Additional Terms for AI Transcription, Local Models, and Cloud Services
Version 1.2 — effective from May 23, 2026
These additional terms apply in addition to the Provider's General Terms and Conditions and govern the use of the recording, transcription, AI, language model, cloud, and model features of Ownvox.
1. Scope and Relationship to the General Terms and Conditions
These additional terms govern certain functions of the Ownvox application, in particular: a) the recording and processing of audio data; b) automatic speech recognition and transcription; c) local processing by locally executed models; d) the use of the Provider's cloud functions; e) the use of language models, inference services, and other third-party providers; f) the User's use of their own API keys or third-party access credentials; g) the download and use of models, components, and open-source software. Where these additional terms contain more specific provisions, they take precedence over the general provisions of the General Terms and Conditions for the functions governed herein. In all other respects, the Provider's General Terms and Conditions continue to apply.
2. Definitions
For the purposes of these additional terms: “Application” means the Ownvox software, including associated desktop, web, backend, proxy, cloud, license, update, and model functions. “ASR” means automatic speech recognition, i.e., the automated conversion of speech or audio data into text. “LLM” means language models or other AI models capable of generating or processing text, summaries, structured outputs, responses, actions, prompts, or other content. “Transcription Result” means any text generated by the Application, including in particular transcripts, translations, summaries, speaker labels, timestamps, structured notes, tasks, responses, or other outputs. “Strict Offline Mode” means an operating mode in which audio and transcription content is processed locally on the User's device in accordance with the product description and is not transmitted to the Provider's cloud functions for transcription or AI processing. “Connected Mode” means an operating mode in which certain functions of the Application may use a network connection, in particular cloud transcription, language model post-processing, model downloads, license management, updates, or other online functions. “BYOK” or “Bring Your Own Key” means the use of the User's own credentials, API keys, or endpoints to third-party providers or self-operated services. “Third-Party Provider” means external service providers, platforms, API providers, model providers, infrastructure operators, payment providers, license services, or other providers outside the Provider's direct sphere of responsibility.
3. Local Processing and Cloud Processing
Depending on configuration, the Application may provide local functions and cloud functions. In Strict Offline Mode, audio and transcription content is processed locally on the User's device in accordance with the product description. Strict Offline Mode does not, however, necessarily mean that no network connection of the Application is possible. Network connections may in particular be required or possible for license verification, updates, model catalogs, model downloads, troubleshooting, or online functions activated by the User. In Connected Mode, audio, transcription, prompt, context, or other content data may be transmitted to the Provider's cloud functions or to third-party providers, where this is necessary for the provision of the respective function or has been activated by the User. Details regarding data categories, purposes, recipients, retention periods, third-country transfers, and subprocessors are set out in the Privacy Policy and, where provided, in the Provider's subprocessor list. The User decides on their own responsibility which functions, operating modes, models, endpoints, and integrations to activate and use.
4. Notices Regarding AI-Generated Content and Transcription Results
The Application uses automated speech recognition as well as, depending on the respective configuration and activation by the User, language models and other automated systems for post-processing, summarization, skill execution, prompt processing, or other content processing. The User acknowledges that automatically generated transcriptions, translations, summaries, and other AI-supported outputs may be incorrect, incomplete, outdated, misleading, or unsuitable for the specific purpose. This includes, in particular: a) misheard words; b) incorrect proper names; c) incorrect technical terms; d) omissions; e) incorrect punctuation; f) incorrect speaker assignments; g) incomplete or inaccurate summaries; h) inaccurate conclusions; i) so-called hallucinations or fabricated content from language models; j) errors in translations or in the transfer of meaning; k) incorrect recognition of numbers, dates, amounts, names, places, appointments, or legally relevant statements. The Application is not intended for use in areas where incorrect, incomplete, or unverified outputs may cause significant personal injury, property damage, legal damage, or financial loss. This applies in particular to: a) medical documentation or diagnostics; b) legally binding or court-admissible records; c) emergency, security, or rescue communication; d) official notifications; e) financial transactions; f) compliance decisions; g) HR decisions; h) safety-critical or highly sensitive use cases; i) other areas where human review is mandatory. The User is obliged to review all outputs on their own responsibility before further use. This applies in particular where outputs are published, passed on to third parties, archived, used as a basis for decisions, or used in business, legal, medical, financial, or other sensitive contexts. The Application does not replace professional advice, in particular medical, legal, tax, financial, psychological, or security-related advice.
5. Lawfulness of Recordings and Third-Party Consent
The Application enables the User to record, upload, transcribe, and process audio data. The User is solely responsible for ensuring that every recording, upload, and further processing is carried out lawfully. In particular, the User must ensure that, before commencing a recording or processing, they have all necessary rights, consents, authorizations, or other legal bases. This may include, in particular, the consent of all persons participating in a conversation. The User undertakes to comply with all applicable provisions of data protection law, personality rights, criminal law, employment law, professional law, contractual obligations, and other statutory requirements. Depending on the jurisdiction and situation, it may be unlawful to record or process conversations, telephone calls, meetings, or other utterances without prior notification or consent of the persons concerned. In particular, the User must not use the Application to: a) make covert, unauthorized, or unlawful recordings; b) record confidential conversations without authorization; c) capture professional secrets, attorney-client communications, patient data, trade secrets, or other specially protected information without authorization; d) monitor persons without the necessary legal basis; e) circumvent statutory, contractual, or organizational confidentiality obligations. The Provider merely makes available technical functions for recording, transcription, and processing. The Provider is not responsible for the lawfulness of recordings, uploads, content, processing, or disclosures initiated by the User. The User shall, to the extent permitted by law, indemnify the Provider against claims by third parties arising from unlawful recordings, uploads, content, or processing initiated by the User or from the User's unlawful use of the Application.
6. Processing via the Provider's Cloud Functions
Where the User activates or uses the Provider's cloud functions, data may be processed via the Provider's infrastructure or via third-party providers integrated by the Provider. This may concern in particular the following functions: a) cloud speech recognition; b) language model post-processing; c) summaries; d) skill execution; e) prompt processing; f) model downloads; g) license management; h) payment processing; i) error analysis and technical safeguarding of the services. Cloud functions for speech recognition and language model processing are provided through a proxy operated by the Provider. The Provider's proxy infrastructure is hosted in the European Union with Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany). For automatic cloud speech recognition (ASR) and for processing by language models (LLMs), the Provider exclusively uses Scaleway S.A.S. (France) as a GDPR-compliant inference and ASR provider established in the European Union. The corresponding processing takes place within the European Union in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In this context, audio content, prompts, context and content data, transcription results, technical metadata, and connection data may be transmitted to the aforementioned service providers and processed there to the extent necessary to provide the respective cloud function. The categories of service providers, subprocessors, and third-party providers used in each case are set out in the Privacy Policy and, where provided, in the Provider's subprocessor list. The Provider may change service providers, models, inference providers, cloud providers, or technical infrastructure used, provided that this does not materially affect the contractually owed performance and the data protection requirements are observed. Material changes will be communicated in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions, the Privacy Policy, or other applicable information obligations.
7. Use of Your Own Third-Party Access and BYOK
The Application may enable the User to store or use their own credentials, API keys, or endpoints from third-party providers. This may concern in particular language model providers, OpenAI-compatible endpoints, local model servers, or other inference services. Where the User uses their own credentials or API keys, an independent contractual relationship is established between the User and the respective third-party provider. The third-party provider's own general terms and conditions, usage policies, prices, quotas, privacy information, and technical specifications shall apply to that third-party provider. The Provider is not a party to this third-party relationship and assumes no responsibility for: a) availability of the third-party provider; b) prices or billing of the third-party provider; c) quotas, limits, or throttling of the third-party provider; d) data protection or storage practices of the third-party provider; e) model behavior, accuracy, or security of the third-party provider; f) changes to the interfaces, models, or terms of use of the third-party provider; g) content, results, or malfunctions of the third-party provider, where these are outside the Provider's sphere of influence. The User is solely responsible for complying with the conditions of the respective third-party provider and for bearing the costs incurred there. Where the Application technically forwards requests to an endpoint chosen by the User, such forwarding takes place at the User's instigation. The Provider assumes no responsibility for whether the endpoint chosen by the User is suitable or legally permissible for the respective content, data categories, or purposes. The User is obliged to keep API keys, credentials, and other secrets securely and protected from unauthorized access. The Provider is not liable for damage caused by insecure storage, disclosure, or compromise of credentials by the User, unless the Provider is responsible for the damage.
8. Business Use and Data Processing Agreements
Where the User uses the Application in a commercial, professional, governmental, freelance, or other non-purely-private context, the User is responsible for examining which data protection roles, obligations, and legal bases apply to their specific use. Where the User processes personal data of third parties and the Provider acts as a processor within the meaning of Art. 28 GDPR, a data processing agreement must be concluded prior to the use of the corresponding cloud functions. A corresponding agreement may be requested on demand via [email protected]. The User is responsible for examining whether their specific use requires, in particular: a) a data processing agreement; b) a data protection impact assessment; c) consents from data subjects; d) information obligations toward data subjects; e) internal policies or works council agreements; f) special protective measures for sensitive data; g) restrictions on transfers to third countries; h) other statutory, professional, or organizational requirements. Where a required data processing agreement has not been concluded, the User must not use the Provider's cloud functions in a manner that mandatorily requires such an agreement.
9. Fair Use and Quotas for Cloud Services
Where functions of the Application are provided via the Provider's cloud infrastructure, use is subject to the usage limits communicated in each case in the product, on the website, in the offer, in the tariff, or in other contractual information. Such usage limits may include, in particular, rate limits to safeguard availability and stability (number of requests or data volume per unit of time), volume-based quotas (such as minutes or requests per billing period) — where such are expressly provided in the respective tariff — and other technical or organizational usage restrictions. The applicable limits are communicated in the product and tariff description prior to conclusion of the contract. Cloud functions may be subject to fair use. The following are prohibited in particular: a) automated mass usage outside the intended use of the Application; b) resale, sub-letting, or commercial forwarding of the cloud functions to third parties; c) integration of the cloud functions into the User's own products or services without the Provider's express consent; d) circumvention of technical restrictions, limits, or security mechanisms; e) excessive use that is liable to impair the availability, stability, security, or performance of the services for other users; f) scraping, reverse engineering, or abusive load testing; g) use for processing unlawful content; h) use to infringe rights of third parties. The Provider is entitled to throttle, temporarily suspend, or restrict the use of cloud functions where there are concrete indications of misuse, security risks, unlawful use, breach of these terms, or significant impairment of the services. Where the respective tariff expressly provides for volume-based quotas and their time-limited validity is transparently communicated in the product and tariff description, unused quotas expire at the end of the respective billing period, unless otherwise provided in the respective tariff, offer, or by mandatory law. Rate limits do not constitute volume-based quotas and are not subject to expiration in this sense; they regenerate continuously in accordance with their technical definition. A payout, refund, or transfer of unused quotas takes place only where this has been expressly agreed or is mandatorily required by law.
10. Model Downloads, Model Catalog, and Third-Party Licenses
The Application may enable the local download and use of speech recognition models, language models, additional components, configuration files, or other model resources. Models and components may be provided by the Provider itself, from a model catalog of the Provider, or from sources of third parties. They may be subject to separate license terms of the respective rights holders. The User is obliged to comply with the applicable license terms for the respective models, components, and software components. These may include, in particular, open-source licenses, Creative Commons licenses, model licenses, research or non-commercial restrictions, or other third-party conditions. An overview of the models used or provided and their associated licenses can, where available, be viewed within the Application. The Provider may verify the integrity of downloaded models or components using technical procedures such as cryptographic checksums. Such verification serves solely to detect unintended transmission errors or unauthorized modifications during transit. It does not constitute any assurance regarding the quality, accuracy, security, lawfulness, license compliance, or suitability of the respective model for a specific purpose. The Provider assumes no responsibility for the content, properties, license terms, availability, or outputs of third-party models, where these are outside the Provider's sphere of influence.
11. Updates and Automatic Updates
The Application may include integrated update functions. The Provider may make available updates, bug fixes, security updates, model updates, functional changes, or other updates. Where required by law or necessary to maintain the security, compatibility, or contractual conformity of the Application, the Provider may make updates available and require the User to install them or carry out updates automatically, provided this is technically intended and legally permissible. Security-relevant updates may be necessary in order to continue using the Application securely. If the User does not install provided security updates, this may result in functions being restricted, deactivated, or no longer supported, where this is necessary to avoid security risks, abuse, or technical disruptions. The Provider may change, replace, or remove models, model versions, third-party providers, endpoints, cloud functions, or technical procedures, provided that there is an objective reason for doing so. An objective reason may exist in particular for: a) security risks; b) license changes; c) technical changes; d) discontinuation of a third-party service; e) quality improvements; f) statutory or regulatory requirements; g) abuse prevention; h) economic or technical unreasonableness of continued operation. Where the Application is used by consumers, the mandatory statutory requirements for the provision of updates for digital products apply, in particular Sections 327f and 327r of the German Civil Code (BGB). Updates necessary to maintain contractual conformity are provided in a manner that adequately informs the consumer about the update and its significance. Functions are restricted or deactivated due to the non-installation of an update only where the update is security-relevant or mandatorily required to maintain contractual conformity; purely feature-enhancing or optional updates remain voluntary for the consumer, and their non-installation does not result in a corresponding restriction of the core functions in conformity with the contract. Mandatory statutory rights of the User remain unaffected.
12. Availability of Cloud Functions and Third-Party Services
Cloud functions, model servers, third-party APIs, and online services may at times be unavailable, restricted, or faulty. Reasons for this may include in particular maintenance, security measures, technical disruptions, network failures, changes by third-party providers, force majeure, or excessive load. The Provider strives for reasonable availability of the services it controls. A specific availability is, however, only owed where it has been expressly agreed. The Provider assumes no responsibility for the availability, stability, performance, or changes of third-party services that are not controlled by the Provider, where the Provider is not responsible for the respective restriction.
13. Prohibited Uses
The User must not use the Application for unlawful, abusive, or harmful purposes. In particular, the use of the Application is prohibited: a) for covert or unauthorized recording of persons; b) for unauthorized processing of personal data; c) for the infringement of copyrights, trade secrets, personality rights, or other rights of third parties; d) for the creation, processing, or distribution of unlawful content; e) for deception, manipulation, surveillance, or harassment of persons; f) for circumventing security, access, or use restrictions; g) for automated mass use outside the intended product functions; h) for use in safety-critical, medical, legal, financial, or other sensitive areas without adequate human review and without an appropriate legal basis; i) for breaching the conditions of integrated third-party providers; j) for endangering the security, availability, or integrity of the Application or its infrastructure. The Provider is entitled to restrict functions, suspend access, or take other appropriate measures where there are concrete indications of prohibited use.
14. User Content and Content Rights
The User retains the rights to the content entered, uploaded, recorded, or processed by them, to the extent that they hold such rights. The User grants the Provider, to the extent necessary for the provision of the chosen functions, the right to technically process, transmit, cache, transform, analyze, and forward to integrated service providers content provided by the User. This grant of rights is limited to the purpose of providing and technically safeguarding the contractually agreed functions. No use for training AI models. The Provider does not use audio data, transcription results, prompts, or other content provided by the User to train, fine-tune, evaluate, or improve its own or third-party AI models, and does not make such content available to subprocessors integrated by the Provider for any such purposes. Subprocessors integrated by the Provider are contractually obligated to process content provided by the User solely for the provision of the respective inference, speech recognition, storage, or other contractually agreed service, and not to use such content to train, fine-tune, or improve their own or third-party AI models. The Provider uses Provider-integrated cloud ASR and inference services only where those services are instructed by contract or appropriate account settings not to use audio, transcription, prompt, or other content data provided by the User for training, fine-tuning, model improvement, benchmarking, or other own purposes of the service provider. This applies in particular to Scaleway S.A.S. where Scaleway is used as a cloud speech recognition and/or language model service integrated by the Provider. Where the User forwards content to their own third-party endpoints or via BYOK, the processing there — including any use for training, fine-tuning, or model-improvement purposes by the respective third-party provider — is governed solely by the conditions and privacy information of the respective third-party provider. The Provider has no influence over this; the User is responsible for reviewing the relevant terms prior to use. The User warrants that they have all necessary rights and legal bases to process the respective content with the Application.
15. Data Protection and Subprocessors
Information on the processing of personal data by the Provider is set out in the Provider's Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy can be accessed at: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/76900764/full-legal An up-to-date overview of the subprocessors used, including Scaleway S.A.S. as the provider used for cloud speech recognition and language model processing as well as Hetzner Online GmbH as the hosting provider for the proxy infrastructure, is provided in the Provider's Privacy Policy. In the event of conflicts between these additional terms and the Privacy Policy, the information in the Privacy Policy shall apply with regard to data protection information, to the extent legally permissible and applicable.
16. Beta Features, Experimental Features, and Model Behavior
The Provider may make available beta features, experimental features, preview versions, new models, model tests, or other functions that are not yet generally mature. Such functions may be unstable, incomplete, faulty, or may be changed, restricted, or removed at short notice. The User should not use beta or experimental features for productive, business-critical, or sensitive purposes unless the Provider has expressly approved this. The behavior of AI models may change due to model updates, changes of providers, prompt changes, configuration changes, or other technical adjustments. The Provider does not owe any permanently identical response, transcription, or model behavior, unless expressly agreed otherwise.
17. Liability
The Provider's liability is governed by the statutory provisions and the liability provisions of the General Terms and Conditions. Mandatory statutory liability remains unaffected. This applies in particular to liability for intent, gross negligence, damage resulting from injury to life, body, or health, and to other cases in which a limitation of liability is not legally permissible. To the extent legally permissible, the Provider is not liable for damage arising from the User: a) using transcriptions, summaries, or AI outputs without verification; b) creating or processing recordings unlawfully; c) failing to obtain required consents or legal bases; d) using third-party endpoints or BYOK functions improperly; e) keeping API keys or credentials insecurely; f) failing to install provided security updates; g) using the Application contrary to these terms or contrary to the product documentation; h) using the Application for unintended or safety-critical purposes.
18. Changes to These Additional Terms
The Provider may amend these additional terms where there is an objective reason for doing so and the change is reasonable for the User. An objective reason may exist in particular for: a) changes to the Application or its functions; b) introduction of new operating modes, models, or cloud functions; c) changes of third-party providers used; d) security requirements; e) statutory or regulatory changes; f) technical or economic necessities; g) clarifications or editorial adjustments. Notification of material changes is provided in accordance with the Provider's General Terms and Conditions. The User's right to object to changes and the related termination rights, as set out in the General Terms and Conditions, apply accordingly to changes of these additional terms.
19. Contact
For questions regarding these additional terms, business use, data processing agreements, or data protection topics, the User may contact the Provider at: [email protected]
20. Language
These additional terms are originally provided in the German language. Where translations are made available, the German version shall, in case of doubt, serve as the authoritative version, to the extent legally permissible.