Acceptable Use Policy and Conditions of Use
This Acceptable Use Policy and Conditions of Use (“AUP”) defines the rules and conditions governing access to and use of the Baskerville National Compute Resource (“Baskerville”), including all associated computing systems, storage systems, software environments, data services, networks, user support services, and related infrastructure operated by or on behalf of the University of Birmingham.
Baskerville is provided to support UK research and innovation activities and may be accessed by users from multiple institutions through approved identity federations, including MyAccessID and associated trust federations. Access is granted solely for approved research, education, innovation, training, administration, and associated activities consistent with the objectives of the Baskerville service.
Core conditions
You shall only use the Service in a manner consistent with the purposes and limitations described above; you shall show consideration towards other users including by not causing harm to the Service; you have an obligation to collaborate in the resolution of issues arising from your use of the Service.
You shall only use the Service for lawful purposes and not breach, attempt to breach, nor circumvent administrative or security controls.
You shall respect intellectual property and confidentiality agreements.
You shall protect your access credentials (e.g. passwords, private keys or multi-factor tokens); no intentional sharing is permitted.
You shall keep your registered information correct and up to date.
You shall promptly report known or suspected security breaches, credential compromise, or misuse to the security contact stated below; and report any compromised credentials to the relevant issuing authorities.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with the privacy notice.
Your use of the Service may be restricted or suspended, for administrative, operational, or security reasons, without prior notice and without compensation.
If you violate these rules, access to the Service may be restricted, suspended or withdrawn and incidents may be referred to relevant institutions, funders or law enforcement as described in Section 16.
Additional conditions
10. Scope
10.1 This AUP applies to all users of Baskerville, including University of Birmingham staff and students, researchers from UK and international partner organisations, project collaborators, contractors, visiting researchers, and any other authorised users.
10.2 Users must comply with this AUP and any applicable policies of their home institution. Where requirements differ, the requirements of this AUP apply to the use of Baskerville. Compliance with this AUP does not remove any obligation to comply with additional requirements imposed by the user’s home institution.
10.3 Access to Baskerville is granted only for activities approved under an allocation, project, service agreement, collaboration agreement, or other authorised arrangement.
11. Research use
11.1 Baskerville resources are provided primarily for research, innovation, training, and associated academic activities. Commercial use is only permitted where explicitly approved by the Baskerville service management and supported by an appropriate agreement.
11.2 Users must ensure that their use of compute, storage, network, software licence, and support resources is reasonable and consistent with their approved allocation.
11.3 Users must not intentionally consume excessive resources, interfere with other users’ work, or undertake actions that adversely affect the availability or performance of the service.
11.4 Users may be required to acknowledge Baskerville, the University of Birmingham, UKRI, and other relevant funding bodies in publications, presentations, reports, and other outputs arising from use of the service, in accordance with published guidance.
12. Data protection and information governance
12.1 Users must comply with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements relating to personal data and confidential information.
12.2 Users are responsible for ensuring they have the necessary ethical approvals, legal basis, permissions, and institutional authority for data processed on Baskerville.
12.3 Sensitive, confidential, personal, export-controlled, or otherwise regulated data may only be processed where the relevant security controls and approvals are in place.
13. Account security
13.1 User accounts, credentials, SSH keys, access tokens, and authentication devices must be protected against unauthorised access.
13.2 Authentication and security controls required by Baskerville must be used where provided.
14. Prohibited activities
Users must not:
- gain, or attempt to gain, unauthorised access to systems, services, accounts, data, or networks;
- interfere with or disrupt the operation of Baskerville or other connected services;
- introduce malware, ransomware, cryptocurrency mining software, or other harmful software;
- monitor network traffic, intercept communications, or conduct security testing without explicit authorisation;
- use Baskerville for harassment, discrimination, bullying, or unlawful activities;
- store, publish, transmit, or distribute material that is unlawful, defamatory, threatening, obscene, or otherwise prohibited by law;
- infringe software licences or copyright;
- use Baskerville for unsolicited bulk messaging or other forms of abuse.
15. Monitoring and investigation
15.1 To maintain the security, integrity, and operation of the service, the University of Birmingham and its authorised operators may monitor, record, analyse, inspect, and retain information relating to the use of Baskerville where lawful and necessary to do so.
15.2 Such activities may be undertaken for operational management, incident response, security monitoring, prevention and detection of misuse, compliance activities, and legal obligations.
15.3 Information relating to incidents may be shared with a user’s home institution, funding body, project principal investigator, relevant national service providers, security teams, or law enforcement where appropriate.
16. Enforcement
16.1 Breach of this AUP may result in:
- suspension or termination of Baskerville access;
- suspension of project allocations;
- referral to the user’s home institution;
- referral to funders, project principal investigators, or project partners;
- recovery of costs associated with investigation or remediation;
- referral to law enforcement authorities where appropriate.
17. Service availability
17.1 Availability and performance cannot be guaranteed, and the service may be changed, restricted, or unavailable from time to time for operational reasons.
17.2 Users remain responsible for maintaining appropriate copies and backups of their own data and research outputs. Baskerville should not be relied upon as the sole copy of any data.
Administrative information
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Service Owner | University of Birmingham |
| Service | Baskerville National Computing Resource (NCR) |
| Administrative Contact | baskerville-support@contacts.bham.ac.uk |
| Security Contact | IT Security Team, University of Birmingham, itservicedesk@bham.ac.uk |
| Privacy Notice | University of Birmingham Privacy Notice and Baskerville-specific privacy information |
Applicable policies
- Any relevant MyAccessID Federation Policies
- Any relevant UKRI policies