Your agreements and how changes to them work

Your organisation uses Footer365 under a set of agreements: the Customer Agreement, the Data Processing Terms, the Acceptable Use Policy and the security description, together with the list of sub-processors, and the cancellation and refund policy if Footer365 bills you directly. They are between your organisation and Footer365 (Chillishot Limited), whoever bills you. The Footer365 website shows the current version of each, with the day it was published. Every earlier version that has applied to your organisation is kept for you on Account > Agreements.

Section 5 of the Customer Agreement says that a reseller is not Footer365's agent and cannot make promises on its behalf. From the next version of the Customer Agreement, whose date is shown with it on the Footer365 website, section 5.7 also says that if Footer365 has agreed that your reseller may show its own name and logo to you, that is for your convenience: it does not make the reseller the provider of the service, Footer365's agent or a party to the agreement, and a notice or other message from the service is still Footer365's. See Working with a reseller.

If your organisation takes part in an offer, a scheme or a discount, such as the switching offer, the referral scheme or the charity, education and public sector discount, the terms of that arrangement also form part of the Customer Agreement while you take part, as they stood on the day you joined. Their current version is published on the Footer365 website, and the version that applies to your organisation is kept for you on Account > Agreements. Nobody is sent a notice of a new version of these terms or asked to accept it, because a new version applies only to organisations that join or apply after it takes effect. A change that would reduce a discount you already have is made as a price change, with the notice that gives.

This article explains where to see what your organisation has accepted, and what happens when one of the agreements changes.

Everyone with access to the portal can open Account > Agreements unless their role switches it off. A role without it does not show the page, its menu item or the banner about changes to the agreements, and a role with it to view but not to manage cannot use its links or buttons. See Roles and permissions.

See what has been accepted

Go to Account > Agreements (open it). Everyone in the portal can open it. It lists each version of each agreement your organisation has accepted, with:

• who accepted it, or "Nobody" where it was treated as accepted, for example when a change took effect or a term renewed;
• when, in your own time zone;
• how: at signup, in the setup wizard, in the portal, when told of a change, when a free trial ended, at renewal, or before these records began;
• a PDF of that acceptance, holding the record and each document exactly as accepted.

Each agreement's name opens that version in the portal, with See what changed to compare it word by word with the version before it, and a PDF of it. A pill at the top says "Up to date" when every version in force that needs accepting has been accepted, or how many are still to accept, and lists them. When a change is waiting, the page says so, with a button to review it.

Below it, Every version that has applied to your organisation lists every version of every document you can read, grouped by document with the newest first: the ones accepted, the ones you are told of without accepting them, such as the security description and the list of sub-processors, earlier versions that were in force while you were a customer, and the terms of an offer or scheme. Each is marked "In force", "Coming" for a version that takes effect on a later date, "Earlier version" or "Withdrawn", and its version opens it in the portal. The Footer365 website shows only the current version of each document, so this is where you read an earlier one.

Under the list, Third-party notices opens a page on the Footer365 website listing the open source libraries and fonts Footer365 sends to your browser, to Outlook and to the people who read your mail, with each one's copyright holder and licence. Those licences apply to those components only, and do not change the agreements your organisation uses Footer365 under.

Accept the agreements in force

If your organisation has no acceptance on record of an agreement in force, Account > Agreements shows Accept the agreements in force above the list. A Super Admin, or anyone whose role can manage billing, signed in with their own Microsoft account, can accept them there. Anyone else, including a reseller or Footer365 administrator working in your portal on your behalf, sees which agreements are waiting and who can accept them.

1. Read each agreement listed. Its name opens it, and PDF downloads it.
2. Tick the box. Its wording names each agreement and your organisation.
3. Select Accept the agreements.

The acceptance is recorded in the same way as at signup, and the list then shows it, accepted "in the portal". If an agreement changes while the page is open, Footer365 asks you to read the list again rather than recording an acceptance of something you did not see.

How you are told

When Footer365 publishes new versions of the agreements, it emails your organisation's account owner and accounts contact, both under Contacts on Account > Settings. Every document that changes at the same time is named in one email, with the day each applies to your organisation and whether Footer365 considers it a material change, as section 19 of the Customer Agreement promises. Each person gets their own link to the changes.

When a change applies to your organisation depends on your subscription on the day you are told:

• On a paid subscription, a change takes effect at least 31 days after you are told, on the date the email gives. Reminders follow 14, 7 and 3 days before that date, until someone accepts or your organisation objects. One reminder names every change still waiting.
• During a free trial, a change applies from the day it is published. This includes the time before the trial starts, after signing up and before setup is finished. Footer365 asks you to accept it, and if nobody has, reminds you 3 days before your trial ends and again the day before. If by the day your trial ends nobody has accepted it and the trial has not been ended, your organisation is treated as having accepted it on that day. Ending a trial costs nothing.
• During a free trial on an earlier version of the Customer Agreement, which promised every organisation 31 days' notice, Footer365 asks you to accept the changes now. Once you do they apply from that day; if nobody does, your organisation stays on the earlier version and the changes apply on the date the email gives, at least 31 days after they were published, as for a paid subscription.

Before an organisation in its free trial adds a payment card, or claims the switching offer, which commits it to a term, Footer365 asks it to accept every change waiting: Billing > Payment method and Billing > Invoices say so and link to the changes. Accepting is not required to add the card or claim the offer. A change nobody accepted then reaches your organisation on the date the review page shows. A new organisation signing up accepts the agreements in force on the day it signs up, including any change published that day.

A new list of sub-processors always gives the notice the Data Processing Terms promise, in a free trial or not.

If Footer365 withdraws a change before it takes effect, the same people are emailed once to say so, in one email naming every change from the same notice that was withdrawn. The version in force stays as it is.

While a change is waiting, everyone in the portal sees a banner at the top of each page. It names the change and the date it takes effect, or says it applies now during a free trial, and says whether Footer365 considers the change material. It goes away once the change is accepted or is treated as accepted, or has taken effect.

Review a change

Select the button in the banner, or the link in the email, to open Changes to the agreements (open it). For each change it shows:

• the agreement, its new version and the date it takes effect for your organisation, or "Applies now" during a free trial;
• a short summary of what changes, and whether Footer365 considers it a material change;
• links to read the new version, to see every change word by word against the version it replaces, and to download it as a PDF.

The comparison marks words added with an underline and words removed with a line through them.

Some changes take effect without needing to be accepted, such as a new version of the Acceptable Use Policy, the security description or the list of sub-processors. These are marked "For information". You can still object to one, as described under "Objecting" below, and the page shows the last day to do so. During a free trial, only a new list of sub-processors can be objected to.

Accept a change

A Super Admin, or anyone whose role can manage billing, can accept changes for your organisation. They must be signed in with their own Microsoft account: a reseller or Footer365 administrator working in your portal on your behalf cannot accept for you. Anyone else sees the changes and who can accept them.

1. Open Changes to the agreements.
2. Read each change.
3. Tick the box. Its wording names each new version, and says they apply to your organisation from today.
4. Select the button to accept.

Every change waiting is accepted together, and applies to your organisation from the day it is accepted. If another change arrives while the page is open, Footer365 asks you to read the list again rather than recording an acceptance of something you did not see.

If nobody accepts

On a paid subscription you never have to accept a change for it to apply. If nobody accepts it and your organisation has not objected, it is treated as accepted on the day it takes effect, and that is recorded too. During a free trial, a change nobody has accepted is treated as accepted on the day your trial ends, unless the trial was ended first, and that is recorded as accepted when the free trial ended. Your signatures are not affected either way.

Objecting

If your organisation is on a committed term, such as 12 months, and a change is materially against its interests, it can object. This includes a change marked "For information". Any customer, monthly or committed, can object to a new sub-processor on reasonable data protection grounds. A change you are told of during a free trial cannot be objected to, because it applies from the day it is published and you can end the trial instead, which costs nothing; the objection page says so.

A monthly customer that does not want a change can cancel instead, and a change does not apply to it before its subscription ends if it cancels before the change takes effect. If you then withdraw the cancellation and stay, your organisation is treated as accepting the version in force for each change it was spared, recorded on the day you withdraw. A change that has not yet taken effect is treated as accepted on its date in the usual way. See Cancel your subscription.

The same people who can accept a change can object to it.

1. On Changes to the agreements, select Object to this change under the change.
2. On Object to a change, read what objecting means, and write why your organisation objects.
3. Select the button to send the objection.

The objection gets a reference, such as OBJ-2026-1012-3KD9QW, and is recorded with the same detail as an acceptance. A copy is emailed to you and to your organisation's account contacts. The last day to object is shown on the page and in the notice email; it is normally the day before the change takes effect.

What happens next

• Footer365 answers within ten business days, counted on England and Wales working days, saying whether it agrees and why.
• If Footer365 agrees, your organisation either stays on the previous version until its committed term ends, or is released without a fee. For an objection to a sub-processor, Footer365 either accommodates it or ends the affected subscription without a fee.
• When staying on the previous version ends, on the date Footer365 gave or when your committed term renews if that comes first, the version in force from then applies and your organisation is treated as accepting it. You are emailed when this happens, and it is recorded.
• A release without a fee ends your subscription after the day before the change took effect, even if that day has passed, and refunds anything paid for the days after it. See "When Footer365 releases you without charge" in Cancel your subscription.
• If Footer365 does not agree and it is not settled within 20 business days, either side may refer the question to an independent expert, whose decision is recorded.
• Each step is emailed to your organisation's account contacts, and the page shows where the objection stands.

While an objection is open, your organisation is not treated as accepting the change, and if it is upheld it never is. Your signatures are not affected at any point.

You can withdraw an objection from the same page with Withdraw the objection. The change then applies as if no objection had been made.

When a committed term renews

A renewed 12, 24 or 36-month term is governed by the versions of the agreements in force on the day it starts. The renewal notice and Billing > Renewal list them, and renewing accepts them: by agreeing on the renewal page, by saving a different choice there, or, if nothing is chosen and the subscription is not cancelled, on the day the term renews. For a customer that buys through a reseller, the renewal is recorded the same way on the day the term renews. See Renewing a committed term.

What is recorded

Each acceptance is recorded once and never changed. The record holds:

• your organisation's details as they stood at the time;
• each version accepted and its fingerprint, which proves the exact text;
• the wording beside the box and the button pressed;
• the person who accepted, their Microsoft account, and the address and browser they used;
• the date and time.

A copy, with each agreement as a PDF, is emailed to the person who accepted and to your organisation's account contacts. Each email Footer365 sends about a change, and each opening of its link, is recorded with it.

Related articles

• Company settings
• Renewing a committed term
• Cancel your subscription
• Working with a reseller