To facilitate file sharing and collaboration on projects for the City of Wiesbaden, external users who have agreed to Nextcloud’s terms of use and completed the registration process are granted access to the City of Wiesbaden’s Nextcloud-based collaboration platform.

The platform, based on the open-source application Nextcloud, is operated and maintained by Wivertis GmbH in the city’s data center. Staff members in the Office for Innovation, Organization, and Digitalization, IT Management Division of the City of Wiesbaden (hereinafter “Administrators”) are responsible for technical support. 

The application is intended exclusively for the exchange of files and documents with employees of the State Capital of Wiesbaden. Private use is prohibited.

These Terms of Use apply to all external users (hereinafter referred to as "external users") who gain access to Nextcloud through a formal registration process.

Nextcloud is available exclusively for document sharing between employees of the City of Wiesbaden and external users. The application is not intended for long-term document archiving. Original files must continue to be stored on separate systems.

• Sharing via email address or public link: External users without a user account receive both the link and the password in two separate emails to access the shared content in Nextcloud. When sharing via a public link, the password can also be sent separately. 
• Setting up access: Access for external users with a user account is set up as part of a registration process. The process describes the steps for confirming and activating the external user account.
• Deletion of the share via email address or public link occurs in particular when: the expiration date is reached, the collaboration is terminated, or there are violations of the terms of use.
• Deletion or deactivation of a user account: The deletion of external users’ access rights is carried out by the support team in the department responsible for the process. The City of Wiesbaden reserves the right to deactivate or delete user accounts, in particular in the event of: termination of the collaboration, violations of the Terms of Use, at the request of the external user, or after three months of inactivity.

Access to Nextcloud always includes:

• a file storage system, including functions for downloading, uploading, and deleting documents, creating folders, and collaborating on documents and folders, provided that the use of the respective function has been set up by the staff of the City of Wiesbaden.

The following features are available to users with a user account:

• a personal user account with limited, non-expandable storage space,
• an overview of all shares created for the user account,
• Management of personal settings,
• management of personal notifications (push and email notifications).

Due to the ongoing development of the application and the available add-ons, the range of features may vary.

New features are only made available at the request of the process administrators, unless they are purely updates to existing Nextcloud components.

Nextcloud may only be used for the purposes specified above (see the "General" section under point 1).

The following uses are excluded:

• purely private purposes
• other uses that are expressly excluded below (see the section on Prohibited Content and Actions under Section 6.)

External access to Nextcloud is via private devices. All data transfers are secured by TLS/SSL (transport encryption).

Various features in Nextcloud allow for the sharing of content, e.g., files, with third parties. This feature is not enabled for external users of Nextcloud. Sharing content with third parties is only possible for employees of the City of Wiesbaden. External users must ensure that confidential content is not shared with unauthorized third parties who are not authorized to view this content after downloading it from Nextcloud.

External users agree to use Nextcloud for its intended purpose and are responsible for all activities, whether or not they have a user account. Any misuse of the platform must be reported immediately to the direct contact person in the city administration and the person responsible for the procedure.

External users have the option to access the service via the web application. An external user account is required. However, the standard supported by the City of Wiesbaden exclusively covers the use of the web application via the Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox browsers. 

Problems related to the use of the service can be reported to the direct contact person at the city administration. Support is provided exclusively for use under the following conditions: Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox. No support is provided for problems with other operating systems, browsers, or mobile devices.

Since registration and use via personal devices are possible, external users—whether or not they have an external user account—are obligated to operate the devices they use securely at their own risk and to keep them regularly up to date (for example, through operating system and security updates). The City of Wiesbaden assumes no liability whatsoever for security risks or disruptions arising from the use of outdated or insecure private devices.

The City of Wiesbaden endeavors to ensure the proper operation of the systems but does not guarantee uninterrupted availability or functionality at all times. Service interruptions, maintenance work, technical malfunctions, or necessary security measures may lead to temporary restrictions or outages. There is no legal entitlement to uninterrupted availability or functionality at all times.

External users must refrain from any use of Nextcloud that

• is clearly likely to harm the interests or public reputation of the State Capital of Wiesbaden,
• compromise or circumvent the security of the IT systems, or
• violates applicable laws.

In particular, external users may not use Nextcloud if the retrieval, storage, or dissemination of data violates provisions of personal rights, data protection, copyright, or criminal law.

Regardless of legal admissibility, users are also prohibited, in the context of using Nextcloud, from intentionally or knowingly accessing, storing, or disseminating content that is anti-constitutional, racist, glorifies violence, or is pornographic.

The login credentials for email shares and public links must always be treated as confidential and must not be disclosed to third parties. 

If access is via an external user account, passwords must be secure enough that they cannot be guessed. They must consist of at least 12 characters and include at least one number, one uppercase letter, and one special character. External users are required to keep their own login credentials for accessing Nextcloud confidential. They must not be made available to third parties.

If one’s own login credentials have inadvertently become known to others, the external user is obligated to immediately take measures to protect their own access. If still possible, access passwords must be changed. If this is not possible, the direct contact person at the city administration must be informed.

If external users become aware of another person’s login credentials, they are prohibited from using them to gain access to that person’s email folders or user account. However, the external user is obligated to inform the owner of the login credentials or the designated contact person at the city administration.

If, when using the service, no external user account is created but external users are provided with a shared link, documents containing sensitive or particularly sensitive data are additionally encrypted at the file level.

This can be done, for example, by using 7-Zip with password protection and AES-256 encryption or by password-protecting PDF files. This procedure may also be applied even if a user account exists for the external user. The decision regarding the necessity of this additional encryption rests with the data controller. 

Further information on data protection is included in the Privacy Policy.

When using the City of Wiesbaden’s Nextcloud, applicable copyright laws must be observed. When using material marked as free to use, the terms of the license must be carefully reviewed. 

The copyrights to content created independently by external users remain unaffected by its storage or provision on the City of Wiesbaden’s Nextcloud.

When using the Nextcloud service, neither the City of Wiesbaden nor Wivertis GmbH—which provides the service on behalf of and with the authorization of the City of Wiesbaden—assumes any liability, within the scope of legal requirements, for data loss, data corruption, or any other direct or indirect damage to the legal interests of users or third parties arising from or in connection with the use of the service. Liability exists only in cases of intentional or grossly negligent conduct.

Furthermore, the State Capital of Wiesbaden and Wivertis GmbH are not liable for copyright or other intellectual property infringements or other legal violations culpably committed by external communication partners in connection with the use of the service.

Use of the service is at the user’s own risk and responsibility.

Users shall indemnify the State Capital of Wiesbaden and/or Wivertis GmbH against all claims by third parties resulting from the users’ unlawful use of the service.

In the event of violations of these Terms of Use, the following consequences may apply, among others:

• Temporary or permanent suspension of the user’s access to Nextcloud

Regardless of this, violations that constitute criminal offenses will always be reported to the authorities. Violations of other legal provisions may be reported to the authorities. 

The administrator reserves the right to review these Terms of Use periodically and to expand or modify them as necessary to meet current security requirements. Changes will be visible to external users upon logging into Nextcloud at the time they take effect. By actively agreeing to the terms, users are deemed to have accepted the changes.

These terms and conditions are governed by German law. Should any provision of these terms and conditions be or become invalid in whole or in part, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected.