Freenet
Weighted across nine legal categories. Lower is worse.
Executive summary
This is freenet's German data protection notice, not a full terms and conditions contract, so it tells you a lot about how your data is used and almost nothing about your contract rights. On privacy it is detailed and disciplined: it names a data protection officer, cites a legal basis for every use, keeps server log data separate, deletes your connection IP address after seven days, and lets you withdraw any consent at any time free of charge. The trade off is a very large advertising and profiling operation, run through the IAB consent framework, which can build personalised advertising profiles, link your devices to your household, use precise location, and combine online with offline data, all subject to your consent. Freenet also sends your contract and payment behaviour to credit agencies including SCHUFA, which score you and keep the data for about three years, and it can refuse your application automatically, though you can demand a human review. If you buy from freenet online you get the standard German 14 day right to cancel with a full refund, but you pay return postage on goods worth under 40 EUR.
Category breakdown
1 of the nine categories are not addressed by this document, so they are left out rather than scored.
Acceptance of Terms & Scope
Contract formation and service boundaries
This page does not form a contract, so there is nothing here about how you accept terms, what age you must be, or what services the agreement covers. It identifies freenet DLS GmbH as the responsible company and presents itself as a legal information notice under GDPR Articles 13 and 14. Because the acceptance and scope questions are simply not addressed, this score is a neutral placeholder rather than a judgement about freenet's contract practices.
Key findings
- The document is a privacy notice and statutory information page, not a terms of service agreement
- No acceptance mechanism is described: no checkbox, no click through, no continued use clause
- No minimum age requirement is stated anywhere, although a youth protection officer is named
- The responsible company is clearly identified with its address and commercial register entry
- Scope is described only loosely as freenet's services, without listing which products are covered
- The withdrawal notice confirms the document is aimed at consumers, not businesses
Evidence from the document
INFORMATIONEN GEMÄß ART. 13, 14 DSGVO
freenet DLS GmbH · Hollerstr. 126 · 24782 Büdelsdorf Amtsgericht Kiel · HRB 14826 KI (nachfolgend „freenet“ genannt)
Das Widerrufsrecht besteht nur, sofern Sie das Rechtsgeschäft zu Zwecken abschließen, die weder überwiegend Ihrer gewerblichen noch Ihrer selbständigen beruflichen Tätigkeit zugerechnet werden können.
Recommendations
- Read freenet's separate general terms (AGB) and the specific tariff terms before signing, because this page does not contain them
- Save a dated copy of the contract documents you actually accept at sign up, since this page carries no version date
- If you are under 18, check with the sales channel what age and parental consent rules apply, because this page is silent on that
User Accounts
Registration, suspension, and termination
Account rules are only touched on in passing. The document confirms you can register, that registration data is needed to receive services, and that your IP address and the time of registration are logged to prevent abuse, but it says nothing about suspension, termination, appeals or what happens to your account if freenet closes it. The one genuinely useful protection is that if freenet rejects your contract application through automated credit scoring, you can demand that a human reviews the decision and you must be told the rejection was automated.
Key findings
- Registration is described, and registration data is stated to be necessary to receive content or services
- Your IP address plus date and time are stored at registration to prevent misuse of the services
- A customer area called Mein Konto exists and can be used to withdraw marketing consents
- Contract applications can be refused automatically on the basis of credit scoring and profiling
- You have an explicit right to demand a manual review of an automated rejection, and to be told it was automated
- No suspension, termination, appeal or data export terms appear anywhere in the document
Evidence from the document
Die Registrierung der Daten ist für die Bereitstellung von Inhalten oder Leistungen erforderlich.
Bei der Registrierung wird die IP-Adresse des Nutzers sowie Datum und Uhrzeit der Registrierung gespeichert. Dies dient dazu einen Missbrauch der Dienste zu verhindern.
Auf Verlangen des Kunden wird die Entscheidung von uns manuell überprüft.
Wir erstellen im Zusammenhang mit der Begründung oder Änderung von Vertragsverhältnissen Kopien amtlicher Lichtbildausweise
Recommendations
- If freenet turns down your application, ask in writing for the manual review the document promises, and ask which credit agency was used
- Request your credit report from SCHUFA and the other named agencies before you apply, so you can correct errors first
- Look up freenet's separate terms for the rules on suspending or closing your account, since they are not on this page
Intellectual Property & UGC
Content ownership and licensing
The document contains no intellectual property or user content terms at all. It never says who owns material you submit, it grants freenet no licence over your content, and it sets no rules for reviews, chat messages or contact form submissions beyond describing them as personal data. There are places where you could create content, such as the contact form, the service chat and Trusted Shops reviews, but the legal treatment of that content is simply not addressed, so this score is a neutral placeholder.
Key findings
- No content licence is granted to freenet anywhere in the text
- No claim of ownership over user submitted material appears
- Contact form and service chat submissions are treated only as personal data, with no content rules
- Trusted Shops reviews are mentioned as displayed on the site, but no review or rating terms are given
- No copyright, trademark or takedown provisions are present
Evidence from the document
Auf unserem Dienst ist ein Kontaktformular vorhanden, das für die elektronische Kontaktaufnahme genutzt werden kann.
Zudem können Sie mit uns über unseren Service-Chat kommunizieren.
Zur Anzeige unserer mit Trusted Shops gegebenenfalls gesammelten Bewertungen ist auf diesem Dienst das Trusted Shops Trustbadge eingebunden.
Recommendations
- Check freenet's general terms and any review platform terms before posting reviews or submitting media, because the rules are not on this page
- Assume anything you send through the contact form or service chat is stored, and keep your own copy
Data Privacy
Data collection, usage, and protection
This is the heart of the document and it is thorough and legally disciplined. Every processing purpose carries a named legal basis, a data protection officer is reachable by post and by PGP encrypted email, log data is kept separate, connection IP addresses are deleted after seven days, ID document copies are deleted once identity is verified, and you get the full set of GDPR rights plus named supervisory authorities. The weight on the other side is real: freenet runs a large IAB consent framework advertising operation that can build personalised advertising profiles, link devices to a household, use precise location and match offline data to online data, and it sends your contract and payment behaviour to four credit agencies that score you and keep the data for roughly three years.
Key findings
- A named data protection officer is given with postal address, email and a PGP key fingerprint, and every purpose cites a specific legal basis
- Connection IP addresses are deleted after seven days, and traffic data not needed for billing is deleted immediately
- A consent manager lets you decide purpose by purpose, consents can be withdrawn at any time free of charge, and social plugins stay inactive until you click them
- The Utiq telecom tracking technology is off by default and only runs on your consent, with a central portal to revoke it
- The advertising stack can create personalised ad and content profiles, connect devices to one household, and use precise location down to a few metres
- Contract and payment behaviour data goes to SCHUFA, Creditreform Boniversum, CRIF and Infoscore, which score you and normally keep records for three years
Evidence from the document
Die Daten der Logfiles werden dabei stets getrennt von anderen personenbezogenen Daten der Nutzer gespeichert.
Dazu speichern wir Ihre IP-Adresse für sieben Tage ab Ende der Verbindung
Die Utiq-Technologie, die den Nutzern zur Verfügung steht, ist standardmäßig deaktiviert und bedarf Ihrer Einwilligung, um aktiviert und genutzt zu werden
deterministisch bestimmen, dass zwei oder mehr Geräte demselben Nutzer oder Haushalt gehören.
präzise Geolokalisierungsdaten für einen oder mehrere Zwecke erheben und verarbeiten.
Recommendations
- Open the privacy manager and turn off the personalised advertising and precise location purposes if you do not want profiling
- Withdraw the Utiq consent in the consenthub portal if you share a connection, because everyone on that connection gets the same identifier
- Exercise your GDPR access right with freenet and separately with SCHUFA to see what is actually held about you
- Object to advertising use of your inventory and traffic data in writing, using the email address and phone number the document provides
Payment & Subscriptions
Billing and subscription management
There are no prices, billing cycles, renewal terms or cancellation rules here, but the statutory withdrawal notice is included in full and it is genuinely consumer friendly. You get 14 days to cancel without giving a reason, refunds within 14 days to the original payment method with no fee, and an itemised call record on request. The costs that fall on you are ordinary German ones: return postage on goods worth under 40 EUR, and a pro rata payment if you asked freenet to start a service during the withdrawal period. The bigger gap is that automatic renewal, price changes and contract termination are not addressed at all.
Key findings
- A full 14 day right of withdrawal is granted, counted from contract conclusion or from delivery of the goods
- Refunds are due within 14 days of your notice, using the same payment method, with no charge for the refund, though freenet may hold the refund until the goods are back
- You pay the return postage yourself on returns worth up to 40 EUR
- If you asked for a service to start during the withdrawal period you must pay for the part already delivered
- An itemised connection record is available on request, in full or with the last three digits masked
- No auto renewal, price change, late fee or contract cancellation terms appear anywhere, and the only subscription promises come from a voluntary industry code of conduct
Evidence from the document
Sie haben das Recht, binnen vierzehn Tagen ohne Angabe von Gründen diesen Vertrag zu widerrufen.
Bei Rücksendungen mit einem Warenwert bis 40 EUR tragen Sie die unmittelbaren Kosten der Rücksendung der Waren.
Auf Wunsch des Teilnehmers erhält dieser einen Einzelverbindungsnachweis (§ 11 TDDDG)
vereinheitlicht und regelt klar den Ablauf der Beauftragung und Kündigung von Abonnements,
Recommendations
- Send your withdrawal in writing within 14 days and keep proof of dispatch, since sending in time is what counts
- Do not ask for the service to start during the withdrawal period unless you accept paying for what you use
- Request the itemised connection record if a bill looks wrong, and check the premium service short codes listed in the code of conduct
- Get the auto renewal and minimum term details from the tariff terms, because this page does not cover them
Limitation of Liability
Risk allocation and legal protection
The document contains no liability cap, no warranty disclaimer and no exclusion of damages, so there is nothing here that strips away your legal remedies. What it does contain are several statements that freenet has no influence over what Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Google do with data once those services are activated. Those are factual notes about third party processing rather than liability clauses, but they do quietly signal that you would have to pursue those companies yourself. This score is a neutral placeholder because the category is otherwise untouched.
Key findings
- No limitation of liability, damages cap or warranty disclaimer appears in the text
- No shortened deadline for bringing claims is imposed
- Freenet states it has no influence over WhatsApp's own processing of your data
- Freenet states it has no influence over further processing triggered when you start an embedded YouTube video
- Responsibility for wiping personal data from devices you dispose of is placed entirely on you
Evidence from the document
Auf die konkrete Datenverarbeitung durch die WhatsApp Inc. bzw. die WhatsApp Ireland Ltd. haben wir keinen Einfluss.
Wenn Sie das Video starten, könnte dies weitere Datenverarbeitungsvorgänge auslösen. Darauf haben wir keinen Einfluss.
Sie sind eigenverantwortlich für das Löschen personenbezogener Daten auf den zu entsorgenden Altgeräten.
Recommendations
- Read freenet's general terms for the actual liability and warranty clauses, which are not on this page
- Avoid activating the embedded social plugins and video players if you do not want processing that freenet says it cannot control
- Wipe and factory reset any device before you hand it in for disposal, because that duty is explicitly yours
Modification of Terms
How agreements can be changed
The document says nothing about how or when it can be changed. There is no notice promise, no effective date, no version history and no right for you to object to a future version. Freenet also does not claim a right to change the terms unilaterally, so nothing bad is imposed either. The practical problem is that the privacy notice carries no visible last updated date, so you cannot tell which version you read or whether it has changed since.
Key findings
- No modification or change of terms clause appears in the document
- The privacy notice carries no visible effective date or last updated date
- No archive, changelog or previous version link is offered for the privacy notice
- No advance notice of changes is promised through email or any other active channel
- Only the attached code of conduct and the gender quota table carry dates, which shows dating was possible but was not applied to the notice itself
- The code of conduct is described as subject to regular review and revision, again with no notification promise to you
Evidence from the document
Der Verhaltenskodex unterliegt einem regelmäßigen Prüfungs- und Überarbeitungsprozess
Verhaltenskodex Verbraucherschutz (Stand Dezember 2007)
Weitere Informationen zum Datenschutz erhalten Sie hier:
Recommendations
- Save a dated PDF or print of this page whenever you rely on it, since freenet publishes no version history
- Recheck the page before you renew or make a major change to your contract, because changes will not be announced to you
- Ask freenet's data protection officer to confirm the current version date if a dispute about the wording ever matters
Governing Law & Disputes
Jurisdiction and conflict resolution
The document does not set a governing law or a court venue, and it imposes no arbitration, no class action waiver and no jury trial waiver, which are the clauses that usually cost consumers the most. What it does give you are concrete complaint routes: German data protection supervisory authorities, the Bundesnetzagentur telecom regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commission for the Facebook page insights processing, and named supervisory authorities for each credit agency. Because there is no forum clause, the ordinary German and EU consumer rules apply and you can bring a claim in your local courts, but the document gives you no explicit promise on that.
Key findings
- No arbitration requirement, class action waiver or jury trial waiver appears anywhere
- No governing law clause and no exclusive court venue are stated
- German data protection supervisory authorities and the Bundesnetzagentur are named as complaint bodies, and the Irish Data Protection Commission covers the Facebook page insights processing
- Each credit agency is listed with its own competent supervisory authority and postal address
- A postal and email address for exercising your withdrawal right is given, so the cancellation route is clear
- Consent can be withdrawn at any time in any form, and objections under Article 21 GDPR need no particular format
Evidence from the document
Darüber hinaus besteht die Möglichkeit, sich an eine Aufsichtsbehörde für Datenschutz sowie die Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen (BNetzA), Tulpenfeld 4, 53113 Bonn zu wenden.
Sofern die Verarbeitung personenbezogener Daten auf der Grundlage von Einwilligungen erfolgt, können diese jederzeit formfrei widerrufen werden.
Um Ihr Widerrufsrecht auszuüben, müssen Sie uns (freenet DLS GmbH, Europaplatz 5, 99091 Erfurt) mittels einer eindeutigen Erklärung
Recommendations
- Complain to your state data protection authority or the Bundesnetzagentur if freenet does not answer a data request, since both are named here
- Send data and objection requests to the data protection officer address given, and keep proof of sending
- Take a credit reporting dispute directly to the relevant agency, because they act as independent controllers with their own regulators
Ex-TerCo provides automated analysis of legal documents for informational purposes. This is not legal advice. Terms can change at any time.