Terms of Service

Access to and use of the service are limited to approved HISD business purposes and to the exchanges, files, and operations expressly assigned to you. An invitation, credential, or successful sign-in does not confer authority beyond those assignments.

You are responsible for safeguarding credentials, private keys, authentication methods, and access links issued or made available to you. Such access mechanisms may not be shared with or used by an unauthorized person. Suspected compromise, loss, disclosure, or unauthorized access must be reported promptly to sftp@houstonisd.org.

You may not attempt to access data, accounts, or exchanges outside the scope of your authorization; redistribute files without authorization; alter or tamper with data or service operation; evade or circumvent access controls; introduce malicious content; or otherwise use the service in a manner inconsistent with an approved HISD purpose.

HISD may suspend, restrict, or revoke access when authorization expires or ends, when required to protect the service or its data, or when suspected misuse, compromise, or noncompliance is identified.

To the extent an assigned exchange contains education records or personally identifiable information protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) or another applicable privacy requirement, you must access, use, disclose, and protect that information only as authorized by HISD, applicable law, and the governing agreement. Access must remain limited to the approved purpose and authorized recipients, and unauthorized use or redisclosure is prohibited.

These Terms do not independently authorize the disclosure of education records, establish that any person or organization qualifies as a school official, or expand any party's right to receive student information.

Data handling remains governed by applicable HISD policies, vendor agreements, Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs), and other executed agreements. These web terms describe use of the file-transfer service and do not amend, supersede, replace, or expand those governing obligations.