Terms of Service for the European Galaxy Server (2026 update)

Our priority has always been to enable science for all researchers. Every day, scientists across Europe and beyond use the European Galaxy server to analyse data, build workflows, and share results, and we want that to continue this.

But keeping this promise is becoming harder. Hardware prices are extremely high at the moment, and the cost of storage and compute has not been falling the way it used to. At the same time, abusive behaviour, increasingly enabled by “AI” tooling, is a daily challenge for our administrators. We are a small team operating on a best-effort basis, and we cannot let abuse take capacity away from legitimate science.

That is unfortunately why we need to act. Our new revised Terms are about protecting the Service so it stays available for everyone who uses it responsibly. We are trying our best and ask for your understanding and your help in keeping Galaxy Europe a shared resource for science.

The Freiburg Galaxy Team has published a comprehensively revised set of Terms of Service for the European Galaxy server, covering usegalaxy.eu and all *.usegalaxy.eu sub-sites. The updated Terms, together with a revised Privacy Policy and GDPR rights page have taken effect on 2026-09-07.

Please read the new Terms of Service at usegalaxy.eu/gdpr/tos. By continuing to use the Service after the effective date, you agree to the revised Terms. If you do not agree, you may request deletion of your account and data as described on our User Rights under the GDPR page. Of course we always welcome feedback.

What has changed

Please read the entire Terms of Service at usegalaxy.eu/gdpr/tos. A few important points below.

Acceptable use

The new “Acceptable Use” section sets out, as an explicit list, what the Service may and may not be used for. The Service is for science, research, and education. Prohibited activities include running non-scientific cryptography applications, processing data from illegitimate sources, using compute resources solely to generate revenue, and any activity that constitutes a (cyber)crime. You are also responsible for data you choose to make public via the Service’s sharing features.

Accounts and account maintenance

You are now explicitly responsible for safeguarding your account credentials and for all activity under your account. You must keep your registered email address valid and active, because it is used together with Galaxy notifications, for service notices, including inactivity warnings. If email to your address bounces, it is treated as unreachable and the data retention steps below may follow. You can update your email address under User → User Preferences.

Data retention

Data retention is a newly added section that formalises what happens to inactive accounts:

12 months without login: we notify you by email and via Galaxy notifications; if you do not log in within one month of the notice, your account is deactivated (data remains stored for six more months but is no longer accessible).
6 months after deactivation: your user-generated data is deleted. An account shell (username, email, analysis metadata) is retained and can be reactivated on request.
10 years of total inactivity: the account record itself is deleted.

You remain responsible for transferring data you wish to archive or publish to suitable public repositories, in line with the FAIR principles. Have a look at our dedicated storage website to learn more..

Account suspension and automated measures

When our systems detect abusive behaviour, they may temporarily disable access automatically to protect the Service. You will be informed by email and may request human review by contacting contact@usegalaxy.eu.

What you need to do

Read the new Terms of Service at usegalaxy.eu/gdpr/tos
By using the Service, you agree to these Terms.
Check that your registered email address is current under User → User Preferences, so you receive important notices including inactivity warnings.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at contact@usegalaxy.eu or reach out on Matrix.