Terms of Service Agreements
EPA negotiates special EPA-only agreements with various social media sites that resolve the legal issues with the standard Terms of Service (TOS) users have to agree to when setting up an account. TOS agreements generally apply to the free version of these web-based tools/applications. Employees who wish to enter into a paid agreement with these services/websites must do so using their normal contract review/approval process which should involve a legal review of the paid terms.
- Who negotiates TOS agreements for EPA?
- What TOS agreements does EPA have?
- What do I do if my office wants to use one of the tools/sites on the list?
- What do I do if a tool/site my office wants to use is not on the list?
- Additional Information
Who negotiates TOS agreements for EPA?
EPA employees may not accept most standard, online TOS agreements. To do so binds the agency to terms which might be unacceptable, or illegal. EPA staff, managers, program or regional offices cannot negotiate these agreements on behalf of EPA. These agreements must be thoroughly reviewed and coordinated with the Office of General Counsel (OGC), the Office of Public Affairs (OPA), and the Office of Mission Support (OMS).
What TOS agreements does EPA have?
The list below shows web-based tools for which EPA has either signed a TOS amendment or for which an acceptable “fed-friendly” TOS amendment already independently applies. EPA may or may not be actively managing an account with these platforms at this time. If you're interested in using ANY of the web-based tools for your program, please contact your Web Council Representative to discuss your options and coordinate with the OPA.
All of the links below exit this site.
- Google Analytics
- HootSuite
- IdeaScale
- IFTTT (If This Then That)
- IntenseDebate
- Meetup
- My Space
1 ClassMarker incorporated GSA's Amendment into its standard online Terms. When you create an account using ClassMarker's online sign-up process the Terms you are agreeing to already incorporates the federal compatible Amendment.
2 For Flickr and YouTube, EPA has only one account.
3 SurveyMonkey incorporated GSA's Amendment into its standard online Terms. When you create an account using SurveyMonkey's online sign-up process the Terms you are agreeing to already incorporates the federal compatible Amendment.
What do I do if my office wants to use one of the tools/sites on the list?
Contact your Web Council Representative for approval. Your Content Coordinator will ensure that your project conforms to your program's goals, and will get approval from OPA's Office of Web Communications before you begin.
What do I do if a tool/site my office wants to use is not on the list?
Contact your Web Council Representative to discuss your concept — provide a written proposal for how the tool works for your project. If there are other web-based platforms that function similarly, provide a reason why you've chosen a specific tool/platform. Your Content Coordinator will discuss your request with OPA's Office of Web Communications. Please note that the process to coordinate/negotiate a new TOS agreement can take several months.
OPA, OMS and OGC will consider suggestions, but will not sign agreements unless these tools will be leveraged/useful to other offices across the agency. Regardless of whether EPA has signed an agreement, though, follow the normal web governance process: discuss all concepts with your Web Council Representative.
Employees who wish to enter into a paid agreement with a service/website that is not listed above must do so using their normal contract review/approval process, which should involve a legal review of the paid terms.
Additional Information
The TOS program at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is no longer active. It also applied to no-cost tools only. While the items included on its Negotiated TOS Agreements webpage may still be active, Digital.gov is not able to add new agreements to the list. These agreements are not signed; rather, they are agreements GSA believes should work for all federal agencies. Each agency must sign its own agreement with the third party site to use the tool. Review the list of agreements GSA has signed.