Exam terms and conditions

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) apply to registering for, booking, purchasing, and sitting certification examinations on the IONOS Cloud Certification Platform located at https://certify.cloud.ionos.com.

The use of the certification platform is also subject to the IONOS Cloud Certification Platform Privacy Policy, which explains how your personal data is collected, used, shared, retained, and protected in connection with certification services. The Privacy Policy is available at: https://certify.cloud.ionos.com/privacy

To ensure international applicability, your contractual partner for examination services is the specific regional IONOS Cloud entity operating in the country or region from which you register your user account, as identified at the time of your account registration (“Regional IONOS Cloud Entity”). In cases where no specific local IONOS Cloud entity is designated for your country of registration, the contract is entered into directly with IONOS Cloud GmbH, Elgendorfer Straße 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany, where your country of residence is within the European Union. If you are a Non EU/UK-customer the contract is entered into directly with IONOS Cloud USA Inc., Two Logan Square, 100 N 18th St, Ste 400, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.

Provider details and regional entity contacts are listed below:

• DE: IONOS Cloud GmbH, Elgendorfer Straße 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany
• UK: IONOS Cloud UK Ltd., No.2 Cathedral Walk, The Forum, Gloucester, GL1 1AU, United Kingdom
• FR: IONOS Cloud France SAS, 191-195 Avenue Charles de Gaulle, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
• USA: IONOS Cloud USA Inc., Two Logan Square, 100 N 18th St, Ste 400, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA
• ES: IONOS Cloud Solutions Spain SLU, Calle Madre de Dios 21, 26004 Logroño, Spain
• RO: IONOS Cloud Romania SRL, 246C Calea Floreasca, 14476 Bucharest, Romania

These Terms govern the certification platform and exam services exclusively. They are distinct from the general terms and conditions covering IONOS Cloud infrastructure products and services, which do not apply to sitting an exam.

You must register a user account on https://certify.cloud.ionos.com to book and take an exam. To validly register you must be at least 18 years of age and have the legal capacity to enter into this agreement. You agree to provide accurate, complete, and current information during registration.

The legal name registered on your account will appear directly on any issued certificate, digital badge, or credential. Credentials cannot be reissued or amended under a different name to rectify inaccurate account setup.

Your account is personal, non-transferable, and assigned exclusively to you. You may not permit any third party to use your account or take an examination on behalf of another individual. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials, password, and multi-factor authentication devices.

A binding exam booking is established when you confirm your selection and a booking confirmation is rendered on the platform.

Prices are clearly indicated in Euro (EUR) prior to booking confirmation. For consumer transactions, displayed prices represent the total amount payable, including any applicable Value Added Tax (VAT).

Selected examinations may be offered at promotional, discounted, or zero-cost introductory rates. Any applicable discount is reflected in your order summary before order placement. Introductory and promotional offers may be modified or withdrawn for future bookings at any time without impacting already confirmed bookings.

If you are a consumer residing in the European Union (EU) or the United Kingdom (UK), you generally have a statutory right to withdraw from a distance contract within 14 days without providing reason.

If you schedule an exam to take place within the 14-day withdrawal period, you explicitly request that we begin providing the certification service prior to the expiration of the withdrawal window. Once you have completed or sat the exam, the service is fully rendered, and your statutory right of withdrawal is exhausted. You will be prompted to acknowledge this during the booking process where applicable.

To exercise a valid right of withdrawal prior to sitting the exam, you must submit a clear declaration by contacting us at cloud@ionos.de.

You may reschedule or cancel an exam booking prior to the start time in accordance with the notice requirements displayed on the platform. Live-proctored exams are scheduled into staffed time slots and require longer advance notice than automated, on-demand exams.

If an examination cannot be conducted or completed due to a technical outage or system failure originating from our platform, you will be provided the choice of either a free rescheduled exam session or a full refund.

You must complete the examination independently, unassisted, and in compliance with all integrity rules. During an active examination session, you must strictly refrain from:

• Using unauthorized notes, secondary electronic devices, books, or external materials;
• Communicating with or receiving help from any person, or allowing anyone else to view your screen or exam content;
• Copying, capturing, photographing, recording, or reproducing any portion of exam questions or answers;
• Operating virtual machines, remote-access utilities, screen-sharing tools, or extra displays to hide activity;
• Interfering with, bypassing, or attempting to manipulate the exam application, proctoring security, or automated scoring mechanisms.

All exam materials, questions, and solutions remain the exclusive intellectual property of IONOS Cloud and are strictly confidential. Disclosing or sharing exam content—including posting questions on forums, study groups, or exam-dump websites—constitutes a material breach of contract regardless of whether you passed the exam.

Proctored examinations require session monitoring to ensure test integrity. Depending on the specific examination tier, monitoring measures may include live video/audio recording via webcam, a brief physical workspace scan, full screen sharing with periodic screen captures, and automated video feed checks. Applicable monitoring features are disclosed before booking and before launch, and require your explicit consent before activation.

Your web browser is continuously monitored during proctored sittings for integrity signals, including tab switching, exiting fullscreen mode, copy-and-paste actions, screenshot key combinations, and secondary monitor connections. Certain security breaches will result in immediate automatic exam termination.

Session recordings and screen captures are retained for 30 days and permanently deleted thereafter. Data is reviewed by human proctors only when an integrity flag is raised or when a result is formally disputed.

For details regarding data protection, please consult our Privacy Policy_Certification Platform. Revoking consent for mandatory monitoring during a proctored exam terminates the sitting without scoring.

Examinations are scored automatically based on predefined answer keys and published score weightings. Automated security signals or proctoring alerts may flag a sitting for human inspection, which may result in a score being temporarily withheld or invalidated.

You maintain the right to request a human review of any flagged or disputed result. A result will never be permanently invalidated based solely on an automated system decision without access to human evaluation. To request a review, contact cloud@ionos.de. An independent reviewer will examine the exam logs and recordings. The review outcome will either confirm the result, adjust the score, or grant a complimentary re-sit.

Individual answer logs are retained for 90 days, and aggregate test marks are retained for 12 months. After 90 days, specific item responses are deleted and underlying answer logs can no longer be retrieved for disputes.

Participants who successfully pass an examination will be issued an official digital credential, certificate, and verifiable digital badge.

Issued credentials are designed for digital sharing and can be directly shared across professional networks, including LinkedIn, public candidate profiles, digital resumes, and online job portals.

Where applicable, credential validity periods are stated on the digital certificate itself. We reserve the right to revoke an issued credential if:

• It was obtained through a breach of conduct rules;
• It was issued due to a technical, administrative, or scoring error;
• The identity of the examinee cannot be definitively established.

By default, your legal name is kept private on verifiable public links; you may choose to display your name publicly through your account settings.

You are responsible for ensuring your hardware, software, and internet connectivity meet the published technical requirements prior to launching an exam. Minimum requirements include an updated supported web browser, a functional webcam and microphone (for proctored sessions), and a continuous high-speed internet connection.

If you do not meet these requirements and are unable to take or complete the examination, IONOS will not be responsible and no refund, credit, or free re-sit will be provided, except where required by applicable law.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, intent, gross negligence, fraud, or mandatory statutory consumer rights.

Subject to applicable statutory laws, neither the applicable Regional IONOS Cloud Entity nor any member of the IONOS group shall be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, or for any commercial consequences resulting from a failed examination or the inability to obtain, maintain, renew or use a certification, including loss of employment opportunities, promotions, revenue, business opportunities or partner program statuses.

Subject to applicable law and except for liability that cannot be limited or excluded by law, the total aggregate liability of the the Regional IONOS Cloud Entity and any member of the IONOS group arising out of or in connection with these Terms, the certification platform or the examination services shall not exceed the total amount paid by you for the certification service giving rise to the claim.

We reserve the right to modify these Terms. The version applicable to your exam booking is the version in effect and accepted by you at the time of order confirmation. Registered account holders will be notified of material changes prior to making subsequent exam bookings.

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

These Terms and any contractual relationship established hereunder are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which your contracting Regional IONOS Cloud Entity is incorporated. Where the contract is entered into with IONOS Cloud GmbH, German law shall apply, excluding conflict of laws principles.

If you are a consumer residing in the EU or UK, you retain the protection of mandatory provisions of the consumer protection laws of your country of residence.

For general inquiries, support, or complaints regarding exam bookings, please contact us at cloud@ionos.de.

This Section 14 applies exclusively to customers who register, book, or sit examinations from the United States of America (USA) or any other jurisdiction outside the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) (“Non-EU/UK Customers”).

14.1 Non-Applicability of EU/UK Statutory Consumer Withdrawal Rights

The statutory 14-day right of withdrawal described in Section 4 applies solely to consumers residing in the EU or UK. If you are a Non-EU/UK Customer, statutory EU/UK withdrawal rights do not apply to your exam booking. All cancellations, rescheduling requests, and refund eligibility for Non-EU/UK Customers are strictly governed by Section 5 of these Terms.

14.2 Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE CERTIFICATION PLATFORM, EXAMINATIONS, SCORING, CREDENTIALS, AND ALL RELATED SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AS WELL AS ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE.

14.3 Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL IONOS CLOUD, ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE CERTIFICATION PLATFORM, EXAMINATIONS, OR CREDENTIALS, REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY (CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE), EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, THE PLATFORM, OR EXAMINATIONS SHALL NOT EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR THE SPECIFIC EXAMINATION GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE INCIDENT.

14.4 Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms, including the determination of the scope or applicability of this agreement to arbitrate, shall be determined by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. Judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.

YOU AND IONOS CLOUD AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON'S CLAIMS AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING.

14.5 Governing Law and Forum for US Customers

These Terms, any arbitration under Section 14.4, and any dispute arising hereunder shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA, without regard to its conflict of law principles. To the extent any judicial proceeding is permitted under these Terms, both parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

For general inquiries, support, or complaints regarding exam bookings, please contact us:

• Email: certification@ionos.com

You agree that notices, confirmations, updates, certificates, and other communications relating to the certification platform may be provided electronically to you through the platform or by email.

The applicable Regional IONOS Cloud Entity shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform its obligations under these Terms where such delay or failure results from events beyond its reasonable control, including natural disasters, acts of government, war, terrorism, civil unrest, internet or telecommunications failures, cyberattacks, pandemics, or failures of third-party service providers.

The Regional IONOS Cloud Entity reserves the right, at its reasonable discretion, to refuse, suspend, restrict, or terminate access to the certification platform, examination services, or certification program, including where it reasonably believes that a user has violated these Terms, compromised examination integrity, provided inaccurate information, engaged in fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful conduct, or where the provision of services would violate applicable laws, regulations, sanctions programs, export control laws, trade restrictions, governmental orders, or other legal obligations.