Rules and policies

Rules and policies

Run MilkyWay@home only on authorized computers

Run MilkyWay@home only on computers that you own, or for which you have obtained the owner's permission. Some companies and schools have policies that prohibit using their computers for projects such as MilkyWay@home.

How MilkyWay@home will use your computer

When you run MilkyWay@home on your computer, it will use part of the computer's CPU power, disk space, and network bandwidth. You can control how much of your resources are used by MilkyWay@home, and when it uses them.

The work done by your computer contributes to the goals of MilkyWay@home, as described on its web site. The application programs may change from time to time.

Privacy policy

Your account on MilkyWay@home is identified by a name that you choose. This name may be shown on the MilkyWay@home web site, along with a summary of the work your computer has done for MilkyWay@home. If you want to be anonymous, choose a name that doesn't reveal your identity.

If you participate in MilkyWay@home, information about your computer (such as its processor type, amount of memory, etc.) will be recorded by MilkyWay@home and used to decide what type of work to assign to your computer. This information will also be shown on MilkyWay@home's web site. Nothing that reveals your computer's location (e.g. its domain name or network address) will be shown.

To participate in MilkyWay@home, you must give an address where you receive email. This address will not be shown on the MilkyWay@home web site or shared with organizations. MilkyWay@home may send you periodic newsletters; however, you can opt out at any time.

Private messages sent on the MilkyWay@home web site are visible only to the sender and recipient. MilkyWay@home does not examine or police the content of private messages. If you receive unwanted private messages from another MilkyWay@home user, you may add them to your message filter . This will prevent you from seeing any public or private messages from that user.

If you use our web site forums you must follow the posting guidelines . Messages posted to the MilkyWay@home forums are visible to everyone, including non-members. By posting to the forums, you are granting irrevocable license for anyone to view and copy your posts.

Is it safe to run MilkyWay@home?

Any time you download a program through the Internet you are taking a chance: the program might have dangerous errors, or the download server might have been hacked. MilkyWay@home has made efforts to minimize these risks. We have tested our applications carefully. Our servers are behind a firewall and are configured for high security. To ensure the integrity of program downloads, all executable files are digitally signed on a secure computer not connected to the Internet.

The applications run by MilkyWay@home may cause some computers to overheat. If this happens, stop running MilkyWay@home or use a utility program that limits CPU usage.

MilkyWay@home was developed by Astroinformatics Group. BOINC was developed at the University of California.

Liability

MilkyWay@home and Astroinformatics Group assume no liability for damage to your computer, loss of data, or any other event or condition that may occur as a result of participating in MilkyWay@home.

Other BOINC projects

Other projects use the same platform, BOINC, as MilkyWay@home. You may want to consider participating in one or more of these projects. By doing so, your computer will do useful work even when MilkyWay@home has no work available for it.

These other projects are not associated with MilkyWay@home, and we cannot vouch for their security practices or the nature of their research. Join them at your own risk.