A SaaS agreement governs access to cloud software on a subscription basis. Unlike a software licence, the customer does not receive a copy of the software — they access it over the internet. Key issues are data ownership, uptime, and what happens to data on termination.

• Customer data remains customer's property — critical to state this
• GDPR: SaaS provider almost always acts as a data processor — DPA required
• Uptime SLA: 99.9% = 8.7 hours downtime per year
• IP in the software remains with the provider
• Force majeure: cloud dependency on third-party infrastructure

Legal reference: Computer Misuse Act 1990; UK GDPR; Consumer Rights Act 2015 (if B2C)