U.S. SnowGov Region Terms of Service
Last Updated: April 1, 2023 | Previous Versions
These Snowflake U.S. SnowGov Region Terms of Service (“Terms”) take effect as of the date the Order Form or other agreement that references these Terms (“Ordering Document”) becomes binding (“Effective Date”). These Terms supplement and amend the agreement by and between Customer and Snowflake governing Customer’s use of the Service (including the Ordering Document and any other agreements referenced in either document, the “Base Agreement”). These Terms only apply to direct transactions with Snowflake. If you purchased or intend to purchase the Service through a Snowflake authorized reseller, please contact your reseller for instructions on how to access the U.S. SnowGov Region. All capitalized terms used but not defined in these Terms shall have the meanings ascribed to such terms in the Base Agreement, or if not defined in these Terms or the Base Agreement, then as defined in the Snowflake Terms of Service – US Public Sector (currently available at www.snowflake.com/en/legal-gov/), as applicable. These Terms may be updated by Snowflake from time to time upon reasonable notice (which may be provided through the Service or by posting an updated version of these Terms), provided, however, that no such update shall materially diminish Snowflake’s obligations under Section 5 below. By entering into the Ordering Document, you represent to Snowflake that you have the legal authority to bind the Customer to these Terms.
1. New Defined Terms. The following new defined terms are added to the Agreement:
1.1. “Agreement” means the Base Agreement and these Terms.
1.2. “Classified Data” means data that has been (i) classified by the U.S. government as “Confidential,” “Secret,” or “Top Secret” as defined in Executive Order 13526, Section 1.2a, or (ii) otherwise deemed by the U.S. government to require special clearance for use, access, or maintenance.
1.3. “Criminal Justice Information” or “CJI” has the meaning used in the Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy.
1.4. “DFARS 7010” means Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 252.239-7010.
1.5. “DFARS 7012” means Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 252.204-7012.
1.6. “FedRAMP” means the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.
1.7. “Federal Tax Information” or “FTI” has the meaning used in Internal Revenue Service Publication 1075, Tax Information Security Guidelines for Federal, State, and Local Agencies.
1.8. “ITAR” means the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (22 C.F.R. Subpart M).
1.9. “State Authorizing Programs” means any U.S. state or state-sponsored independent cloud computing risk and authorization management program (e.g., StateRAMP and TX-RAMP) that has authorized the Service when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region, as detailed in the Documentation.
1.10. “U.S. Government Contractor” means a commercial entity that is required to process data provided by a U.S. Government Customer to perform a prime contract or subcontract with or for such entity.
1.11. “U.S. Person” has the meaning used in 22 C.F.R. § 120.62.
1.12. “U.S. Government Customer” means a Snowflake Customer that is (i) a U.S. Federal, state, or local government entity; and/or (ii) a tribal government entity.
1.13. “U.S. SnowGov Account” means Customer’s Account when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region.
1.14. “U.S. SnowGov Region” means Snowflake’s Microsoft Azure Government (US Gov Virginia or successor designation) deployment (“SnowGov Azure Deployment”), Snowflake’s Amazon Web Services GovCloud (US Gov West 1 or successor designation) deployment, and other Snowflake deployments that are expressly designated by Snowflake for use by U.S. Government Customers and U.S. Government Contractors, as set forth in the Documentation.
1.15. “U.S. SnowGov Security Program” is defined in Section 5 of these Terms.
2. Scope. These Terms apply to Customer’s use of and access to the Service when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region.
3. Authorized Customers.
3.1. U.S. Government Customer and U.S. Government Contractor Use. Use of and access to the Service when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region is limited to U.S. Government Customers and U.S. Government Contractors. Where Customer is a U.S. Government Contractor, it shall only provision and use its U.S. SnowGov Account(s) in fulfillment of its contract(s) with a U.S. Government Customer.
3.2. Exception. Snowflake may, in its sole discretion, expressly permit a Customer that is not a U.S. Government Customer or U.S. Government Contractor to use and access the Service when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region. In such case, Customer understands and agrees that Customer’s use of and access to the Service when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region may, upon notice, be modified or terminated by Snowflake: (i) in order for Snowflake to comply with FedRAMP or State Authorizing Programs (or its successor); (ii) in order for Snowflake to maintain its existing authorizations (or successor or equivalent authorizations) or to obtain a new or higher authorization, certification or compliance level; (iii) as directed or required by the underlying cloud service provider; and/or (iv) as required by applicable laws and regulations.
3.3. Prohibited Use. Use of and access to the Service when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region other than in accordance with Sections 3.1 and 3.2 is strictly prohibited. Any such use shall be deemed a breach of these Terms and the Agreement and Snowflake reserves the right to immediately terminate all such unauthorized use.
4. Workloads. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in the Base Agreement, but expressly subject to these Terms:
4.1. Customer may upload Customer Data that is subject to FedRAMP, State Authorizing Programs, or ITAR in its U.S. SnowGov Account(s), so long as such U.S. SnowGov Account is within a deployment in the U.S. SnowGov Region that supports such standard(s), as detailed in the Documentation;
4.2. Customer may only upload Customer Data that (i) is subject to DFARS 7010 or DFARS 7012 or (ii) qualifies as CJI or FTI into its U.S. SnowGov Account(s) after Customer has given Snowflake prior written notice, Snowflake has consented, and the parties have agreed to any additional terms and conditions required by Snowflake (with Snowflake’s agreement to such terms and conditions serving as such consent);
4.3. Customer may not place any Classified Data in its U.S. SnowGov Account(s); and
4.4. Customer will be solely responsible for sanitization costs incurred by Snowflake and its subcontractors, without application of any limitation of liability or damages caps in the Agreement, if Customer introduces Customer Data that (i) qualifies as Classified Data, CJI, or FTI; (ii) is subject to DFARS 7010 or DFARS 7012; (iii), or is otherwise prohibited by the Security Addendum into its U.S. SnowGov Account(s) or uses the Service in connection with such data in violation of the Agreement.
5. Snowflake Obligations. Snowflake maintains a documented security program for the U.S. SnowGov Region under which Snowflake has implemented and maintains administrative, physical, and technical safeguards designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the Service and Customer Data in accordance with the Security Addendum (the “U.S. SnowGov Security Program”).
5.1. Snowflake has obtained certain U.S. Federal and/or state government authorizations for the Service when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region (e.g., FedRAMP and the State Authorizing Programs), as further detailed in the Security Addendum and/or Documentation. For so long as Customer is using the Service pursuant to these Terms in the U.S. SnowGov Region, Snowflake will use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain its authorizations in effect as of the Effective Date (or successor or equivalent authorizations, as reasonably determined by Snowflake) at the current or a higher authorization level.
5.2. As part of the U.S. SnowGov Security Program, Snowflake will: (i) limit its access to the U.S. SnowGov Region to Snowflake personnel (including employees and subcontractors) that are U.S. Persons located in the U.S. or are otherwise expressly authorized to access ITAR data by the U.S. government; and (ii) use commercially reasonable efforts to provide at least the same level of protection as required by its U.S. Federal and/or state government authorizations in effect as of the Effective Date (or successor or equivalent authorizations, as reasonably determined by Snowflake).
6. Customer Obligations – Snowflake Service Hosted in the SnowGov Azure Deployment.
6.1. For Customer to use a U.S. SnowGov Account hosted in the SnowGov Azure Deployment, Customer must comply with Microsoft requirements by seeking approval from Microsoft through the Microsoft Government validation process (currently available at:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/government/request/?ReqType=General). Customer must obtain Microsoft’s written approval of eligibility before Customer’s creation of a U.S. SnowGov Account hosted in the SnowGov Azure Deployment and is required to provide evidence to Snowflake’s reasonable satisfaction to support Customer’s compliance with this Section.
6.2. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Agreement (or specifically the DPA), while Customer’s U.S. SnowGov Account in the SnowGov Azure Deployment may be configured by Customer to support compliance with certain non-U.S. laws, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, any terms in the Agreement or DPA regarding Customer’s compliance with non-U.S. laws will not apply to Customer’s use of its U.S. SnowGov Account in the SnowGov Azure Deployment.
6.3. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Base Agreement, except for Excluded Claims and claims arising from Section 4.4 above, each party’s aggregate maximum liability in connection with these Terms shall not exceed the total amount Customer has consumed in its U.S. SnowGov Account in the SnowGov Azure Deployment during the twelve (12) months preceding the relevant claim. In no event will either party be liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages, or for loss of use, loss of business information, loss of revenue, or interruption of business, however caused or on any theory of liability.
7. Customer Obligations Generally – Snowflake Service Hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region.
7.1. Customer represents, warrants, and agrees that it: (i) is a U.S. Person; (ii) is opening the U.S. SnowGov Account on behalf of an entity that is a U.S. Person; (iii) is either a U.S. Government Customer or a U.S. Government Contractor; and (iv) will only assign an employee of Customer or Customer Contractor who is a U.S. Person as its U.S. SnowGov Account administrator. Customer agrees that Snowflake may require it to produce evidence of compliance with the foregoing requirements in order to use and access the Service when hosted in the U.S. SnowGov Region.
7.2. Customer represents and warrants that it is not subject to U.S. export restrictions or sanctions and is not suspended or debarred from contracting with any U.S. governmental entities. Customer will ensure that its use of the Service in the U.S. SnowGov Region complies with applicable U.S. export control laws, including properly managing: (i) access to the U.S. SnowGov Account; (ii) application of appropriate encryption safeguards; and (iii) the movement of Customer Data outside of the U.S. SnowGov Region (including through the use of replication or data sharing features). Customer will, if required by ITAR, have and maintain a valid Directorate of Defense Trade Controls registration and effective compliance program to ensure compliance with ITAR. If requested by Snowflake, Customer agrees to provide Snowflake with documentation and cooperation to verify the accuracy of the representations and warranties set forth in Sections 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3.
7.3. The Documentation explains how the Service operates in the U.S. SnowGov Region, including the availability and operation of certain Service features. For example, certain Usage Data may leave the U.S. SnowGov Region. Customer is responsible for reading, understanding, and complying with the Documentation.
7.4. As described in the Documentation, Customer may have the ability to turn off features when using the Service in the U.S. SnowGov Region. Disabling or turning off such features may impact the functionality and/or performance of the Service.
8. Support. Snowflake support for U.S. SnowGov Accounts that requires access to unencrypted Customer Data associated with a U.S. SnowGov Account will be provided by persons who are U.S. Persons located in the U.S. or who have been expressly authorized to access ITAR data by the U.S. government, provided that Customer submits support requests through a support ticket and indicates in such support ticket that it has a U.S. SnowGov Account or Customer contacts Snowflake support at +1-888-239-6019. Notwithstanding anything in the Support Policy to the contrary, Customer may not submit support requests, including security-related questions or concerns, via email or other phone, if Customer requires support to be provided by persons who are lawfully permitted to access ITAR data.
9. Miscellaneous.
9.1. Term. These Terms are effective as of the Effective Date and will remain in effect for so long as Customer is using the Service in the U.S. SnowGov Region, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the Agreement. These Terms and/or any access to the U.S. SnowGov Region may be immediately terminated by Snowflake if Customer ceases to meet applicable eligibility requirements for any deployment in the U.S. SnowGov Region.
9.2. Assignment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Base Agreement: (i) Customer may not assign these Terms without the advance written consent of Snowflake; (ii) Snowflake may assign these Terms without Customer’s consent in connection with a merger, reorganization, acquisition, or other transfer of all or substantially all of Snowflake’s assets or voting securities to a successor; and (iii) Snowflake may assign these Terms to a Snowflake Affiliate.
9.3. Confidentiality. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, Snowflake may disclose Customer Confidential Information as required by law or regulation, and to comply with and maintain its authorizations and certifications, including, without limitation, its U.S. government authorizations. If Snowflake is so required to disclose Customer Confidential Information, then Snowflake shall, to the extent permitted, provide Customer with advance written notification and cooperate in any effort to obtain confidential treatment of such Confidential Information.
9.4. Severability; Interpretation. If a court of competent jurisdiction holds any provision of these Terms to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited to the minimum extent necessary so that these Terms will otherwise remain in effect. Section headings are inserted for convenience only and shall not affect the construction of these Terms.
9.5. Entire Agreement; Conflict. The Agreement (as may be amended in accordance with its terms), are the complete and exclusive statement of the mutual understanding of the parties and supersede and cancel all previous written and oral agreements and communications relating to the subject matter of these Terms. Except as specifically set forth in these Terms, all terms and conditions of the Base Agreement remain in full force and effect. In the event of any conflict between these Terms and the Base Agreement, these Terms will control with respect to the subject matter herein.
