On-line Services Terms of Use and the Acquisition Card

Procurement Information Bulletin 2017-6
May 2017

Recently, several concerns have come up at ESDC related to services that employees purchase online with an Acquisition Card.

It is possible to purchase services on many websites using Acquisition Cards. There are websites offering communications, access to multimedia or training services and accounts as well as many other services.

Whenever services are accessed and online accounts are created, there are “Terms of Use” that govern the account. Normally, when the account is created, these terms are agreed to by the cardholder. However, federal departments are subject to many policies and laws and this environment significantly limits the types of terms ESDC can accept.

For example, certain online services are limited to “personal use only,” or are only meant for smaller organizations, even when access to these services has been purchased. Many services limit the sharing of passwords, by saying that only one or two people can access the account – which may not meet your requirement. In many cases, sharing the password with colleagues would be against the terms and conditions and could put ESDC at risk of legal repercussions.

Such details are often only found in the terms of use; these terms are the way the company informs you of what the conditions of using their service are.

When an online account is created with the Acquisition Card, the cardholder is accepting the associated Terms of Use and the department may be responsible if the terms are not respected. Therefore, when creating a new account, the cardholder must review those terms, know their contents, and ensure they are acceptable to ESDC. Once an account is created, use of the account must comply with the terms and conditions.

Note that the terms should be available for review on the service’s website (often at a link called Terms of Use, Terms and Conditions, Legal, or other similar titles located at the bottom of the website).

In many cases, these Terms of Use may be long and difficult to understand. To address this reality, CFOB is now offering the following support: Cardholders may e-mail NC-PURCHASING_PORTAL-PORTAIL_D'ACHATS-GD if they have specific questions with regards to a Terms of Use or similar document.

To ensure proper risk management and compliance, related card monitoring activities are also being planned.

Questions and comments of a general nature related to the contents of this bulletin can be sent to the Asset Management Policy and Procurement (AMPP) team by email at NC-PURCHASING_PORTAL-PORTAIL_D'ACHATS-GD.

It is the cardholder’s responsibility to share all information and communications with their manager as well as all other colleagues who might be affected.