Terms of Use

  • Residential IoT Services GmbH
    Terms of Use for the Home Connect Plus Community
    Last revised: 1st December 2021

    1. Scope of validity, provider, language of the agreement

    1.1 These Terms of Use ("Terms of Use") apply to access to and use of the Home Connect Plus Community ("Home Connect Plus Community"), a product offered by Residential IoT Services GmbH, Borsigstrasse 4, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany (the "Provider") by registered end users ("Users"). Detailed information on the Provider can be found in the legal notice.

    1.2 The language available for the formation of the agreement is German.

    1.3 The user can access and print out the relevant applicable Terms of Use at http://community-en.home-connect-plus.com/page/terms-of-use.

    2. Formation of an agreement, services, availability

    2.1 Upon completion of the registration process by the User and activation of a user account by the Provider, a user agreement shall enter into effect between the Provider and the User ("User Agreement").

    2.2 After entering into the User Agreement, the User can use and book various services ("Services"), namely the following:

    • Free of charge services ("Basic Services"),
    • Free of charge services for which the User provides personal data, or is obliged to provide it, whereby the Provider does not exclusively process it for the purpose of fulfilling its obligation to perform or the legal requirements imposed on it ("Basic Services Plus")

    2.3 These services include, e.g. the provision of software functions, data, posts, image and audio documents, information and other content ("Content").

    2.4 Access to these services shall be either via a browser or a domain ("Website"), as chosen by the Provider, or as an app for use on compatible mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets ("App"). Individual features of the Services may be restricted depending on access options.

    2.5 Availability:

    • The Provider shall make every effort to ensure uninterrupted availability of the Basic Services to the extent possible within the scope of its technical and operational capabilities; however, Users shall not be entitled to uninterrupted use. It cannot be guaranteed that access to, or use of, the Basic Services will not be interrupted or impacted by maintenance work, further developments or other disruptions.
    • Unless otherwise agreed, the Provider guarantees an availability of 98.0% per calendar year for Basic Services Plus. This excludes times at which these Basic Services Plus cannot be accessed due to technical or other problems not attributable to the Provider, or due to maintenance work, which shall be carried out every day between 12 midnight and 4 a.m. CET.

    3. Conditions of use

    3.1 Access to the Home Connect Plus Community and use of the Services require a user account supplied by the Provider to the User (Item 4).

    3.2 The User is responsible for creating and maintaining the necessary technical requirements for the contractual use of the Services that fall within the User's area of responsibility (in particular, the necessary hardware, web browser, mobile device, Internet access).

    4. Registration, user account

    4.1 Registration shall be via the Provider's website at http://community-en.home-connect-plus.com/.

    4.2 The User is asked to enter its registration data, such as name and e-mail address ("Registration Data"). This Registration Data should be complete and accurate. The User undertakes to keep the Registration Data up to date at all times. In order to complete the registration process and submit the Registration Data, the User must agree to the validity of these Terms of Use.

    4.3 In submitting the Registration Data, the User makes an offer to the Provider to enter into the User Agreement on the basis of these Terms of Use. The User's offer is accepted by the Provider via an e-mail confirmation and activation of the user account.

    4.4 The Provider shall be entitled to verify the User's identity immediately after the Registration Data is submitted, or at a later time, by clicking on an activation link sent to the User's e-mail address or by entering a code that is sent to the User's mobile phone number. The user account remains blocked until the User provides the required verification. If the registration process is not completed, the Provider shall be entitled to delete the user account that has not been fully registered.

    4.5 There shall be no entitlement to registration. The Provider may choose not to accept a registration without providing justification.

    4.6 Each natural person is permitted to register only once, with one user account. User accounts are non-transferable.

    4.7 The User undertakes to handle its access data carefully, not to disclose this to third parties and/or not to permit third parties to access its user account by bypassing the access data. The User shall be liable for all activities that are carried out via its user account and for which the User is responsible. The User shall change the password for its user account without delay where there is reason to suspect that the access data may have become accessible to unauthorised third parties.

    5. User content

    5.1 The Provider may allow the User to post, upload, store, create, share, send or display its own content ("User Content") and make this available to third parties ("transmit"), subject to the following regulations.

    5.2 The code of conduct in Item 6 applies to the transmission of User Content as well as to the communication and interaction with other Users.

    5.3 In transmitting User Content, the User grants the Provider a non-exclusive, irrevocable, transferable, free of charge right of use to the User Content for the purposes of providing the Home Connect Plus Community and the associated Services; this right shall be without any restrictions on place or content. This includes, but is not limited to, the right of reproduction, the right of distribution and the right of communication to the public, in particular the right to make the content publicly accessible. The User Content shall remain the property of the respective User.

    5.4 If the User has transmitted User Content in connection with a Basic Service Plus, the right of use granted in accordance with Item 5.3 shall expire when the termination takes effect or if the User withdraws from the Agreement. This shall not apply if the User Content

    • has no use outside the context of the Basic Services Plus,
    • is exclusively connected to the use of the Basic Services Plus by the User,
    • has been combined with other data by the Provider and cannot be separated or only with disproportionate effort, or
    • has been generated by the User together with other Users, provided other Users can continue to use the User Content.
    • The provisions of the Data Privacy Statement (Item 16) shall take precedence for personal User Content.

    5.5 The User foregoes the right to be named as author.

    5.6 Where the Provider expressly offers the option to remove transmitted User Content, the above rights of use and exploitation shall lapse when the User Content is erased. However, the Provider shall remain entitled to retain copies created for the purposes of security or evidence, in compliance with data protection regulations.

    5.7 The User shall be responsible for the User Content it posts. The Provider shall not check User Content for completeness, accuracy, legality, topicality, quality or suitability for a particular purpose.

    5.8 The Provider shall be entitled to reject the posting of User Content and/or to edit, block or remove User Content already posted without prior notice, where the posting of User Content by the User, or the posted User Content itself, violates these Terms of Use, the code of conduct or statutory regulations, or where the User has otherwise culpably breached its contractual obligations. In doing so, the Provider shall give consideration to the legitimate interests of the User and select the least stringent means of defence against the violation. The Provider shall notify the User of said measures via e-mail.

    6. Code of conduct

    6.1 Vis-à-vis the Provider, the User undertakes not to transmit any User Content that violates the Terms of Use, applicable law or accepted morality in terms of its content, format, presentation or otherwise. In particular, the User undertakes to comply with applicable law (e.g. criminal law, competition law and youth protection law) when transmitting User Content and not to infringe the rights of third parties (e.g. naming rights, trademark rights, copyrights, image rights and data protection rights). In particular, the User must not share any User Content via the Home Connect Plus Community that

    • is pornographic, glorifies violence or is harmful to young persons;
    • provokes offences to be committed or presents instructions on how to do this;
    • refers to political activities, in particular to party meetings, demonstrations, flyers or petitions, and to User Content that depicts political symbols;
    • insults, defames, harasses, threatens or harms other Users, the Provider or third parties in any other way, or presents an aggressive or provocative stance;
    • is otherwise illegal, immoral, obscene, vulgar or interferes with the privacy of others, is defamatory or offensive, or contains false allegations or abusive criticism;
    • has been manipulated in order to disguise its origin;
    • contains company and business secrets relating to natural or legal persons, or other content that the User is not entitled to share due to non-disclosure agreements, for example;
    • by its nature (e.g. viruses), size or reproduction (e.g. spamming), threatens the existence or operation of the Home Connect Plus Community (or parts thereof);
    • contains links or other connections to prohibited content in accordance with the above-mentioned criteria, and/or
    • invites the violation of the above-mentioned prohibitions.

    6.2 The moderators of the Home Connect Plus Community may remove User Content at any time, without prior notification, and/or delete words that infringe this code of conduct.

    6.3 If the User becomes aware of an infringement of this code of conduct, the User can report to the Provider which content infringes this code of conduct via an e-mail to . The Provider shall then check the activity and implement appropriate steps where necessary.

    6.4 In the event of serious breaches of obligation for which the User is responsible, the Provider shall be entitled to terminate the User Agreement for good cause, subject to an appropriate notice period in accordance with Item 12.

    7. Home Connect Plus Community content

    7.1 All rights to the Provider's services and to the content thereof ("Home Connect Plus Community Content") are the exclusive property of the Provider or its licensors and are protected by copyright or other intellectual property rights. The compilation of Home Connect Plus Community Content is also protected by copyright as such.

    7.2 The Home Connect Plus Community Content may be accessed and displayed online exclusively for the User's own non-commercial purposes during the term of the User Agreement. The User shall be prohibited from reproducing, distributing and/or making public the Home Connect Plus Community Content.

    7.3 If the Home Connect Plus Community is used for commercial or professional activities, the User may use the Home Connect Plus Community Content made available via the Home Connect Plus Community exclusively for its own internal business purposes. Commercial use of the available Home Connect Plus Community Content outside of this is prohibited (see also Item 9).

    8. Third-party content and services

    8.1 Under some circumstances, the Home Connect Plus Community and the Services contain links to content that is not provided exclusively by the Provider, but by Users, partners or third parties (referred to collectively as "Third-Party Content").

    8.2 This may also include the option to connect the user account or the Services to Third-Party Content that is part of an application offered by a third party (e.g. a third-party app) ("Third-Party Services"). Where the User uses Third-Party Services, the User shall be responsible for any associated costs and for compliance with the terms and conditions applicable to the Third-Party Services.

    8.3 The Provider does not check the completeness, accuracy or legality of Third-Party Content or Third-Party Services, and does not endorse said content or services. In particular, the Provider does not review any security-related aspects in connection in with Third-Party Content or Third-Party Services. Consequently, the Provider does not warrant for the completeness, accuracy, lawfulness or timeliness of Third-Party Content or Third-Party Services. This also applies with regard to the quality of Third-Party Content and Third-Party Services and their suitability for a particular purpose, as well as – where Third-Party Content is located on linked external websites – to content that can be viewed by means of framing.

    8.4 At its own discretion, the Provider shall pursue any justified reports of breaches of these Terms of Use or any unlawfulness of particular Third-Party Content or Third-Party Services (or parts thereof) and take appropriate action to end this situation if required. In particular, the Provider shall immediately remove unlawful Third-Party Content as soon as the Provider becomes aware of its unlawfulness and insofar as this is technically possible.

    10. Fees
    10.1 Registration for, access to and use of the Home Connect Plus Community are free of charge.

    11. Right of cancellation

    11.1 As a consumer, the User shall have the right of cancellation in accordance with the guidelines set out in the appendix. A consumer is any natural person who completes a transaction for purposes that are predominantly attributable to neither their professional nor self-employed activity.

    11.2 The right of cancellation shall expire for agreements on the provision of services also under the following conditions:

    • In the case of an agreement which does not obligate the User to make a payment if the Provider has rendered the service in full;
    • In the case of an agreement which obligates the User to make a payment if the Provider renders the service in full if, before the start of service provision, the User (i) has expressly agreed that the Provider shall start provision of the service before expiry of the cancellation period, (ii) in the case of an agreement entered into outside the business premises, has given its consent in accordance with

    11.2 b) (i) to a permanent data carrier, and (iii) has confirmed that it is aware that its right of cancellation shall expire upon fulfilment of the Agreement by the Provider.

    11.3 The right of cancellation shall expire for agreements on the provision of digital content not stored on a physical data carrier, also under the following conditions:

    • In the case of an agreement which does not obligate the User to make a payment if the Provider has started performance of the agreement,
    • In the case of an agreement which obligates the User to make a payment, if (i) the User has expressly agreed that the Provider shall start performance of the agreement before expiry of the cancellation period, (ii) the User has confirmed that it is aware, with its consent in accordance with

    11.3b), that (i) its right of cancellation shall expire upon commencement of performance of the agreement, and (iii) the Provider has made available to the User a confirmation of the agreement on a permanent data carrier (e.g. via e-mail).

    11.4 Item 12.4e) shall apply accordingly in the event of withdrawal.

    12. Term and termination

    12.1 The User Agreement is concluded for an indefinite period of time. It begins on the date of registration and ends when the termination by the Provider or the User comes into effect.

    12.2 The Provider may ordinarily terminate the User Agreement at any time with a notice period of one month to the end of the month. The User may ordinarily terminate the User Agreement at any time.

    12.3 The right to give notice of termination for good cause by both parties shall remain unaffected.

    12.4 Format of termination

    • Where an option to terminate the User Agreement is not provided via a termination function in the Home Connect Plus Community (e.g. in the user account settings), notice of termination must be submitted in the written form (e.g. via letter or e-mail).
    • In the event that the User Agreement is terminated, the user account shall be locked as of the termination date and the User shall no longer have access to its user account, the Services or User Content.
    • Where a User Agreement is terminated, the Provider shall be entitled to irretrievably erase the data generated in connection with the user account following a period of 30 calendar days after the termination becomes effective, subject to the expiry of any statutory retention periods. With respect to personal data, data protection regulations shall take precedence; these regulations may also provide for a shorter period prior to erasure.
    • The Customer undertakes to export and back up its data and User Content independently and in good time before the end of the User Agreement or expiry of the above period.
    • If the User transmits User Content in connection with the use of a Basic Service Plus, the Provider shall provide the User, at its request, with the User Content which is not personal data free of charge within a reasonable time period and in a current, machine-readable format after the termination enters into effect. This shall not apply if the User Content
      - has no use outside the context of the Basic Services Plus;
      - is exclusively connected to the use of the Basic Services Plus by the User; or
      - has been combined with other data by the Provider and cannot be separated or only with disproportionate effort.

    13. Guarantee

    The statutory regulations apply.

    14. Liability

    14.1 The Provider shall be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions (i) in the event of malicious intent and gross negligence, (ii) in accordance with the provisions of the relevant applicable product liability acts, (iii) within the scope of the Provider's guarantee, and (iv) in the event of loss of life, physical injury or damage to health.

    14.2 In the event of damage to property and pecuniary loss caused by negligence, the Provider shall only be liable in the event of a breach of a cardinal contractual obligation; this liability shall, however, be limited to contractually typical damage that was foreseeable at the time the agreement was formed; Essential contractual obligations are those whose fulfilment form a fundamental part of the Agreement and on which it is reasonable for the User to rely.

    14.3 Otherwise, its liability shall be excluded.

    14.4 Limitations of liability provided for by law and that deviate from the liability provisions set out above to the benefit of the Provider shall remain unaffected.

    14.5 The limitations of liability set out above shall also apply in case of fault on the part of a vicarious agent of the Provider; these shall also apply to the personal liability of employees, representatives and bodies of the Provider as well as to claims for reimbursement of expenses.

    15. Release from duties

    15.1 In the case that recourse is sought due to an alleged or actual infringement of rights and/or the infringement of third-party rights, the User shall release the Provider from all claims made by third parties, including from any losses resulting from these (e.g. costs for appropriate legal defence), which arise due to culpable actions by the User in connection with the use of the Home Connect Plus Community.

    16. Data protection

    16.1 All information relating to the processing of personal data can be found in Provider's Data Privacy Statement. This can be accessed at http://community-en.home-connect-plus.com/page/data-privacy-statement.

    17. Online dispute resolution platform, dispute resolution procedure, complaints

    17.1 The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (ODR). The platform can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ . The Provider's e-mail address is .

    17.2 The Provider is neither obligated nor willing to participate in dispute resolution procedure, pursuant to the German Act on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Consumer Matters (VSBG).

    17.3 Complaints, appeals, issues and remarks may be asserted or lodged to the contact details set out in the imprint.

    18. Amendments to the Terms of Use

    18.1 Insofar as is necessary as a result of changes to the law or functional or technical enhancements to the Home Connect Plus Community, the Provider shall be entitled to amend or supplement these Terms of Use, including any applicable contractual conditions, at any time with effect for the future.

    18.2 The User shall be notified (e.g. via e-mail) of any amendments or supplements on a permanent data carrier at least six weeks before these enter into effect. Where the User does not object to the amendment or supplement within a period of 30 days following notification of the amendment or supplement, the User shall be deemed to have granted consent to the amendment or supplement ("assumed consent"); the Provider shall make specific reference to this in the notification. Assumed consent shall not apply to an amendment that affects a main service of the User Agreement where this would result in an unfavourable discrepancy between service and return to the detriment of the User. In the event of an objection, the contractual relationship shall be continued under the previous terms and conditions.

    18.3 Editorial changes to these Terms of Use – i.e. changes that do not affect the contractual relationship, such as the correction of typing errors – shall be made without notifying the User.

    19. Updates, service changes

    19.1 Updates

    • The Provider may provide updates regarding the Basic Services in order to close security loopholes or rectify errors, for example. The User undertakes to install updates without delay and to update the operating system on its mobile device where this is required to update the Basic Services.
    • The statutory regulations on update obligations apply with regards to the Basic Services Plus. The Provider shall inform the User in good time of the provision of such updates and of the legal consequences of not performing the installation within a reasonable time.

    19.2 Service amendments

    • The Provider shall be entitled to change, supplement or discontinue the Basic Services at any time, to restrict the use of the Basic Services to a particular period of time or make them available for a fee. The User shall not be entitled to retain specific Basic Services or parts thereof. The Provider shall, in each case, make every effort to give consideration to the User's legitimate interests. The User's claims to provision of the Basic Services for reasons outside these Terms of Use (e.g. resulting from the procurement of hardware that relies on the Basic Services running) shall remain unaffected. Where the User is entitled to such claims to the provision of the Basic Services, Item 19.2b) to Item 19.2d) shall apply accordingly to any changes.
    • The Provider shall be entitled to change the Basic Services Plus at any time, also beyond the necessary updates to maintain contractual conformity, provided this is for good reason and the User does not incur any additional costs as a result. A good reason exists, in particular, in the case of changes to the technical environment, changes in user numbers or improvements to Services. The User shall be notified of a change via a post in the forum.
    • Where a change does not significantly impair the User's access to the Basic Services Plus or the usability thereof, the User may terminate the Agreement on the Basic Services Plus free of charge with a notice period of 30 days. This shall not apply if the Provider enables the User to access or use the unchanged Basic Services Plus without any additional costs.
    • The User shall be informed by e-mail of any change to the Basic Services Plus at least 30 days before the change in accordance with Item 19.2c). The termination notice period starts when the information about the change is accessed. If the change does not takes place until after the information is accessed, the termination notice period shall start at the time the change is made. The Provider shall point out to the User the latter's right to termination in the information in accordance with Item 19.2c).
    • Item 19.2b) to Item 19.2d) shall also apply to any changes to the Terms of Use required in connection with this for good cause.

    20. Applicable law, place of jurisdiction

    20.1 Where (i) the User's habitual place of residence is in Germany or (ii) the User's habitual place of residence is in a country that is not a member of the European Union, the law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply, with the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. In the event that the User's habitual place of residence is in a member state of the European Union, German law shall also apply; this shall not impact mandatory provisions in the state in which the User has its habitual place of residence ("favourability principle").

    20.2 Where the User is a business owner, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all legal disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms of Use shall be Stuttgart, Germany. The same applies where the User was domiciled or had its habitual place of residence in Germany at the time that the agreement was formed and the User has either moved out of Germany, or its domicile or habitual place of residence is unknown, at the point in time that the Provider files legal action.

    21. Final provisions

    21.1 Legally relevant declarations and notifications to be submitted to the Provider after the agreement has been formed (e.g. notice periods) must be made in text form (letter, e-mail) in order to be effective.

    21.2 Should any provision of these Terms of Use be or become invalid or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
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