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# Enforce accepting Terms of Service

> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/18570)
> in [GitLab Core](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 10.8

An admin can enforce acceptance of a terms of service and privacy policy. When this option is enabled, new and existing users must accept the terms.

## Configuration

To enforce acceptance of a Terms of Service and Privacy Policy:

1. Log in to the GitLab instance as an admin user.
1. Go to **Admin Area > Settings > General**.
1. Expand the **Terms of Service and Privacy Policy** section.
1. Check the **Require all users to accept Terms of Service and Privacy Policy when they access
GitLab.** checkbox.
1. Input the text of the **Terms of Service and Privacy Policy**. Markdown formatting can be used in this input box.
1. Click **Save changes**.
1. When you are presented with the **Terms of Service** statement, click **Accept terms**.

![Enable enforcing Terms of Service](img/enforce_terms.png).

For each update to the terms, a new version is stored. When a user accepts or declines the terms,
GitLab will record which version they accepted or declined.

## New users

When this feature is enabled, a checkbox is added to the sign-up form.

![Sign up form](img/sign_up_terms.png)

This checkbox will be required during sign up.

Users can review the terms entered in the admin panel before
accepting. The page will be opened in a new window so they can
continue their registration afterwards.

## Accepting terms

When this feature is enabled, the users that have not accepted the
terms of service will be presented with a screen where they can either
accept or decline the terms.

![Respond to terms](img/respond_to_terms.png)

If the user accepts the terms, they will be directed to where they
were going. After a sign-in or sign-up this will most likely be the
dashboard.

If the user was already logged in when the feature was turned on,
they will be asked to accept the terms on their next interaction.

If a user declines the terms, they will be signed out.

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