Terms of Service

1. Scope and contracting parties

The contracting party is Fontemia GmbH, domiciled in Switzerland. The Channel is intended exclusively for businesses, self-employed persons, associations, public authorities and other legal entities that use the service for commercial or professional purposes. Use by consumers is excluded. By registering, the Customer confirms that it is acting in the exercise of its commercial or self-employed professional activity and is authorised to represent the company stated.

2. Subject of the service: a Channel, not a sending service

BgLetter is a communication Channel — a technical tool with which the Customer designs, personalises, translates and schedules its own emails and sends them through its own mailbox or its own SMTP access. The actual sending takes place, technically and legally, via the email provider selected and configured by the Customer. We provide no sending infrastructure of our own, no IP addresses for mail delivery and no delivery guarantee, and we never act as the sender.

BgLetter is expressly not an address or contact management service. We maintain no contact database, no distribution lists, no signup forms and no permanent recipient profiles. Recipient addresses remain under the Customer’s control and are provided by the Customer for each individual send; they are processed solely to carry out that send and are deleted automatically once the retention period set out in the clause “Retention periods” has elapsed. The unsubscribe list is exempt: we retain it permanently in order to comply with the statutory obligation to observe objections.

The scope of functionality follows from the service description applicable to the Customer’s plan at the relevant time. We develop the Channel continuously and may change, add to or discontinue functions, provided that the core benefit owed under the contract is preserved and this is reasonable for the Customer.

3. Account, credentials and users

The Customer is obliged to provide truthful information when registering and to keep it up to date. Credentials must be kept secret and protected against access by third parties; activating two-factor authentication is strongly recommended. The Customer is responsible for all actions carried out through its account and by the users it invites, and must notify us immediately of any suspected misuse. We are not liable for damage resulting from a disclosure of credentials for which the Customer is responsible.

4. Customer obligations and sole responsibility

The Customer is solely responsible for the content it sends, for the recipient addresses it uses and for compliance with all applicable legal provisions. In particular, the Customer warrants that (a) a valid legal basis exists for every contact, in particular demonstrable consent of the recipients, and that the Customer itself obtains and retains the evidence for this; (b) its emails contain the legally required mandatory information, including provider identification, as well as a functioning unsubscribe notice; (c) objections and unsubscribes are observed without delay; (d) the content does not infringe third-party rights and is not unlawful, misleading, harmful to minors or otherwise harmful; (e) no special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 GDPR and no data relating to criminal convictions are processed through the Channel; (f) the Customer complies with the terms of use and sending limits of its own email provider.

The Customer is further obliged to keep its own backup copies of its recipient lists, content and analytics. The Channel is neither an archiving nor a data backup system. The Customer must export any data it requires in good time before the retention periods expire; we do not owe the restoration of deleted data.

5. Permitted use, anti-spam and suspension

The sending of unsolicited advertising, the purchase, trade or use of bought, rented or otherwise non-consented address lists, the concealment of the sender’s identity, the sending of malware or phishing, and any use that infringes applicable law — in particular the GDPR, the German Act against Unfair Competition (UWG), the TDDDG, CAN-SPAM, CASL and comparable provisions — are prohibited. Likewise prohibited are automated access outside the interfaces we provide, circumvention of technical restrictions, security testing without our prior consent, and any use that endangers the operation or the delivery reputation of third parties.

Where there is reasonable suspicion of a breach, in the event of complaints by recipients or providers, where operations are at risk, or in the event of payment default, we may stop individual sending processes, restrict functions or suspend the account in whole or in part — and, in the case of a substantial impairment, without prior notice. We will inform the Customer of the measure as soon as this is possible and legally permissible. In the event of serious or repeated breaches, we may terminate the contract for cause without notice; in that case there is no claim to a refund of fees already paid.

6. Availability, maintenance and free plan

We operate the Channel with the diligence of a prudent business person, but do not owe any particular level of availability. An availability commitment, a service level agreement or a response time is only agreed where this is expressly done in text form. Maintenance work, security measures and disruptions outside our sphere of influence — in particular at the Customer’s email provider, at recipients’ mail servers, at network operators or at hosting providers — do not give rise to any claims by the Customer.

A free plan is provided without any claim to availability, functionality or continued existence. We may discontinue or modify free accounts at any time on fourteen days’ notice in text form; we may delete inactive free accounts after prior notification.

7. Retention periods and data minimisation

We store only what is necessary to operate the Channel. Recipient addresses, personalisation data and the content of sent campaigns and messages are deleted automatically and irretrievably no later than thirty (30) days after the send. What remains is solely anonymous key figures (such as the number of emails sent, opened and clicked), the subject line and the information required for billing, evidence and statutory retention obligations. The unsubscribe list remains stored permanently because it serves to fulfil legal obligations.

The Customer acknowledges that, once this period has expired, a further send to the same recipients is only possible if the Customer provides the recipient data again. Claims arising from this scheduled deletion are excluded.

8. Third-party services and AI functions

The Channel integrates third-party services: the email provider chosen by the Customer for sending, a hosting provider with servers located in Germany, PayPal for payment processing, and Anthropic for AI-assisted translation and the assistant. We assume no responsibility for the availability, scope of service or conduct of these third parties; their terms apply additionally in relation to the Customer.

AI-assisted functions produce machine-generated results that may be incorrect, incomplete or inappropriate. Translations and assistant answers are suggestions provided without warranty. The Customer is obliged to review every AI result for content, language and legal compliance before sending. We are not liable for damage arising from AI results adopted without review. When AI functions are used, the relevant content is transmitted to our AI provider; details are set out in the Privacy Policy.

9. Prices, billing and payment default

Prices follow from the price overview valid at the time of booking and are stated in euros. Paid plans are billed in advance via PayPal, monthly or annually at the Customer’s choice. As a business, the Customer is itself liable for any taxes and levies of its own country; for cross-border services the reverse-charge procedure may apply.

A switch to a higher plan is possible at any time with pro-rata settlement of the current period. A switch to a lower paid plan during an ongoing billing period is excluded; the Customer may cancel with effect from the end of the period and book again. Fees already paid are not refunded unless mandatory law provides otherwise.

If the Customer defaults on a payment, we may suspend access and terminate the contract for cause after an unsuccessful reminder. We reserve the right to adjust prices in text form on six weeks’ notice with effect from the start of a new billing period; in that case the Customer may terminate for cause with effect from the date the adjustment takes effect.

10. Term, termination and account deletion

The contract runs for an indefinite period and may be terminated by the Customer at any time with effect from the end of the current billing period via the account settings. We may terminate the contract in text form on thirty days’ notice with effect from the end of a month. The right of both parties to terminate for cause remains unaffected.

When the termination takes effect, access to the Channel ends. The Customer is obliged to export any data it requires beforehand. Following termination we delete the account data within thirty days, unless a statutory retention obligation prevents this. There is no further obligation to hand over or restore data.

11. Warranty

The Channel is provided in the version available at the relevant time. We do not owe any particular fitness for a purpose pursued by the Customer, any commercial success, any delivery to the inbox, any particular open or click rate, or freedom from defects. Software of this complexity cannot, according to the state of the art, be entirely free of defects; insignificant deviations do not give rise to warranty rights. Defects must be notified to us in text form with a comprehensible description; we will remedy them within a reasonable period by way of subsequent performance, whereby we are entitled to at least two attempts at remedy.

12. Limitation of liability

We are liable without limitation in cases of intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, for fraudulently concealed defects, to the extent of an expressly assumed guarantee, and under mandatory product liability law.

In cases of ordinary negligence, we are liable only for the breach of material contractual obligations, that is, obligations whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance the Customer may regularly rely. In such cases liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical of this type of contract at the time the contract was concluded, but in total to no more than the fees the Customer paid for the Channel in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the damage. Liability for ordinary negligence is otherwise excluded.

Excluded — to the extent legally permissible — is in particular liability for lost profit, savings not realised, damage to reputation, third-party claims, loss of data, as well as for damage arising from: non-delivery, delayed delivery or classification as spam; disruptions, limitations, blocks or loss of reputation at the Customer’s email provider or at recipients’ mail servers; incorrect, incomplete or unlawfully collected recipient data; the Customer’s content; results of AI functions; and the scheduled deletion of data once the retention periods have expired. In addition, we are liable for loss of data only to the extent that the damage would also have occurred had the Customer carried out proper, regular data backups.

The above limitations apply to claims of whatever legal nature, in particular claims in contract, in tort and under strict liability, and likewise for the benefit of our legal representatives, employees and vicarious agents. To the extent legally permissible, the Customer’s claims become time-barred one year after it becomes aware of the circumstances giving rise to the claim; this does not apply to claims based on intent, gross negligence or injury to life, body or health.

13. Indemnification

The Customer shall indemnify us, our affiliated companies, legal representatives, employees and vicarious agents against all third-party claims — including claims by recipients, competitors, supervisory authorities and associations — as well as against fines, damages, costs and reasonable legal defence costs arising from or in connection with the content it sends, the recipient data it uses, missing or ineffective consent, a breach of these Terms of Service or a breach of applicable law. We will inform the Customer without delay of any claims asserted and will coordinate the defence with it.

14. Data protection and processing on behalf

Details of the processing of personal data are set out in the Privacy Policy. Where we process recipient data on behalf of the Customer, the Customer is the controller and we are the processor; the Data Processing Agreement applies, which becomes part of these Terms of Service upon conclusion of the contract and is available on the website. The Customer issues its instructions through the functions of the Channel; deviating individual instructions require text form and, where they cause additional effort, are remunerated separately.

15. Confidentiality

Both parties shall treat the other party’s confidential information as confidential, use it only for the performance of the contract, and disclose it only to persons who need it for the performance of the contract and who are bound accordingly. This obligation continues for three years after the end of the contract. Exempt is information that is publicly known, was developed independently, or must be disclosed on the basis of a legal obligation.

16. Changes to these Terms

We may amend these Terms of Service where this is necessary to adapt to changes in the law, case law, technical conditions or a changed scope of functionality, and where this does not unreasonably disadvantage the Customer. We will inform the Customer of changes in text form at least thirty days before they take effect. If the Customer does not object before the changes take effect, the changes are deemed accepted; we will point this out separately in the notice of change. In the event of an objection, either party may terminate the contract with effect from the date the change takes effect.

17. Final provisions

Swiss law applies, excluding the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and excluding its conflict-of-laws rules. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with this contract is Liestal, Switzerland; we may also sue the Customer at its general place of jurisdiction. Mandatory consumer protection provisions do not apply, as the Channel is aimed exclusively at businesses.

The Customer may transfer rights and obligations under this contract only with our prior consent in text form; we may transfer the contract to an affiliated company or a legal successor. Set-off is permitted only against undisputed claims or claims established by a final court decision; the Customer is entitled to a right of retention only in respect of claims arising from the same contractual relationship. Amendments and additions require text form; this also applies to any waiver of this form requirement. Should any provision be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected; the invalid provision shall be replaced by the permissible provision that comes closest to its economic purpose. The German version of these Terms is authoritative; translations serve solely to aid understanding.