Terms of use

A. General provisions

For ease of reading, this English translation uses the gender-neutral pronouns “they” and “them” when referring to the user. All personal designations apply equally to all genders.

1. Scope

These Terms of Use shall apply to contracts between Secure Request Services GmbH (“SRS”) and users of Optioneer. Only private individuals of legal age with full legal capacity may register.

2. Data protection

2.1 Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the data protection notice, which is available here: Data protection notice. (Please note: The data protection notice is provided for information purposes only and does not form part of these Terms of Use.)

2.2 Services are provided in accordance with applicable data protection law. Where required by data protection law, separate data protection consent is obtained from the user for individual services. Without consent, the respective individual service cannot be provided.

3. IT security

SRS shall protect data through appropriate technical and organisational measures pursuant to Art. 32 GDPR, in particular TLS encryption, physical security and strict data access controls; productive servers shall be operated within the EU. Complete security of data transmission via the internet cannot be guaranteed. SRS may temporarily restrict access where this is necessary to safeguard network or data security.

4. Force majeure

SRS shall be released from its obligation to perform to the extent and for as long as performance is impossible or unreasonably impeded as a result of force majeure. Force majeure means unforeseeable events beyond the control of SRS and for which SRS is not responsible, such as natural disasters, pandemics, war, terrorism, strikes, official orders, and large-scale failures of telecommunications networks or power supplies. SRS shall inform the user of such circumstances without undue delay and shall take reasonable measures to mitigate their effects.

5. Liability

5.1 SRS shall not be liable, except as set out below. Excluded from this limitation of liability are damages resulting from injury to life, limb or health; damages arising from wilful misconduct or gross negligence on the part of SRS, its legal representatives or parties it uses to perform its obligations; and damages resulting from the breach of essential contractual obligations. In the event of a slightly negligent breach of essential contractual obligations, liability shall be limited to foreseeable damage typical of this type of contract.

5.2 Essential contractual obligations are those primary and essential secondary obligations under the contract whose fulfilment makes possible the correct execution of the contract in the first place and on whose fulfilment the user may regularly rely.

5.3 The above provisions shall apply mutatis mutandis to the benefit of legal representatives and parties used to perform obligations. They shall not apply in cases of fraudulent concealment, the assumption of a guarantee, or an agreement on certain features; this shall not affect claims under the German Product Liability Act.

6. Rights to Optioneer

6.1 All rights to Optioneer, including software, technologies, content, graphical and textual elements, and trade mark rights, are held exclusively by SRS; protected content of third parties must be observed accordingly. The user shall receive solely a simple, non-transferable and non-sub-licensable right of use for the intended utilisation of the contractually agreed functions during the term of the contract. Any further use – in particular reproduction, distribution, making available to the public, renting, sale, licensing, assignment or other transfer – shall be prohibited without prior written consent. Unless expressly permitted by law (e.g. Sect. 69d, 69e of the Germany Copyright Act (UrhG)), reverse engineering, decompilation or similar actions are prohibited. These restrictions shall also apply to new versions, updates and extensions.

6.2 Where the user provides content (e.g. texts, images, logos or trade marks), they grant SRS a worldwide, non-exclusive and royalty-free right of use for the purposes of Optioneer, in particular for storing, technically necessary editing, reproducing, transmitting, making available to the public and providing such content to third parties (in particular potential employers); this right of use shall expire upon erasure of the account.

6.3 The user warrants that they hold the necessary rights to their content and that they do not infringe the rights of third parties (in particular copyright, trade mark or personality rights); where attributable to the user, they shall indemnify SRS against any third-party claims arising therefrom. User content must not contain malware or be unlawful, obscene, extremist, racist, insulting or pornographic; SRS may remove unlawful content or content that breaches these terms at any time.

7. Point of contact under the DSA

SRS maintains a central point of contact for authorities and a point of contact for users within the meaning of Art. 11 and 12 DSA. Authorities and users can reach SRS at dsacompliance@s-r-s.org. Communication is possible in German or English. This does not affect other statutory means of contact (e.g. legal notice and address).

8. Notice and action mechanisms

SRS provides an easily accessible electronic form through which unlawful content may be notified. Incoming notices shall be reviewed without undue delay; SRS shall inform the notifying user of the decision taken and of any measures implemented. Affected users shall receive an explanation for any measures taken, in accordance with the statutory requirements.

9. Notification of serious criminal offences

Where there are indications of criminal offences posing a threat to life or safety, SRS shall inform the competent authorities and transmit the information necessary for this purpose in accordance with the statutory provisions.

B. Use of the Platform

1. Creating an account

1.1 The user may create an account free of charge.

1.2 To register, the user must provide a valid email address, an individual username, a password, and the basic data marked as mandatory in the registration form. All information must be complete and accurate and must be updated without undue delay in the event of changes (in particular to the email address). After registration, the user may voluntarily add and edit profile information.

2. Services

2.1 In Optioneer, the user can conveniently assess for themselves whether, in their own estimation, they meet the requirements for migration to a chosen destination country.

2.2 Based on the information provided by the user, Optioneer supplies an automatically generated, non-binding indication of potential migration scenarios (“migration opportunity”). This service is provided by Optioneer in graphical form.

2.3 This indication serves information purposes only and may assist the user as an initial assessment of whether they might consider taking further steps. It does not constitute any guarantee or assurance of success and does not replace an individual legal assessment in a specific case.

2.4 SRS may maintain and modify functions and visual representations of the Optioneer platform; users shall be informed in good time of any material changes.

3. Obligations for the user

3.1 The user is obliged to keep their access credentials secure and confidential. Passing them on to third parties or allowing other persons to use an account is not permitted. Multiple registrations are not permitted.

3.2 The user is obliged to provide accurate and up-to-date information and to notify immediately of any changes.

4. Account deletion, termination

4.1 The user may delete their account at any time.

4.2 Ordinary termination by SRS may be effected with four weeks’ notice.

4.3 In addition, termination for good cause is possible where such cause lies within the user’s responsibility. SRS may suspend, deactivate or erase an account if the user breaches these Terms of Use – in particular in cases of legal infringement, misuse of the account, uploading of unlawful content or other culpable conduct. The same shall apply if the email address provided becomes permanently undeliverable and reliable identification or contact is no longer possible. SRS shall provide the user with an explanation of reasons for the measure taken.

4.4 SRS shall take due account of the user’s legitimate interests and, insofar as reasonably possible, shall inform them in advance of the measure or without undue delay thereafter.

4.5 Once a user has been temporarily or permanently suspended, they may no longer use Optioneer through any other user account or re-register.

C. Paid services

1. Booking

1.1 The paid services are set out in the annex Description of Paid Services.

1.2 By clicking for this purpose clearly marked button, the customer submits a binding offer. The provider may accept this offer within five working days, either by confirming the order in text form or by activating/providing the service; the contract shall be concluded upon receipt of the declaration of acceptance or upon commencement of the service.

1.3 The Paid Services are provided for a fixed term of 12 months. The contract ends automatically at the end of the term; there is no automatic or tacit renewal.

2. Remuneration

2.1 A total price is payable for the 12-month term, which is displayed before the binding offer is submitted. The fee is payable in full upon conclusion of the contract. Payment shall be made using the payment methods specified before conclusion of the contract.

2.2 This shall not affect fees for third-party services, which shall be determined exclusively by the relevant third-party provider and paid separately to that provider or its payment service provider; SRS is not involved in the pricing and shall not become a contracting party.

3. Responsibility for content

Optioneer may contain links to external third-party websites. Responsibility for the content of such websites lies solely with the relevant provider; SRS has no influence over such content and accepts no responsibility for it.

4. Termination

The user may terminate the subscription for the services referred to in Section C.1 by giving one (1) month’s notice. Termination shall first be possible at the end of the initial billing period of twelve months. Termination may be effected using the designated online function. SRS may give ordinary notice of termination with one month’s notice to the end of the billing period; this shall not affect the right to extraordinary termination. Fees already paid for the current billing period shall not be refunded; this shall not affect the user’s statutory rights (in particular the right of withdrawal).

D. Free services

Free services are set out in the annex Description of Free Services.

E. Final provisions

1. Indemnification

1.1 Where SRS or the user is subject to claims by third parties, including public authorities, on account of a breach of these Terms of Use or of the contract by the other contracting party, the responsible party shall be obliged to indemnify the other without undue delay against all resulting claims – including necessary legal costs – to the extent that it is responsible for the breach. This shall not apply to official sanctions (e.g. administrative fines or penalties).

1.2 The party against whom a claim has been made shall inform the other party without undue delay of the reason, nature and scope of the claim, and shall enable the other party to take on the judicial and extrajudicial defence at its own expense. No concessions or acknowledgements may be made without the consent of the party obliged to indemnify, unless there are mandatory legal requirements to the contrary.

1.3 The right to indemnification shall lapse to the extent that the party to be indemnified suffers a disadvantage as a result of a breach of its duty to cooperate for which the indemnifying party is not responsible.

1.4 The user shall be liable for their own actions and for actions that are legally attributable to them. They shall only be liable for acts of third parties using their account where they are at fault, in particular where they have culpably breached reasonable security obligations (e.g. maintaining the confidentiality of access credentials, using available security features, prompt blocking/reporting in the event of suspected misuse).

1.5 This shall not affect statutory mandatory liabilities; this clause shall not limit liability for damage arising from injury to life, limb or health, or for intent or gross negligence.

2. Right to amend

SRS shall be entitled to amend or supplement these Terms of Use where there are objective reasons for doing so (e.g. changes in statutory requirements or case law, official directives, security or data protection requirements, technical adjustments, the introduction of new functions, or to close gaps in these provisions), provided such amendments are reasonable. Amendments shall be communicated to the user in text form no later than four weeks in advance. If the user does not object within four weeks of receipt of the amended terms, they shall be deemed to have accepted them. If the user objects within the time limit, the previous terms shall continue to apply to them. In such a case, SRS shall be entitled to terminate the contractual relationship by giving four weeks’ notice to the end of the month if continuation of the contract would be unreasonable. The notice of amendment shall expressly draw attention to these consequences. Amendments that would materially disadvantage the user shall not be made without their express consent. Amendments affecting core services, prices, contract terms, notice periods or liability shall only be made with the user’s express consent.

3. Severability clause

Should any individual provisions of these Terms of Use be or become invalid or unenforceable, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The invalid provision shall be replaced by the statutory provisions.

4. Formal requirements

Amendments, supplements and other contractual arrangements must be made in text form within the meaning of Sect. 126b of the German Civil Code (BGB).

5. Choice of law

5.1 These Terms of Use and all legal relationships between SRS and the user shall be governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, to the exclusion of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). This shall not affect any mandatory consumer protection provisions at the user’s country of residence that are more favourable to the user.

5.2 The place of jurisdiction shall be determined in accordance with the statutory provisions.

F. Notice of withdrawal and sample form

Information about the right of withdrawal (online services)

Right of withdrawal

You are entitled to withdraw from this contract within fourteen days, without giving any reasons.

This withdrawal period is fourteen days from the day when the contract is concluded.

In order to exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform us (Secure Request Services GmbH, Eberswalder Straße 46, 16227 Eberswalde, Germany, contact@s-r-s.org) of your decision to withdraw from this contract in a clear declaration (e.g. by email or letter). To do this you may – but are not obliged to – use the enclosed sample withdrawal form.

In order to comply with the deadline, it is sufficient if you submit your notification before the end of the period.

Consequences of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, then we will refund you all payments received from you without undue delay and no later than fourteen days from the day we receive your notice of withdrawal. For this refund, unless expressly agreed otherwise with you we will use the same payment method as the one you used for the original transaction; you will not be charged a fee as a result of such repayment.

Commencement of performance during the withdrawal period, compensation for value

If you have requested that we begin providing the service during the withdrawal period, you shall pay us an appropriate amount corresponding to the proportion of services already performed up to the time you notify us of your withdrawal, compared with the total scope of the services provided for in the contract (Sect. 357(8) BGB).

Expiry of the right of withdrawal for services

Your right of withdrawal shall expire prematurely if the service has been fully performed and we began performance only after you had given your express consent and received confirmation that you were aware that your right of withdrawal would be lost upon full performance (Sect. 356(4) BGB).

Note regarding paid services provided by third-party providers: Contracts are concluded with the respective third-party providers. Withdrawals must be addressed to such third-party providers; their terms and instructions shall apply.

Sample withdrawal form

(If you would like to withdraw from the contract, fill out this form and return it to us.)

To: Secure Request Services GmbH, Eberswalder Straße 46, 16227 Eberswalde, Germany, contact@s-r-s.org

I/we hereby withdraw from the contract I/we concluded on the provision of the following service: __________________________

Ordered on / contract concluded on: ____

Name of consumer(s): __________________________

Address of consumer(s): __________________________

Date: ____

Signature (only for paper notifications)