1. Provider and scope
Florian Mielke, Bleicherwiesen 14, 31224 Peine, Germany ("I"), provides a hosted service for freelancers under the name "FreelanceLink" (the "Service").
These Terms of Service apply exclusively to businesses within the meaning of section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB), legal persons under public law and special funds under public law.
Anyone who creates an account confirms that they are acting in a professional or commercial capacity and, when acting for a company, have authority to represent it.
2. Contract formation
The contract is formed when you accept these Terms of Service during sign-up and your account is created. The Privacy Policy provides information about the processing of personal data; it is not a contract term.
3. Service
Through the website and API, the Service provides functions for publishing your profile and availability on a public profile page, in badges and QR codes, and for text snippets. The agreed scope of the Service is determined by the sign-up and checkout process and the service descriptions on the website.
4. Account and credentials
You keep your account and contact details accurate and current. You protect passwords, API keys and other credentials against unauthorised access and report suspicious access without undue delay to [email protected].
5. Trial period, fees and payment
The free trial period lasts 7 days and does not require a payment method. If you do not enter into a paid subscription before it expires, the contract continues as a free basic service under section 11.
The fee, billing period and taxes are stated in the checkout. The subscription renews for the billing period stated there unless it is cancelled before the next renewal date.
Sold through Link, LLC ("Link") handles payments through Stripe Managed Payments as merchant of record. The Link Terms govern the relationship between you and Link. Refunds issued by Link under its refund policy remain unaffected.
If a payment fails, the paid functions are unavailable until the payment is made.
6. Your content and rights
"Your content" means profile information, avatars, projects, snippets and other data that you provide through the Service.
You retain your rights in your content. For the term of the contract, you grant me a non-exclusive, worldwide and royalty-free licence to process your content to the extent necessary to provide the Service, in particular to display it publicly on your profile page, in badges, in link previews and to search engines, and to back it up and provide support.
You must have all rights required to use and display your content. You remain responsible for the accuracy and lawfulness of that content. If you embed badges or use the API on your own website, you fulfil the information obligations towards its visitors.
7. Acceptable use
You must not use the Service to:
- violate applicable law or third-party rights;
- impersonate other persons or businesses;
- distribute malware, circumvent security measures or test systems without authorisation;
- overload the Service or circumvent usage limits.
I may set reasonable technical limits to protect security, performance and use in accordance with the contract.
8. Notices of illegal content and measures
Notices of illegal content may be sent to [email protected]. The notice should identify the content concerned and its location precisely, explain the suspected illegality, and confirm the accuracy and completeness of the information to the best of the notifier's knowledge. The name and email address must be provided unless a statutory exception applies.
I may block or remove content and restrict accounts, API keys or functions if there are specific indications of infringements, security risks or material breaches of contract. I consider the nature, severity, duration and consequences of the infringement and the rights of the persons concerned. Restrictions are limited to what is necessary and lifted as soon as the reason for them ceases to apply.
I review such measures myself. I do not use automated content moderation.
To the extent that the Digital Services Act requires a statement of reasons, I provide you, no later than when the measure takes effect, with the material facts, the legal or contractual basis and the available remedies.
9. Availability, maintenance and support
I may perform maintenance, apply security measures and make technical changes.
Support is provided through [email protected]. No specific availability levels or fixed response and resolution times are agreed.
10. Provider switching, export and erasure
A person authorised for the account may request a switch, export or erasure through [email protected] or, for erasure, through the account deletion function. I transmit exports to you using appropriate security measures.
The following rules apply to switching under Chapter VI of the Data Act to another provider or to your own infrastructure:
The notice period before the switching process begins is no more than two months from the request; the subsequent transitional period is no more than 30 calendar days. If this is technically unfeasible, I explain this within 14 working days after the switching request and specify an alternative transitional period of no more than seven months. You may extend the transitional period once by a period that you consider more appropriate for your own purposes.
I continue to provide the contractual functions during the switching process, provide reasonable assistance to you and authorised third parties, and give information about known risks to service continuity. I support the exit strategy defined by you and maintain a high level of security during the switching process and the subsequent data retrieval.
Exportable data and digital assets are provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. The exportable and excluded categories in the export overview form part of the contract. The information on international access describes infrastructure jurisdictions and safeguards against unlawful governmental access from third countries.
No separate switching charges apply; standard fees continue during the notice and transitional periods. If you initiate early switching, the fee for the current billing period remains due; switching alone does not result in a pro rata refund. Mandatory statutory rights to refunds and price reductions remain unaffected.
The contract ends when the switching process is successfully completed or, if you instead request erasure of your exportable data and digital assets, at the end of the notice period. I confirm the end of the contract in text form.
After the transitional period ends, you may request your exportable data again for at least 30 calendar days. After successful switching and expiry of this or a longer agreed retrieval period, I erase all exportable data and digital assets generated directly by you or relating directly to you, unless a statutory retention obligation applies.
11. Term and termination
The contract begins when it is formed and continues until it is terminated under this section. You may cancel a paid subscription through the billing page in your account or through Link with effect from the end of the current billing period. Until then, the paid functions remain available if payment is made as agreed. When the cancellation takes effect, only the paid subscription ends.
After a paid subscription ends or the trial period expires without a paid subscription being entered into, the contract continues as a free basic service. Under the basic service, your account and stored data remain; the public profile page, badges and API access are unavailable. Either party may terminate the basic service in text form. You may also use the account deletion function for this purpose.
When the contract ends, your rights of use end. Export and erasure are governed by section 10.
12. Liability
I have unlimited liability for damage caused intentionally or by gross negligence and for damage resulting from culpable injury to life, body or health. This also applies in the event of corresponding fault on the part of my vicarious agents. Liability under the German Product Liability Act and guarantees expressly assumed remain unaffected.
In all other respects, I am liable for ordinary negligence only in the event of a breach of an obligation whose performance makes it possible to perform the contract and on whose performance you may normally rely. Liability is then limited to foreseeable damage typical of the contract at the time the contract was entered into.
Mandatory statutory claims for damages, in particular under Article 82 GDPR, remain unaffected.
13. Changes to these Terms of Service
Changes to these Terms of Service, the agreed price or the agreed Service require an agreement with you. I inform you about material changes to these Terms of Service.
14. Final provisions
German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
Peine is the exclusive place of jurisdiction for merchants, legal persons under public law and special funds under public law. In all other cases, the statutory places of jurisdiction apply.
The German version is controlling.