Terms and Conditions

1. Scope and ranking of documents

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) apply to all products and services of Horváth Digital Solutions™ (“HDS”, “we”), whether paid or free, including HDS Sentinel™, HDS Verify™, HDS DNS™, Email & Presence, and Managed Hosting, related platform features, the customer portal, and any APIs or tooling we provide (together, the “Services”).

Horváth Digital Solutions™ Owner: Semjon Horváth Eichborndamm 90B 13403 Berlin Germany

Email: info@horvath-digital.solutions
Legal: legal@horvath-digital.solutions
Phone: +49 30 81451947-0
Fax: +49 30 81451947-3

Further provider details are in the legal notice. For general enquiries use the contact page.

HDS CDN™ is not offered until it is live on the website. HDS Broadcast™ is HDS’s own newsletter to subscribers and is not a customer mass-mail product. Where a plan mentions a domain, this means configuration of a domain the customer already holds (including DNS and mail records on that domain), not a registry, DENIC, or domain-reseller product.

These Terms apply exclusively. Conflicting or supplementary terms of the customer are excluded even if HDS does not expressly object, unless HDS agrees to them in text form (Textform).

If documents conflict, the following ranking applies. A lower-ranked document does not override a higher-ranked one except where a numbered carve-out below expressly so provides. Publication of these Terms, the AUP, the privacy notice, or the sample DPA does not by itself conclude a contract.

• (1) The individual offering, order confirmation, or written agreement governs the commercial terms and particulars of that contract — in particular fees, term, and plan features. It may not weaken the Availability target or the service-credit rules of the Service Level Agreement. The offering may only match those SLA remedies or improve them for the customer (for example a higher Availability target or more generous credits). It may not reduce the target, narrow measurement, or make credits harder to obtain.
• (2) These Terms (the commercial contract), subject to the carve-outs in (3) and (4).
• (3) An executed Art. 28 data processing agreement prevails on Art. 28 GDPR topics over these Terms and over the privacy policy.
• (4) The Service Level Agreement prevails on Availability measurement and service credits over these Terms’ general liability rules for Availability shortfalls. Mandatory law and these Terms’ unlimited liability limbs (intent, gross negligence, injury to life, body or health, and ProdHaftG) remain. An amendment of the SLA may not weaken the Availability target or the credit rules relative to the SLA then in force or to any more favourable offering floor (same improve-not-weaken rule as (1); see §11 of these Terms and §11 of the SLA).
• (5) The Acceptable use policy.
• (6) The privacy policy (information duties; it is not general terms of business (AGB) controlling Art. 28).
• (7) The right of withdrawal for consumers.

2. Formation, term, and termination

Presentations of Services and prices on our websites are invitations to treat (invitatio ad offerendum), not binding offers. The customer’s order — by request, email, fax, post, portal checkout, or another channel HDS provides — is an offer to conclude a contract. A contract is formed only when HDS accepts that offer in text form (Textform), in particular by email, DocuSeal, writing, or confirmation of portal checkout. Acknowledgement that an order was received is not acceptance.

When a contract is concluded via the customer portal, HDS fulfils the applicable information and e-commerce duties under §§ 312i and 312j BGB: the portal presents an order overview that lets the customer check and correct input before placing the order, and HDS confirms the contract on a durable medium after conclusion. When a consumer contract is concluded via the portal, the order button must be labelled under § 312j(3) BGB with a legally sufficient phrase that indicates an obligation to pay (for example an equivalent of “order with obligation to pay”). Portal checkout implements this labelling.

HDS aims to accept or refuse an offer within about five business days of receipt. Silence is not acceptance. HDS may refuse an offer without stating reasons, in particular where capacity, credit, or compliance so requires.

Unless the offering states otherwise, the contract is concluded for an indefinite term. Either party may terminate ordinarily with 30 days’ notice to the end of a calendar month. Termination must be in text form (Textform). Permitted channels are email, fax, post, termination in the customer portal, and any other channel HDS provides that produces a durable text record. Assignment of the contract by the customer requires HDS’s prior consent in text form (Textform).

The right of extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause includes, in particular, default on payment after a reminder, or a material or repeated breach of the Acceptable use policy.

3. Services

The scope of each Service is the service description on the relevant product page and in the order as accepted. We host privacy-critical workloads in Germany / the EU as already stated publicly. HDS does not grant the customer ownership of IP addresses or act as a domain registrar.

Free tiers and complimentary allowances may be changed, limited, or withdrawn with reasonable notice. They do not create a claim to a particular configuration.

Availability, maintenance windows, and any service credits are governed by the Service Level Agreement and the individual service description / offering.

Managed Hosting is operated by HDS (no customer root access unless expressly agreed). Email & Presence is not a customer mass-mail product. Fair use, plan caps, and overage (including €0.08 per GB excess transfer on Managed Hosting where advertised) are in the offering and the Acceptable use policy.

4. Prices and payment

Public list prices are exclusive of statutory VAT. The customer portal may let the customer toggle a gross (including VAT) or net (excluding VAT) display; that toggle does not mean every public page shows a gross price. Consumer-facing displays required by law are preserved. Setup fees apply when the offering says so (currently €29 for Managed Hosting and €50 for Email & Presence). Where advertised, annual billing is charged as ten twelfths of the yearly equivalent (pay for ten months). Billing may be monthly, quarterly, or annual as agreed.

HDS does not change an agreed recurring price by continued use of the Services. A price change takes effect only (a) where HDS has stated objective grounds in advance — in particular a change in statutory costs or taxes, or an index named in the offering — and has given at least 14 days’ prior notice as in §11, or (b) by the customer’s acceptance of a new order or written amendment in text form (Textform).

Payment is via Mollie B.V. as an independent payment service provider, or by bank transfer processed in HDS’s accounting (Lexware). HDS does not store card PAN; payment-instrument data at checkout are processed by Mollie as described in the privacy policy.

Invoices are issued electronically. Amounts are due as stated on the invoice. In case of default, HDS may claim default interest under § 288 of the German Civil Code (BGB) and, where applicable, a lump sum under § 288(5) BGB, as well as further damage caused by default.

5. Customer duties

The customer must provide accurate master data and keep contact details current, including an email address for operational and legal notices. The customer must be at least 18 years old (or have full legal capacity in their jurisdiction, if that age is higher).

The customer is responsible for content stored, processed, published, or transmitted through the Services and for third-party users they enable. The customer remains the sole contract partner of HDS even where end users use the Services.

Unless a Service expressly includes a backup product for the customer’s own restore, the customer is responsible for backups of their data appropriate to their risk. Platform backups described on product pages (for example seven-day mail backups, or 14-day database backups on selected Managed Hosting plans) are disaster-recovery measures on HDS’s side, not a self-serve restore entitlement, unless the offering says otherwise.

Use of the Services is subject to the Acceptable use policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. The AUP sets out permitted and prohibited use and enforcement; these Terms do not repeat that list.

6. Intellectual property and licences

The customer retains all rights in content they store, process, publish, or transmit through the Services (“Customer Content”). The customer grants HDS a non-exclusive licence, worldwide and limited to the contract term, to host, store, reproduce, transmit, and otherwise process Customer Content solely as required to provide, operate, maintain, secure, and support the Services.

HDS and its licensors retain all rights in the Services, software, documentation, trademarks, APIs, and other HDS materials. No further licence is granted except as needed to use the contracted Services. This does not affect rights in Customer Content or mandatory statutory rights.

7. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, the customer indemnifies HDS against third-party claims and against damage, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from unlawful Customer Content or from the customer’s use of the Services in breach of these Terms or the Acceptable use policy, including alleged infringement of third-party rights. The indemnity does not apply to the extent the claim is caused by HDS. It does not limit mandatory consumer rights or HDS’s unlimited liability limbs in §10.

8. Data protection

Independent controller processing by HDS is described in the privacy policy.

Where HDS processes personal data as processor for the customer, Art. 28 GDPR applies only under an executed data processing agreement (customer portal, DocuSeal, or another legally binding arrangement). Publication of the sample DPA does not conclude that agreement and does not start processor processing. Subprocessor changes follow the executed DPA (14-day notice from legal@horvath-digital.solutions).

9. Suspension and enforcement

HDS may warn, rate-limit, quarantine content, suspend Services in whole or in part, or terminate for good cause as set out in §8 of the Acceptable use policy, in particular where continued use poses risk to HDS, other customers, or third parties, or where fees remain unpaid after a reminder.

Where legally allowed, fees already paid are not refundable solely because of suspension or termination for AUP breach. This does not affect mandatory consumer rights, including the right of withdrawal.

10. Liability

HDS is liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence; for injury to life, body, or health; and under the German Product Liability Act (ProdHaftG).

In cases of slight negligence, HDS is liable only for breach of a material contractual duty the fulfilment of which is a prerequisite for due performance of the contract and on which the customer may regularly rely (a cardinal duty), and only for typical, foreseeable damage. In those cases, liability is capped at the fees paid for the affected Service in the twelve months before the claim arose.

The data processing agreement does not stipulate a separate contractual liability cap; liability from processor processing follows these Terms and mandatory GDPR provisions, including Art. 82 GDPR.

HDS is not liable for disruptions caused by the customer, by third-party networks outside HDS’s reasonable control, or by force majeure. Mandatory statutory liability remains unaffected.

11. Changes to these Terms

HDS may amend these Terms where there is a material ground, in particular: a change in statute, regulation, or case law; a change in technical or operational circumstances reasonably required to provide the Services securely or lawfully; the introduction, modification, or withdrawal of a Service feature that requires contractual adjustment; or the closing of a contractual gap that has become apparent. The current wording appears on this page.

HDS gives at least 14 days’ prior notice of a material change, sent from legal@horvath-digital.solutions, to the customer’s registered email address, and via a notice in the customer portal.

If the customer objects to a material change before it takes effect, the customer may terminate the affected Services as of that effective date (Sonderkündigung). Objection and that termination must be in text form (Textform) (email to legal@horvath-digital.solutions, fax, post, or the customer portal). Continued use of the Services is not consent to the change. Mandatory consumer rights remain unaffected.

Price changes follow §4 and the same notice mechanics; they likewise do not take effect by continued use. Changes to Availability measurement and service credits follow §11 of the Service Level Agreement (14 days’ notice, objection and exit, no consent by continued use). HDS may not, by amending the SLA, lower the Availability target or the credit rules relative to the SLA then in force or to any more favourable offering floor; an SLA amendment may only match those remedies or improve them for the customer (improve not weaken). That floor is the same as in §1 for the offering.

12. Right of withdrawal

HDS contracts with businesses and with consumers. If the customer is a consumer within the meaning of § 13 BGB, they have a statutory right of withdrawal. The statutory instruction (Widerrufsbelehrung) and the model withdrawal form are on the right of withdrawal; they are not reproduced in full in these Terms.

When a contract is concluded via the customer portal, portal checkout collects any required acknowledgements and, where the consumer requests that performance begin during the withdrawal period, the express request (Verlangen) before early performance, as applicable.

Entrepreneurs (§ 14 BGB) and other non-consumers have no statutory right of withdrawal. HDS does not wait 14 days to provision Services; if a consumer asks that performance begin during the withdrawal period, reasonable pro rata compensation may be due as stated on the right of withdrawal.

13. Dispute resolution

HDS is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board (VSBG). See also the legal notice.

14. Final provisions

These Terms are provided in German and English. In case of conflict or ambiguity, the German text is authoritative. The English text is a convenience translation.

The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and excluding conflict-of-laws rules that would lead to the law of another state. Where legally allowed, Berlin is the exclusive venue. Mandatory consumer venues and exclusive statutory venues remain unaffected.

If a provision of these Terms is or becomes invalid, the remaining provisions continue in effect. The invalid provision is replaced by a valid provision that comes as close as possible to the economic purpose of the invalid provision.

Legal notices to HDS may be sent to legal@horvath-digital.solutions or to the contacts in the legal notice. For general enquiries use the contact page.