Terms of Service

1. Provider, customer and agreement

HansaChat is provided by Igor Tverdokhleb, trading as HansaChat, Barkentinenstr. 20, 23558 Lübeck, Germany (HansaChat, we, us). Contact: igor@hansa.chat. The customer is the person or organisation identified in the order, subscription or workspace account. A person acting for an organisation confirms that they are authorised to bind it. The workspace owner administers the workspace for the customer; invited users must follow the applicable account and conduct rules.

These Terms apply when expressly accepted during checkout or workspace creation. The applicable Data Processing Agreement (DPA) forms part of the agreement. The Privacy Policy explains personal data processing and is acknowledged separately. An individually agreed order takes priority over these Terms; the DPA takes priority on processing customer personal data. The SLA describes the service objectives, and section 8 of these Terms governs liability. Merely visiting the website does not constitute acceptance of a service contract.

2. Service and availability

HansaChat provides team communication within the features and limits of the selected plan. We operate and maintain the service with reasonable care. Availability, support and recovery objectives are described in the SLA; uninterrupted or error-free operation is not promised.

Planned maintenance is announced on the status page in advance. Urgent security or stability work may need to begin without advance notice; we inform affected customers as soon as reasonably practicable. The service is not intended for emergency communications or uses where an interruption could endanger life or physical safety.

3. Accounts and customer responsibilities

You must protect your credentials, provide accurate account and contact details, and promptly report suspected unauthorised access. You are responsible for account activity to the extent you caused it through a breach of these duties. Customers manage invitations, permissions and the lawful use of their workspace.

4. Content and acceptable use

You retain your rights in submitted content. You grant HansaChat the non-exclusive rights needed to host, process, transmit and, on authorised instructions, export that content solely to provide the service. Processing and retention remain subject to the DPA and Privacy Policy. You must not upload unlawful content, infringe third-party rights, introduce malicious code, impersonate others, or disrupt or compromise the service.

5. Plans, billing and cancellation

Paid plans are priced per workspace. The checkout states the price, applicable taxes, billing interval and any trial before you confirm the purchase. Creem acts as merchant of record for the purchase and handles payment, invoicing, applicable tax and payment-related refunds under the terms presented at checkout; HansaChat operates the workspace service.

An eligible first subscription includes a 14-day trial. Unless cancelled before the trial ends, paid billing starts at the price and interval confirmed at checkout. Subsequent subscriptions may not qualify for another trial. Business subscriptions renew for the selected interval until cancelled. Cancel through the billing dashboard before renewal, or contact support if the dashboard is unavailable; cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid or trial period. The cancellation confirmation identifies the effective date.

Ordinary cancellation does not itself entitle a business customer to a refund for the elapsed or remaining part of the current period. Statutory refund, price-reduction and termination rights remain unaffected. If HansaChat permanently discontinues an affected paid service before the prepaid period ends, the unused prepaid service fees are refunded proportionately through the applicable billing process.

Price changes for existing business subscriptions require a stated, reasonable basis, such as changes in the costs of providing the service or applicable taxes. Increases and decreases in relevant costs are considered together. We give at least 30 days’ direct notice before a change at renewal and allow cancellation before it takes effect. No increase applies retrospectively to an already paid period. Other material pricing changes require agreement.

6. Data Processing Agreement

Where HansaChat processes personal data on behalf of a workspace customer, the DPA forms part of these Terms. It sets out documented instructions, security measures, subprocessors, assistance, deletion and audit arrangements under Article 28 GDPR.

7. Service quality and support

The agreed plan and service description define the service provided. We take reasonable steps to investigate and remedy reported defects. Specific business outcomes, compatibility with every third-party system, and uninterrupted availability are not guaranteed. Statutory rights concerning defects remain unaffected. Any additional guarantee must be expressly agreed as such.

8. Liability

HansaChat is liable without the restrictions below for intent and gross negligence, for culpable injury to life, body or health, for fraudulent concealment of defects, under an expressly assumed guarantee within its scope, under the German Product Liability Act, and in other cases of mandatory liability. The rights of data subjects and the powers of supervisory authorities under data-protection law remain unaffected.

For ordinary negligence, HansaChat is liable only for breach of an essential contractual obligation: an obligation whose fulfilment makes proper performance of the agreement possible and on which the customer may regularly rely. In that case, liability is limited to the foreseeable loss typical of this agreement at the time of contracting. Liability for ordinary negligence in other cases is excluded.

For business customers using a paid workspace, the aggregate liability for ordinary negligence for all events arising in a contract year is capped at the subscription fees actually paid for that workspace during the 12 months before the first event giving rise to liability in that year. Fees paid through Creem count as paid subscription fees; taxes are excluded. A contract year is each 12-month period beginning on the paid subscription start date. This cap covers downtime, service interruptions, loss of data and reimbursement of wasted expenditure; claims with different legal grounds do not create separate caps for the same loss. The cap does not apply to the unrestricted cases in the first paragraph or where mandatory rules protecting essential contractual obligations require a higher amount. For free workspaces, the preceding ordinary-negligence rule applies without a fee-based cap.

These rules apply to contractual and non-contractual damages claims and to persons acting on HansaChat’s behalf. They do not remove statutory rights to reduce the price, recover payments for services not supplied, or terminate the agreement. No automatic compensation or service credits arise solely because an SLA target is missed.

9. Backups and data export

HansaChat maintains the backup arrangements described in the DPA and Security page and the recovery objectives published in the SLA, including a six-hour recovery point objective and a 24-hour core-service recovery time objective. These are operational targets, not guarantees of a particular recovery result. The published restore-testing schedule remains part of our operating commitments.

Keep independent copies of information that is critical to your business where reasonably practicable. Paid workspace owners can request the documented channel-history export, subject to its scope, processing time and request limits; it is not a complete backup of every type of workspace data. These precautions do not replace HansaChat’s own security and backup obligations. Liability for data loss follows section 8.

10. Service changes

We may make reasonable changes needed for security, legal compliance, technical maintenance or improvements, provided they do not materially reduce the agreed core functionality during an already paid period. We give direct advance notice of materially adverse changes and explain any available remedies. Changes beyond this scope require agreement or take effect only after lawful termination of the existing service. Price changes follow section 5; changes to these Terms follow section 14.

11. Suspension, termination and deletion

We may proportionately suspend affected access where necessary to address a material breach of these Terms, a credible security risk or a legal requirement. Where practicable, we notify the customer and allow a reasonable opportunity to remedy the issue before suspension or termination. Immediate action remains possible where continued access would cause material harm or violate the law. Access is restored when the reason for suspension no longer applies.

Customers may cancel as described in section 5. We may end a business subscription at the end of its current paid period with at least 30 days’ direct notice, or end a free workspace with at least 30 days’ notice. Either party’s right to terminate for good cause remains unaffected. For a planned service discontinuation we give at least 30 days’ direct notice and an opportunity to request return of workspace data; unused prepaid fees are handled under section 5.

Owner-requested workspace deletion normally starts a 30-day read-only grace period. Cancelled paid or trial workspaces remain usable through the current period and then read-only for 90 days before deletion. Free workspaces are deleted after 90 days without a persisted message; demo workspaces after 24 hours. Deleted workspace data ages out of encrypted backups according to the documented backup-retention schedule. The DPA governs return and deletion of customer personal data.

Individuals may request immediate deletion of their account and personal data under Article 17 GDPR without waiting for the standard grace period. Please create a support ticket in the “Privacy / GDPR request” category and state that you request immediate deletion. Requests are assessed and fulfilled without undue delay where the right applies, subject to identity checks where necessary, statutory retention duties and other legal exceptions. The Privacy Policy explains the process and the role of the workspace customer. You may also contact igor@hansa.chat; using a ticket is not a condition for exercising statutory rights.

12. Third-party claims

A business customer shall indemnify HansaChat against justified third-party claims to the extent caused by the customer’s culpable breach of these Terms or culpable infringement of third-party rights through its content or instructions. This includes necessary, reasonable defence costs, but not losses caused by HansaChat itself. We promptly notify the customer, allow reasonable participation in the defence, mitigate loss, and do not agree a settlement binding the customer without its consent, which must not be unreasonably withheld. The customer is not responsible merely because it uses the service.

13. Governing law and language

German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. For merchants and legal entities under public law, the exclusive venue is Lübeck, Germany. Mandatory consumer-protection and jurisdiction rules remain unaffected. The German version is authoritative for business contracts; the English version is provided for convenience.

14. Changes to these Terms

The version accepted by the customer applies to its agreement. We may propose changes for future service periods and give direct notice of the proposed wording, reasons and effective date at least 30 days in advance. Material changes, including changes to liability, require express agreement. Silence or continued use alone is not acceptance. If no agreement is reached, the existing Terms continue until the contract ends or is lawfully terminated. Mandatory changes imposed directly by law apply as required by that law.

15. Contact

Contact Igor Tverdokhleb, trading as HansaChat, Barkentinenstr. 20, 23558 Lübeck, Germany, at igor@hansa.chat or through the support ticket form. Keep your account contact details current so that contractual notices reach you.