1.1 We, Appinio GmbH Ballindamm 3, 20095 Hamburg (hereinafter referred to as "Appinio" or "we"), have developed the Appinio App (hereinafter referred to as "the App"). These General Terms and Conditions of Business and Use ("GTC") govern your access to and use of our App ("the Services"). Please take the time to read these GTC. These GTC should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Notice.
1.2 Our Service allows you to participate in market research Surveys by sharing with us your answers and your opinion on our own Surveys and/or the Surveys of our customers ("Survey/Surveys"). In return, you will receive experience points (levels) and Appinio Coins (see section 6 of these Terms of Use), which you can redeem within the App ("Rewards" ). Here you perform a service for us, for which we credit you with experience points and/or Appinio Coins.
1.3 You also have the opportunity to ask other App users questions as part of so-called quickies. Quickies are questions that you can ask yourself or that other App users can ask ("Quickies). This allows you to use our own panel for your Quickies free of charge.
1.4 Appinio accepts no responsibility for the content, information and data you provide in the app.
2.1 By using our services, you agree to these GTC. A contract of use is concluded between you and us. These GTC replace all previous GTC agreements that Appinio has entered into with you.
2.2 You confirm that you are at least 16 years old. If you are under the age of 18 and therefore a minor, your parent or legal guardian must give their consent to your use of our App before you use it.
3.1 To be able to use the services, you must register in the App. Only natural persons (i.e. real people, not companies) may register in the App. Your registration is complete when you have successfully completed the registration process set up in the App or when you have successfully registered via an external provider (e.g. Google or Apple).
3.2 We reserve the right to remove or change usernames that violate legal requirements or contain obscene, offensive or otherwise inappropriate content.
3.3 If you provide untrue, inaccurate, out-of-date or incomplete information, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the App. You will not incur any costs for using our services.
3.4 You may only create one user account. Appinio is authorised to block or terminate your account in the event of multiple registrations, including, but not limited, to instances where multiple accounts are set up for the purposes of fraudulent use to gain those benefits provided for within the App.
3.5 You are personally responsible for the confidentiality and security of your password. This means that you must:
If your account is used or suspected to have been used by a third party, or if your password is lost, you are obliged to inform us immediately via the support function in the App.
4.1 If you have registered with Appinio and belong to the selected target group of a survey, we may offer you the opportunity to participate in surveys. Whether you are invited to participate in a survey depends on the target group to which you belong and we do not guarantee that we will offer you surveys, nor how often we will offer you surveys.
4.2 Once you have completed a Survey, i.e. answered all the questions, we will credit the reward specified in the Survey to your user account. This reward may consist of experience points, Appinio Coins or other benefits that we add to the App from time to time. You earn experience points through your activities within the App (e.g. frequent participation in Quickies) and they allow you to level up in the App. You receive Appinio Coins by participating in Surveys.
4.3 We endeavour to make the availability of the App as reliable as possible. However, constant availability cannot be guaranteed.
5.1 If you take part in Surveys, you undertake to answer the Survey questions truthfully and to the best of your knowledge and belief. Surveys may not be completed automatically. You are not obliged to take part in Surveys and can also stop answering at any time, in which case your pro rata entitlement to the Coins for the respective Survey will lapse.
5.2 If you do not feel comfortable answering a quickie question, please do not answer it and skip it. You can report quickies (e.g. for inappropriate content, repetition or irrelevance). The same applies to all voluntary information you provide about yourself. You can also skip these and leave them unanswered.
5.3 We will inform you how content is moderated and filtered. This means that we explain how and why certain content is removed or restricted.
5.4 In the App you can ask questions yourself, publish posts (e.g. ask Quickie questions), submit reviews, chat, participate in message boards and other functions. You have the option of creating, submitting, publishing, distributing or sending content such as Quickies, comments or content in customer Surveys in the App. This includes, but is not limited to, text, videos, audio, photos, graphics, comments, suggestions or personal information and other information (collectively "Contributions"). Contributions in Quickies be viewed by other users in the App, which is why all submitted contributions are treated as non-confidential. We also provide you with areas in the App where you can submit reviews or ratings.
5.5 In line with our obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), we will emphasize responsible moderation of the content published on our platform. The aim is to promote a safe, respectful and legally compliant environment for all users.
5.6 If you create posts or reviews and provide them to us, you warrant that:
5.7 Any use of the App that violates the above provisions constitutes a breach of these GTC and may also result in civil and criminal penalties.
5.8
You may not:
In the event of non-compliance, we reserve the right to block access to the App immediately and without prior notice and to deactivate the account in question.
5.9 You may only use this App if you do not work for or are associated with a company that is in direct competition with Appinio's services. This applies in particular, but not exclusively, to companies that also offer digital market research services or platforms for conducting Surveys.
5.10 If you work directly or indirectly with one of our competitors, you are prohibited from using the App to collect or analyze information, data or other content that could harm Appinio or its services or create competitive advantages for the competing company.
5.11 If you use the App contrary to this provision, we reserve the right to immediately block or delete your account and exclude you from further use of the App. Appinio also reserves the right to take legal action against you if your use causes damage.
5.12
We reserve certain rights, but are not obliged to enforce them:
6.1 You will only receive Appinio Coins where you answer a Surveys in full. The potential number of Appinio Coins granted by us depends on the scope of the Survey. The maximum number of Appinio Coins that can be earned will be displayed in the Appinio App before you take the Survey. The Appinio Coins will be credited to your Appinio account after you have completed a Survey and after we have validated your trustworthiness.
6.2 You can also earn Appinio Coins by referring a new App user. The number of referrals you may make is limited and will be communicated to you in the Appinio App. Any fraudulent use of the referral option (e.g. self-sponsoring, multiple sponsoring of members who obviously do not want to use the Appinio App, etc.) will result in exclusion from the Appinio App and the loss of the Appinio Coins earned, both for you and for the newly referred App user. You will initially receive a smaller amount of coins after the referred person has registered. Further Appinio Coins will be credited to you when the new user reaches a minimum level of activity.
6.3 You also have the option of transferring Appinio Coins to other Appinio App users. You can find out more about this in our App. Once transferred, Appinio Coins cannot be retrieved. Only people over the age of 16 can transfer Appinio Coins to other users.
6.4 Once you have collected enough Appinio Coins (please refer to the Appinio App for details), you can either exchange them for vouchers for online stores we support, have the money paid out to you or donate the money to a good cause. You will then receive virtual items or other products electronically, for example by email, text message or directly in the App.
6.5 With regular activity in the Appinio App, claims for payouts and payout links expire five (5) years from the date on which the payout option was submitted to you. After this period, you will no longer be able to access a payout. If you have not been active in the Appinio App for two (2) years, we will delete your user account. Your Appinio Coins will expire.
7.1 Some of our Surveys include product testing by our customers (in-house testing. For this purpose, we ask for your address in the Survey in order to send you the products on behalf of our customers. You have no legal right to receive the test products.
7.2 If you agree to take part in in-house testing and receive a test product, you undertake to complete the Survey within the specified time.
7.3 The criteria for participation in in-house testing are set by our customer. Appinio is only responsible for sending the test products and evaluating the Survey responses. Appinio does not send the products in its own name, but on behalf of our customers. Appinio is not a manufacturer within the meaning of ยง 4 of the Product Liability Act. The Product Liability Act does not apply to Appinio.
8.1 We own, control or license all of the source code, databases, functionality, software, designs, audio and video files, text, photographs and graphics in the App (collectively, the "Content") and the trademarks, trade dress and logos (the "Marks") contained therein are our intellectual property and are protected by copyright and trademark laws and various other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws of applicable jurisdictions. The Content and Trademarks are provided to you in the App solely for your information and personal use. Except as expressly provided in these Terms, no part of the App, Content or Marks may be copied, reproduced, aggregated, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, translated, sold, licensed or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose whatsoever without our express prior written consent.
8.2 We grant you a revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right to install and use the App on wireless electronic devices used by you for the duration of this User Agreement. The App must be used on these devices in strict accordance with these GTCs. This right of use is granted to you solely for your personal, non-commercial use. We reserve all rights to the App and the content that have not been expressly transferred.
8.3 If your Contributions contain images or other copyrighted works, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual licence to copy, reproduce, disclose, archive, store, cache, translate, publish, make publicly available and use your Contributions (including but not limited to your image and voice) for our commercial purposes and to create derivative works from your Contributions, translate, publish, make publicly available, and use your Contributions (including but not limited to your image and voice) for our commercial purposes and to create derivative works of or incorporate your Contributions into other works, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. We may also use your content and contributions to improve and develop our services.
This right of use applies to all forms of media or technologies known today or developed in the future and includes the use by your user name, as well as personal and commercial images that you make available.
You warrant that you are authorized to use and transfer the aforementioned rights of use and acknowledge that you may not post any third-party content for which you cannot grant us corresponding rights of use.
You retain copyright in your Content and Contributions and/or other proprietary rights associated with your Contributions. We are not liable for any statements or representations made in your Contributions that you make available in the App. You are solely responsible for the content of your contributions in the App.
9.1 You provide us with data voluntarily and to the extent determined by yourself, which we make available to our partners only in a processed and anonymized form for the purpose of market research.
9.2 We only collect, process and use the data that you voluntarily provide to us. Further information on how we use this data is described in our privacy policy.
9.3 When you use our App and/or take part in Surveys, you will see information such as text, images, videos and brand names. This content belongs to us or to our customers who have allowed us to include this information in the respective Survey. This means that this information is likely protected by copyright or trademark law, for example.
9.4 This content is confidential and we only make it available to you for the purpose of answering the Survey and we or our client only grant you the right to view the content on your device for the duration of the Survey.
9.5 You may not use this protected information for your own purposes. You agree to keep all content shown in the Appinio App confidential. This means that you may not download, copy, photograph (including screenshots), share or show the content elsewhere without our or our customer's permission.
9.6 If you do this anyway, without permission, we or our customers can take legal action against you.
9.7 If you delete your user account in accordance with Section 12.2 or request us to do so, we will delete your personal data in accordance with Art. 17 GDPR, provided that there are no legal obligations to retain such data.
10.1 You agree that use of the App is at your own risk. We make no guarantees as to the accuracy and completeness of the content within the App.
10.2 We shall be liable without limitation in the event of intent and gross negligence for injury to life, limb and health, in accordance with the provisions of the Product Liability Act and to the extent of a guarantee expressly assumed by us.
10.3 In the event of slight negligence, we shall only be liable for breach of material contractual obligations. In this case, our liability shall be limited to the typical and foreseeable damage at the time of conclusion of the contract. An essential contractual obligation within the meaning of this clause is an obligation whose fulfilment is essential for the proper execution of the contract and on whose compliance the other party regularly relies and may rely.
10.4 Except in the case of intent and gross negligence or the assumption of a guarantee, we shall not be liable for indirect damages, such as additional expenses, loss of profit or loss of savings. Any further liability on our part is excluded.
10.5 The following terms apply to use of the app in the United States, its territories and possessions: In no event shall Appinio or its customers be liable (whether in tort or contract, under statute or otherwise) for any indirect, special, consequential, or incidental damages, including without limitation damages for loss of profits, business interruption, loss of information, and the like, arising out of its performance or nonperformance of this GTC or the performance or nonperformance of the app, even if Appinio or its customers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. In consideration for Appinio supplying you with the app and the limited license granted to you in this GTC, you hereby release Appinio and its customers from any claims, demands, obligations, liabilities, damages, costs, fees, expenses, actions, causes of action, or suits at law or in equity, of whatever kind or nature, known or unknown, arising on, before, or after the effective date, relating to the app and Appinio's performance or non-performance of this GTC. If for any reason the foregoing limitation of liability and/or release is deemed unenforceable under applicable law, then in consideration for Appinio supplying you with the app and the limited license granted to you in this GTC, you agree that Appinio's liability arising out of these GTCs or the app shall not exceed $1,000 (USD).
In the event that you breach your obligations in clause 5 and are legally responsible for this (i.e. you were not careful or did something deliberately), you are obliged to indemnify us against claims by third parties arising from such a breach. This means that you must help us if someone else makes a claim against us as a result of a breach of your obligations contained in these GTCs. This also means that you must bear the costs if we have to defend ourselves legally. We reserve the right to assert claims for damages and other claims.
12.1 This contract is concluded for an indefinite period.
12.2 This contract can be terminated by both you and Appinio at any time. Please note that simply uninstalling the App does not terminate this contract. To terminate, you must delete your user account via our App under the menu item "Delete account". Please donate or withdraw the Appinio Coins from your user account. If you do not do this, all Appinio Coins already earned by you will be lost upon termination/deletion.
12.3 The contract canalso be terminated by us for good cause. Good cause shall be deemed to exist in particular if you breach any of your obligations under these GTC. If we decide to close your account for these reasons and you have questions about this, you can contact our Help Center in the App (go to Profile -> Settings -> Help). We will then explain why we have made the decision to terminate your account. Your account will be deactivated. This means that you will no longer be able to log in or use the App. We also want you to know that once your account has been closed, it may not be possible to restore it. If we terminate your account due to a breach of these terms and conditions, your Appionio Coins will expire without replacement.
If we terminate or suspend your account for cause, you are prohibited from creating a new account.
13.1 If you do not open our App for two years, we will consider your account unused. We want an energetic App with active users. That's why we have to remove unused accounts from time to time. We may delete inactive accounts without prior notice.
13.2 If your account is deleted, all your data, Contributions and Rewards (Appinio Coins) associated with it will also be deleted or expire. Please remember to save everything important and/or pay out any coins or redeem Rewards regularly and before you stop using your account. Do you want your account to remain active? Then simply log in from time to time.
13.3 If we determine that a user account has been created in violation of Section 2.2 of these Terms and Conditions, in particular by falsely stating that the user is under the age of 16, we reserve the right to delete the account immediately and remove all associated data. In this case, any Appinio Coins collected will also be forfeited without replacement.
14.1 We may change these Terms of Use if there is a good reason and the changes are fair to both parties. A good reason exists if something happens that could not have been foreseen when the contract was concluded and that means a major change for the contract. This can be, for example, if technical requirements or laws change or if we add new functions that did not exist before. We will not change important parts of the contract, i.e. the main services.
14.2 We will make the new GTC available to you at least six weeks before they come into effect and inform you separately of the changes and the start date. You will then have at least six weeks to tell us whether you agree with the new terms and conditions and wish to continue using our App. If you do not say anything during this time, we will assume that you agree. We will inform you again at the beginning of the period that you have the right not to agree and what will happen if you do not respond. If you do not accept the changes, you or we can terminate the contract immediately.
15.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply to the exclusion of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). This choice of law clause does not apply to regulations and provisions that are mandatory under the law of the country in which you are resident, or to regulations and provisions that may not be deviated from in private law contracts.
15.2 We are entitled to transfer rights and obligations under these GTCs in whole or in part to third parties.
16.1 Our App has an integrated reporting system that allows users to report content that violates our Terms of Use or is otherwise objectionable or unlawful. You can contact our support in the Appinio App to report questionable content. You are required to report content that violates our guidelines or applicable law using the reporting functions provided for this purpose in the App. We will process such reports promptly and take appropriate action.
16.2 If you believe that we have wrongly removed your post, you can object to this. If you believe that we have wrongly failed to remove a reported post, you can also lodge an objection. Please fill out this form.
16.3 We will review your case and decide whether to uphold or reverse our original decision.
16.4 We take every complaint seriously and will deal with it quickly, fairly, carefully and without prejudice by trained staff. If we determine that our decision not to intervene was a mistake or that the content of your complaint is neither illegal nor in breach of our Terms of Use, we will change our decision immediately and inform you.
17.1 There is a chatbot in our App that works with AI (i.e. artificial intelligence). It's there to help you if you have any questions - whether it's about the app's functions, your rewards or if you need help.
17.2 How accurate is the chatbot? We do our best to ensure that the chatbot gives you the right information. But sometimes the chatbot can also make mistakes. If you use the chatbot, you do so at your own risk. We cannot promise that everything the chatbot says is always 100% correct.
17.3 Your data and the chatbot: All information collected about you by the chatbot is subject to our privacy policy.
17.3 How you should behave: Please be nice to our chatbot. If you misuse the chatbot (i.e. use it excessively or inappropriately), we may block your access to the App.
17.4 Changes to the chatbot: We may have to change the chatbot at some point - we may have to improve something or even switch it off. We can't always predict that in advance.
Version dated August 19, 2024