Terms and Conditions

General Terms and Conditions of Business (GTCB) for use of the NECT App and the identity verification via “ROBO-IDENT”

1. Scope of validity

1. a. Nect GmbH (hereinafter “Nect”) offers a service for electronic personal identification. This service is hereinafter referred to as the “Robo-Ident Procedure” (formally known as “Selfie-Ident”).
2. Robo-Ident is a procedure which can be used with a mobile application (hereinafter “App”) which includes an integrated video, photo and audio function for personal identification (hereinafter “User”). This application is hereinafter referred to as “Identification Services”.
3. c. The GTCB govern the relationship between Nect and a User with regard to the Robo-Ident Procedure.
4. d. The present GTCB also apply to Nect qualified identification procedures when issuing ad hoc certificates. Further information on fulfilling the certification requirements can be found in the "Trust Service Practices Statement" (TSPS).

2. Object of the contract and contracting parties

1. a. The Robo-Ident procedure is used to open an account with Nect (see 5.).
2. b. The Robo-Ident Procedure serves to identify a User who wishes to enter into, or already has, a business relationship with a third party – such as a bank, insurance company, organizer of a competition/lottery or a signature provider (hereinafter “Partners”) – by presenting existing identification documents.
3. c. Due to statutory regulations (e.g. Art. 203 German Criminal Code [StGB], Money Laundering Act [Geldwäschegesetz] De-Mail Act [DE-Mail-Gesetz], or Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors [Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag], Confidential Services Act [Vertrauensdienstegesetz]). Partners are obliged to verify users’ identities prior to entering into business relationships with them. Nect is active as an independent provider of identification services. Nect does not process any transactions or payments between Users and Partners. Nect does not act as a representative or messenger for Partners. Partners’ services are exclusively governed by the contractual terms agreed between Users and the Partner.
4. d. Within the scope of the Robo-Ident Procedure, for the duration of the usage contract Nect stores the outcome of the personal identification for documentation and verification purposes as well as to recognize any subsequent identity theft.
5. e. After completing establishment of identity Nect informs the Partner of the outcome, insofar as the User has given his/her prior consent to this.
6. f. The User can view the outcome of the Identification Services via the App.

3. Conclusion of the contract

1. a. The usage contract between Nect and the User comes into being upon acceptance of the terms of use stated in the App, independent of the outcome of the Robo-Ident Procedure.
2. b. Nect primarily targets German-speaking users, who are over 16 years old, which must be confirmed during the registration process in the app. These GTCB and further information are thus available exclusively in German.
3. c. Nect does not store any further contractual texts in addition to these GTCB and does not provide such texts for download on its website. The content of these GTCB can, however, be downloaded from the App at any time.

4. Robo-Ident Procedure (formerly known as "Selfie-Ident-Procedure")

1. a. In order to carry out the Robo-Ident Procedure a personal identification is first carried out by means of a video and/or voice recording made using a smartphone.
2. b. Following this, a digital visual inspection of the official identity document is carried out. This is done by using the corresponding smartphone’s photo function to record digital images.
3. c. The gathered data is transferred to our infrastructure and analysed there ("verification procedure").
4. d. The outcome is notified to the User on his/her smartphone’s display.
5. e. Should the personal identification procedure be carried out at the instigation of a Partner (e.g. an insurance company or bank), then the Partner will, following the User’s prior consent, also be electronically notified of the outcome.

5. User account

1. a. Following Users’ acceptance of the usage terms and conditions published on the App, Nect automatically sets up a user account and assigns a personalized identification number.
2. b. Access to the user account (and thus the protocols for established personal identifications) can be gained either by using the Robo-Ident Procedure or the smartphone’s PIN or touch ID. It is not necessary to enter a special password or the identification number.
3. c. The user account may only be used for personal identification purposes, which also includes fraud prevention – i.e. to prove the User’s identity and/or age to third parties.
4. d. Nect is entitled to block the user profile if the User commits any culpable and serious breach of the provisions of these GTCB or infringes statutory regulations. In such cases Nect will also be entitled to an extraordinary right of termination. Nect reserves the right to report any user infringements of criminal law to the authorities.
5. e. In accordance with Art. 17 GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulation), Users may, at any time, demand that Nect erases any personal data concerning them which has been stored. Should the User exercise this right, then Nect will – insofar as it is not subject to statutory storage obligations – erase the entire user account and inform the User accordingly. User accounts cannot be recovered following erasure.

6. User’s obligations to cooperate and other obligations

1. a. Identification Services cannot be performed without the collaboration of the User. The User is thus obliged to provide appropriate cooperation – for example by following the App’s instructions regarding the Robo-Ident Procedure.
2. b. The User will, in particular, provide Nect with full details, data, documents, papers and information required for identification services and for registration. The required data provided by the User must be complete, truthful and genuine.
3. c. In addition to this, use of Nect’s Identification Services is dependent on the technical performance of the User’s end device. The user is responsible for ensuring the capability and compatibility of the relevant end device.

7. Availability of the Robo-Ident Procedure and the App

1. a. Nect makes every effort to ensure that its Identification Services are continuously available. Taking into consideration the complex technical infrastructure of the Robo-Ident Procedure, the maximum guaranteed availability is 98% on an annual average.
2. b. In particular Nect reserves the right to temporarily limit availability if this necessary or required for reasons relating to capacity restrictions; server security or integrity or in order to carry out technical maintenance or servicing work and this serves to provide orderly or improved performance of services. Nect will, in such cases, take Users’ legitimate interests into consideration and will, in the case of longer-term maintenance windows, provide Users with information, in particular in text form, insofar as emails addresses have been provided.
3. c. Nect will provide the Robo-Ident Procedure and the App on a continuous basis. The standard operating hours for customer service are from 09.00 to 17.00 CET on working days (excepting Saturdays). As a matter of principle, Nect will carry out maintenance work in the period from 18.00 to 07.00 and, in exceptional cases, when maintenance work is required to continue operation.

8. Remuneration

1. a. The Robo-Ident Procedure is, in general, used by Partners who wish to provide their customers or potential customers with a legally watertight personal identification option. Users are thus not required to pay any remuneration for use of the Robo-Ident Procedure.
2. b. Nect however reserves the right at a later date to charge its Users for use of the Robo-Ident Procedure if such use takes places without the integration of Partners. Any such change of contract will, however, be communicated to Users in good time within the scope of statutory requirements; an option to object will also be provided.

9. Indemnification

1. The User indemnifies Nect against any and all third-party claims which are made against Nect on the basis of unauthorized use of the User’s access data or identification number, unless the User is not responsible for the unauthorized third-party use.

10. Liability

1. a. Claims to damage by the User are excluded, no matter what the legal basis for such claims is.
2. b. This provision does not apply to claims for damages by the customer resulting from injury to life, limb or health or infringement of essential contractual obligations (cardinal obligations) as well as to liability for other damages resulting from intentional or grossly negligent breaches of obligation on the part of Nect; its legal representatives or its vicarious agents.
3. Essential contractual obligations are those which must be fulfilled in order to perform the Identification Services.
4. d. Should essential contractual obligations be breached, then Nect will only be liable for damages which are typical for the contract and foreseeable and if these damages were caused by simple negligence, unless the damages concerned relate to end user claims for damages resulting from injury to life, limb or health.
5. e. These restrictions also apply in favour of Nect’s legal representatives and vicarious agents if claims are asserted directly against such individuals.
6. f. The limitations on liability will not apply insofar as Nect has taken on a guarantee.
7. g. Liability under the German Product Liability Act [Produkthaftungsgesetz] will remain unaffected.
8. h. Irrespective of the above provisions, joint responsibility for damages on the part of the User – in particular inadequate performance of obligations to cooperate; inadequate securing of data or infringement of any other contractual obligations – will reduce the amount of any claim for damages.
9. i. The User is obliged to notify Nect in writing and without delay regarding any damages which are defined by the above liability provisions or to have such damages recorded by Nect in such a way that Nect is informed as early as possible and may, together with the User, possibly prevent further damages.
10. j. Nect is only liable for the recovery of data insofar as the User has taken all required and appropriate precautions to secure data, in particular with regard to secure storage and confidentiality, and has ensured that data originating from data material which is kept available in machine-readable form can be recovered at a reasonable cost and effort.

11. Right to withdraw and information on withdrawal; Sample withdrawal form

Right to withdraw

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within fourteen (14) days and without giving reasons. The deadline for withdrawal is fourteen (14) days from the date on which the contract was concluded.

In order to exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform us

Nect GmbH
Großer Burstah 21
20457 Hamburg
Germany
privacy@nect.com

by means of a clear declaration (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or email) concerning your decision to withdraw from this contract. You may use the attached sample withdrawal form for this purpose; this is, however, not mandatory. In order to comply with the deadline for withdrawal, it will be sufficient if you dispatch the notification of exercising of the right to withdrawal before the deadline for withdrawal expires.

Consequences of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, then we must repay any payments received from you without delay and at the latest with fourteen (14) days of the date on which we received notification of your withdrawal from this contract. Such repayment will be carried out using the same method of payment as the one which you used for the original transaction unless anything else has been specifically agreed with you. On no account will you be charged a fee for this repayment.

Should you have requested that the services commence during the period of notice for the withdrawal, then you must pay us a reasonable sum which represents the proportion of services already performed prior to the date on which you notified us that you were exercising your right to withdraw from this contract in comparison to the total scope of services foreseen in the contract. End of information on withdrawal

Sample withdrawal form

(If you wish to withdraw from the contract, please complete this form and return it to us.)

To:
Nect GmbH
Großer Burstah 21
20457 Hamburg
Germany
privacy@nect.com

I/we (*) herewith withdraw from the contract which I/we (*) signed regarding performance of the following services

Ordered on (*)/Received on (*)
Name of the consumer(s)
Address of the consumer(s)
Signature of the consumer(s) (only for paper notifications)
Date
Please delete as applicable.

12. Data protection

1. Processing of your personal data is carried out in accordance with our data protection declaration.

13. Duration; Resolutive condition

1. The usage contract is valid for an indefinite period of time and may be terminated at any time with a period of notice of one month to the end of the month. Since the Robo-Ident Procedure employs sensitive data as defined by Art. 9 GDPR, which foresees explicit consent by the user, this usage contract is subject to the resolutive condition of withdrawal of consent by the User. Should the User exercise this right (also only partially), then Nect is no longer obliged to fulfil the contract.

14. Concluding provisions

1. a. These GTCB and all contracts concluded between Nect and the User which take these GTCB into account are subject to the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany and under exclusion of the UN purchasing law (CISG).
2. b. Nect is entitled to assign its rights and obligations arising from the contract regarding the use of the Robo-Ident Procedure and the App to one or more third parties (contract transfer). Nect will notify the User of any planned contract transfer and the identity of the party taking over the contract without delay upon obtaining knowledge of this. In such cases, the User will be entitled to terminate the contract effective immediately.
3. c. Nect reserves the right to amend these GTCB at any time and without giving reasons. The amended contractual terms will be provided to the User at the latest four (4) weeks before they come into force. Nect will also publicize the amendment of these GTCB on its website. Should the User not object to the validity of these amended GTCB within four (4) weeks of receiving Nect’s notification of the amendment to the GTCB, then the User will be deemed to have accepted the amended GTCB. When issuing this notification regarding amendment of the GTCB, Nect undertakes to specifically inform the User of the consequences of his/her tacit acceptance.
4. d. Should individual provisions of this contract be, or become, fully or partially ineffective or invalid, then this will not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. In such cases, Nect and the User undertake to agree a valid provision which replaces the ineffective or invalid provision and comes as close as possible to the desired purpose as soon as possible. The same applies in the event of a loophole in these GTCB.
5. e. Should the User wish to complain, then he/she can contact the European online dispute resolution platform at any time by clicking the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. Nect will, however, not participate in any dispute resolution procedure carried out by a consumer arbitration organization and is also not obliged to do so.

Last amended: November 2020