Terms and conditions of use for business@school

business@school (see www.businessatschool.de) is an initiative of the international consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group GmbH (BCG), Ludwigstraße 21, 80539 Munich. Since 1998, business@school's objective has been to give senior high school students a closer look at business, including hands-on experience, over the course of an entire school year.

www.businessatschool.de ("b@s platform") is an online platform for teachers and students participating in the competition, for work, communication, coordination, and support.

A business@school project year runs for one school year and is divided into three phases:

• Phase I: Analysis of a large company
• Phase II: Analysis of a medium-sized or small company
• Phase III: Development of a business concept and business plan.

Numerous people who work in business—BCG consultants and employees from over 20 business@school partner companies—volunteer as coaches at participating schools. As business experts, they share their knowledge and practical experience with students. Students meet with their coaches up to seven times over the course of the school year—usually on-site at their schools, to the extent practicable. Due to special circumstances since the 2020/2021 school year, it is possible that meetings with coaches will be held as decentral videoconferences. In addition, coaches support their teams via telephone, e-mail, and the b@s platform. Using the platform, coaches can network and exchange thoughts and ideas with participating teachers and students.

For more information on the conditions of participation and the application process, see "Get involved"

These terms and conditions of use govern the contractual relationships for using the b@s platform between you as a user of the platform's non-public area on the one hand and BCG on the other. The privacy statement (available on the b@s platform) additionally informs you about the processing of your personal data. The privacy statement is not part of these terms and conditions of use. By registering on the b@s platform, you agree to these terms and conditions of use.

The current version of these terms and conditions of use can be found on the b@s platform. Other versions of these terms and conditions will not be saved on the platform. You may download these terms and conditions of use to your computer or print them.

(1) These terms and conditions of use apply to the use of the non-public area of the b@s platform.

(2) Other offerings of BCG are not subject to these terms and conditions of use.

Participation in business@school and the use of the non-public area of the b@s platform is permitted only to persons age 18 or older. Minors who wish to use the b@s platform require the consent of a legal guardian. Persons eligible to use the platform include the following:

(1) Teacher and student participants
The use of the non-public area of the b@s platform by teachers and students who wish to participate in a competition is conditional on successful application. Students may participate in a competition only once. Teachers with interested senior high school students may apply.

(2) Former student participants (b@s alumni)
After the end of their project year, former student participants may continue to act as contact persons for participating students at schools (as student coaches) or become coaches themselves as described in paragraph 2.

(3) Coaches
The following persons may apply to be coaches if they are of legal age:

• Current employees of BCG and of business@school partner companies
• Former employees of BCG (BCG alumni)
• Former student participants in business@school (b@s alumni)
• Students employed by BCG (FastForward program)
• Other persons of legal age who have expressed interest in participating as a coach to BCG and have received an e-mail containing a link to register as such from BCG

Coaches support competing participants in implementing their projects and act as contact persons for participating students and teachers.

(1) You may register as described below.

• Teachers
  Register by completing and submitting the consent form for project-leader teachers that can be found on the b@s platform.
• Students
  Registration by filling out and submitting the form available on a page of the b@s platform and completion of the consent form for students either by the participating students themselves (in the case of students who are of legal age) or by their legal guardians
• Coaches
  Register by completing and submitting the form available on a page of the b@s platform.

Neither registration for participation nor confirmation of registration by BCG comprises a user agreement for the b@s platform (for user agreement information, see section 4).

(2) By registering with BCG to use the non-publicly accessible area of the b@s platform, you confirm that you are a member of the group of persons entitled to use the platform pursuant to Clause 2, Paragraphs 1 to 3. Authorized users who have registered are hereinafter referred to as "Users". You undertake to provide the correct and complete mandatory information requested as part of the registration process. They also undertake to keep this information up to date in the future, insofar as this is necessary for the use of the b@s platform, e.g. for contacting BCG. BCG shall be entitled at any time to request proof that the requirements have been met and that the information provided is correct.

(3) The teachers shall ensure that the participating students and their legal guardians are informed about the use of the data for business@school and are made aware of these Terms of Use. The teachers responsible for the project will inform the students and their legal guardians in particular that the students themselves and (in the case of underage students) their legal guardians must complete and submit the declaration of consent online in order to participate in the business@school project.

(1) The creation of a user account for participants is done by the participants themselves. After submitting the registration form, the user can see in the "Status" area whether he or she has been accepted for the business@school project. Supervisors can also see in the "Status" area which school they have been assigned to. Underage students must provide the e-mail address of a parent or guardian in their registration. The consent form will be sent to this email address and must be completed by the parent/guardian. Students of legal age will receive the consent form to their own e-mail address and can fill it in and send it themselves.

In order to conclude the contract for the use of the non-publicly accessible area of the b@s platform and to activate the user account, the registered person (in the case of minors, also the legal guardian) must declare his/her agreement with these terms of use during the first login process. There is no entitlement to access the non-public area of the b@s platform. BCG shall decide on the activation of the user account.

(2) By registering, the User applies for a free-of-charge usage agreement with BCG for the non-publicly accessible area of the b@s platform. The contract shall be concluded when the user logs into the non-public area of the b@s platform for the first time using the login data (e-mail address and password) and accepts these Terms of Use.

The contract shall be concluded in German. BCG reserves the right to reject the application for the conclusion of a contract in individual cases.

(1) BCG provides the users a non-publicly accessible area on the b@s platform for the respective business@school project year for coordination between the participating teachers, students and supervisors as well as for communication between BCG and the users. This non-public area of the b@s platform includes an area shared by all users where BCG information and materials are made available. Access to both the public and the non-public area of the b@s platform shall be granted exclusively within the scope of BCG's technical, operational and financial possibilities.

(2) There is no entitlement to the provision of the b@s platform. In this respect, BCG does not give any assurances regarding a specific scope of services or the error-free and uninterrupted availability of the b@s platform; this applies in particular to the availability of functionalities and data in the private area "Personal Data" and the availability of data in institutional areas under "Dashboard". Each User shall be responsible for Internet access and for the condition of its own hardware and software.

(3) BCG reserves the right to discontinue the b@s platform or parts thereof at any time and to modify the nature and scope of the free services provided. In doing so, BCG shall take into account the legitimate interests of the Users. The Users will be informed in advance within a reasonable period of time.

(1) In the context of business@school, BCG holds seminars, workshops, and other events for participants. When it is not possible to hold these events on location, such as to prevent the transmission of infectious disease, they will be held digitally using videoconferencing services from various providers, such as Zoom and WebEx. Further information on specific videoconferencing services and the use of personal information will be provided upon registration for the respective events. 

(2) Due to special circumstances is it possible that the regional competitions, International Finals, and Munich Finals will not be held on location, but with the use of videoconferencing services from various providers, such as Zoom and WebEx. In such case, all school and regional winners will receive a password-protected link over their virtual institution (see section 8 of these terms and conditions of use) before the relevant regional competition or Finals, respectively, with which they (the members of winning teams, team coaches, and teachers) can dial into the relevant videoconference directly. After consultation with project-leader teachers, videoconferences without the use of a camera are also possible. Further information on specific videoconferencing services and the use of personal information will be provided before the regional competitions, International Finals, and Munich Finals, respectively.

(3) To prevent the transmission of infectious disease, meetings with coaches may also not be able to be held on location, and will instead be held using videoconferencing services from various providers. Before a meeting by videoconference with a BCG coach, further information will be provided on the specific videoconferencing service and the use of personal information. Regarding communication with non-BCG coaches that takes place outside the b@s platform, BCG is not informed as to which videoconferencing services are used.

(1) Insofar as you post contributions or other content on the b@s platform, you grant BCG, as well as persons and companies with whom BCG cooperates within the framework of business@school, the non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use this content worldwide during the project year, in particular to host it, to store and otherwise reproduce, modify and create derivative works from it (to the extent necessary to make your content work better in our services), to distribute it, to publish it, to reproduce it publicly, in particular to perform it publicly and to make it publicly available (in particular on the b@s platform).

These rights granted by you are exclusively for the purpose of implementing, promoting and improving business@school. The content may also be made available to persons who are not registered to use the non-publicly accessible area of the b@s platform. Insofar as personal data is part of the content, publication outside the non-publicly accessible area shall only take place after submission of the corresponding consent under data protection law (see section 3.4 of the data protection notice).

(2) The granting of rights remains in effect even if you no longer use the b@s platform. The granting of rights pursuant to Paragraph 1 shall not apply if circumstances exist which make the continued retrieval of your contribution or other content appear unreasonable for the future (for example, due to serious professional disadvantages). You can also delete information that you have posted yourself in many cases (such as information in your profile).

(3) Any claims for information, correction, deletion or restriction of personal data, the right to revoke a data protection consent as well as the right to object and data portability according to the General Data Protection Regulation and the Federal Data Protection Act or other legal provisions shall remain unaffected by the granting of rights.

(4) BCG reserves the right to delete contributions and other contents of the Users without stating reasons, unless this is contrary to the legitimate interests of the Users. However, this does not imply any assumption of responsibility by BCG. You, as the User, shall be solely responsible for your content (including any links placed by you); BCG shall only provide you with storage space in this respect.

(1) When registering, you will be asked to choose a password. You undertake not to disclose your password to third parties and to keep it protected from access by third parties. You further undertake to inform BCG immediately as soon as you become aware that your password is being used by third parties without authorization. BCG shall be entitled to block access to the non-publicly accessible area on the b@s platform if there is reasonable suspicion that the password is being used by unauthorized third parties; you will be informed of this and must set a new password in the personal area unless you yourself have deliberately contributed to the misuse. You should also change your password from time to time for security reasons.

(2) You undertake not to use the b@s platform provided for commercial purposes and only within the scope of the intended use of business@school. You shall ensure that the e-mails you send do not jeopardize the proper operation of business@school or adversely affect other providers, users or networks; in particular, you may not send mass e-mails - whether for private, commercial or other purposes. You are also prohibited from uploading or exchanging viruses, harmful codes or multimedia files that could endanger the operation of business@school due to their file size.

(3) You undertake not to violate any applicable statutory provisions when using the b@s platform. In particular, you shall ensure that the content published and disseminated by you does not infringe the rights of third parties (e.g. copyrights, trademark rights or personal rights) and that, in the course of using the b@s platform, personal data of third parties is only processed by you in accordance with the relevant data protection regulations. In addition, you shall ensure in particular that no content is published or made accessible that is illegal under the German Criminal Code or the laws for the protection of minors, such as propaganda material and symbols of unconstitutional organizations, racist ideas, depictions of violence, pornographic content or insults and other defamatory statements.

(4) You may link to third-party content via the b@s platform. The links may not refer to content that violates applicable statutory provisions; paragraph 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis. To this end, you shall carefully check content referred to directly by external links and also subsequent content insofar as the directly linked content gives rise to the suspicion that subsequent content may violate applicable statutory provisions.

(5) If you publish information or content, you must do so in such a way that the reputation and image of business@school and BCG are not adversely affected. The question of whether the reputation or appearance is adversely affected shall take into account in particular the content provider's freedom of expression, which is protected by fundamental rights, and the freedom of information of the users of the offer.

(6) In order to prevent data loss, backup copies of all content that you publish or disseminate via the b@s platform (e.g., articles, documents or photos) or receive must be stored in your own computer system. 

The b@s platform, the associated computer programs and the content posted by BCG employees on the b@s platform are protected by (copyright) law in accordance with statutory provisions. Reproduction or use is only permitted on the basis of a statutory permission or with the express consent of BCG.

The contributions or other content uploaded to the b@s platform by users is protected by copyright in accordance with statutory provisions. Any reproduction or use of such contributions or content (e.g., of copyrighted texts) in other electronic or printed publications or in the context of communication to the public by other users is not permitted without the express consent of the relevant user.

(1) In the event of breaches of obligations as set out in section 7, BCG is entitled to block the access of the responsible user to the non-public areas of the b@s platform and to block or delete content on business@school servers, to disable access, and in the case of obviously improper registration or use to immediately delete it, as well as to take other suitable measures to protect against such breaches. This also applies in case of reasonable suspicion of such breaches. Reasonable suspicion is given particularly if BCG receives a warning from a third party or a court injunction.

(2) As a responsible user, you agree to indemnify BCG from any claims by third parties asserted against BCG in the context of breaches of the abovementioned obligations which you have caused or for which you are responsible, as well as from any resulting costs, including the costs of appropriate legal defense. In addition, you are required to support BCG in defending against abovementioned claims through the issue of statements and with further information. All further rights of BCG remain unaffected.

(1) BCG is liable for damages for which it is responsible in the violation of cardinal obligations. Cardinal obligations are all essential primary contractual obligations that allow the proper execution of the contract, the fulfillment of which you are therefore entitled to rely upon as a contract partner of BCG.

(2) Beyond this, BCG is liable—irrespective of the legal grounds—only

• a) for damages arising from injury to life, body, or health,
• b) per the German Product Liability Act,
• c) in case of assumption of a guarantee of characteristics, or
• d) if damage was caused by intent or gross negligence on the part of BCG or legal representatives or vicarious agents of BCG.

(3) In case of a slightly negligent violation of cardinal obligations, BCG's liability is limited to the foreseeable losses typical for this type of contract.

(4) With regard to the prevention of damages from data loss, see the obligation to save data as described in section 7, paragraph 6.

(1) The User Agreement may be terminated by BCG at any time upon 14 calendar days' notice. Users may terminate the contract for the use of the non-publicly accessible area of the b@s platform as well as their participation in business@school at any time; Section 12 (4) regulates to whom and in what form the termination must be addressed.

(2) After the end of the respective business@school project year on July 1 of the respective school year, the user agreement shall end and their user account for access to the non-public area of the b@s platform shall be blocked.

(3) The right to termination without notice for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause shall be deemed to include in particular

• a) a breach of obligations pursuant to Section 7,
• b) the discontinuation of the registration requirements according to clause 2.

(4) Notice of termination shall be given in writing. Notice of termination by e-mail shall also be deemed to be written notice of termination. Please send your notice of termination by e-mail to info@businessatschool.de. Cancellations by BCG shall generally be made by e-mail to the e-mail address you provided during registration or in your profile.

(5) In the event of a termination and upon termination of the User Agreement, BCG shall be entitled to block and delete the respective user account as well as all contents of the user. As a rule, the data and content posted on the b@s platform will be stored for 3 years after the end of the respective project year (July 1 of the school year of participation in business@school) and then completely deleted.