Terms of Use and License Agreement

1. Definitions

1.1 "Provider" means the operator of the Service named in the imprint at https://ionix.cc/imprint.

1.2 "App" means the JobBuddy desktop application and the associated mobile application, in each case including all updates, upgrades and extensions.

1.3 "Website" means the JobBuddy website. "Server Services" means the backend services operated by the Provider, in particular account, licensing, billing, AI and update services. The App, the Website and the Server Services are collectively referred to as the "Service".

1.4 "User" means any natural person who uses the Service.

1.5 "Third-Party Websites" means all websites and online services not operated by the Provider, in particular job portals, career pages and company websites.

1.6 "Retrieval Features" means all features of the App that access, read out, extract or store content from Third-Party Websites in an automated or semi-automated manner (also referred to as "crawling" or "scraping").

1.7 "AI Features" means features that process inputs by means of artificial intelligence models, in particular the rating of job postings and the generation of text drafts.

1.8 "Credits" means usage units issued by the Provider that are required for the use of certain paid features.

1.9 "User Content" means all content that the User brings into the Service, creates with it or retrieves through it, in particular CVs, documents, text fragments, cover letters and imported job postings.

2. Scope; Incorporation; Conclusion of the Agreement

2.1 These Terms of Use and License Agreement ("Terms") apply to the entire use of the Service by the User.

2.2 By clicking the consent button on first start of the App, and at the latest upon installation or use of the Service, the User declares their agreement to these Terms. Users who do not agree to these Terms are not permitted to use the Service.

2.3 Deviating, conflicting or supplementary terms of the User shall not become part of the agreement unless the Provider expressly consents to their application in text form.

2.4 The Service is directed exclusively at natural persons of full legal capacity who have reached the age of 18 and serves exclusively to support the User’s own, personal job search.

2.5 For individual services – in particular the purchase of Credits or subscriptions – supplementary or deviating terms may be displayed during the order process; within their scope of application, such terms take precedence over these Terms.

3. Subject Matter of the Service; Role of the Provider

3.1 JobBuddy is software executed predominantly locally on the User’s device to support the personal job search. Its functionality includes, in particular, importing and managing job postings, AI-assisted rating of job postings based on criteria defined by the User, the generation of cover letter drafts, and the management of documents and applications.

3.2 The Provider owes the provision of the software in its respective current version. No specific outcome is owed or warranted – in particular not the discovery of suitable job postings, the substantive accuracy of ratings or text drafts, or the success of applications.

3.3 The Provider is not an employment agency or personnel service provider and does not provide legal, tax or career advice.

3.4 Through the use of the Service, the Provider does not become a contracting party, representative, messenger or vicarious agent of the User in relation to third parties, in particular not in relation to employers, job portals or other operators of Third-Party Websites.

3.5 Content of Third-Party Websites, in particular job postings, is third-party content. The Provider does not adopt such content as its own, does not review it and assumes no warranty for its availability, accuracy, completeness, currency or lawfulness.

3.6 Information on the Website and in the App (e.g. feature descriptions, guides, notices) serves general informational purposes and does not constitute advice. The operators of external websites that are linked to are solely responsible for their content.

4. Important Notices and Warnings; User’s Own Responsibility

4.1 Third-party content: job postings and other third-party content accessible via the Service are not reviewed by the Provider, whether editorially, legally or substantively. They may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, duplicated, misleading or, in individual cases, fraudulent.

4.2 Warning about recruitment fraud ("fake job postings"): criminals use fake job postings to obtain money or data from applicants. The User is expressly warned and urged: (a) never to make payments to purported employers or intermediaries (e.g. for "processing fees", training or equipment); (b) not to transmit copies of identity documents, bank or credit card details, social security or tax numbers to parties that have not been verified beyond doubt; (c) to be suspicious of unusually high salaries, advance checks, payment processing via private accounts or cryptocurrencies, and communication exclusively via messenger services; (d) in case of doubt, to verify the employer’s identity through independent sources (official website, commercial register, telephone). The Service cannot detect or filter out fraudulent postings.

4.3 Currency and deadlines: job postings may expire, be changed or be withdrawn without the App’s data changing. The original publication is always authoritative. The User must verify the content, availability and any deadlines of a position in the original source before each application. The Service is not intended for deadline monitoring and does not replace the User’s own schedule management.

4.4 AI results: ratings, classifications and text drafts may be erroneous (see Section 9 for details). The User must not base decisions – in particular the decision to apply or not to apply for a position – on AI results without verification.

4.5 No permissibility review by the Provider: the Provider does not and cannot review whether the use of the Retrieval Features is permitted on a specific Third-Party Website. The App does not contain a list of reviewed or approved websites. This review is solely the User’s responsibility (Section 7).

4.6 Third-party content and IT security: content retrieved from Third-Party Websites originates from external sources. The User must employ state-of-the-art security measures on their systems (current operating system, security updates).

4.7 Data loss: the App’s core data resides exclusively locally on the User’s device (Section 14). Without the User’s own backups, it is irretrievably lost in the event of uninstallation, defect or loss of the device.

4.8 The foregoing notices serve to inform and warn the User. They do not establish any obligations of the Provider beyond these Terms, in particular no review, monitoring or warning obligations in individual cases.

5. License; Restrictions on Use

5.1 The Provider grants the User, for the duration of the usage agreement, the non-exclusive, non-transferable and non-sublicensable right to install and use the App on the User’s own devices exclusively for the User’s own, personal job search.

5.2 The User is prohibited from: (a) reproducing, distributing, renting, lending or making the App publicly available beyond the extent necessary for use in accordance with the agreement; (b) decompiling, reverse engineering or disassembling the App, except to the extent permitted by mandatory statutory provisions (in particular Sections 69d, 69e of the German Copyright Act (UrhG) or equivalent provisions); (c) circumventing, removing or manipulating protection, licensing, billing or credit mechanisms of the Service; (d) removing or altering copyright notices, marks or other proprietary notices; (e) making the App available to third parties for use or operating it for third parties – including free of charge – as a service.

5.3 All rights not expressly granted remain with the Provider or its licensors.

6. Acting in One’s Own Name; Attribution of All Operations

6.1 The App is a technical aid that acts exclusively at the User’s instigation. All operations carried out with the App – in particular accessing Third-Party Websites, retrieving, storing and evaluating content, and creating and sending application documents – are performed by the User in their own name, for their own account and at their own responsibility. Such operations are legally attributable exclusively to the User.

6.2 The Provider does not itself retrieve Third-Party Websites for the User, determines neither the target nor the scope nor the timing of individual retrievals, does not – subject to Section 11 – receive a copy of the content retrieved by the User, and acts neither as the User’s representative nor as their messenger or agent. The Provider’s role is limited to providing the software and the Server Services.

6.3 The User warrants that, in using the Service, they will only perform acts they are entitled to perform and will not use the Service for third parties or in a third party’s name.

6.4 The User is solely responsible for ensuring that their use of the Service complies with the legal provisions applicable to them and with the terms of the Third-Party Websites they use.

7. Third-Party Websites; Requirements for Using the Retrieval Features

7.1 Use of the Retrieval Features is permitted exclusively on Third-Party Websites that permit automated access.

7.2 Before each first use of the Retrieval Features on a Third-Party Website – and again upon discernible changes – the User must verify on their own responsibility whether automated access is permitted, in particular by reviewing (a) the terms of service or general terms and conditions of the respective website, (b) the robots.txt file and comparable machine-readable specifications, and (c) the applicable statutory provisions, including copyright and database law, data protection law and the website operator’s right to control access to its systems. If doubts remain, the User must obtain the prior express consent of the website operator or refrain from using the Retrieval Features on that website.

7.3 The User may use the Retrieval Features only to retrieve content that is publicly accessible without overcoming access restrictions. The following in particular is prohibited: (a) circumventing or overcoming technical protection or access measures, namely login barriers, paywalls, CAPTCHAs, IP blocks, rate limits and bot detection systems; (b) disguising the origin of access for the purpose of circumventing such measures; (c) retrievals at a frequency or on a scale liable to place more than an insignificant load on, or to disrupt, third-party systems; (d) continuing retrievals after the operator of the Third-Party Website has objected to the access or technically blocked it.

7.4 If the operator of a Third-Party Website objects to or prohibits automated access, the User must immediately and permanently cease using the Retrieval Features on that website.

7.5 The Provider does not encourage violations of the terms of Third-Party Websites, does not condone such violations and does not adopt them as its own. Claims by operators of Third-Party Websites arising from retrievals in breach of their terms or of the law shall be directed exclusively against the User; Section 19 (Indemnification) applies in addition.

7.6 The functionality of the Retrieval Features depends on the technical design of the respective Third-Party Website and may change or cease at any time. No specific compatibility with individual Third-Party Websites is owed.

7.7 The User acknowledges that operators of Third-Party Websites may respond to automated access with measures of their own, in particular by blocking user accounts, IP addresses or devices. The risk of such measures is borne solely by the User.

8. Prohibited Uses

8.1 The User is prohibited from using the Service: (a) for unlawful purposes or in a manner that infringes the rights of third parties; (b) for the mass, indiscriminate or not individually reviewed sending of applications or other messages (spam); (c) for the reproduction, resale, distribution or public communication of retrieved content beyond the User’s own, personal job search; (d) for building, enriching or operating own or third-party databases, directories or competing offerings; (e) for the systematic extraction or re-utilization of substantial parts of third-party databases within the meaning of Sections 87a et seq. UrhG or equivalent provisions; (f) for collecting, storing or processing personal data of third parties beyond what is necessary for the User’s own application; (g) for interfering with the availability, integrity or functionality of third-party IT systems or introducing malware; (h) under a false identity or under false pretenses; (i) for developing, training or improving competing products or services; (j) by making access credentials, license keys or installation identifiers available to third parties.

8.2 Third-party rights in retrieved content – in particular copyright, database rights and trademark rights – remain unaffected and must be observed by the User.

8.3 In the event of a reasonable suspicion of violations of this Section 8 or of Sections 5 to 7, the Provider is entitled to take measures in accordance with Section 20.

9. AI Features; Duties When Handling AI-Generated Content

9.1 AI Features generate results on a probabilistic basis. Results may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, misleading or unsuitable for the specific individual case; this also applies to ratings and classifications of job postings.

9.2 The User is obliged to fully review all AI-generated content before any use – in particular before sending it to third parties – and to correct it where necessary. The User remains the sole sender of, and solely responsible for, all content they send or otherwise use. In particular, the User must ensure that statements about their person, qualifications and career history are accurate.

9.3 Ratings, classifications and suggestions of the Service are non-binding, automatically generated aids for the User. They do not constitute advice, have no legal effect vis-à-vis the User and do not replace the User’s own review and decision.

9.4 The User acknowledges that AI Features may generate identical or similar results for different users. No exclusivity rights in AI-generated results are granted.

9.5 To the extent that protectable rights arise in AI-generated results and such rights vest in the Provider, the Provider grants the User a non-exclusive, perpetual right to use them for the purposes of the User’s own job search and applications; Section 10 applies in all other respects.

9.6 Processing by external AI providers: the AI Features are a core component of the Service and are provided using external AI providers (operators of large language models). The content required for the respective feature – in particular job posting texts, CV data, uploaded documents, text fragments, and the User’s inputs and instructions – is transmitted to the Provider’s servers for this purpose and passed on from there to external AI providers, which may operate their systems in countries outside the EU/EEA (in particular in the USA). Details – in particular regarding the providers currently used, the legal bases and the safeguards for third-country transfers – are set out in the Privacy Policy. The User should only provide content via the AI Features whose processing by external AI providers they agree to, and should not include particularly sensitive information (e.g. health data) unless it is required for the application. Users who do not agree to this processing must not use the AI Features.

10. User Content; Grant of Rights

10.1 Rights in User Content remain with the User.

10.2 The User grants the Provider the non-exclusive, worldwide rights, limited to the duration of the usage agreement, to store, reproduce, technically prepare and process User Content to the extent necessary to provide the Service, including the AI Features. This includes the transmission of User Content to external AI providers and other service providers engaged by the Provider, to the extent necessary to provide the Service – in particular the AI Features (Section 9.6). Section 11 applies in addition to shared job profiles.

10.3 The User warrants that they hold all rights in the content they bring into the Service that are necessary for its contribution and processing, and that its processing in accordance with the agreement does not infringe any third-party rights.

11. Shared Job Profiles; Telemetry

11.1 The App may transmit metadata and content of job postings imported by the User – in particular title, company, location, URL, source domain and description – to the Provider. The Provider may store, deduplicate, prepare and make such data available to other users of the Service ("shared job profiles").

11.2 The User grants the Provider a non-exclusive, perpetual, sublicensable right in the transmitted job profiles to store, prepare, deduplicate and make them available to other users. The User’s obligations under Sections 7 and 8 remain unaffected.

11.3 The Provider is entitled to delete shared job profiles in whole or in part at any time or to discontinue making them available; the User has no claim to the provision of shared job profiles. Sections 3.5 and 4.1 to 4.3 apply accordingly to shared job profiles made available to the User.

11.4 To ensure the stability and improve the Service, the Provider processes technical telemetry data, in particular error reports and usage metrics. The nature, scope and legal bases of such processing are set out in the Privacy Policy.

12. Fees; Credits; Subscriptions

12.1 Certain features of the Service – in particular AI Features – are subject to a charge and require the purchase of Credits or a subscription. Prices, terms and further conditions are displayed to the User during the respective order process. Payment processing may be carried out via external payment service providers.

12.2 Credits are tied to the User, non-transferable and – to the extent permitted by law – excluded from cash redemption. Any time limit on validity is indicated during the order process.

12.3 Statutory withdrawal rights for consumers remain unaffected. Any early expiry of the right of withdrawal in the case of immediate performance is separately indicated during the order process.

12.4 In the event of abusive acquisition or use of Credits – in particular by circumventing or manipulating billing mechanisms – the Provider is entitled to cancel the affected Credits. Further rights of the Provider remain reserved.

13. Server Services; Availability; Third-Party Services; Force Majeure; Beta Features

13.1 There is no entitlement to uninterrupted availability of the Server Services. The Provider may temporarily restrict availability, in particular for maintenance work, security measures and capacity limits.

13.2 The Service uses services of third parties, in particular hosting, AI infrastructure and payment service providers. Disruptions, changes, degradations or the discontinuation of such third-party services are outside the Provider’s sphere of control; the Provider assumes no responsibility for them unless the Provider is itself responsible for the disruption. Section 18 remains unaffected.

13.3 Force majeure: events that are outside the Provider’s sphere of control and cannot be averted by the Provider even when exercising customary care – in particular natural events, war, terrorism, industrial action, official orders, pandemics, large-scale power or network outages, and attacks on IT systems despite customary protective measures – release the Provider from its obligation to perform for the duration of the disruption and to the extent of its effects.

13.4 Features designated as "beta", "preview" or "experimental" serve testing purposes. They may be changed, restricted or removed at any time, and their functionality is not warranted, to the extent permitted by law.

13.5 The Provider is entitled to reasonably further develop, modify or discontinue the Service and its features to the extent this is reasonable for the User, taking into account the User’s legitimate interests. In such a case, the User shall receive reasonable compensation for services already purchased for consideration and not yet consumed, to the extent required by law.

13.6 Mandatory statutory rights of the User in connection with digital products remain unaffected.

14. Local Data Storage; Duty to Back Up Data

14.1 The User’s core data – in particular imported job postings, CV data, documents and applications – is generally stored locally on the User’s device. The Provider does not perform a server-side backup of such data, subject to Section 11.

14.2 It is incumbent on the User to back up their data regularly and in a manner commensurate with the value of the data, in particular before uninstalling the App, changing devices or making system changes.

14.3 The Provider is not responsible – subject to Section 18 – for the loss of locally stored data as a result of uninstallation, device defect, device loss or comparable circumstances.

15. Updates; Changes to the Software

15.1 The App may automatically check whether updates are available and – depending on platform and settings – download and install them.

15.2 Updates may be required for the continued use of the Service, in particular of the Server Services, namely for reasons of security, compatibility or further development. Features may change as a result to an extent reasonable for the User.

15.3 Statutory update obligations of the Provider for paid digital products remain unaffected.

16. User Duties; Contributory Negligence

16.1 It is incumbent on the User in particular: (a) to review AI-generated content before any use (Section 9.2); (b) to back up their data regularly (Section 14.2); (c) to use the current version of the App and operating systems that are supported by their manufacturer and supplied with security updates; (d) to verify the content, availability and deadlines of job postings in the original source before applying (Section 4.3); (e) to notify the Provider without undue delay of discernible defects or disruptions of the Service and to take reasonable measures to avert and mitigate damage; (f) to protect access credentials and installation identifiers against access by third parties.

16.2 If the User breaches these duties, any resulting contributory negligence in the occurrence or extent of damage shall be taken into account to reduce claims in accordance with statutory principles (Section 254 of the German Civil Code (BGB)).

17. Warranty

17.1 To the extent the Service is provided free of charge, it is provided "as is". To that extent, no warranty is assumed for freedom from defects, fitness for a particular purpose or uninterrupted availability, to the extent permitted by law; liability for fraudulently concealed defects remains unaffected.

17.2 For paid services, the statutory warranty rights apply.

17.3 Statements regarding characteristics, in particular descriptions of the scope of features, constitute guarantees only if expressly designated as such. Sections 3.2 and 3.5 remain unaffected.

17.4 In particular, no warranty is assumed for: the availability, accuracy or currency of third-party content (Sections 3.5, 4.1 to 4.3); the suitability of AI results for a particular purpose (Section 9); the continued compatibility of the Retrieval Features with individual Third-Party Websites (Section 7.6); or the functionality of beta features (Section 13.4). Mandatory statutory rights remain unaffected.

18. Liability

18.1 The Provider is liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for damages arising from injury to life, body or health, in the event of fraudulent concealment of defects, within the scope of expressly assumed guarantees, and under mandatory statutory provisions, in particular product liability law.

18.2 In cases of slight negligence, the Provider is liable only for the breach of essential contractual obligations, i.e. obligations whose fulfillment is a prerequisite for the proper performance of the agreement and on whose observance the User may regularly rely; in such cases, liability is limited to the damage typical for this type of agreement and foreseeable at the time of conclusion.

18.3 For services provided free of charge, the Provider is liable – beyond Section 18.1 – only for intent and gross negligence.

18.4 In all other respects, the Provider’s liability is excluded. Subject to Sections 18.1 and 18.2, the Provider is in particular not liable for: (a) indirect and consequential damages, lost profits, lost income or employment opportunities, reputational damage, non-material damage and futile expenditures; (b) damages arising from the failure to obtain or the loss of employment, from missed application or other deadlines, or from expired, changed or withdrawn job postings; (c) disadvantages arising from decisions the User makes on the basis of AI ratings, classifications or text drafts (Sections 4.4 and 9); (d) content, availability and conduct of third parties, in particular inaccurate, misleading or fraudulent job postings and acts of employers and other third parties (Sections 4.1 and 4.2); (e) measures taken by operators of Third-Party Websites against the User, in particular account, IP or device blocks and access restrictions (Section 7.7); (f) disruptions, changes or discontinuation of third-party services and cases of force majeure (Sections 13.2 and 13.3); (g) damage to the User’s systems or data caused by third-party content retrieved from Third-Party Websites, unless the Provider is responsible for such content (Section 4.6).

18.5 In the event of data loss, the Provider’s liability is limited to the restoration effort that would have been incurred had the User performed proper and regular data backups; Section 18.1 remains unaffected.

18.6 The Provider is not liable for damages and claims resulting from the User using the Service contrary to these Terms – in particular contrary to Sections 6 to 9 – including, without limitation, claims by operators of Third-Party Websites due to impermissible automated access or consequences of content sent by the User.

18.7 Contributory negligence on the part of the User, in particular breach of the duties under Section 16, shall be taken into account to reduce claims.

18.8 The foregoing limitations of liability also apply in favor of the Provider’s corporate bodies, employees and vicarious agents.

18.9 The foregoing provisions do not entail a change in the burden of proof to the User’s detriment. Mandatory statutory liability provisions – including the User’s rights in connection with digital products – remain unaffected.

19. Indemnification

19.1 The User shall indemnify the Provider against all third-party claims – including claims by operators of Third-Party Websites and other rights holders, as well as the reasonable costs of legal defense – arising from a culpable violation of these Terms by the User, in particular of Sections 6 to 11, or from content brought in, sent or published by the User.

19.2 The User shall inform the Provider without undue delay of any claims asserted and shall support the Provider in the defense to a reasonable extent. The Provider is entitled to conduct the defense itself; the User shall not make any acknowledgments without prior coordination with the Provider, to the extent this is reasonable for the User.

19.3 Further statutory claims of the Provider remain unaffected.

20. Term; Suspension; Termination

20.1 The usage agreement runs for an indefinite period. The User may end the use at any time, in particular by uninstalling the App; for subscriptions, the terms and cancellation rules indicated during the order process apply in addition.

20.2 In the event of material or repeated violations of these Terms – in particular of Sections 5 to 8 and 12 – the Provider is entitled to temporarily suspend the User’s access to the Server Services or to terminate the usage agreement for good cause. Before doing so, the Provider will issue a warning to the User and give them the opportunity to remedy the violation, to the extent this is reasonable under the circumstances – for example, in view of the need to avert risks to the Service, other users or third parties.

20.3 Upon termination of the usage agreement, the license under Section 5 ends. Locally stored data remains with the User. Mandatory statutory rights of the User – including withdrawal and warranty rights – remain unaffected.

21. Changes to These Terms

21.1 The Provider may amend these Terms with effect for the future if there is a valid reason for doing so – in particular changes in the law or case law, security-related requirements or the further development of the Service – and provided the User is not unreasonably disadvantaged thereby.

21.2 Changes will be displayed to the User in the App or on the Website. Continued use of the Service requires acceptance of the amended Terms; if the User does not accept the amended Terms, they cannot continue to use the Service. Rights already acquired by the User remain unaffected.

21.3 The version indicated at the top of these Terms, together with its effective date, is authoritative.

22. Final Provisions

22.1 The law of the state in which the Provider has its registered seat (see imprint) applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. For consumers, mandatory consumer protection provisions of the state of their habitual residence remain unaffected.

22.2 If the User is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, or if the User has no general place of jurisdiction in the state of the Provider’s seat, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms shall be the Provider’s seat; mandatory statutory places of jurisdiction remain unaffected.

22.3 The User may transfer rights and obligations under the usage agreement only with the Provider’s prior consent in text form. The Provider may transfer rights and obligations under the usage agreement to an affiliated company or a legal successor, provided this is reasonable for the User; the User will be informed thereof.

22.4 The Provider is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

22.5 Should individual provisions of these Terms be or become wholly or partially invalid or unenforceable, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected; the relevant statutory provision shall take the place of the invalid or unenforceable provision.

22.6 These Terms are available in German and English. In the event of discrepancies or doubts as to interpretation, the German version shall prevail.

22.7 Questions regarding these Terms may be directed to the contact details provided in the imprint (https://ionix.cc/imprint).