Terms and Conditions

PART I: PRE-CONTRACTUAL INFORMATION AND RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL (CONSUMERS)

Clause 1: Identification of the Provider

SOOMA.COM – WEB SERVICES, LDA.
Rua Dom João I, 99
4450-143 Matosinhos
Portugal

Company number (NIPC): 515 060 445
Phone: 210 205 164 or 220 280 335
Email: hello@sooma.com
Website: sooma.com

Contact: Fernando Costa
Data Protection Officer: dpo@sooma.com

Clause 2: Right of withdrawal

1. A Client who is a consumer has a period of 14 days to withdraw from the contract, without giving any reason, under Decree-Law no. 24/2014 of 14 February.
2. The period runs from the date on which the contract is concluded.
3. To exercise this right, the consumer must communicate their decision by means of an unequivocal statement addressed to SOOMA.COM – WEB SERVICES, LDA., at hello@sooma.com or to the address given in Clause 1, and may use the model form in Annex A, although its use is not mandatory. It is sufficient for the communication to be sent before the withdrawal period expires.
4. Once the right of withdrawal has been exercised, Sooma will refund all payments received within a maximum of 14 days from receipt of the communication, using the same means of payment used by the consumer, unless otherwise agreed, at no cost to the consumer.
5. If the consumer has requested that the provision of the service begin during the withdrawal period, they must pay an amount proportional to the service actually provided up to the communication of withdrawal.
6. The right of withdrawal does not apply to the supply of goods or services that have been fully performed and whose performance began with the consumer's prior express consent and acknowledgement that they would lose the right of withdrawal, namely domain registration and the issuing of digital certificates, purchased and performed at the time of purchase.

Clause 3: 60-day commercial guarantee

1. Irrespective of the right provided for in Clause 2, Sooma grants all Clients a commercial satisfaction guarantee: within 60 days of the initial purchase, the Client may terminate the contract and obtain a full refund of the amounts paid for the email services, without having to give a reason, by sending a request to support@sooma.com.
2. The guarantee covers all plans, including Registered Email.
3. Third-party services already consumed at the time of purchase are excluded from the guarantee, namely domain registration and the issuing of digital certificates. These are assets of the Client, acquired from registries and certification authorities, with Sooma acting merely as an intermediary.
4. The guarantee may not be invoked by a Client whose account has been suspended or terminated for breach of these Terms or of the Anti-Spam Policy.
5. This guarantee is a commercial condition granted voluntarily by Sooma and in no way limits the rights conferred on consumers by law.

Clause 4: Alternative dispute resolution

1. In the event of a dispute, the consumer may refer the matter to CICAP, Porto Consumer Information and Arbitration Centre (Centro de Informação de Consumo e Arbitragem do Porto) (cicap.pt), the competent alternative consumer dispute resolution entity, under Law no. 144/2015 of 8 September.
2. The European online dispute resolution platform and the electronic Complaints Book (Livro de Reclamações) are also available at livroreclamacoes.pt.

PART II: GENERAL CONDITIONS OF USE

Clause 5: Purpose and scope

1. These Terms govern access to and use of the services provided by Sooma: professional email on the Essential, Professional and Corporate plans, Registered Email, calendar and contacts, the administration panel and related services (the "Service"), as well as use of the sooma.com website.
2. Web hosting and website building are not part of the Service and are contracted separately.
3. Use of the Service implies full acceptance of these Terms, the Privacy Policy, the Cookie Policy and the Anti-Spam Policy.
4. No general terms and conditions of the Client shall apply unless expressly accepted in writing by Sooma.

Clause 6: Contract and account

1. The contract is deemed concluded upon Sooma's confirmation of the subscription, by means of a message sent to the address provided by the Client.
2. The Client undertakes to provide true, complete and up-to-date information, and to report any relevant change immediately.
3. Access credentials are personal and confidential. The Client is responsible for keeping them safe and is liable for acts carried out through their account, including those of third parties to whom they have given access, even negligently, unless they show that the use is not attributable to them.
4. The Client must report immediately to support@sooma.com any unauthorised use of which they become aware.

Clause 7: Service availability

1. Sooma ensures an average Service availability of 99.9% in each calendar month.
2. Sooma's obligation is limited to communication between its servers and a suitable Internet connection point selected by it. Sooma does not control the availability or reliability of data paths outside its network, and is not liable for the delivery of messages on third-party systems or for filtering decisions made by other operators.
3. The following are not taken into account in calculating availability: scheduled maintenance windows, notified reasonably in advance; interruptions attributable to the Client, its systems or third parties; and cases of force majeure.
4. If the measured monthly availability falls below the level ensured, the Client is entitled to a credit on the monthly fee for the affected service, applied to the next invoice:
   
   

   Measured monthly availability	Credit on the monthly fee
   Equal to or above 99.0% and below 99.9%	10%
   Equal to or above 95.0% and below 99.0%	20%
   Below 95.0%	30%

5. The credit must be requested from support@sooma.com within 30 days of the end of the month concerned, constitutes the sole remedy for failure to meet the service level and cannot be converted into cash.

Clause 8: Storage capacity

1. The storage capacity of each mailbox depends on the plan subscribed to, according to the price list in force.
2. Once the contracted capacity is used up, messages addressed to the Client are returned to their senders, who receive a non-delivery notice, and it is no longer possible to add new content to the mailbox.
3. The Client can check space usage in the administration panel and change plan at any time, under Clause 10.

Clause 9: Sending limits and abusive use

1. Each account is subject to a limit of 2,000 messages per day, intended to protect the reputation of the infrastructure and contain the impact of compromised accounts. Legitimate needs for higher volumes must be submitted to Sooma in advance.
2. It is prohibited to use the Service for, namely:
   
   1. Sending messages with false or misleading sender identification;
   2. Sending unsolicited communications ("spam"), as well as giving a Sooma address as the reply address for such communications sent through third parties;
   3. Storing or sending viruses, malware or tools designed to circumvent protection measures;
   4. Computer sabotage or unauthorised access to third-party systems, as well as preparatory acts;
   5. Storing or sending content that infringes copyright, industrial property rights, personality rights or competition rules;
   6. Storing or sending content whose disclosure is prohibited by law, namely pornographic material involving minors, content inciting hatred or violence and propaganda for prohibited organisations;
   7. Circumventing technical sending limits or anti-abuse mechanisms.
3. The Client undertakes to indemnify Sooma against any claims brought by third parties as a result of content disseminated through their account, namely for alleged infringement of copyright, industrial property or personality rights, including reasonable investigation and legal defence costs.
4. Sooma is not obliged to deliver to the Client's mailbox third-party messages designed to obtain sensitive information by impersonating the sender ("phishing"), and may block their receipt or remove them when identified.

Clause 10: Prices, billing and changes

1. Current prices are available at sooma.com/precos, are shown per user per month and exclude VAT, which is added at the applicable statutory rate.
2. Plans can be combined within the same account, so that each user can have the plan suited to their role.
3. Billing is monthly or annual. On annual billing, the Client benefits from a discount equivalent to two months of service, paying ten months for twelve months of use.
4. The following payment methods are accepted: bank transfer, Multibanco, Visa card and direct debit.
5. Changes to the plan and to the number of users can be made at any time, with amounts adjusted pro rata to the remaining period of the current billing cycle.
6. Price changes are notified 30 days in advance, and the Client may terminate the contract without penalty up to the date on which they take effect.

Clause 11: Late payment and limitation of the Service

1. In the event of non-payment, Sooma will notify the Client and may technically limit the account's features.
2. If payment has not been made 60 days after the due date, Sooma may suspend the Service and, if non-payment continues, terminate the contract.
3. Suspension or termination for non-payment does not affect the enforceability of amounts due.

Clause 12: Duration, notice of termination and termination for cause

1. The contract is concluded for an indefinite period, unless a fixed term is subscribed to.
2. The Client may give notice of termination at any time, taking effect at the end of the current billing period, with no refund of periods already elapsed and without prejudice to Clauses 2 and 3.
3. Sooma may give notice of termination with 30 days' prior notice.
4. Either party may terminate the contract on the grounds of serious or repeated breach by the other. For Sooma, grounds for termination include, namely, the abusive use provided for in Clause 9 and breach of the Anti-Spam Policy.
5. Notice of termination and termination must be communicated in writing, and communication by email is accepted.

Clause 13: Migration, export and deletion of data

1. Assisted migration from a previous provider is included, at no additional cost, as described at sooma.com/migracao. Sooma is not liable for limitations imposed by the source provider.
2. The Client may export the contents of their account at any time using standard protocols (IMAP), or request assistance from the Sooma team.
3. Once the contract ends, Sooma keeps the account data for 60 days, a period intended to allow the Client to recover content, after which it deletes it irreversibly. The Client retains the right to request immediate deletion.
4. Data whose retention is required by law is excluded from deletion, namely the certificates and proofs of the Registered Email service, kept for 10 years under the applicable legislation.

Clause 14: Backups and responsibility for data

1. Sooma maintains backup procedures for its infrastructure, intended to restore the Service.
2. The Client is responsible for keeping their own copies of content relevant to them, at intervals appropriate to their activity. This obligation applies regardless of the copies kept by Sooma.
3. The Client acknowledges that the risk of data loss or corruption cannot be entirely eliminated, even where the required duties of care are observed.

Clause 15: Content encrypted by the Client

If the Client encrypts messages or other content with their own keys, they alone are responsible for keeping the decryption keys. If the key is lost, recovering the content is technically impossible: Sooma has no copy and no alternative means of access.

Clause 16: Intellectual property

1. The software, trade marks, distinctive signs and content of the Service and the website belong to Sooma or its licensors.
2. The content stored in the mailboxes belongs to the Client, who retains all rights over it.

Clause 17: Data protection and confidentiality of communications

1. The processing of personal data is governed by the Privacy Policy.
2. For the mailboxes of business clients and public bodies, Sooma acts as a processor within the meaning of Article 28 of the GDPR, under the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) annexed to the contract.
3. Sooma does not access the content of communications, except to the extent strictly necessary to provide the Service or where required by law, and its staff are bound by a duty of confidentiality.
4. Data is processed and stored in data centres located in Portugal. Backups are kept, encrypted, in a data centre located in Berlin, Germany. Data does not leave the European Union and is not transferred to third countries.

Clause 18: Information security

Sooma implements appropriate technical and organisational measures, including TLS 1.3 encryption in transit and AES-256 at rest, and is in the process of implementing and certifying an Information Security Management System in accordance with ISO/IEC 27001, as well as aligning with the requirements of Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2) and its national transposition.

Clause 19: Liability

1. Sooma is liable for damage caused by wilful misconduct or gross negligence and for breach of essential contractual duties.
2. To the extent permitted by law, Sooma's liability for financial loss is limited to direct damage and, in aggregate, to the amount paid by the Client in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
3. Sooma is not liable for loss of profits, indirect losses or damage resulting from causes beyond its control, namely failures of third-party networks, acts of third parties or cases of force majeure.
4. The limitations set out in the preceding paragraphs do not apply to damage caused by wilful misconduct, nor to situations in which the law imposes liability that cannot be excluded, nor do they affect the mandatory rights of consumers.

Clause 20: Changes to the Terms

1. Sooma may change these Terms where there are legitimate grounds, namely legislative changes, technical developments in the Service or changes imposed by third parties.
2. Material changes are notified to the Client 30 days in advance, expressly stating the right to object and the option to terminate.
3. A Client who does not agree with the changes may terminate the contract, without penalty, up to the date on which they take effect. Continued use of the Service after that date constitutes acceptance.

Clause 21: Assignment

The Client may not assign their contractual position without Sooma's written consent. Sooma may assign its position in the context of a corporate reorganisation, subject to prior notice to the Client, who may terminate the contract if they do not agree.

Clause 22: Partial invalidity

The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Terms does not affect the validity of the remaining provisions, which remain in force. The parties will replace the invalid provision with a valid one that best corresponds to the intended purpose.

Clause 23: Governing law and jurisdiction

1. These Terms are governed by Portuguese law.
2. The Porto District Judicial Court (Tribunal Judicial da Comarca do Porto, Juízo de Matosinhos) has jurisdiction to settle disputes arising from the contract, without prejudice to the mandatory rules of jurisdiction applicable to consumers and to Clause 4.

PART III: SPECIFIC CONDITIONS FOR BUSINESSES AND PUBLIC BODIES

Clause 24: Scope

This Part applies to Clients who contract the Service in the course of their professional, business or institutional activity, and prevails over Part II in the event of any discrepancy. Part I does not apply to them.

Clause 25: User administration

1. The Client appoints one or more administrators, who are responsible for creating, suspending and deleting mailboxes, setting usage permissions, configuring forwarding and managing lists of allowed and blocked senders.
2. The Client is responsible for the use of the Service by its users and ensures that they comply with these Terms and the Anti-Spam Policy.
3. The Client, as controller, is responsible for the lawfulness of the processing of personal data contained in its users' mailboxes.

Clause 26: Domains

1. The Service is provided on a domain indicated by the Client, who declares that they hold the rights necessary to use it.
2. Where the domain registration is handled by Sooma as an intermediary, the domain is an asset of the Client, and the conditions of the competent registry apply.

Clause 27: Public procurement

In contracts concluded with contracting authorities, the conditions set out in the tender specifications of the procedure prevail, namely regarding service levels, penalties, deadlines and jurisdiction, under the Public Contracts Code (Código dos Contratos Públicos).

Clause 28: Resale and use on behalf of third parties

Resale of the Service, its provision to third parties or its use on a white-label basis require a specific partnership agreement with Sooma and are not permitted under these Terms.

ANNEX A: Model withdrawal form

Complete and return only if you wish to withdraw from the contract

Download here →