Terms

One set of terms in three parts: A for everyone, B for requesters and C for checked companies. about.biz is for businesses only.

A. For everyone

A.1 Parties

about.biz is a service of Hiwodo B.V., Saturnusstraat 60, unit 8, 2516 AH Den Haag, the Netherlands, Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) 24412690, VAT NL817804225B01 (“we”). Only businesses use about.biz; you confirm you act for an organisation. Only these terms apply to the use of about.biz; users' own general terms do not.

A.2 What about.biz does

about.biz records checks of facts at named sources, with the date and method, and lets a company share those facts with whoever asks. What you do with those facts is your decision. about.biz does not certify, accredit or rate businesses, gives no legal or compliance advice, performs customer due diligence for no one, and does not act for or with the approval of KvK, any certification body or any government.

A.3 Labels

• Verified: checked at the source; the source line says where and when.
• Signed: not checkable at a source; a person at the company answers for it by name.
• Stated: stated or found, but not checkable.
• Failed: the named check at the named source on the named date did not confirm it, and nothing more.
• Expired: it was checked; the validity date has passed.
• Pending: waiting for a check by a member of staff.
• Running: the check is still in progress.
• Not reachable: the check could not run. That says nothing about the company.

A.4 Accuracy, availability and liability

Facts reflect the source on the date they were retrieved; each source answers for its own accuracy. Data from the Dutch business register (Handelsregister) carries the sentence: “Voor actuele informatie met juridische derdenwerking dient u altijd het Handelsregister te raadplegen.”

We provide about.biz with reasonable care, but do not guarantee uninterrupted availability of about.biz or of the sources. Our total liability is limited to the fees you paid us in the twelve months before the event, with a minimum of € 500 per event. We are not liable for indirect loss, such as consequential loss, lost profit or lost savings. Nothing in these terms limits our liability for intent or deliberate recklessness.

A.5 Permitted use

No scraping, no attempts to enumerate companies, no automated access except through a documented API, no marketing through about.biz, and no uploading of other people's documents without the right to do so. We may suspend an account that breaches these terms.

A.6 Data protection

We are the controller for the processing on about.biz; see the privacy statement.

A.7 Reporting unlawful content

If you see content on about.biz that you believe is unlawful, report it to support@about.biz, with the link and the reason. We decide with reasons, tell you, and you can ask a member of staff to reconsider.

A.8 Free pilot and changes

about.biz is free during the pilot. We may add, change or stop features. If we start charging for something, you hear about it at least 30 days in advance, and you never pay without agreeing first. We e-mail account holders about important changes to these terms at least 30 days in advance.

A.9 Law and courts

Dutch law applies to these terms. Disputes are brought before the competent court in The Hague.

B. For requesters

B.1 Legitimate purpose

You only check a company with which you have or are preparing a business relationship (supplier, partner, customer), or for a comparable purpose such as a tender. Not allowed: checking competitors, checking individuals, or reselling results. You confirm the purpose per request.

B.2 Correct requests

You enter, to the best of your knowledge, the correct domain and Dutch registration number, and only a contact address the company gave you for the business relationship. Never private addresses of individuals.

B.3 No pressure

No repeated requests to a company that declined or objected. No pressure, threats, marketing or statements about the company in your own message. We may suspend a requester after two justified complaints.

B.4 Limits

At most 20 requests per organisation per day; we may change that limit. about.biz sends no reminders; you follow up from your own mailbox.

B.5 Your own e-mail

You send the invitation from your own mailbox: you are the sender and responsible for that message. You may edit the text, but do not add advertising for about.biz or for yourself. about.biz pays no reward per request.

B.6 Confidential results

The results of a first check are for your own assessment of that company. Do not publish them, resell them or share them outside your organisation, except with your own advisers and accountants. Do not pass on data from the Dutch business register to third parties.

B.7 Your own decision

You make your own decisions. The results of about.biz are one source for them and do not replace your own obligations, such as customer due diligence by an institution under the Dutch Wwft.

B.8 Your own data protection

You are the controller for what you do with the results, and you tell your staff that their name and organisation are visible to the company they check.

C. For checked companies

C.1 Claiming

Only whoever controls the domain can claim a passport. You confirm you may act for the company.

C.2 Correct statements

What you add or sign is, to the best of your knowledge, true, complete and current. Statements are the company's, not about.biz's, and are shown as “signed”, with name and role.

C.3 Authority of the signer

The signer confirms they may make the statement for the company. about.biz does not check that authority in the business register, unless the fact says so.

C.4 Keeping it current

You update facts that change and withdraw statements that are no longer true. Expired certificates get the label “expired” automatically.

C.5 Sharing

You choose which requesters you share with, and whether there is a public page. A public page shows every required element, including one that failed, with the reason and the date. You can choose to publish nothing, but not to leave out a failed element.

C.6 Response and correction

If you believe a fact is wrong, e-mail support@about.biz with the link to the fact and your explanation. A member of staff looks at it within five working days. A correction is a new, dated fact; the history is kept. If the source itself is wrong, we point you to that source's correction route; we never overwrite a source.

C.7 The seal on your website

Only the live seal that links to your current passport. It changes by itself when a required check no longer holds. No static images.

C.8 No third-party logos

No logos of ISO, IAF, accreditation bodies or certification bodies on your passport. Certificates are shown as text.

C.9 Leaving

You can leave whenever you want, with an e-mail to support@about.biz. Facts are deleted according to the retention periods in the privacy statement; signed statements are kept as evidence for the period stated there.