Pre-Release Program Agreement
Last updated: Dec. 31, 2019
Synology Pre-Release Program ("Program") gives our users the opportunity to try out new and experimental features to provide feedback to help make Synology products better for everyone. Before participating in the Program, please carefully review the following terms of this Pre-Release Program Agreement ("Agreement"), which will create a legal agreement between you and Synology Inc. ("Synology", "we", "us" or "our") and governs your participation in the Program. By clicking the "Yes" or "I Accept" button (or other button or mechanism designed to acknowledge agreement to the terms of this Agreement), or by downloading, accessing, installing or using the pre-release product(s), or by signing-up for the Program, you are consenting to be bound by this Agreement.
1. Introduction
The term "pre-release product" includes any software, hardware, and service that Synology may offer as part of this program. The terms here create a legal agreement between you and Synology, the operator of the pre-release program. A summarized version is that:
You understand that all pre-release products are experimental in nature and may result in data loss, loss of functionality, instability, insecurity, and other issues that may result in you being unable to use your device or service, or only in a severely degraded state.
You understand that new features introduced in pre-release products may be changed or removed in future versions. Pre-release products, features, and the program itself may change or be discontinued at any time.
You understand that Synology is unable to provide you with technical support or only in a limited capacity when you install pre-release products due to the experimental and un-verified nature of it.
You understand that Synology will ask you for feedback and send you occasional status updates regarding pre-release products with the communications method you provide.
You understand that some pre-release products may ship with data collection mechanisms for the purpose of testing and product improvement.
You understand that for pre-release products, Synology will handle your data differently. For purposes of product testing and improvement, Synology may rely on Standard Contractual Clauses to transfer or access data across our subsidiaries or partners.
You license Synology to freely use the feedback and suggestions that you have provided to us.
You understand that the pre-release program license is only granted to the primary administrator of Synology device(s). You must be the owner or the primary administrator of the devices. The license is non-transferable, is revocable at any time, is limited to the duration specified by Synology, and must only be used solely for the purposes of testing and evaluating the pre-release product.
You understand that your participation in any pre-release program, or in testing pre-release products does not create a legal partnership, agency, or employment relationship between you and Synology. Synology will not compensate you for your participation.
2. Participation
Synology may occasionally make the pre-release products available publicly or in selective programs based on testing goals. Certain pre-release products or features may be made available inside commercially available products as an opt-in option. Pre-release products may be labeled as Early-Access, Preview, Beta, RC, or with any other identification which implies non-final and work-in-progress status. For non-public pre-release products, Synology reserves the right to determine which participants may be selected as qualified participants of this Program.
You are volunteering to participate in the Program with the knowledge that the purpose of this Program is to make experimental, preview, beta or other early pre-release products available to you, for the purpose of providing Synology with useful information about your experience with the pre-release product.
You understand that using experimental and early pre-release product means you may experience occasional crashes and data loss. By participating, you agree to frequently back up your data.
Your Program participation is voluntary and free, there is no compensation for your participation. Your participation does not create a legal partnership, agency, or employment relationship between you and Synology.
Your Program participation does not obligate Synology to provide you with Synology software, product, or service.
3. License and Restrictions
3.1 Subject to your compliance with this Agreement, Synology hereby grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license, during the term of this Agreement or limited duration specified by Synology, to use the pre-release product(s) in accordance with this Agreement and any additional terms Synology made available to you solely or the purpose of internal evaluation and providing feedback to Synology (the "Purpose").
3.2 You may not (and may not authorize or enable a third party to): (i) reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to discover the source code or other trade secrets in the pre-release product(s); (ii) access the pre-release product(s) in order to build a similar or competitive application, service, feature or other competitive purpose; (iii) share, publish, distribute, host, rent, lease, sell, commercialize, sublicense, assign or otherwise transfer the pre-release product(s), or the access or use of the pre-release product(s) to any third-party. Synology owns all right, title and interest in and to the pre-release product, including but not limited to all intellectual property and proprietary rights therein. Synology reserves all rights and licenses not expressly granted herein.
3.3 You must also agree to additional terms that may apply to or accompany the pre-release product, such as additional Terms of Services, Software End User License Agreements, and accept our Privacy Statement if applicable to the pre-release product. This agreement is supplementary to any product's accompanying terms. Unless otherwise stated, the terms specified in this agreement will take precedence if there are any inconsistencies between the accompanying agreements and this agreement.
4. Confidentiality
Unless otherwise stated, all non-publicly available pre-release products ("Non-Public Product") and any information or material related to these products are confidential information ("Confidential Information") of Synology. Confidential Information also includes the act of participation in the program(s) about Non-Public Product and any communications to and from Synology employees or authorized agents in the program(s), including but not limited to your feedback.
You agree to only use such Confidential Information for the Purpose defined in Section 3.1 and not for any other purpose. You should use the same degree of care as you would with your confidential information but no less than reasonable precautions to prevent any unauthorized use, disclosure, publication, or dissemination of our Confidential Information. You promise not to disclose, publish, or disseminate any Confidential Information to any third party.
Your obligation under this Section 4 survives until the provided embargo date or until the non-public pre-release product has been released publicly by Synology.
5. Feedback and Communication
Synology releases pre-release products to gather usage patterns, diagnostics data, and general feedback from volunteer users. This in return, allows us to create better products that our users want.
Feedback from participants for pre-release products should be sent to Synology through support channels or on a Synology-managed service such as Synology Community that is designed to receive and organize feedback. In some cases, Synology may provide you with the ability to participate in private discussion forums with other testers for the same pre-release product. For purposes of such discussion forums, Synology will provide a limited exception to Section 4 by allowing you to discuss the pre-release product at a pre-determined location provided by Synology. Except for the limited purpose of discussions with Synology and other testers, when allowed, you should adhere to Section 4 unless otherwise stated by Synology.
For certain non-public pre-release products, we may utilize the contact information you have provided us to communicate to you about the pre-release products. Communications may include pre-release updates, availability, service updates, feedback requests, requests for additional information, and other topics directly related to the pre-release product and will run for the testing period of the pre-release. If you no longer wish to receive communications for pre-release products, please opt-out of the program by contacting us.
By providing feedback to Synology, you grant to Synology, a worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable license, with the right to sublicense, the right to use, disclose, share and commercialize your feedback in any way and for any purpose. In addition, you do not expect any type of payment or remuneration from Synology for feedback. You agree that all documents and materials submitted to Synology will become the property of Synology unless Synology agrees otherwise in writing.
6. Data Collection, Privacy Policy
The pre-release product may automatically collect information about you and your use of the pre-release product and send that to Synology, which may include your personal information. Information that is sent to us, including but not limited to those outlined in Section 5 and those automatically collected, will be retained and processed for product improvement purposes.
Certain pre-release products may also ship with features and diagnostics telemetry turned on by default or in a state that is not user-adjustable in order to test specific features and changes. Synology will inform participants of these pre-release products when possible, such as through Release Notes or Upgrade Notes that are made available to you with the pre-release product.
For the sole purpose of product improvement, any data collected or sent to us regarding the pre-release product will be processed and controlled by Synology and made available to Synology's subsidiaries, authorized agents, and/or other partners. This will include content posted by you on designated Synology-operated discussion forums, contents of support requests, telemetry, and any other communications between Synology (including subsidiaries) and with you.
Synology will maintain strict access controls and employ methods of minimizing personal information. For users in "Designated Countries", defined in our Privacy Statement, you must agree to allow data specified in this section to be transferable and accessible to locations outside of locations that the European Commission has designated as having adequate levels of data protection. Synology employs European Commission-approved Standard Contractual Clauses to safeguard the transfer of data between Synology subsidiaries and any subcontractors we may utilize.
Below describes data collection by Synology about certain pre-release products. If not otherwise mentioned, Synology's Privacy Statement and this Section 6 applies to data collection, storage, and processing activities for the pre-release products involved and your participation in the Program.
Active Insight
Synology collects diagnostic information about the routine operations of your NAS devices in order to generate an Active Insight Report. The diagnostic information we collect includes performance data, capacity usage, configuration data, IP address, QuickConnect ID, and hardware faults.
Your data is stored as long as Synology Active Insight service is enabled. If you choose to disable your Active Insight feature, we will keep your personal information for up to 30 days. Personal information includes information that can be associated with your Synology Account, such as IP address and QuickConnect ID. After the removal of your personal information, the remaining diagnostic information is considered non-personal and will be used to generate aggregated reports to help us to improve our services.
DSM Configuration Backup
Synology collects device configuration data of your NAS devices in order to provide the configuration backup and recovery service. Device configuration data we collect include settings for shared folders, users and groups, security, network, login portal, regional options, application privileges, and for notifications, including email accounts registered.
Your configuration data is stored for as long as the DSM Configuration Backup service is enabled. If the service is disabled, your data will be retained for up to 180 days.
7. Opt-Out
If you no longer wish to participate in testing the pre-release products, you may stop at any time by stopping the use of the pre-release product. If you no longer wish to receive any updates or notifications about pre-release products, please complete this form to be removed from the program. Certain pre-release products may prevent you from returning to a released version. In these cases, please contact Synology Technical Support for additional information and assistance.
8. No Warranty
Synology pre-release products are designated as a work-in-progress and are experimental by nature. The software may be incomplete, may contain errors, cause data loss, and result in the loss of functionality to devices or products that they are used on. Synology, and our affiliates, make no warranties, express or implied, guarantees or conditions with respect to the pre-release products or your participation in the Program. You acknowledge and agree that any use of Synology pre-release product is at your sole risk and that any pre-release product is provided "as is", "as available", and "with all faults". You bear the entire risk of using pre-release products. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we exclude any implied warranties, including for merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, workmanlike effort, and non-infringement.
9. Limitations of Liability
TO THE EXTENT NOT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL SYNOLOGY, ITS SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES, AND ITS LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PARTY FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF PRE-RELEASE PRODUCTS OR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM, WHETHER RESULTING FROM A TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT, WARRANTY OR OTHER FORM OF ACTION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. THE PARTIES AGREE THAT THE FOREGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS MATERIAL TO THIS AGREEMENT.
10. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold Synology harmless from any claims, fees, fines, demands, losses, liabilities, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, arising from or related to your use of the pre-release product, including but not limited to allegations arising from your breach of any terms herein and/or allegations that data processed by the pre-release product violates or infringes the privacy, data protection, or intellectual property rights of a third party.
11. Termination
Synology reserves the right to terminate this Agreement or your access to the pre-release product at any time, with or without cause, effective upon notice of termination. You agree that upon any termination, you will promptly return or destroy the pre-release products and related information as requested by Synology and provide Synology with a certificate verifying such destruction. Upon termination, you must immediately cease using the pre-release products. Sections 3.2, 3.3, 4, 5, 6, 8 through 14 shall survive any expiration, termination or rescission of this Agreement.
12. Assignment
You are not allowed to assign or transfer this Agreement, or any of your rights under it, in whole or in part, by operation of law or otherwise, without the prior written consent of Synology.
13. Change to Agreement
Synology retains the right to change this Agreement at any time. If we change this Agreement, we will post a notice on the Program site or otherwise notify you that this Agreement has been changed. If you do not agree to these changes, then you must stop using the pre-release product. If you do not stop using the pre-release product, then your continued use will constitute your acceptance of the changed agreement, and the changed agreement will apply to your use of the pre-release product and your participation in this Program after the date of the change.
14. Applicable Law
This Agreement and your participation of Program under this Agreement, shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of China (Taiwan) without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You and Synology agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the District Court of Taipei, Taiwan, to resolve any legal matter arising from this Agreement. Notwithstanding this, you agree that Synology shall still be allowed to apply for injunctive remedies (or an equivalent type of urgent legal relief) in any jurisdiction.