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General Terms and Conditions (GTC) – Skillbrowser

Effective as of: January 1, 2026

Preamble

These GTC govern the use of the Skillbrowser online platform by IT providers and customers, as well as the contractual relationship within the scope of a paid membership. Deviating terms and conditions of the IT provider shall not apply unless Skillbrowser expressly agrees to their validity in writing.

Definitions

  • Skillbrowser: Operator of the platform and contractual partner of the IT providers
  • IT Provider: Companies that maintain a company profile and offer IT services
  • Customer: Business customers who can confirm skills of IT providers
  • Profile: Company representation of an IT provider including logo, description, partner logos, and offered skills
  • Skills: Capabilities/competencies of an IT provider in the categories Products, Certifications, Consulting, Services, Solutions, Industries
  • Confirmations: Customer confirmations of offered services, optionally with comments
  • Membership: Paid access and use of the platform services for IT providers

Subject Matter and Scope of Services

  • Skillbrowser provides an online platform where IT providers can create a company profile in German and English and offer skills.
  • IT providers can select skills from a catalog or propose new skills. Newly created skills are editorially reviewed by Skillbrowser before approval (e.g., to avoid redundancies, inconsistent naming, and prohibited content). There is no entitlement to approval.
  • Skillbrowser does not guarantee specific availability or performance but strives for stable operation and appropriate maintenance.
  • Standard support is provided via email during regular business hours. Individual SLAs require a separate agreement.

Customer Confirmations

  • Customers can confirm skills; confirmations without comments are visible after technical plausibility checks.
  • Confirmations with comments require approval by the IT provider (for reasons of objectivity and relevance). Skillbrowser may display or reject confirmations with comments even without approval if approval is unreasonably withheld or delayed or if moderation guidelines are violated.
  • Confirmations are valid for 24 months (2 years) and are then marked as “Expired” and no longer displayed. Customers can renew expired confirmations in their profile, after which they are valid for another 24 months.
  • IT providers may not confirm their own skills; manipulation (fake accounts, incentives, pressure on customers) is prohibited.
  • There is no entitlement to publication, order, placement, or reach of confirmations.

Registration, Account and Obligations of the IT Provider

  • Registration of the IT provider is required for use. The IT provider undertakes to provide complete and accurate information and keep it up to date.
  • Access credentials must be kept confidential; the IT provider is liable for any use of its account if it is responsible for unauthorized use.
  • The IT provider ensures that logos, partner logos, descriptions, and other content may be lawfully used (copyright, trademark, personality rights) and do not infringe third-party rights.

Creation and Management of Profiles & Skills

  • Profiles may not contain unlawful, misleading, discriminatory, or advertising content that violates applicable law.
  • Skillbrowser may correct, rename, recategorize, hide, or delete content if it violates these GTC, moderation guidelines, or legal requirements.
  • The IT provider is responsible for the factual accuracy of its information. Skillbrowser assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information provided by IT providers or customers.

Membership, Term, Renewal, Termination

  • After registration, the user receives a free basic account that allows access to the basic functions of the platform. The basic account is non-binding and free of charge for the IT provider and does not create any payment obligation.
  • The editing and publication of a company profile is only possible within the scope of a paid membership, which the IT provider must explicitly and separately book.
  • Membership is offered annually; minimum contract term: 12 months from the start date.
  • The contract does not renew automatically. It ends automatically upon expiration of the agreed term unless a new contract is concluded.
  • Termination is not required. Ordinary termination before the end of the term is excluded; the right to extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected (e.g., serious breach of contract, payment default despite reminder, legal violations).
  • Upon contract termination, Skillbrowser may block or remove the profile. Content will only be provided, archived, or transferred if legally required or contractually agreed.

Prices, Billing and Payment Terms

  • Prices are based on the number of employees of the IT provider at the contract signing date (headcount or FTE). Changes during the term do not retroactively affect the price. Skillbrowser may require proof/audit of employee numbers.
  • Membership is invoiced annually in advance.
  • Payment term: 30 days from invoice date; payments without deduction.
  • In case of payment default, Skillbrowser may temporarily suspend access and charge statutory interest and reminder fees.
  • Refunds (full or partial) for early termination by the IT provider are excluded unless legally required.
  • Price changes apply to future terms and will be communicated at least 30 days before taking effect.

Usage Rules & Prohibited Activities

Prohibited activities include:

  • Unlawful content, rights violations, spam, deception, covert advertising, defamation.
  • Manipulation of confirmations (e.g., self-confirmations, fake profiles, incentives, pressure).
  • Technical interference with the platform, reverse engineering, circumvention of security measures.
  • Use of the platform for mass data collection (scraping), unless expressly permitted.
  • In case of violations, Skillbrowser may remove content, block accounts, terminate contracts extraordinarily, and claim damages.

Rights to Content, Licenses, Trademarks

  • The IT provider grants Skillbrowser a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, reproduce, publicly display, and edit its submitted content (including logos, trademarks, descriptions) for the purpose of operating, promoting, and presenting the platform (e.g., shortening, categorization).
  • The IT provider warrants that it holds all necessary rights and indemnifies Skillbrowser against third-party claims arising from unlawful use.
  • Skillbrowser retains all rights to the platform (software, database, layout, trademarks). Use beyond the contractual purpose is prohibited without express consent.

Availability, Maintenance and Service Changes

  • Skillbrowser strives for high availability but does not guarantee it; maintenance windows may cause temporary restrictions.
  • Skillbrowser may adapt, supplement, or discontinue functions if the essential contractual services are not significantly impaired or if there is a valid reason (e.g., security, legal changes, market standards).
  • In case of significant changes, Skillbrowser will inform the IT provider in advance; the IT provider may have a special termination right if the change is unreasonable.

Warranty and Liability

  • User-generated content: Skillbrowser is not liable for the accuracy, timeliness, or legality of content provided by IT providers or customers.
  • Skillbrowser is liable for intent and gross negligence as well as for injury to life, body, or health in accordance with statutory provisions. Otherwise, liability is limited — to the extent permitted by law — as follows:
    • To foreseeable, typical damages and
    • Up to the amount of the annual membership fee.
  • Liability for lost profits, data loss, indirect damages, or consequential damages is excluded to the extent permitted by law.
  • Force majeure (e.g., natural disasters, strikes, official orders, failures of third-party infrastructure) excludes liability.

Data Protection and Data Security

  • To fulfill the contract, Skillbrowser processes personal data of users, in particular: first and last name, email address, company name and address.
  • Skillbrowser does not share customer data with IT providers. For confirmed skills, only the name and company of the customer are displayed.
  • Processing is carried out in accordance with the Swiss Data Protection Act (DSG) and — where applicable — the EU GDPR. Details (purposes, legal bases, retention periods, data subject rights, recipients, third-country transfers, security measures) are set out in Skillbrowser’s Privacy Policy.
  • IT providers are responsible for contacting their own customers for skill confirmations only in compliance with applicable data protection laws (e.g., consent or legitimate interest).
  • Skillbrowser implements appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect data; however, absolute protection against attacks cannot be guaranteed.

Confidentiality

  • Confidential information exchanged during cooperation must be treated strictly confidential.
  • This obligation does not apply to information that is generally known, lawfully obtained from third parties, or must be disclosed due to legal obligations.

Changes to the GTC

  • Skillbrowser may amend these GTC if there are valid reasons (e.g., legal changes, service expansion, security requirements).
  • Changes will be communicated at least 30 days before they take effect by email or on the platform. If the IT provider does not object before they take effect, the changes are deemed accepted. In case of objection, Skillbrowser may terminate the contract at the end of the current term.

Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

  • Swiss law applies, excluding conflict-of-law rules and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
  • Place of jurisdiction is Basel-Stadt.

Final Provisions

  • Severability clause: If individual provisions are invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected. The invalid provision shall be replaced by one that comes closest to the economic purpose.
  • Assignment: Rights and obligations under this contract may only be assigned with Skillbrowser’s written consent; Skillbrowser may transfer the contract to affiliated companies.
  • Notices: Legally relevant declarations shall be made in text form (e.g., email to the address stored in the account), unless written form is legally required.
  • Language and precedence: These GTC are written in German. In case of multilingual versions, the German version prevails. Individually agreed contracts (e.g., SLA, data processing agreement) take precedence over these GTC.

Contact

Skillbrowser GmbH
Bändelgasse 1
4057 Basel
Switzerland

info@skillbrowser.com