VPN – Supplementary Contractual Terms

The General Terms and Conditions of G DATA CyberDefense AG apply. The following supplementary contractual terms and conditions are additionally valid for G DATA VPN.

Section 1: Conclusion of Contract for VPN Services

(1) The subject of the contract is the provision of a VPN (virtual private network) service.
By offering the services on our website, we make a binding offer to conclude a contract under the conditions specified in the product description.

(2) The contract is concluded via the online shopping cart system as follows:
Add the services you plan to purchase to the “shopping cart.” Using the corresponding button in the navigation bar, you can open the “shopping cart” and make changes there at any time. After opening the “Checkout” page, entering your personal data, and choosing a payment method, the full order details will be displayed again on the order overview page.
If you select an instant payment system (for example, PayPal/PayPal Express/PayPal Plus, Amazon Payments, Postpay, Sofort) as the payment method, you will either be taken to the order overview page in our online store or you will first be redirected to the website of the instant payment provider.
If you are redirected to the instant payment system you chose, make the appropriate selections and/or enter your data there. Next, you will be taken back to the order summary page on our online store. 
Before submitting the order, you have the opportunity to re-check your entries, make any changes you need to (also using the “back” function on your Internet browser), or cancel the order.
When submitting the order using the “Buy” button, you declare the legally binding acceptance of the offer; as a result of this action, the contract is concluded.

(3) Requests for an offer on your part are not binding for you. We will submit a binding offer in writing (for example, by e-mail), which you can accept within five (5) days.

(4) The processing of the order and transmission of all information required in conjunction with concluding the contract is carried out by e-mail, automatically in some cases. Please therefore make sure that the e-mail address you provided to us is correct and that you are technically able to receive e-mails, in particular, that this is not prevented by a spam filter.

Section 2: Terms of Use

The use of G DTA VPN is based on the following terms of use. For the purposes of these provisions, G DATA services, networks, servers, products, services, and accounts also include those of subcontractors that G DATA uses to provide the agreed services and fulfill its contractual obligations.

(1) General Provisions

The activities described below are not permitted when using G DATA VPN and are strictly prohibited under these terms of use. G DATA reserves the right to classify any activity that harms or has the potential to harm the G DATA network, customers, or users as a violation of these terms of use. If a customer is unsure whether an intended use or activity is permissible, it is the customer’s responsibility to contact G DATA by e-mail at info@gdata.de to verify that the intended use or activity is permitted. In general, G DATA customers may not use G DATA’s network, servers, or services in a manner that:

i. violates any applicable law, regulations, contracts, or tariff plans, including but not limited to data protection laws;

ii. violates the terms of use of networks, servers, or services accessed via G DATA’s network;

iii. infringes the intellectual property rights of G DATA or others;

iv. violates the privacy of others;

v. involves the resale of G DATA products or services, unless this is expressly agreed in a separate agreement with G DATA;

vi. involves fraudulent online marketing practices, including but not limited to practices that violate the United States Federal Trade Commission guidelines on sound online marketing practices;

vii. violates special instructions issued by G DATA for purposes of the proper functioning, the security, or the quality of other services offered by G DATA or for reasons of technical compatibility of devices connected to the G DATA network;

viii. materially impairs the quality of the services provided by G DATA; or

ix. otherwise violates these terms of use.

(2) Special Provisions

The following is expressly prohibited:

i. the unauthorized use (or attempted unauthorized use) or sabotage of computers or networks;

ii. attempting to disrupt or block the service of a user or host (for example, denial of service and/or DNS spoofing attacks);

iii. the falsification of user identification data;

iv. introduction of malicious programs into the G DATA network or G DATA servers (for example, viruses, worms, Trojans, etc.);

v. unauthorized scanning of networks of other parties for vulnerabilities;

vi. any form of network monitoring (for example, using a packet sniffer) or otherwise monitoring or intercepting data not intended for the customer without authorization;

vii. attempting to bypass customer authentication or the security of a host, network, or account (“cracking”) without authorization;

viii. the use of programs/scripts/commands or sending messages of any kind aimed at disrupting the terminal session of a third-party provider, in any way, locally or via the Internet;

ix.            “phishing,” which involves the simulation of communication to and/or from the website or another service of a different company in order to collect identity information, authentication data, or other information from legitimate users of that company’s service;

x.              “pharming,” which is the use of malware, DNS cache poisoning, or other means to redirect a user to a website or other service that simulates a service offered by a legitimate entity in order to collect identity data, authentication data, or other information from legitimate users of that entity’s service;

xi. sending or receiving, using or reusing, or uploading any material in violation of copyright, privacy, or similar rights of third parties;

xii. entering inaccurate or incorrect information in the registration form;

xiii. use of the services in excess of the bandwidth limit specified for the customer’s user account;

xiv. promoting, transferring, or otherwise making any software, programs, products, or services available in violation of this policy;

xv. attempting to circumvent or alter the process or procedures for measuring time, bandwidth usage, or other methods of documenting “usage” of G DATA’s products and services;

xvi. falsification of header information or user identification data;

xvii. attempted or successful security breaches or disruptions of Internet communications, including but not limited to accessing data of which the customer is not the recipient, or logging into a G DATA server or account that the customer is not expressly authorized to access;

xviii. IP hijacking;

xix. sending unsolicited bulk e-mails (“spam”);

xx. collecting replies to unsolicited bulk e-mails;

xxi. willfully sending excessively large attachments to an e-mail recipient; sending unsolicited commercial e-mails;

xxii. operating an open mail relay and/or an open proxy; and

xxiii. collecting e-mail addresses from the Internet for the purpose of sending unsolicited bulk e-mails or disclosing the collected addresses to others for this purpose.

(3) Violation of Third-party Rights

G DATA will promptly handle and investigate reports of alleged infringements and take appropriate measures to protect intellectual property and the rights of G DATA and third parties. G DATA will, to the extent necessary to protect its own or third-party rights, act expeditiously to block or disable access to any material claimed to infringe copyright or to be the subject of an infringing activity, and will act expeditiously to block or disable access to any reference or link to material or activities claimed to infringe copyright. G DATA will block access to the service for customers who repeatedly infringe copyright.

Reports of alleged copyright infringements should be sent to abuse@wlvpn.com. If G DATA blocks or disables access to material that is alleged to infringe copyright or other third-party rights, G DTA will attempt to contact the customer who posted said material to give them the opportunity to respond to the report. All counter notifications submitted by the customer shall be sent to the complaining party. G DATA will give the complaining party ten (10) days from the date the counter notification is sent to appeal to the court before Mudhook replaces material or restores access to it based on a counter notification.

(4) Notification of Risks

The customer undertakes to notify GDATA without delay if he or she becomes aware of any impending event that could have a negative impact on the G DATA network. These include blackmail with the threat of denial of service attacks, unauthorized access, or other security incidents.

(5) E-mail

The following activities are prohibited in conjunction with e-mails sent or received via G DATA’s network, servers, or services:

i. the use of e-mail to harass, whether it be verbal harassment or harassment owing to the frequency or volume of messages. Continuing to e-mail someone after being asked to stop is deemed harassment;

ii. the use of e-mail to cause disruption (mail bombing, flashing, etc.);

iii. sending e-mails with fake header information;

iv. sending e-mails with falsified or hidden information (e.g., encrypted or obfuscated URLs) designed to prevent the location of the advertised product from being established;

v. composing or creating chain e-mails, pyramid schemes, and hoaxes;

vi. use of the e-mail server of another party to forward e-mails without their express permission;

vii. use of the G DATA or customer account to collect replies to messages sent by another provider that violate these rules or those of the other provider; and

viii. use of G DATA Services in combination with or to support the operation of a mail server without a license to operate such a server in a jurisdiction where such a license is required.

(6) Bulk E-mails

Customers who use G DATA services to send bulk e-mails may only do so via closed-loop opt-in lists. Customers who send bulk e-mails using closed-loop opt-in lists must have a method to confirm or verify subscriptions and be able to provide proof of subscription to users who complain about receiving unsolicited e-mails. Sending unsolicited bulk e-mails (“opt-out”) is prohibited and will result in termination of service for customers who engage in this practice. Sending bulk “opt-out" e-mails of another provider that directly or indirectly advertise or imply the use of a service hosted or provided by G DATA is prohibited. Customer shall not promote, distribute, or use any software that facilitates the sending of “opt-out” e-mails or collects e-mail addresses from the Internet for this purpose. In addition, customers may not sell or distribute lists of aggregated e-mail addresses for “opt-out” e-mails. Customers who offer or use a service that uses referral IDs shall be held accountable for unsolicited bulk e-mails sent by members of the referral ID service that link to services hosted by G DATA. Customers who send unsolicited bulk e-mails, as described above, from G DATA accounts are in breach of the terms of use and, in the event of culpable action, shall compensate G DATA for the resulting damage.

(7) Data Privacy

Because the Internet is inherently an open and non-secure means of communication, any data or information that a user transmits over the Internet can be intercepted and altered. The customer cannot expect that content, including files, transmitted via G DATA’s services will be treated confidentially.

(8) Violations of the Terms of Use

In the event of a breach of or non-compliance with these terms of use on the part of the customer, G DATA expressly reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to seek any and all remedies it deems warranted, including but not limited to suspension or termination of the provision of one or more of G DATA’s services, and any other remedies available under law. Such measures may be taken by G DATA without notifying the customer.

G DATA’s right to terminate the contract with the customer for cause shall remain unaffected.

(9) Changes to the Terms of Use

The terms of use may be amended by written notice to the customer. If the customer does not agree to the amended terms of use, G DATA may terminate the contract with the customer, duly observing the contractual terms and conditions.