Acceptable Use Policy

FLOTO Project Acceptable Use Policy

Last Updated: September 2, 2025

1. Introduction

These Terms and Conditions govern the use of the FLOTO platform and devices for research purposes. By submitting a request to use FLOTO, you (“the Researcher”) agree to be bound by these terms. The FLOTO project, based at the University of Chicago, provides a distributed platform for broadband and access network research.

These terms describe the default usage case for the FLOTO platform. Specific arrangements that deviate from these terms may be made by mutual agreement with the FLOTO project team.

2. Costs and Financial Responsibility

  • Distribution and Return Costs: The Researcher’s project is responsible for all costs associated with distributing FLOTO devices to individual hosts and returning them to the University of Chicago. This includes, but is not limited to, shipping fees and transportation costs to collect devices.
  • Participant Incentives: The Researcher’s project is responsible for any and all costs related to participant incentives.

3. Project Management and Communication

  • Primary Contact: The Researcher agrees to be the primary contact for the device deployment.
  • Host Communication: The Researcher is responsible for maintaining communication with device hosts.
  • Device Return: The Researcher must ensure all devices are returned to the FLOTO project upon project termination. Failure to return devices may result in a ban from the FLOTO platform and potential legal action.

4. Project Timeline

  • Standard Allocation: A standard device allocation is for a period of three (3) months, unless otherwise agreed upon with the FLOTO project team.
  • Extension Requests: If a project requires an extension beyond the agreed-upon period, the Researcher must submit a new request form for approval.

5. Data Collection and Privacy

  • Data Collection: FLOTO devices are designed to collect network performance data, such as broadband speed, latency, and other network parameters.
  • Data Privacy: The Researcher must take all necessary precautions to avoid collecting or publishing any personal or sensitive data from the devices or their associated networks. All research activities must comply with applicable data privacy laws and regulations.
  • Data Usage: Data collected through the FLOTO platform is intended for academic, scientific, and educational research purposes only.
  • Data Availability: By default, network measurement data collected with the default Netrics application using the FLOTO platform is intended to be made publicly available to the research community.

6. Device and Platform Usage

  • Research Purposes: The FLOTO platform and devices are to be used for academic, scientific, and educational research that aligns with the goals of the FLOTO project.
  • System Integrity: Devices are provided for use exclusively with the FLOTO platform and its pre-configured software image. Researchers are prohibited from modifying, wiping, or repurposing the devices for any other use unless explicitly authorized in writing by the FLOTO project team.
  • Prohibited Activities: Commercial use, personal or non-research use, unlawful or malicious activities, and any activities that disrupt or interfere with other users or the operation of the FLOTO platform are strictly prohibited.
  • Residential Deployments: When deploying devices in residential settings, the Researcher must be considerate of the device owner’s network performance and computing resources. Applications should be designed to minimize data consumption and impact on the host’s resources.

7. Intellectual Property

  • Researcher’s Responsibility: The Researcher is responsible for respecting all intellectual property rights and obtaining any necessary permissions for software or data used in their applications on the FLOTO platform.

8. Liability

  • Disclaimer: The FLOTO platform and device providers are not liable for any damages or losses resulting from the use of the platform or the deployed applications. The Researcher assumes all risks associated with their use of the FLOTO devices and platform.

9. Termination

  • Right to Terminate: The FLOTO team reserves the right to terminate a Researcher’s access to the platform for any violation of these terms and conditions or for engaging in any inappropriate or harmful activities.

10. Acknowledgment of Project and Funding

  • Citation Requirement: The Researcher agrees to acknowledge the FLOTO project and its National Science Foundation (NSF) funding in any and all publications, presentations, or other public disclosures resulting from the use of the FLOTO platform and devices.
  • Suggested Acknowledgment: Please include the following statement in your publications: “This work was supported in part by the FLOTO project at the University of Chicago, funded by the National Science Foundation (Award No. 2213821).”

11. Agreement

The Researcher acknowledges that they have read, understood, and agree to abide by these Terms and Conditions by submitting a request to use the FLOTO platform.