Terms of use for the Steganos Newsletter

Steganos Software GmbH offers visitors to the Steganos website a newsletter subscription. Steganos offers the opportunity of receiving regular information from and about Steganos and their products by email. This offer is in accordance with the following regulations.

§ 1 Registration

(1) The subscription presupposes that the visitor is allowing him/herself to be registered. To do this, Steganos requires the email address of the subscriber.

(2) The subscriber is at liberty to provide further personal data.

(3) A visitor is not required to register. Steganos reserves the right to refuse a registration without specifying a reason.

§ 2 Processing

(1) The newsletter subscription begins when the registration has been confirmed. Steganos sends newsletter to the subscriber regularly by email. The subscriber has no claim on this service.

(2) Steganos reserves the right to suspend and/or halt the distribution of the newsletter at any time without advance notice. This applies in particular to cases where, for technical reasons (e.g. viruses in the computer system, manipulation or error in the hardware and/or software) or legal reasons, proper implementation cannot be ensured.

§ 3 Notice of cancellation

(1) The subscriber may cancel the newsletter subscription at any time. Steganos will delete any stored personal data upon cancellation. 

§ 4 Liability

(1) Steganos is not responsible for any damage, which may develop as a result of defects, delays or interruptions in the transmission, of breakdowns in the technical equipment and services, incorrect contents, loss or deletion of data, viruses or in any other way, unless such damage is caused deliberately or by gross negligence on the part of Steganos, its coworkers or subcontractors.

§ 5 Data Protection

(1) Steganos undertakes to adhere to the legal regulations regarding data protection. In particular, this refers to the General Terms of Privacy in this regard.

• General Terms of Privacy

§ 6 Final Provisions

(1) Steganos reserves the right to change these terms of use at any time without advance notice. The subscriber consents to the change if he/she does not object by email within a period of 14 days.

(2) German law applies to the present terms.

Privacy Policy of Steganos Software GmbH

The Steganos company slogan "Privacy made easy" makes it clear that our customers' need for privacy is our focus. The protection of personal data is therefore of the highest priority for us - compliance with the legal provisions on data protection is a matter of course for us.

In the following we would like to briefly explain how Steganos stands on data protection, how exactly we protect your data and what it means for you when you use our personalizable services.

Personal Information

Personal data is the data that can be used to determine your identity. These can be: Name, address, postal address and telephone number. Information that is not directly associated with your real identity, such as favourite websites or the number of users of a website, is not included here.

The content of our website can be used without revealing your identity. If you register for one of our personalized services, order a product or subscribe, we will ask you for your email address and other personal information. It is your free decision whether you enter this data. However, should you decide to purchase one of our software products, you will be asked for certain personal data that are necessary to complete the purchase process. This data depends on the payment model you have chosen. The data will only be used by the partners responsible at the time of the order to process the purchase process and will only be stored for this purpose. These data - unless absolutely necessary for the execution of the purchase process - will not be made accessible to third parties in extracts.

If you contact our customer service via the contact form, your request will be stored in a database together with the information voluntarily provided therein (if available). This information is used exclusively by our customer service to process your request. The data collected in this way is also used for statistical evaluations within Steganos Software GmbH. Neither the raw data nor the results of the evaluations will be made available to third parties, even in part.

We store your data on specially protected Steganos servers in Germany. Access to it is only possible for a few specially authorised persons. All identity-related information is only collected by us if you have expressly permitted us to do so.

Disclosure of personal information to third parties

Steganos does not pass on personal user data to third parties unless the user has given his express prior consent or there is a legal obligation to do so. An exception are certain technical service providers carefully selected by us and bound by our instructions who take on certain tasks for us. These tasks include, for example, sending our newsletter (order data processing) or collecting and processing anonymous data on user behavior or collecting information on software errors that have occurred in order to improve the Steganos website.

Right of revocation

If you have provided us with personal data, you can have it deleted at any time. Data for accounting and bookkeeping purposes are not necessarily affected by a cancellation or deletion.

Use of cookies

Cookies are small files that can be "set" by a server (e.g. the servers of the Steganos Online Shield website) on a user's computer. These files may contain various information, including personal information such as personal settings, in order to improve the use of an Internet offer. The Steganos Online Shield website uses cookies to record session information, e.g. to adapt the display of web pages to the user profile. Most browsers are set to automatically accept cookies. Every user can configure his browser in such a way that all or certain cookies are accepted or rejected or that a request for permission is made before a cookie is set. How this works can be found in the documentation of the respective browser or in its "help".

In some areas of our website, we use cookies to implement user functions that would otherwise not be usable.

The use of our generally accessible offers is also possible without cookies.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google Inc. "("Google") Google Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties if this is required by law or if third parties process this data on behalf of Google. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

Children

Persons under the age of 18 should not transmit any personal data to us without the consent of their parents or legal guardians.

Amendment of the Directives

Steganos reserves the right to change the data protection guidelines at any time in compliance with data protection regulations.

Your rights, questions and comments

If you need information about the data stored by us or have questions, suggestions or comments concerning the protection of your data, please send us an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

General Terms and Conditions of Steganos GmbH

§ 1 Subject matter of contract

These terms and conditions apply only if a contractual relation is entered into between Steganos and the customer through a contract of sale, e.g. the customer has acquired the software directly from Steganos or from the salesperson as a representative of Steganos. In the case of discrepancies, individually reached agreements have priority as long as they occurred in writing or are confirmed by Steganos.

§ 2 Supply and Assumption of Risk

(1) Once transportation has begun, the customer assumes the risk. In the case of damage in transit, Steganos will assign the claims for insurance benefits to which the customer is entitled.

(2) Steganos has to supply only machine-readable and simple documentation.

§ 3 Terms of payment

(1) Should the customer delay payment, Steganos may calculate interest at a value of 3% over the respective bank rate of the German Federal Bank. The customer reserves the right to establish that Steganos incurred no or only minor loss.

(2) The customer is entitled to an offsetting of claims only if his/her counterclaim is undisputed or valid. Rights of retention on the part of the customer are ruled out insofar as they are not based on the same contractual relationship.

(3) The software supplied by Steganos remains the property of Steganos until payment is complete.

§ 4 Warranty

(1) The existence of errors conforms only to the software specifications and descriptions by Steganos. Special requirements, requests and ideas on the part of the customer become an integral part of the contract only with an express written agreement.

(2) Steganos is entitled to effectuate the warranty by reworking, exchanging the software or supplying an update. The customer has to accept a circumvention solution until the error is eliminated in one of the following regular updates. Should Steganos not be in the position to eliminate the error by reworking or exchanging or supplying an update within a reasonable period in due consideration of the circumvention possibility, then the customer is entitled to a reduction in payment (abatement) or rescission of purchase (redhibition). Three error recovery attempts within a period of three months regarding the same defect are not considered unreasonable unless special circumstances exist, which make it infeasible for the customer to accept a further attempt at a correction of faults.

(3) Due to the well-known faultiness of the Windows operating systems and the variety of hardware being used, the irregularities arising from use of the software will not necessarily be founded in the software. Therefore, legal evidence applies so that the customer must prove unconditionally that irregularities that arise are based on errors in the software and that these were already present upon delivery. This applies particularly if the customer used the software improperly, in an unsuitable installation environment or not according to the recommendations of the appropriate installation environment, exposed it to improper external actions or made unauthorized changes to the software or hardware or operating system programs.

(4) In the case of the rescission of the contract, the customer is to surrender or destroy - allowed or not allowed - any copies produced of the software and documentation and to assure Steganos on oath that all copies have been surrendered or destroyed.

§ 5 Use of Software

(1) The customer?s rights and restrictions of use conform to §§ 69a ff of the German copyright law. Use of the software is however limited to the number of computers, for which a license was granted in the license document, and in the manner (network or separate installation for each PC), which is specified in the license document. During preparation of backup copies, the customer is obligated to reproduce and attach to the copy concerned the trademarks or copyright notices from Steganos.

(2) The resale of the software is permissible in principle, provided that the customer does not keep any software and/or materials for him/herself and that any copies produced be destroyed or transferred to the buyer. Upon request, the customer is to make Steganos known to the buyer.

(3) In a departure from Section 5.2, the resale or the passing on of the software supplied to public authorities, universities and public schools as software delivered in a version specifically for public authorities and schools is only permitted to other authorities, universities or public schools. In all other respects, Section 5.2 applies.

§ 6 Third-party claims

(1) In the case where the customer informs Steganos as soon as possible of judicial measures directed against him/her by a third party due to alleged patent rights infringement through the software and/or its use and Steganos relinquishes exclusive control over the defense and all negotiations with respect to a settlement or a conclusion of the legal case, Steganos will arrange the legal defense at its own expense and will release the customer regarding any claims for damages and costs arising from this measure. Section 7 applies.

(2) Upon issuing a provisional order against the customer, Steganos will acquire of its own choosing and at its own expense either the right of continued use of the software or will exchange the software and/or change it in such a manner that it no longer fulfills the facts of the case of injury.  Should this not be possible with a reasonable expenditure at the sole discretion of Steganos, then Steganos will return the purchase price/compensation to the customer for the return of the software.

(3) The liability of Steganos due to compliance with the terms stipulated in this section is limited to the amount the customer paid for the software in question. The limitation of liability is however excluded should Steganos have acted deliberately or negligently or breached cardinal obligations.

§ 7 Limitations of liability

(1) Steganos is liable for defects in warranted characteristics, for deliberate acts and gross negligence as well as breach of cardinal obligations.

(2) Furthermore, the liability of Steganos to the customer is limited to € 5,000.- per claim.

(3) In addition, Steganos is only liable to the extent, to which the damage at the time concerned was foreseeable and to the typically foreseeable extent.

(4) Steganos is not liable for the loss of data if the customer has not backed up his/her data daily as well as prior to interventions in the system and taken other reasonable measures.

(5) The preceding limitations of liability do not apply if Steganos is liable according to the Product Liability Act.

§ 8 Statute of Limitations

(1) Customer claims against the warranty and/or for compensation of damages fall under the statute of limitations after the expiration of six months from delivery of the software.

§ 9 Other General Terms and Conditions

(1) Insofar as the software contains copyright protected material from other manufacturers and these manufacturers require the undertaking of their own regulations, in particular General Terms and Conditions, then these software regulations are attached and will be agreed upon between Steganos and the customer as a contract in favor of the manufacturer named in that regulation. Those regulations hereby enjoy priority regarding the software of the other manufacturer. Regarding the legal position of Steganos, those regulations are however solely supplementary to the existing General Terms and Conditions of Steganos.

(2) Should the terms of those other regulations be ineffective, then regardless of the priorities governed in Section 9.1, the corresponding terms in the existing General Terms and Conditions that come closest to the ineffective regulations will apply.

§ 10 Final Provisions

(1) The customer's General Terms and Conditions do not apply.

(2) Changes and additional agreements must occur in writing; this also concerns this written form requirement.

(3) Should a term in these conditions be or become invalid, ineffective or unexecutable, the parties undertake to replace these by a condition which, insofar as is possible, comes closest in legal terms to the economic purpose of the agreement.

(4) German law applies with the exception of international codifications such as CISG or UNCITRAL. Place of fulfillment and area of jurisdiction for legal disputes is Frankfurt a.M. unless a special area of legal jurisdiction - e.g. for enforcement proceedings - is designated.

VPN Privacy Policy

Preliminary Remarks

Steganos Online Shield is a Virtual-Private-Network-Service (hereafter: service of VPN-Service), that can redirect the internet traffic of computer (so called VPN-Server) into different regions. Through this, the user can conceal their IP address from media services and encrypt their data traffic. The service is made possible by a piece of software (hereafter: software or product), that the user installs on their computer. The service is offered by Steganos Software GmbH, Immanuelkirchstr. 4, 10405 Berlin, (hereafter "Steganos"). The following data protection conditions are valid for the usage of Steganos Online Shield, the components of the general terms and conditions (GTC) are:

§ 1 No Saving of Data in the Usage of the VPN Server

The Steganos Online Shield-Service saves neither the addresses nor contents that the user calls up, nor the IP addresses that Steganos Online Shield has allocated, nor their own IP address that they use on Steganos Online Shield. It is not possible for Steganos to determine what contents Steganos Online Shield calls up. Neither the IP addresses of the users nor the IP addresses of the called server is saved.

§ 2 Pseudonymous User ID Instead of Email Address

The free usage of Steganos Online Shield does not require the entry of personal data (e.g. Email address). Steganos Online Shield records for the purposes of billing and the local distribution, which data volume (thus only the amount of transferred data, however not addresses or content) belongs to which pseudonym. The pseudonymous user ID is derived from the public key of the MAC address of the computer, that Steganos Online Shield thereby uses, and it is not traceable to a certain computer or user.

§ 3 Decoupling of the Payment Information from the Pseudonymous User ID

In booking a premium account through the Ecommerce supplier of Steganos, personal data is required. THE E-COMMERCE-SUPPLIER RECEIVES, EXACTLY LIKE STEGANOS, AT NO POINT ACCESS TO THE ADDRESSES OR CONTENTS THAT THE USER HAS CALLED UP, IN THE CASE THAT THESE WERE DIRECTED OVER A STEGANOS ONLINE SHIELD-VPN-SERVER.

§ 4 Acquisition and Usage of Data by Steganos

(1) The Email address that was provided by the user in the context of free usage will only be used to provide the offers/services described (see AGB). Steganos uses especially the Email address of the user, in order to send the user updates, newsletters, or other current information. The user can cancel the delivery of the newsletter.

(2) Steganos would like to offer the user the best possible service. Therefore the software asks the customer under certain conditions if their email can be sent to Steganos, in order to inform them in the future of new products or special offers. The subscription is optional and happens only with the explicit consent of the customer. In order to save the user from having to enter their address, Steganos-Software tries to determine the Email of the customer under certain conditions. If the customer agrees to the determination of their email address and decides later against a further reference with Steganos information via Email, they can unsubscribe to these emails at anytime without having to provide a reason.

(3) Steganos aims to continually adapt its website and software to customer's needs. Anonymized usage data is therefore being collected (e.g. usage intensity of certain areas and features of website and software). THIS IS NOT THE CASE FOR THE USAGE OF STEGANOS ONLINE SHIELD VPN-SERVERS WHICH DO NOT SAVE ANY DATA OF THIS KIND.

§ 5 Forwarding Data to Third Parties

Steganos does not provide personal information to third parties, unless the user has explicitly and willingly agreed to do so, or there is a legal obligation to do so. One exception is certain carefully selected and technical services that perform certain tasks for us. These are tasks such as sending our newsletter (data processing) or the collection and processing of anonymous data for usage behavior, integration of partner programs or acquisition of information in relation to software errors or in order to improve the Steganos Online Shield-website. NEITHER STEGANOS NOR THE CONTRACTED DATA PROCESSOR GETS ACCESS TO THE ADDRESSES OR CONTENTS THAT HAVE BEEN CALLED BY AN IDENTIFIABLE USER, SO LONG AS THEY HAVE BEEN DIRECTED OVER THE STEGANOS ONLINE SHIELD-VPN-SERVER.

§ 6 Usage of Cookies

Cookies are small data, that can be "placed" from a server onto the users computer (e.g. the server of the Steganos Online Shield-website). This data can contain personal information such as personal setting, in order to improve the user of the internet offer. The Steganos Online Shield website uses cookies to record location information in order to adjust the representation of websites to the user profile. Most browsers are set up to automatically accept cookies. Every user can configure their browser so that all or certain cookies are accepted or rejected or that the acceptance of cookies requires a request for permission. You can figure out how this works from the documentation of the respective browser or from the "help" menu. To use Steganos Online Shield the acceptance of cookies is not necessary. The usage of cookies through inserts and other third parties on Steganos Online Shield underlies the data protection guidelines of the inserts or rather third parties; the data protection guidelines of Steganos Online Shield find so far no usage.

§ 7 Support

When the user uses our support, their request together with the entered data is saved in a data bank. This information is used exclusively by our support team, in order to address questions. The recorded data is pulled up within Steganos also to make statistical evaluations. Neither raw data, nor the results of the evaluation will be made available to third parties.

§ 8 Access to the Steganos Online Shield-VPN-Servers and the Webserver

We save user data on especially protected servers. The access is only made available to a small number of people.

§ 9 Personalized Advertising

The user is in agreement that Steganos user data itself transferred in anonymous forms or pseudonymous forms, in order present, or have presented, directed personalized advertising and/or special offers and services over the Steganos Online Shield-service. NEITHER STEGANOS NOR THE CONTRACTED DATA PROCESSOR GETS ACCESS TO THE ADDRESSES OR CONTENTS THAT HAVE BEEN CALLED BY AN IDENTIFIABLE USER, SO LONG AS THEY HAVE BEEN DIRECTED OVER THE STEGANOS ONLINE SHIELD-VPN-SERVER.

§ 10 Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google Inc. (“Google“) Google Analytics uses so called "cookies", text files, that are save on your computer and make possible the analysis of the usage of the website. The information produced by the cookie about your use of this website (including your IP address) is transferred to a Google server in the United States and stored there. Google takes this information in order to evaluate your usage of the website, generate reports about website activity for the operators of websites and in order to provide further services related to website usage and Internet usage. Google may also provide this information to outside parties if this is legally mandated or if such parties process this information for Google. Google will no circumstances bring your IP address into contact with other data from Google. You may prevent the installation of cookies by making appropriate settings in your browser software; however, should you do so, you will not be able to use all of the functions of this website. Through the use of this website, you express your consent to the processing of data collected by Google about you in the manner described above and for the purposes previously mentioned.
GOOGLE HAS NO ACCESS TO OUR USERS CALLED UP ADDRESSES OR CONTENTS, IN THE CASE THAT THESE WERE DIRECTED OVER AN STEGANOS ONLINE SHIELD-VPN-SERVER.

§ 11 Changes and Guidelines

Steganos reserves the right to change data protection guidelines at anytime under the data protection guideline rules.

§ 12 Questions and Comments

When you have questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the protection of your data, send us an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..