1. Provider and scope
These terms of use govern the contract for using the app “MateIt” between you and Finn Herzig, Im Eichbäumle 65, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany, phone +49 176 47240511, email contact@mateit.org (“we”, see Imprint). How we handle your data is explained in the Privacy Policy.
2. Conclusion of the contract, contract text and language
The listing of the app in the App Store or on Google Play is not yet an offer. This is how the contract is concluded:
- In the app you choose whether to register with an email address and password or with your Google account.
- Before submitting, you can check and correct all entries in the input fields or change them via “Back”.
- With the checkbox you confirm that you are at least 16 years old and accept these terms of use; at the same time we point you to the Privacy Policy. Registration is not possible without the checkbox.
- By submitting, you make a binding offer. The contract is concluded once your account is set up: for email registration, as soon as you have entered the code from our confirmation email; for Google sign-in, when the sign-in is completed.
You can view, save and print the current version of these terms at any time on mateit.org and in the app under Profile → Terms of Use. On request we will email you the version that applied when you registered. You can conclude the contract in German or English; both versions have the same content. We have not subscribed to any particular codes of conduct.
3. Minimum age
You must be at least 16 years old. If you are not yet of legal age, you need the consent of your parents or legal guardians for this contract. If we learn that you are under 16, we inform you by email and delete your account 14 days later; the six-month period in section 14 does not apply in that case. Until then you can tell us by email that you are in fact at least 16, or request your content under section 14.
4. What MateIt offers
MateIt is an app for shared habit challenges for two people. You can create challenges or join them by invitation, record entries and streaks, chat with your challenge partner, and publish challenges in the community marketplace or join challenges found there. If your current streak is among the top ten, you automatically appear in the leaderboard. Photo and video proofs are automatically deleted once 7 days have passed, usually within one day after that.
Using MateIt is free. In the free version you can have one unfinished challenge at a time, even if it is still waiting for your partner. Premium (section 5) allows any number of challenges at the same time and creating challenges with photo or video proof.
To use MateIt you need a smartphone with iOS or Android in a version listed as compatible on the app’s page in the App Store or on Google Play, and an internet connection; your mobile provider may charge for this. We do not use technical protection measures such as copy protection.
5. Premium
You can unlock premium with a one-time code issued by us. A code can only be redeemed once and only until its expiry date. To redeem it you need an account with a confirmed email address; if the code is bound to an email address, only the account for exactly that address can redeem it. Codes are not transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash. Premium unlocked with a code applies without time limit for as long as your account exists. There are no costs for you, and no subscription is created.
6. Your account
- Your email address and your age information must be correct. You can choose your display name freely, including a nickname, as long as it does not deceive or insult anyone. One account per person is allowed.
- Keep your sign-in details secret. If you sign in with Google, Google’s terms also apply to that.
- You can delete your account at any time in the app (Profile → Delete account; during a suspension only by email) or request deletion by email (see Delete account).
7. Stakes between partners
Stakes (e.g. “whoever loses cooks”) are private, legally non-binding agreements between you and your partner. We are not a party to them, do not process any payments and do not enforce stakes. Do not agree on sums of money or anything unlawful or dangerous.
8. Health notice
MateIt helps you record habits and motivate each other. The app is not a medical device and does not replace medical, therapeutic or nutritional advice. Choose challenges that suit your health, and seek medical advice beforehand if you have pre-existing conditions, are pregnant or are unsure.
9. Your content
You keep all rights to your content (e.g. challenge texts, stakes, entries, notes, chat messages, photos, videos, profile picture). You grant us a non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free right to store it, adapt it technically (e.g. compress it), transmit it and show it to the intended recipients, also through our technical service providers, and only to the extent necessary to operate MateIt. We do not use your content for advertising. The right ends when the content or your account is deleted. Content you shared with your partner remains visible to them, even if you only hide the chat for yourself or leave the challenge, until it is deleted under these terms. For reports we keep under the Privacy Policy, the right continues until they are deleted.
If you publish a challenge in the marketplace, other users may view it and join it. You may only upload content for which you hold the necessary rights. Other people may only appear in your photos and videos with their consent.
10. Rules of conduct
We do not tolerate content or behaviour that breaches these rules. The following is not allowed:
- content that breaks the law;
- insults, threats, harassment and bullying;
- hate, incitement and discrimination, depictions and glorification of violence;
- sexual or pornographic content and content that endangers minors;
- infringement of copyright, trademark or personality rights, for example photos of others without their consent;
- spam, advertising, deception, malware, automated use and interference with the app’s technology.
11. Reports and moderation
Reporting in the app: In the chat and in the proof view you can report your challenge partner via the menu (⋯) → “Report user” and choose one of the given reasons. We inform you of our decision by email to your account address, together with your options to challenge it.
Reporting by email, also without an account: Anyone can report content they consider unlawful or in breach of section 10 to contact@mateit.org. Please state why the content is unlawful or which rule it breaches, exactly where it can be found (e.g. name of the challenge or user), your name and email address (not required for reports of child sexual abuse material), and that your details are correct and complete to the best of your knowledge. We confirm receipt without delay and inform you of our decision without delay, together with your options to challenge it.
How we review: We review every report personally; we do not use automated decisions or algorithms for moderation. The only automatic measures are technical rate limits that prevent mass use. We decide carefully, objectively and proportionately and take into account the rights of everyone involved, including freedom of expression.
What we can do: Only in the event of a breach of the law or of section 10 may we, depending on its severity, warn you, remove content, take a challenge off the marketplace or suspend your account temporarily or permanently. During a suspension the app only shows a suspension notice with reasons; you cannot use MateIt then, and you can request deletion of your account by email. If there are indications of criminal offences that endanger life or safety, we inform the authorities.
Statement of reasons and hearing: If we remove content of yours or take a challenge of yours off the marketplace, we inform you without delay, stating our reasons. We announce an account suspension to you in advance with reasons and give you the opportunity to comment; only for serious breaches (e.g. threats, criminal content) do we suspend immediately and hold your hearing without delay afterwards. The statement of reasons names the measure and its duration, the underlying facts, whether we acted on a report, the rule or law breached and your options to challenge it.
Objection and legal action: You can object to any measure within six months by email to contact@mateit.org; we then review it again personally and inform you of the result. The courts are always open to you. You can also lodge a complaint with the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) or with the Digital Services Coordinator of the EU country you live in.
Point of contact: The single point of contact for users and authorities under Articles 11 and 12 of the Digital Services Act is contact@mateit.org. A human answers there; languages: German and English.
12. Availability, updates and changes to the app
We provide the app in a condition that conforms to the contract and supply the updates required for this, including security updates; some are downloaded automatically when the app starts and applied on the next start, others arrive via the App Store or Google Play. Short interruptions due to maintenance or faults may occur. Your statutory rights in the event of defects remain unaffected.
Beyond that, we may change the app if there is a valid reason, such as adapting it to new technology or operating systems, to a change in the law or to security requirements, or further developing features. This costs you nothing. We inform you clearly and comprehensibly about every such change, for example in the app or in the release notes in the store. If a change impairs your access to the app or its usability more than insignificantly, we inform you in good time beforehand by email about the nature and timing of the change and about your right to end the contract free of charge within 30 days of the notice or of the change, whichever is later.
13. Liability
We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, under the German Product Liability Act and insofar as we have given a guarantee. In cases of slight negligence we are only liable if we breach an essential contractual obligation. This is an obligation whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance you may regularly rely, for example that the app basically works and that your stored data is not lost through our fault (except for the deletions provided for in these terms). In this case our liability is limited to the damage that was foreseeable and typical for the contract at the time the contract was concluded. Otherwise our liability for slight negligence is excluded. This also applies to our vicarious agents. Your statutory rights in the event of defects in digital products and claims under Art. 82 GDPR remain unaffected.
14. Term, termination and account deletion
The contract runs for an indefinite period. You can terminate it at any time without notice: in the app (Profile → Delete account; during a suspension by email) or by email to contact@mateit.org; if you terminate by email, we delete your account no later than 30 days after receipt. We can terminate it by email with four weeks’ notice. For good cause we can terminate without notice, for example in the event of serious breaches or if you repeatedly breach these terms despite a warning. Before doing so we hear you as for a suspension (section 11), except for the serious breaches named there, in which case we hold the hearing without delay afterwards. We give reasons for the termination.
If we terminate for good cause, we initially only suspend your account. You can object to the termination within six months of receiving it, as with a measure under section 11. We only delete your account once this period has expired without an objection or we have rejected your objection; if we revoke the termination, we unblock your account. If you request deletion yourself before then, we delete it immediately.
When the contract ends, your account is deleted; if we terminate for good cause, only at the time just stated. All challenges you took part in, including those you left earlier, together with entries, chats and proofs, are then deleted for your partner as well. If you only leave a challenge and keep your account, it remains in place for your partner.
If the contract ends through your withdrawal, through your termination because of a change (section 12) or a defect, or through our termination, we will provide you, on request and free of charge, with your content that is not personal data in a common, machine-readable format. Tell us by email before your account is deleted – if you end the contract yourself, ideally together with that notice. As “Withdraw from contract” in the app deletes your account immediately, write to us beforehand in that case; you can then also withdraw by email. We then only delete your account after providing it. If you use “Withdraw from contract” after the withdrawal period has expired, we treat your statement as a termination; the consequences are the same. Your rights of access and data portability under the GDPR remain unaffected. What else happens to your data is governed by the Privacy Policy.
15. Right of withdrawal
The following information reproduces the model instructions on withdrawal in Annex I(A) of Directive 2011/83/EU, supplemented by the information on the online withdrawal function.
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 (Finn Herzig, Im Eichbäumle 65, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany, phone +49 176 47240511, email contact@mateit.org) of your decision to withdraw from this contract by an unequivocal statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or e-mail). You may use the attached model withdrawal form, but it is not obligatory. You can also exercise your right of withdrawal online under “Profile → Withdraw from contract” in our app “MateIt”. If you use this online function, we will send you an acknowledgement of receipt on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without undue delay, containing information on the content of your withdrawal statement and the date and time of its receipt.
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.
Model withdrawal form
(Complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract.)
- To Finn Herzig, Im Eichbäumle 65, 76139 Karlsruhe, Germany, email: contact@mateit.org:
- I/We (*) hereby give notice that I/We (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract for the provision of the following service (*): use of the app “MateIt”
- Ordered on (*)/received on (*)
- Name of consumer(s)
- Address of consumer(s)
- Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper)
- Date
(*) Delete as appropriate.
Additional note (not part of the information above): MateIt is free, so there is nothing to refund after a withdrawal. After your withdrawal we delete your account as described in section 14; if you would like a copy of your content first, write to us before withdrawing (section 14).
16. Changes to these terms
We may change these terms if the law or case law changes, new features are added or a gap in the provisions needs to be closed. We send you the new version by email or show it to you in the app and highlight the changes. It only applies to you once you expressly agree to it. If you do not agree, the contract continues under the previous terms; we may then terminate it under section 14 with four weeks’ notice.
17. Additional terms for iOS
If you download MateIt from the Apple App Store, the App Store’s usage rules apply between you and Apple. Between you and us, only these terms of use apply; Apple’s standard licence agreement for apps does not apply. In addition:
- These terms of use exist only between you and us, not with Apple. We alone are responsible for MateIt and its content.
- You may use MateIt on Apple devices that you own or control, as permitted by the App Store’s usage rules; this right is non-transferable.
- Apple owes no maintenance or support for MateIt. If MateIt fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund any purchase price; Apple has no other warranty obligation. Otherwise we alone are responsible for warranty under these terms and the law.
- You direct claims relating to the app, for example product liability claims, claims under consumer protection, privacy or similar legislation, or claims that the app breaches the law, to us, not to Apple.
- If a third party claims that MateIt infringes its intellectual property rights, we alone are responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement and discharge of that claim.
- You must comply with applicable third-party terms when using MateIt, such as your wireless data service agreement.
- You confirm that you are not located in a country subject to a US government embargo and are not on any US government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
- Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.
18. Final provisions
German law applies. If you are a consumer habitually resident in another country, you additionally retain the protection of the mandatory consumer protection provisions of that country.
We are neither willing nor obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.