Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy and Notice
This policy describes how PodCreator UG ("Gistable", "we", "us") collects, receives, processes, uses, discloses, or shares your information. When you use our sites, products, or services or otherwise form a relationship with us, we may obtain data from you and the devices you are using to do so. This policy is designed to provide transparency into our privacy practices and principles in a format you can navigate, read, and understand easily. We commit to treating your personal information with care and respect and encourage you to contact us using the methods provided below should you have any questions or concerns about the use of your information. The Scope of this Policy This Policy describes the processing of personal information provided or collected on our sites, applications, products or services. In some instances, we may provide additional data privacy notices specific to certain products, practices, or regions. Those terms should be read in conjunction with this policy. If you provide information to us on a third-party site or platform, the information you provide may be separately collected by the third-party site or platform. That third-party site or platform's privacy practices will govern the use of your information. Choices you make on that third-party platform will not apply to our use of the information we have collected through our sites, products, or services. We acknowledge our obligations to all recipients of our products and services, including visitors to our website, our registered users and administrators of our products and services on behalf of our customers to collect, manage, process, and use their personal information ("Personal Data") in accordance with the laws and regulations of each of the countries in which we operate. Information Collected or Processed Gistable may have collected or processed the categories of personal information that are identified below. We generally collect the information listed below to secure, improve, and provide our services to our customers. Identifiers such as a real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, or other similar identifiers. Customer records information such as a name, credit card number, debit card number, or other payment information, or information about a purchased subscription. Internet or other electronic network activity information, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, and information regarding your interaction with an internet website application, or advertisement. Activity information on mobile applications, including, but not limited to, browsing history, search history, information regarding a consumer's interaction with a mobile application, or advertisements on mobile applications. Geolocation data. Professional or employment-related information. Education information. Inferences drawn from any of the information identified in this subdivision to reflect your preferences, characteristics, behavior, attitudes, abilities, and aptitudes. Sources of Information The sources from which personal information may have been collected or processed are the following: information that you provided to us, online tracking technologies, automatic data collection technologies, social media platforms and networks, business partners, service providers etc. The purpose of such collection or processing include: providing our products and services, communicating with you, administering programs, security and fraud prevention, legal obligations, core business functions, the job applicant and employment process, marketing and promotional purposes (which may include targeted advertising), analytics and personalization etc. How We Disclose Information In the process of providing services to you, we may disclose your Personal Data to our subsidiaries and affiliates, along with our service providers and other third-parties. We carefully select our service providers and business partners, especially with regard to the suitability of the technical and organizational measures taken by them. In each case, we take all reasonable measures to ensure that your Personal Data is protected (such as appropriate data processing agreements). We may also disclose your Personal Data to service providers and third parties when necessary to comply with laws and regulations; respond to subpoenas and court orders; exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims; investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, potential threats to our property or the physical safety of any person, or violations of our usage instructions and applicable terms and conditions; facilitate the financing or insuring of our business or a disposition of all or part of our business or assets, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. We may disclose anonymized or aggregated data at our discretion, in accordance with applicable laws. Our Commitment to Protecting Information Belonging to Children Our services are not intended for children under the age of 14. We do not knowingly collect information via our sites, products, and services from users under the age of 14. If you use our Services, you represent that you are at least the age of majority under the laws of the jurisdiction of your place of residence, or, as a minor, that you are at least 14 years old and that
your legal representatives have provided their consent to use our services. If you believe your child has provided us with personal information, please alert us at privacy@gistable.com. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a minor without their legal representatives' consent, we will promptly take appropriate steps to delete such information and terminate the minor's account. Cookies and Other Technologies Cookies are identifiers we transfer to your browser or device that allow us to recognize your browser or device and tell us, for example, how and when pages and features in our services are visited and by how many people. You may be able to change the preferences on your browser or device to prevent or limit your device's acceptance of cookies, but this may prevent you from taking advantage of some of our features. We recommend you keep cookies activated. We have broken up our cookies into categories to help you understand what they do: Essential/Necessary: These cookies cannot be deactivated as they are required to use our services. For example, they are necessary to access and use our website and login to your account. Functionality, Preferences and Performance: These cookies track information about you to make using our website easier. For example, we may retain information such as your login status and viewing preferences. These cookies also track how you interact with our website. For example, these cookies let us know which pages on our website load slowly or are not optimized for mobile use. We use this information to make improvements to our user experience. Marketing, Analytics and Statistics: These cookies help us create targeted advertising experiences on our websites. You can manage your cookie preferences on our cookie banner that pops up when you first visit our website or via our Cookie Consent Manager. Our Global Data Transfer Practices We store and process your Personal Data primarily in Germany, where our hosting provider (Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany) is located. Also in other cases our data processing activities may involve the transfer of your Personal Data to "third countries" in the sense of the GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation), i.e. countries outside of the European Economic Area, where the GDPR is not in force. Such a transfer is permissible if the European Commission has determined that an adequate level of data protection is provided in the relevant third country. If an adequacy decision of the European Commission does not exist, a transfer of your Personal Data to a third country will only take place if appropriate safeguards exist, or if one of the conditions listed in Art. 49 GDPR is met. If you consent to the transfer of Personal Data to third countries, any such transfer will take place on that legal basis. In all other cases, we use the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as appropriate safeguards for the transfer of Personal Data to third countries that fall outside the scope of the GDPR. Your Privacy Rights If you are a resident of certain states or countries, you may have the right to be informed about the way your Personal Data is processed, withdraw your consent (if you have given consent to data processing activities), access your Personal Data, rectify, transfer your Personal Data (right to data portability), restrict the processing of, opt-out from certain types of processing (e.g., targeted advertising, the sale of Personal Data, limit the use and disclosure of sensitive information, and profiling, as defined by the applicable state law(s)), and delete your Personal Data ("right to be forgotten"). If you choose to exercise any of these options, we will not discriminate against you for making that decision. You can exercise your privacy rights by contacting us at privacy@gistable.com. When we receive a request to exercise a privacy right, we will review information we have collected about you (if any) with identifying information you may have provided us (such as a login, email address, mailing address, zip code, or transaction or order number) to authenticate your identity. If you use an authorized agent to submit a request, we may require the authorized agent to provide proof that you gave the agent signed permission to submit the request. We may also require you to directly confirm with us that you provided the authorized agent permission to submit the request. If, and to the extent that, we process your Personal Data on the basis of a legitimate interest, in particular if we pursue our legitimate interest to conduct direct marketing or to apply profiling in connection with direct marketing, you have the right to object to such use of your Personal Data at any time. If you object to the processing of your Personal Data for direct marketing purposes, we will promptly stop processing your Personal Data for these purposes. In all other cases, we will carefully consider your objection and stop further use of the information in question, subject to compelling reasons for further processing that may take precedence over your interest in objecting, or if we need to use the information for the justification, exercise or defense of legal claims. There may be situations where we cannot grant your request regarding your privacy rights. In such a situation, we will explain our reasoning to you and will honor your right to appeal where applicable. Your Controls and Choices regarding Marketing Messaging You can control how and when you want to receive marketing messaging, for example emails, from Gistable by clicking on the "unsubscribe" link located at the bottom of our email communications to you, or by sending
an email to privacy@gistable.com. Please note that this will not affect your receipt of administrative emails (for example, emails about your account, transactions, or policy changes) for your registered account, and further, that the lawfulness of the processing that was based on that consent before it was withdrawn will not be affected. How to Contact Us If you have any questions about how we process your information, you can contact us at: PodCreator UG Keithstraße 41/43 10787 Berlin Germany Email: privacy@gistable.com Our data protection officer can be reached (via an internal privacy coordinator) at the above-mentioned address, attn. Data Protection Officer, or via email at dataprotectionofficer@gistable.com. Contacting Supervisory Authorities If you would like to lodge a complaint against us, you may contact your local privacy regulator. You can make a complaint, for example, to: Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Friedrichstr. 219 10969 Berlin Telephone: +49 30 13889-0 E-Mail: mailbox@datenschutz-berlin.de You may also complain to another competent supervisory authority. If you have trouble locating a competent authority, please contact our privacy office at privacy@gistable.com and they will help you contact the appropriate enforcement agency.
Final Clauses Gistable reserves the right to adjust this data privacy policy at any point in time to ensure that it is in line with the current legal requirements at all times, or in order to accommodate changes in the services offered, for example when new services are introduced or modifications are made on the website. In this case, the new data privacy policy applies to any later visit of this software or website.
This policy was last updated on: October 13, 2023 3. Registering with Gistable In order to be able to use Gistable's services, a registration with Gistable is required. Individuals over the age of 18 have the right to register. As a minor, you may only register with Gistable if you are at least 14 years old and your legal representatives have provided their consent. Gistable reserves the right to make the use of Gistable services contingent on proper proof of your identity, your legal age, or your legal representative's consent. The registration itself is free of charge ("Basic Account") and does not oblige you to obtain a paid subscription. By registering, you are entering an agreement with Gistable for a limited, free use of the Platform. If you have been granted your Gistable Account by your employer, registering with Gistable via the option communicated to you by your employer is all you need to do - you can immediately use all the content covered by the contract with your employer. You can use your e-mail address as well as a password of your choice to register. Alternatively, you may register using a single sign-on service (for example, Facebook login). You can register via our website or after downloading our iOS or Android apps. Any information required for registration must be complete and correct and always up-to-date. The password used must be kept confidential. Keeping it a secret is solely and fully your responsibility. The Gistable user account may only be used by you. Any unauthorized use of your user account, as well as any such suspicion to that effect should be communicated to Gistable immediately. 4. Executing an Agreement for a Paid Subscription To be able to fully benefit from Gistable's services, additional service packages in the form of paid subscriptions ("Subscription Access") are available to you after registering. These can be purchased for different, and variable periods of time, which you will see in the order options. Gistable's Subscription Accesses are paid subscriptions that allow you to access additional content and features through our mobile and web-based applications. We currently offer the following subscription / service package: The Gistable Premium service package includes access to our whole library, i.e. to all of our Platform Content in both text and audio. If you receive your Gistable access through your employer, you generally have access to the Gistable Premium service package. However, there may be deviations due to individual agreements between Gistable and your employer. You will have access to the respective services as long as your subscription is valid. If you want to purchase your Gistable Premium subscription via our website, you submit a legally binding offer for a fee-based subscription, by you entering the information requested in the online order form and then clicking on the "Subscribe now" (or similar) button. The contract is concluded when Gistable issues a notice of acceptance (order confirmation), which will
be sent to you by email within a reasonable time. If you purchased your fee-based subscription via Gistable's web-based app Gistable will send the order confirmation to you by email together with the receipt confirmation immediately following your order. If you purchased your fee-based subscription via an in-app purchase (please also see Section 4 (5)) you will receive a receipt confirmation following your order from the third party appstore and Gistable will send to you the notice of acceptance (order confirmation) by separate email. In both cases, the text of the contract (consisting of the order, the General Terms and Conditions and the order confirmation) will be sent to you by Gistable on a permanent data carrier (email) (contract confirmation). Your subscription begins on this date. You can also sign up for a paid subscription through an in-app purchase through our iOS or Android apps. In order to do this, you must select the desired option on the subscription screen within the app, and a pop-up will appear where you have to enter your password for the third party appstore. As soon as you finish, a pop-up will appear in which you have to confirm the purchase of the subscription again. At this point you can still cancel the process. You should then receive a receipt confirmation from the third party appstore (not directly from Gistable). 5. Trials/ Testing Phases Gistable occasionally offers in particular to new users free-of-charge Subscription Access for testing purposes for a certain period of time ("Trial"). Gistable determines, at its sole discretion, if you may participate in a Trial. In case of an important reason, Gistable may discontinue or change such free Trial at any time without prior notice or notification. You can only participate in certain Trials if you enter your payment details when you sign up for the Trial. In such a case, we need your consent at the beginning of the Trial that your free access will be converted into a paid Subscription Access (Section 4) on the day following the end of the Trial. Your subscription then generally renews on a recurring basis. It can be terminated up to one day before the end of the respective subscription period (Section 10 (2)). You will always be clearly informed of this process before you subscribe to your Trial. If, in a case of Section 5 (2) , you do not wish to have the Subscription Access and the charge associated with it, you must cancel your Subscription Access before the end of the Trial (for example, by simply going to your Gistable Account Settings or the respective app store settings). We grant a 14-day money-back guarantee for subscriptions that are purchased via our website (Section 4 (3-4)). If you have purchased a Subscription Access as an in-app purchase (Section 4 (5)), we have no influence on refunds and therefore cannot guarantee a refund within 14 days. Your statutory claims remain unaffected by this. 6. Individual Purchase of Content From time to time, we also offer you the opportunity to purchase additional, individual Platform Content to test our offer without having to purchase a full Subscription Access You submit a legally binding offer for the individual content that you have selected, if you enter the information requested in the online order formand then click on the button "Buy now" (or similar). By doing so, you submit a legally binding offer for a paid contract. The contract is concluded when Gistable issues a notice of acceptance (order confirmation), which will be sent to you by email within a reasonable time. If you purchase your individual content via Gistable's web-based application or via an online checkout offered by Gistable, we will send the order confirmation to you by email together with the receipt confirmation and these TOS. When you purchase individual content, Gistable grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-assignable, non-sublicensable license to download such content to your Gistable Library for your personal, non-commercial use. You are not entitled to alter, modify, sell, transfer, share, lease, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, copy, reproduce, duplicate, distribute, publicly perform, create derivative works from or otherwise commercially exploit the content or otherwise use and/or export the Content outside the Gistable Library. 7. Cancellation Policy If you are a consumer (i.e., a person completing the legal transaction for purposes that can be predominantly attributed to neither their commercial nor their independent professional activity), you are entitled to a statutory withdrawal right when concluding a distance selling agreement, about which Gistable provides information below in accordance with the statutory model. Please note that in the case of an in-app purchase, you have a right of withdrawal within the respective app store, i.e. Apple-App-Store or Google Play Store. A model withdrawal form can be found in Section 7.3.
- BEGIN INSTRUCTIONS ON WITHDRAWAL - Right of withdrawal You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day of the conclusion of the contract. To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us PodCreator UG Keithstraße 41/43 10787 Berlin Germany E-mail: support@gistable.com of your decision to withdraw from this contract by an unequivocal statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). You may use the attached model withdrawal form, but it is not obligatory. To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired. Effects of withdrawal If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of the supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us) without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement. If you requested to begin the performance of services during the withdrawal period, you shall pay us an amount which is in proportion to what has been provided until you have communicated us your withdrawal from this contract, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.
- END INSTRUCTIONS ON WITHDRAWAL - The right of withdrawal expires with regard to individual content contracts if we already provided you the services (i.e. you downloaded the individual content to your Gistable Library) with your prior consent before the end of the withdrawal period and your acknowledgment that you thereby lose your right of withdrawal. We hereby provide you with a sample withdrawal form, according to legal requirements: Sample Cancellation Form (Please fill out this form and send it back if you wish to cancel the Agreement.) – To: PodCreator UG Keithstraße 41/43 10787 Berlin Germany support@gistable.com
- I hereby revoke the Agreement executed by me relating to the purchase of the following products ( )/the following service ( ) provided – Ordered on ( )/received on ( ) – Consumer name(s) – Consumer address – Consumer signature (only if notification is on paper) – Date (*) Cross out if it does not apply. 8. Reimbursement and Payment Methods, Compensation and Retention Rights The Subscription Access for our Gistable Premium subscription (Section 4) is subject to a fee. The costs are to be paid at the beginning of the subscription (or, in the case of a Trial, after its expiry). The purchase of individual content is also subject to payment. If you have been granted your Gistable Account by your employer, your Subscription Access is generally free of charge - it is usually already covered by your employer. Please note that if you purchase additional individual content that may be available, this might not be covered by your employer. As payment methods, Gistable offers credit card, Paypal and additional payment methods, if available, specified before beginning of the order process. You can also use a Gistable Gift Card (see Section 11). When purchasing a subscription with the Gistable iOS or Android apps, payment is made by Apple's or Google's in-app purchase process. You are not entitled to offset any claims against claims of Gistable, unless your counterclaims are finally determined with legal effect or undisputed. You are also entitled to offset against the claims of Gistable, if you make complaints for defects or counterclaims based on the same agreement. You may only exercise your right of retention if your counterclaim results from the same agreement. 9. Third Party Links and Advertising The Service may contain links to third-party websites, advertisers, services, special offers, or other events or activities that are not owned or controlled by Gistable. We do not endorse or assume any responsibility for any such third-party sites, information, materials, products, or services. If you access any third party website, service, or content from Gistable, you understand that these TOS and our Privacy Policy do not apply to your
use of such sites. You expressly acknowledge and agree that Gistable shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss arising from your use of any third-party website, service, or content. In consideration for Gistable granting you access to and use of the Service and if you do not use a paid service, you consent to Gistable showing you promotional information on the Platform. Our paid service occasionally includes content that has been developed in collaboration with other companies. 10. Term and Cancellation Term of the Basic Account: The Basic Account starts from the time you register according to Section 3 of these Terms of Service and runs indefinitely. You may cancel the your Basic Account at any time. To this effect, you can delete your account via our web app in the "Settings" menu item. A: Term of the paid subscription, if you are a consumer and have your permanent residence in Germany: The paid subscription for the Subscription Access (see Section 4) will run for at least the term you originally selected (the "Initial Term") and will automatically renew for an indefinite period (
MarkdownText the "Indefinite Term") if it is not canceled at least 24 hours before the end of that period. If you did not cancel during your Initial Term or did not cancel it in time, you can cancel the Indefinite Term at any time by giving one month's notice. You can cancel as instructed below: You can cancel your Subscription Access purchased via our web app in the "Settings" menu item of the web app. To do this, you must log in, open the settings in the context menu and click on "Cancel subscription". If you cancel your Indefinite Subscription before the end of each 12-month period, we will refund the cost of the unused months on a pro-rata basis to your chosen payment method. A Subscription Access purchased via our iOS or Android apps can be canceled in your iTunes or Google Play settings. If you cancel your Indefinite Subscription before the end of each 12-month period, the respective third-party app store provider will directly refund your costs for the unused months. You can also cancel your Subscription Access by using the "Cancel Subscription" button on our website, and entering all required information to the form. B: Term of the paid subscription, if you are either not a consumer or have your permanent residence outside Germany: The paid subscription for the Subscription Access (see Section 4) will run for at least the Initial Term and will automatically renew for the same period if it is not canceled with at least 24 hours before the end of the respective period (the "Renewal Term"). You can cancel as instructed below: You can cancel a Subscription Access completed via our web app in the "Settings" menu item of the web app. To do this, you must log in, open the settings in the context menu and click on "Cancel subscription". A Subscription Access completed in our iOS or Android apps can be canceled in your iTunes or Google Play settings. The Subscription Access cancellation takes effect on the day following the last day of your current subscription period. You will then automatically be downgraded to a Basic Account. This also applies if your Account was provided to you by your employer: In this case, your account will automatically be downgraded to a Basic Account after the contract between your employer and Gistable expires. However, once you purchase a new Subscription Access, you will be able to access your old status and reading lists. If you wish to delete your entire account, you can do so from the settings in our web app (see Section 10 (1)). In that case, your data will be deleted irrevocably. Gistable's right to blocking and/or canceling your account for an important reason due to a good cause remains unaffected by the preceding provisions. 11. Gift Cards and Special Offers If you are the holder of a Gistable gift card that allows the use of a Gistable Premium subscription for the period mentioned in the accompanying email, card or paper receipt, you have the right to use the Gistable Platform during the respective period of time. To redeem the gift card, you must register with Gistable first (see Section 3) and then activate the code indicated on the gift certificate on a dedicated page (currently: http://www.gistable.com/friends)..) Gift cards and other codes cannot be redeemed for cash and cannot be reimbursed, exchanged or used to purchase other codes. Please note that in addition to these TOS, if you use a gift card or any other special offer, additional conditions that may apply. Once the respective period expires, the subscription access ends automatically and you will be downgraded to the free account accordingly. If you want to continue to use the subscription access, you can sign up for a new subscription (Section 4) at any time. If you
wish to delete your entire account, you can do so from the settings in our web apps (see Section 10 (1)). All data will be deleted irrevocably. 12. Liability Gistable disqualifies any claims for damages coming from you. This does not apply to claims for damages arising from fatal injuries, physical injuries, health damage or from the breach of essential contractual obligations (cardinal obligations) as well as liability for other damages that are based on an intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty by Gistable, its legal representatives or affiliates. Essential contractual obligations are those the fulfillment of which enables the proper execution of the Agreement in the first place and on the fulfillment of which you can trust. In the event of a breach of essential contractual obligations, Gistable shall only be liable for the typical, foreseeable damages stipulated in a contract, if they were simply caused by negligence, unless it also involves claims for damages due to fatal injuries, physical injuries or damages to health. The restrictions mentioned in Section 12 (1) and 12 (2) also apply to breaches of duty by Gistable's affiliates and legal representatives, if claims are made directly against them. 13. Data Protection When you use the Platform, Gistable processes your personal data. You can find out more in the Gistable Privacy Policy, which you can view here. If your Gistable account is provided to you via your employer, Gistable processes your personal data partly on behalf of your employer. This means that your employer may be able to access, edit, delete or control your account, as well as view insights into your usage behavior. Your employer can provide you with more detailed information on this. 14. Change of Terms and Conditions Gistable reserves the right to amend and/or supplement these TOS with effect for the future, provided that this is reasonable for you taking into account Gistable's interests. If no explicit consent is obtained from you to adapt the TOS, you will be notified by Gistable of any amendments and/or supplements to the TOS in a timely manner (at least four weeks before the amended TOS enter into force). To this end, Gistable will send you the new version of the TOS to the e-mail address specified by you in the registration. In this context, Gistable will expressly point out to you the possibility and deadline for an objection to the new version of the TOS, as well as the consequences, should you not object. If you do not object to the applicability of the new version of the TOS within four weeks after receipt of the notification referred to in paragraph (1) of this Section, the new version of the TOS shall be deemed accepted by you. If you object to the new version of the TOS in due time, the contractual relationship shall be continued under the previous TOS, but Gistable may decide to terminate the Basic Account or the Subscription Access with effect from the next possible regular termination date. 15. Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution For the out-of-court resolution of consumer disputes, the European Union has set up an Online Dispute Resolution ("OS Platform") platform that can be accessed at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. The platform serves as a point of contact for the out-of-court resolution of disputes concerning contractual obligations arising from online agreements. According to § 36 VSBG [Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz, Consumer Dispute Resolution Act], Gistable points out that Gistable is neither obligated nor willing to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board. 16. Final Provisions If any provision of these General Terms and Conditions is invalid, the remainder of the agreement remains valid. The statutory provisions shall take effect over the invalid regulations. If you are an entrepreneur/businessperson (in the meaning of § 14 BGB, german civil code), the following applies: The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply, excluding the provisions of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). If no exclusive legal court of jurisdiction is given, all disputes arising out of or in connection with the contractual relationship shall be settled exclusively by the court at Gistable's registered office, thus Berlin. Valid as of May 10, 2024.