Data Privacy Guidelines of ACN Communications GmbH for the Provision of Telecommunications Services
1. General Information
1.1 The provision of telecommunications services (Services) by ACN Communications GmbH (ACN) requires the collection, processing and use of the personal data of the customer and the other parties participating in the communication as well data governed by telecommunications secrecy (Protected Data).
1.2 The Protected Data will be handled in compliance with the applicable statutory provisions on communications secrecy including, without limitation, the provisions of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the German Telecommunications Act (TKG). The collection, processing and use of data will be governed by the principles of data avoidance and data economy.
1.3 ACN will only use Protected Data for the purposes specified in sections 3 to 11 and for purposes connected therewith.
Beyond this, ACN will only use the Protected Data pursuant to section 2.4 (credit check) and section 13 (data privacy, telecommunications secrecy, data privacy agreement, confidentiality) of the General Terms and Conditions of ACN.
2. Customer Data
2.1 ACN will collect, process and use Protected Data in order to establish, modify, terminate and organize the content of the contractual relationship with the customer (Customer Data).
Customer Data include, in particular, salutation, last name, first name, address, date of birth, telephone numbers and/or e-mail address and banking arrangements.
2.2 Subject to the consent of the customer, ACN may use Customer Data for the provision of general customer advisory services and customized Services as well as for publicity purposes and market research.
Customer Data will not be communicated to third parties unless the customer has consented to its disclosure or ACN is entitled and/or obligated by law to disclose the Customer Data.
The customer may, at any time, revoke its consent, in writing or in text form, to any future disclosure of the data.
2.3 All Customer Data will be deleted by the close of the calendar year following termination of the contract, unless a longer preservation period has been authorized by the customer or is required by law.
3. Traffic and Usage Data
3.1 ACN will further collect, process and use Protected Data for the provision of telecommunications services to the customer (Traffic Data).
Traffic Data includes, in particular:
- the customer’s Mobile phone number;
- the identification of the calling and the called party’s station/terminal (e.g., customer’s ACN authorization code, Mobile device identity);
- the customer’s location data and card number;
- the beginning and end of the call, indicated by date and time and in the case of usage-based Services, the volume of data transmitted;
- the Services used by the customer;
- any other Traffic Data required for call set-up and maintenance and for billing purposes.
3.2 Subject to the consent of the customer, ACN may also use Traffic Data to market and customize its Services or to provide value added services.
The customer may revoke its consent to any future use of Traffic Data for these purposes at any time, in writing or in text form, ,
3.3 ACN may continue to use the Traffic Data after the end of the call to the extent required to set up additional calls, for billing purposes (see section 4), to generate an itemized call statement (see section 6), or to prevent or detect any misuse of or failures (see section 11) in the telecommunications services.
Any Traffic Data which is not required will be promptly deleted by ACN.
4. Determination of Charges, Billing
4.1 In addition to the Traffic Data required to determine the charges, ACN may collect and use the following Protected Data of the customer for billing purposes:
- the address of the customer or recipient of the bill;
- the type of line;
- the total number of charge units incurred during a regular billing period;
- the data volume transmitted
- the total amount payable; and
- any other information required for billing (e.g., advance payments, payments with date of entry, payments in arrears, reminders, disconnection and restoration of service, complaints submitted and processed, extensions of payment applied for and granted, payment on deferred terms, provision of security).
4.2 Traffic Data required to determine the charges may be stored for a period of up to six (6) months after dispatch of the bill (maximum storage period permitted by law). ACN will store Traffic Date for a period of six (6) months after dispatch of the bill
If the customer disputes the amount billed within the aforementioned preservation period, the Traffic Data may be preserved until the dispute has been resolved, even beyond the statutory maximum preservation period of six (6) months.
5. Customer’s Right to Choose/Storage of Traffic Data
5.1 During the preservation period specified in section 4.2, the Customer may decide whether the destination numbers called should be
- stored in full or shortened by the last three digits or
- deleted entirely upon dispatch of the bill to the customer.
If the customer fails to make a choice, the destination numbers will be stored in full.
5.2 If the Customer decides that the Called Party Number shall be deleted or shall not be stored, or if the Customer demands that any other Traffic Data shall be deleted or not be stored, ACN shall, in case the Customer objects to an invoice, not be obliged to submit proof of the (call connection) services provided or to provide call itemization or results of technical verifications of the calls processed.
If the Customer requests storage of all but the last three digits of the Called Party Number, ACN shall, in case the Customer objects to an invoice, not be obliged to submit proof of the (call connection) services provided if ACN can no longer verify them due to the fact that the stored number is incomplete, e.g., calls to 0900 service numbers.
5.3 The customer may communicate the desired storage alternative to ACN at www.acnmobile.de (Service: DeinACN Mobile)
6. Itemized Bill
6.1 If the customer requests an itemized call statement (itemized bill), ACN will be entitled to process the customer Traffic Data referred to in section 3.1 for the purpose of generating the itemized bill.
The itemized bill will be made available to the customer, together with the invoice pursuant to section 8, as of the beginning of the billing period following the customer’s request.
6.2 If the Traffic Data has been stored in full in accordance with section 5.1, the itemized bill will contain the complete destination numbers called by the customer. Otherwise the last three digits of the destination numbers will not be shown on the itemized bill.
6.3 If the customer is liable, in whole or in part, for connection charges for incoming calls on his line (e.g. call-back services), the last three digits of the respective call origination telephone numbers may not be shown on the itemized bill.
6.4 Calls to persons, public authorities or organizations working for the church or in the social domain who or which offer anonymous counseling wholly or predominantly by telephone to callers in emotional or social distress will not be shown on the itemized bill.
The total charges for the itemized calls may therefore diverge from the amount billed.
6.5 Where ACN’s Services are used by several persons (e.g. in a household, company or public authority or in the case of business customers), itemized bill will only be provided if the customer has declared, in text form, that he has informed all co-users/employees and will inform all future co-users/employees about the itemized bill without undue delay (Co-user Declaration). The customer must further declare in the Co-user Declaration that the works council or the staff representation has been involved to the extent required by law.
The customer may make the Co-User Declaration electronically under www.acnmobile.de (Service: DeinACN Mobile). At the customer’s request, ACN will provide the "Co-user Declaration" in written form.
7. Commissioned Data Processing and Transmission of Data
7.1 In concrete terms, the Protected Data will be processed ACN and by third parties to which ACN transfers the data pursuant to the following provisions
ACN transfers the data required for the determination of the charges and billing in accordance with Section 97 para. 1 TKG to ACOREUS AG, Zollhof 10, 40221 Düsseldorf.
7.2 By giving his consent pursuant to section 13.4 of the General Terms and Conditions, the customer consents to the transfer of his data to third parties (including the transfer to enterprises in countries such as the USA, which do not offer the same standard of protection as the European Union, but where the standard of protection is similar), thereby enabling ACN to:
(a) provide its Services to the customer
(b) store the Protected Data in databases and to process such data for the following purposes:
- provision of the Services owed, administration, billing, collection of claims and bookkeeping,
- verification of the customer’s identity and creditworthiness
- maintenance, support and customer advisory services and further development of ACN’s services.
In case any data will be transferred to the USA, ACN will ensure that the recipient of the data will offer a level of protection comparable to the standard of protection of the European Union. The data will be used and processed exclusively for the purpose specified above. ACN will ensure that any disclosure or use of the data for other purposes is excluded.
7.3 The consent of the customer pursuant to section 13.4 of the General Terms and Conditions is the essential prerequisite for the provision of telecommunications services by ACN and therefore constitutes the inherent basis of the contract. Without such consent, ACN cannot provide the agreed Services to the customer in accordance with the contract nor render accounts properly. Should the customer (a) fail to grant, (b) restrict or (c) revoke the consent pursuant to section 13.4 of the General Terms and Conditions, ACN may refuse to conclude a contract with the Customer or, in case of revocation, will be compelled to terminate the contract. The transaction will be reversed in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the General Terms and Conditions.
8. Online Invoices
8.1 In principle, ACN’s invoices are issued electronically. Written invoices will be issued only at the express request of the customer or if the technical requirements for the retrieval of electronic invoices are not fulfilled and the customer therefore requests a written invoice. The delivery of written invoices is subject to the provisions of section 10.3 of the General Terms and Conditions.
8.2 Electronic invoices can be retrieved from the Website www.acnmobile.de (Service: DeinACN Mobile).
In order to retrieve electronic invoices, the customer must prove his identity by entering his user name and the password issued to him under "DeinACN Mobile".
8.3 The data available for retrieval from „DeinACN Mobile" will be transmitted in encrypted form using standard 128-bit SSL encryption.
8.4 Objections to electronic invoices are also subject to the provisions of section 10.7 and must be made in writing within two months of receipt of the invoice.
For the purpose of section 10.7 of the General Terms and Conditions, electronic invoices will be deemed received by the customer after having been made available for retrieval from the Website www.acnmobile.de (Service: DeinACN Mobile).
9. Calling Line Identification Presentation
The calling line identification presentation depends on the respective setup of the customer’s GSM terminal equipment. The customer may activate or disactivate the calling line identification by changing the respective setup. With respect to setup modification, ACN refers to the user manual of the relevant manufacturer.
10. Directory Entry, Directory Information
10.1 At the customer’s request, ACN will arrange for entry of the customer’s name in a public print and/or electronic directory
The customer may determine which information should be listed in the directories. The customer’s telephone number, name (first and last name) and address will be listed free of charge. Any additional information such as occupation, line of business or type of line will be subject to charges.
10.2 The customer may object to his number being passed on by directory services. If the customer does not exercise his right to object, directory information services may provide the customer’s number to third parties. The provision of any additional information within the meaning of section 10.1 requires the consent of the customer.
Directory information services can also provide information on the customer name and/or address, if only the number of the Customer is known (Inverse Information). The Customer may object to the Inverse Information. the Customer can declare its objection any time under www.acnmobile.de (Service: DeinACN Mobile).
10.3 Entry in a public directory may be applied for under www.acnmobile.de (Service: DeinACN Mobile). A written "directory entry form" will be provided upon request.
11 Misuse and Faults
11.1 ACN may collect and use Customer Data and Traffic Data to the extent necessary to detect, delimit or remove faults in telecommunications systems or to prevent any wrongful or unlawful use of telecommunications services.
11.2 Should the customer receive any threatening or nuisance calls, ACN will, at the customer’s written request provide information on the owners of the telephone numbers from which the calls were made, provided the customer has furnished convincing proof of the threat or nuisance and has narrowed down the calls according to date, time or other appropriate criteria. For the sake of evidence, ACN will document the customer’s request and the information provided by the customer. Information can only be provided on calls received after submission of the request.
ACN is obligated by law to notify the owner of the number from which the calls were made that information has been given on these calls. An exemption may be made if the customer has furnished convincing proof in writing that any disclosure would cause him significant disadvantages and that these disadvantages, when compared with the legitimate interests of the calling party, appear considerably more serious.
12. Right to Demand Information
Upon request, ACN will provide the customer free of charge with information about the personal data of the customer that have been stored by ACN, the scope and purpose of the storage and the origin and recipient of such data.
13. Data Privacy on ACN-webpages
ACN websites (e.g., www.acneuro.com / www.acnmobile.de) can be used, in principle, without disclosing your personal data. By using our website, data are stored on our servers for safeguarding purposes, e.g. the name of your internet service provider, the website that you used to link to our site, the parts of our website which you visit and your IP-Address. These data could possibly lead to your identification, however it is not used for this purpose. The data is used for statistical purposes, but the individual user remains anonymous. As far as data being given to external organizations, we have assured, through technical and organizational means, that the data privacy regulations are followed.
Personal data are only collected, if you provide them to us, e.g. as part of the registration, through completion of forms or by sending e-mails to us. Of course we will maintain your data strictly confidential and will use them only for those purposes for which you have sent them to us (e.g. information about telephone services by ACN). Your personal data are not transmitted by us or by our agents to third parties in any form whatsoever, unless this is required or permitted by law, we have obtained your consent or an official injunction to do so.
ACN Communications GmbH, version as of 24 August 2005.
DE
