Terms of Use Microsoft 365 for students
On this page, you will find the Microsoft 365 Terms of Use for students.
Important
After a standard period of 30 days, the account will be automatically deleted, along with the content in M365.
- Preamble
- Requirements and permitted use
- User responsibilities
- Recommendations for use
- Lifecycle
- Privacy Policy
- Changes to the Terms of Use
Preamble
Microsoft 365 (M365) is a suite of subscription services (including Microsoft Office) offered by Microsoft. These are provided to RWTH students and employees with varying scopes of coverage and licenses. The M365 licenses are obtained through the Microsoft Federal Agreement and are available for use during the term of that agreement. The services offered here are hosted on servers that are not located in RWTH data centers and to which RWTH has no physical access. However, RWTH Aachen is responsible for implementing authentication and managing the licenses. These are implemented via the single sign-on account (Shibboleth).
By using M365, you agree to the following terms of use:
Requirements and permitted use
All students may use RWTH Aachen’s IT infrastructure. In addition to the university’s local infrastructure, you may optionally use Microsoft 365. Microsoft 365 is a cloud service offered by Microsoft to students at RWTH Aachen.
This service allows you to use the following Microsoft products and online services in the cloud:
- Outlook
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- OneNote
- OneDrive
- SharePoint Online and
- MS Teams
User responsibilities
The following responsibilities apply when using the service:
- Use of M365 is permitted only for the purposes of student self-organization and communication.
- Use of the software and services is not permitted for student organizations and associations.
- When using M365, applicable laws and regulations (licensing law, data protection law, personnel records law, tax law, copyright law, telemedia law, archival law, retention periods, U.S. export control law, etc.) must be observed.
- The use of Microsoft software and services is governed by the currently valid version of the Product Terms (PTs) and the Online Services Terms (OSTs). These can be viewed on the Microsoft website.
- It is the responsibility of the respective user to back up data stored in the cloud. RWTH does not create any automatic backups.
- Users are authorized to use the software and services only during the licensed period. All software must be deleted and services may no longer be used if RWTH Aachen terminates the Microsoft Federal Agreement or, prior to the expiration of the licensed period, fails to submit an application for enrollment or renewal, or fails to acquire perpetual licenses, whichever event occurs first.
- For students who are also RWTH employees, the following applies: use of the M365 account in the student tenant is intended exclusively for the purposes mentioned above. Use of M365 in a work context is permitted only to a limited extent and via the designated tenant m365.rwth-aachen.de. Instructions can be found on the page M365 Login for Employees.
Recommendations for use
We also recommend the following guidelines for using the service:
- Storing BitLocker keys in the cloud is not recommended. The use of BitLocker must be monitored and, if necessary, disabled on all devices where it has been enabled in Windows via the Microsoft tenant for students.
- Assign clear and unambiguous file names to stored data and documents.
- Due to the lack of local storage options, exclusive use of the Web Apps (without an alternative local Office solution) is not recommended. When using Office Web Apps, the data processed there is automatically stored in the cloud (in your personal OneDrive folder).
- OneDrive and SharePoint Online are not systems intended for permanent storage in the sense of archiving. Files can be selectively synchronized to end devices. In OneDrive, file versions from the last 30 days are stored online.
- Storage is limited as follows:
- Personal OneDrive: 10 GB
- SharePoint site: 50 GB
- When processing and storing research data, please observe the existing FDM processes and solutions at RWTH Aachen University.
- The use of personal devices is at your own risk. In the event of data loss on the device, RWTH cannot provide any guarantees or support.
Lifecycle
When using M365, the following lifecycle applies to user data:
- Student accounts are removed from the M365 environment after the student loses their student status or unchecks the boxes in Self-Service (i.e., the users are no longer visible to others and can no longer log in). The permanent deletion of the account and the data associated with it in OneDrive takes place 30 days later.
- Guest accounts are automatically removed from the M365 environment after 3 months without a login (i.e., the users are no longer visible to others and can no longer log in). The account is permanently deleted after 30 days.
- For SharePoint sites, notifications are sent to administrators after 3 months of inactivity. If no activity is detected after three reminders sent at two-week intervals, the respective site will be removed and permanently deleted after 30 days.
Privacy Policy
The privacy policy regarding the use of the service is available on IT Center Help.
Changes to the Terms of Use
The IT Center at RWTH Aachen reserves the right to change these Terms of Use at any time, with or without prior notice.
Users will be promptly informed of any material changes to the Terms of Use. This information may be provided via email or by publication on the RWTH Aachen IT Center website.
Upon taking effect, the current version of the Terms of Use will be available on the RWTH Aachen IT Center website and supersedes all previous versions. All users should check regularly for updates.
