Privacy Policy

Version 3.0, last updated on March 01, 2025

The BitBuy project by Marks Software GmbH, Brock 6, D-29683 Bad Fallingbostel, Germany, following "MS".

In this Privacy Policy, we describe the types of information, including personal information (collectively, "Information") that we and our affiliates collect from you when you use the MS website and certain MS products and services as described in this Privacy Policy (collectively, our "Services"), how we and our affiliates use, process, apply and disclose that information, and your options for accessing or updating your information.

This privacy policy may be changed from time to time. The most current version of the privacy policy applies at the time of purchase or registration of an MS software, product or service (whichever is later). The data processing entity is Marks Software GmbH, Brock 6, D-29683 Bad Fallingbostel, Germany, and MS's affiliates and partners.

The MS and its affiliates act as joint data controllers, jointly responsible for compliance with German data protection laws. The MS is primarily responsible for exercising data subjects' rights and providing information on data processing.

Definitions

MS Software Product. Any software product owned or created by MS and included under the MS Subscription Agreement or other MS license or agreement. EXCLUDING software that can be used by MS Software Products but is not created by MS. This may include, but is not limited to, code that extends the functionality of an MS Software Product (e.g., a "plug-in"). Such code is subject to its own terms and privacy policy.

Downloadable MS Software Product. Any MS Software Product that can be downloaded and installed on a device.

MS Software as a Service. Any MS Software Product offered as a hosted solution where the software is installed and maintained by MS and provided to you as a service.

MS Website. Any website owned by MS, including but not limited to anything hosted under the top-level domains marks-software.de, enterpulse.de, enterpulse.io, kasse.io and ebusiness.dev.

MS Account. An account created by you that can be used by MS to communicate with you or to provide MS Products. This includes your username, encrypted password, name, email address, website and time zone. Access is via a username and password and can be used to manage your personal information.

MS Terms of Use. The MS Terms of Use include the MS Subscription Agreement, the MS Terms of Use for a Product or Service, the MS License Agreement or other agreements you have with MS that cover MS products or services.

MS software products, downloadable MS software products, MS website and MS software as a service are referred to as "MS Products".

Personal Data means data that relates to an identified or identifiable natural person.

Why we collect data and what we collect

We collect data for various reasons:

1. To provide you with software, services or information. We may collect data necessary to provide you with software, support and services, including checking for license verification and updates, providing support, reporting problems and errors and other processing related to the use of MS software, services or information. We may use collected data in developing and testing products and services. You explicitly enter the data necessary to receive the software, support or services, whether you purchase or use MS products, use our support, sign up for an MS account, register for a webinar, participate in a survey and/or subscribe to receive marketing and/or technical information and content, or such data is collected in the course of using MS products. We may use third parties to act as data processors to help us provide MS products to you or our operations. For example, we may use third parties for data storage and backup services. With your consent, your personal data may also be transferred to third parties who act as separate data controllers and who offer products and services that complement MS products (the further processing of this data by these service providers is subject to their privacy policies). The legal basis for this data processing is the execution of the contract between you and us.
2. To protect us against piracy and unlawful use of our software or services. We may collect data that is necessary to protect us against piracy, unlawful or unauthorized use of our software or services, or that is necessary to ensure the security of our software or services, including data you provide (see above) and data collected in the course of using MS products. The legal basis for this data processing is MS's legitimate interest in protecting against piracy and unlawful use of MS software, products, applications and services.
3. To improve our products based on the application. We collect data based on your use of MS products and services and do not link this data to your name. We use this data to better understand the usage patterns of our products and the behavior of our collective target audience. Sometimes we share this information with third parties in an anonymized form. The collection of data based on your use of downloadable MS software products only occurs if you allow it. The legal basis for this data processing is our legitimate interest in improving our software, products and services.
4. For MS's internal evidence and to protect the rights and interests of MS and other users. We may collect data necessary to provide evidence of the provision of software and services to you, communications between you and us, your contact details, your use of our software and services, any payments or refunds, and any issues or disputes between you and us. We may use and disclose this data if we believe, in our sole discretion, that it is legitimate and appropriate to do so to protect our rights and interests and the rights and interests of other users of MS products or services, or if we detect a breach of this Privacy Policy that could harm the interests of MS or its customers. The legal basis for this data processing is our legitimate interest, preservation of evidence and protection of the rights and interests of us and other users of MS software products and services.
5. To promote and market our products and services. We may use feedback you voluntarily provide about our products or services. To the extent permitted by law, we may use this in the form of offers or otherwise in accordance with the MS Terms of Use. We may also use data we collect and aggregate to help us determine appropriate marketing and promotion of our products and services. In doing so, we may share anonymous aggregated data with third parties to assist us in doing so. With your consent or where permitted by applicable law, we may also use your contact details to send you commercial communications about our products and services. We may also use third parties to assist us with our email marketing. In this case, the third party will have access to your email address, name and other information necessary for marketing. This third party will act as a data processor and will not use your data for any other purpose. The legal basis for this data processing is our legitimate interest in promoting and marketing our products and services.
6. Fulfillment of legal obligations under accounting, tax and other laws. We may use and disclose your personal data if required by law, e.g. in the accounting and disclosure of our accounts, in the retention and disclosure of our tax records, and in response to a court order, a valid subpoena or other legal process. The legal basis for this data processing is compliance with our legal obligations.
   
   You can object to the processing of your personal data in points 2) to 5) at any time in writing (email or contact form).

Data included in the data processing:

• Names
• E-mail addresses
• Telephone numbers
• User names
• Passwords
• IP addresses
• Cookies (technical designation MS)
• SSH public keys
• Addresses & postal addresses
• Subscriptions and payments
• Tax numbers
• VAT identification numbers
• Contact details & messages
• Feedback & survey results
• Error messages & GitLab milestones / tasks and issues

We ask for your consent to collect and process your personal data as described above. This may happen in MS products, on the MS website or in another environment set up by MS, always in a clear and predefined manner. You can manage your data as described in the Transparency section.

Transparency

To respect your privacy, before using your personal data, we will inform you about the scope of data collected and the purposes for which we use it. We will also inform you about your possible data management options. For this purpose, we use agreements, terms of use and consent statements that are integrated into MS products and services. If you want to access and manage your data, you can do so in your MS account. You can update and manage your personal data.

Exchange

The personal data collected is shared based on the subscription agreement, license agreement, terms of use of a product or service used, and this Privacy Policy. In addition, we share personal data collected within the MS partners described above, who act as joint data controllers and process personal data for the purposes described above.

In accordance with the MS terms of use for a specific product or service, collected personal data may be shared with other representatives of your company as part of the product or service functionality.

We may share your information with certain third parties who help us provide MS products or services or conduct our business, such as data storage and backup service providers. We may also share your information with individual representatives of your company.

Your personal information may also be disclosed to other organizations or individuals if we have obtained your consent to do so.

We may also share your information with certain third parties if we are required to do so by applicable law ( in particular with tax authorities or with other government bodies exercising their legal powers ) or if such disclosure is necessary to achieve the purposes defined above ( in particular with government bodies or with parties harmed by your unlawful actions ( if applicable ).

Security

To protect your personal information, our products and services are designed with security and privacy in mind.

We encrypt your data during transmission where technically feasible. External web resources are protected by SSL encryption.

We review the processes for using and managing personal data before they are implemented. This is done to minimize data usage and to ensure that you, the data owner, are aware of the processing. When the reason for data retention expires, we remove your personal data from our servers or anonymize it for further use. Due to the nature of the activity in which your data is collected, it may be included in records used for research. Before we use the data sets for research purposes or other purposes of which you are not informed, we remove or anonymize your personal data (name, email, address, user name, etc.) in the data sets you generate.

We use partners to host our services and websites and to process your data in accordance with this privacy policy. When selecting partners, we check whether they meet and adhere to legal requirements and security standards to ensure that your and our data is stored in a safe place with appropriate security measures.

Data management

All servers and services that contain or process personal data are located in the Federal Republic of Germany. For Software as a Service products, we offer our customers the option of choosing between hosting their instance in the Federal Republic of Germany or in other countries. Sometimes MS may transfer some of your personal data (such as name and email address) to our affiliates outside the Federal Republic of Germany for further processing. Such transfer will be in accordance with applicable data protection laws and this Privacy Policy and will be based on a corresponding adequacy decision by management, in particular on standard data protection clauses or a Privacy Shield decision.

Infrastructure

If at any time you decide not to use MS products, you can have your data removed from our servers by sending a request to datenschutz@marks-software.de or through your MS account. After data removal, we may store pseudonyms of your personal data solely for the purpose of keeping a record of the data. As a general rule, we store your data for as long as we need to in order to achieve the purpose for which it was collected. We reserve the right to retain your information if required to comply with legal obligations and/or for defense in case of a breach of MS's Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy. We may also have copies of your information made in application logs, weblogs and/or backups for security and support purposes if mentioned in an MS Terms of Use or consent text accepted prior to the collection of personal data. These backups cannot be accessed as separately listed information. We retain data relating to a customer or user for as long as they are entitled to a license or use of MS products. In addition, we may retain the data to protect ourselves from damages in the event of a dispute in accordance with applicable laws. Please note, however, that you must retain a copy of any data you have deposited on our servers in case of loss. If you stop using our software and/or services, we will not be responsible for retaining your data.

You can manage your personal information in your MS account, including opting out of certain types of data collection. You are responsible for the accuracy of the personal information you provide to us. We expect you to review the personal information you provide to us and, if discrepancies arise, update your personal information or report the discrepancies to MS.

To the extent permitted by law, citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany may request a copy of the information we have about them. To do so, go to your MS account and request a copy through the options available there, or contact datenschutz@marks-software.de . We may charge a fee for this service in accordance with applicable law.

In addition, as set out in local data protection law, you may have the right to (i) request access to your personal data; (ii) request rectification of your personal data; (iii) request erasure of your personal data; (iv) request restriction of processing of your personal data; (v) request portability of personal data; or (vi) object to the processing of your personal data (which is equivalent to terminating all your contracts with MS ).

• Right of access. You have the right to obtain confirmation from us as to whether or not your personal data is being processed and, if so, to request access to your personal data. The information regarding the processing of personal data includes the purpose of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned and the recipients or categories of recipients to whom your personal data have been or will be disclosed, etc. However, this is not an unlimited right and the interests of other persons may limit your right of access. In addition, you may have the right to obtain a copy of your personal data that is being processed. For additional copies requested, we may charge a reasonable fee based on the administrative costs.
• Right to rectification. You have the right to obtain rectification of your inaccurate or out-of-date personal data. Depending on the purpose of the processing, you may have the right to receive incomplete personal data, in particular by providing additional information.
• Right to erasure (right to be forgotten). Under certain circumstances, you can request that we erase your personal data.
• Right to restriction of processing. Under certain circumstances, you can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data. In this case, the respective personal data will be marked and may only be processed by us for specific purposes.
• Right to personal data portability. Under certain circumstances, you have the right to receive your personal data that you have made available to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to transmit this personal data to another legal entity.
• Right to object. You can object to the processing of your personal data by us at any time, thus we will no longer be able to process your personal data (which corresponds to termination of all your contracts with MS).

These rights can be requested via the email address datenschutz@marks-software.de.

You can also contact the MS to obtain up-to-date information about the processing of your personal data and its recipients.

You can lodge a complaint in connection with the processing of your personal data with the competent data protection supervisory authority, i.e. in the Federal Republic of Germany with the State Commissioner for Data Protection of Lower Saxony. Prinzenstraße 5, 30159 Hannover, telephone number: +49 511 120 4500. Further information is available at https://www.lfd.niedersachsen.de/ .

Changes to this statement

This Privacy Policy is effective as of the effective date indicated above. We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time, so please check back frequently. We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy on the MS website. If we make any changes to this Privacy Policy that materially affect our practices with respect to the personal information we have previously collected from you, we will endeavor to provide you with advance notice of the change by highlighting the changes on the MS website or your MS account.

Questions

If you have any questions or concerns, or believe that this privacy policy has been violated, please notify us immediately at datenschutz@marks-software.de.