written on the key. When Early Access ends, any price will be confirmed before anything is charged; nothing becomes payable without an order from you (section 9).
2.3. Pro and Central are paid editions, supplied under these terms and the order for them (section 9).
3. Your licence
3.1. We grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to install and use the Software, for the edition your licence key allows, to monitor IT systems owned or run by your organisation. An IT support company may install and run it for a school or trust it supports, on that organisation's behalf.
3.2. You may copy the installer within your organisation, and to the organisations you support under 3.1. Please do not publish it elsewhere; point people to our website instead.
3.3. You must not:
- remove or change RSJ Software's name, copyright notices or the licence-key checks;
- decompile or reverse-engineer the Software, except as far as the law allows you to whatever these terms say;
- sell, rent or sub-license the Software, except as an authorised reseller.
3.4. We may decline a request for a licence key. A key may be suspended or revoked under section 8. We keep ownership of the Software and everything in it; you own your own data.
4. What the Software is, and is not
4.1. The Software is an informational monitoring tool. It reads status from the systems you connect it to and shows summaries, alerts and indicators, including ones about security settings, patching, encryption and frameworks such as Cyber Essentials and the DfE filtering and monitoring standards.
4.2. Those indicators are information, not a guarantee, certificate or assurance that your systems are secure, compliant, correctly set up or free from vulnerabilities. The Software can be wrong, can miss a problem and can be unavailable. You remain responsible for the security, compliance and running of your own systems.
4.3. The Software is designed only to read, never to change the systems it connects to. You are responsible for the credentials you give it, and for making sure you are allowed to monitor what you connect.
5. Your responsibilities
You are responsible for the server the Software runs on and its security; the credentials you configure; keeping to the terms of any service you connect it to; keeping your own backups; and not using the Software unlawfully or to monitor systems you are not authorised to monitor.
6. Data protection and privacy
6.1. The Software runs on your own infrastructure. The data it reads from your systems, which may include personal data about staff and pupils, stays on your network and is not sent to us (6.3 covers the one exception you can choose: a cloud AI provider). For that data we are not your data processor.
6.2. We do receive a small amount of data about your installation: licence key requests, a daily licence check, automatic error reports from the dashboard's own pages, and anything you choose to send us (the "Report to RSJ" button, log sharing if you switch it on, and support emails). Our Privacy Notice, https://groundskeeper.rsjsoftware.com/privacy, says exactly what, why and for how long, and forms part of these terms.
6.3. If you switch on a cloud AI provider, monitoring information (with identifiers removed as far as the Software can) is sent to that provider under its own terms. The local AI option sends nothing outside your network. Which you use is your choice.
7. Warranty and liability
7.1. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow to be limited.
7.2. Free editions (Community, and a free Pro key under 2.2) are provided "as is", without any warranty, including any implied warranty of satisfactory quality or fitness for a purpose, as far as the law allows. Because they are free, and subject to 7.1, we are not liable for any loss arising from your use of them or your inability to use them.
7.3. Paid editions. We will supply the Software with reasonable skill and care. We do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that it will detect any particular problem. Subject to 7.1, our total liability to you in any twelve months is limited to the fees you paid us for the Software in the twelve months before the event, and we are not liable for any loss of profit, loss of data, a security incident, or any indirect or consequential loss.
8. Suspension and ending
8.1. These terms last until ended. You may end them at any time by uninstalling the Software.
8.2. We may suspend or revoke a licence key if you seriously break these terms. We may stop offering an edition, but a key already issued keeps working until its expiry date, and for a paid edition until the end of the period paid for.
8.3. When these terms end you must stop using the Software. Sections 4, 6 and 7 continue.
9. Paid orders
9.1. A paid edition is supplied when we accept your order, usually a purchase order against our quote, or an order through an authorised reseller. The quote or the reseller's invoice sets the price and the period.
9.2. Unless the order says otherwise, our invoices are due within 30 days. If an invoice is not paid we may suspend the paid features after telling you in writing; the free Community edition carries on.
9.3. If the order and these terms disagree, the order wins on price, period and payment; these terms win on everything else.
10. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. The version shown when you install or update the Software applies from then on. We will not change the terms of a paid period you have already paid for.
11. General
11.1. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. Its courts have jurisdiction, but this does not stop a school in Scotland or Northern Ireland using its own courts where its law gives it that right.
11.2. If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still applies. Not enforcing a term straight away does not mean we have given it up. Nobody else can enforce these terms.
12. Contact
RSJ Software Ltd — hello@rsjsoftware.com; licences: licences@rsjsoftware.com. Our company number and registered office are on the Companies House register.