Reporting Illegal Content on idealo Shopping
Notice Mechanism Guidelines

Individuals and organisations have the opportunity to report content that they consider to be illegal in connection with the listing of offers for products on idealo Shopping. In this respect, this applies to all types of content provided by users and published on their behalf on our website www.idealo.co.uk or our idealo Shopping app (e.g. offers from retailers or user reviews of online shops).

Below, we explain how our notice mechanism works.

Please only use our notice mechanism to report illegal content.

If you would only like to give us general feedback on your user experience, please use our feedback function, which you can access via the button on the left-hand side of the page.

If you encounter problems with your order or a delivery, please contact the retailer with whom you made the order directly.

If you have any other concerns in connection with the services we provide, please contact our customer service.

 

1. Illegal Content

Illegal content can refer to any information that is illegal as such under applicable law or because it refers to an illegal activity.

Possible examples of illegal content on idealo Shopping are:

  • Offers that infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties (e.g. offers of counterfeit products or the unauthorised use of copyrighted product images)

  • Offers that contain false or misleading information

  • Reviews that contain false claims or personal data of third parties.

2. Notification Function

If you would like to report suspected illegal content on idealo Shopping, you can do so using our online notification form.

You can access the notification form from all product and price comparison pages as well as shop review pages on www.idealo.co.uk via the blue button on the left-hand side of the page. Click on the button and select the option "for notification of illegal content". You will then be guided through the notification form, where you can select the appropriate category of illegal content and add further detailed information. Follow the instructions on the screen. When completing the notification form, please make sure that your details are thorough and complete so that we can process your notification in the best possible way.

On the mobile websites, the button that leads to the notification form appears when scrolling into the footer area.

App

In the idealo Shopping app, you can access the notification form from all product and price comparison pages as well as the shop review pages via a labelled link at the bottom of the respective page.

idealo Business

Retailers listed on idealo also have the option of reporting suspected illegal user reviews of their listed shop via their idealo Business account. You can access the notification form from all pages in idealo Business via the contact menu above the footer. Click on the menu and select the appropriate topic corresponding to the content you wish to report. You can then fill in the required detailed information. Please make sure you fill in the notification form completely so that we can process your notification in the best possible way.

If you wish to report multiple pieces of content, please submit a separate notification for each piece of content.

You can find out more about the notification requirements and the different notification categories below.

3. Notification Process and Notification Requirements

So that we can process your notification properly and make a careful decision about the reported content, you will be asked in the notification process to describe the content in question as specifically as possible and to explain why you believe the content to be illegal.

In order to be able to process your notification in the best possible way, it is important that the notification is sufficiently precise and adequately substantiated.

The notification process comprises a total of 5 steps:

  1. Firstly, you must select a notification category. You can find out more about the individual notification categories in section 4 of this policy.

  2. In the next step, you will be asked to describe the content as specifically as possible and explain why you believe the content to be illegal. Please provide any information here that will allow us to determine that the reported content is illegal. You also have the option of providing contextual information to support your notification and entering further links (URLs) in the text field, uploading documents/evidence and taking and adding screenshots of the page in question.

  3. Even if you have the option of submitting notifications anonymously, we ask you to disclose your identity once you have provided the substantiation of your notification in order to prevent abuse and to inform you of our decision regarding the reported content.

  4. In the case of a notification of suspected infringement of a third party's intellectual property rights, please let us know if you are the rights holder or authorised to act on their behalf. If applicable, the provision of contact details is mandatory.

  5. You can send your notification by clicking on the "Report Violation" button. By submitting the notification, you also confirm that you believe in good faith that the information and statements contained in the notification are correct and complete.

4. Notice Categories

When reporting content, you can choose from the following categories on the report form:

  • Infringement of third-party intellectual property rights
    (Please use this report category to report content that infringes copyrights, trademarks or other rights of third parties)

  • Incorrect, missing or misleading information
    (Please use this category if you have discovered incorrect, missing or misleading information about products or in an offer. This could include, for example, incorrect product descriptions).

  • Incorrect or misleading shop reviews/comments
    (Please use this category to report shop reviews or comments that contain illegal information. This could include, for example, false factual claims.

When you select one of the above categories, you will be presented with further sub-categories to choose from.

If none of the categories apply to your report of suspected illegal content, you can select the "Other" category and provide additional information in the notification form.

 

5. Trusted Flaggers

Trusted flaggers are organisations that have been recognised as such by the competent authorities. If you wish to submit a notification as a trusted flagger within your designated area of expertise, please ensure that you identify yourself accordingly in the notification form and that the email address you provide matches the email address registered with the authorities. We will then prioritise your notification in accordance with the applicable requirements.

6. What Happens After We Receive Your Report?

If you have entered your email address in the notification form, you will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt once we have received your notification.

Once a notification has been received, you'll receive a case number. Our customer service will first check whether the notification contains sufficient information with regard to the selected notification category to identify the reported content and to be able to adequately assess the illegality of the reported content.

If the notification contains sufficient information, we will analyse whether we can substantiate your assessment and determine whether there has been an infringement. We may forward your notification, and the information provided in it, to the user who posted the reported content. Your identity – if provided in the notification form – will only be disclosed to this user if this is necessary to determine the illegality of the reported content, for example in cases of infringement of intellectual property rights.

If we come to the conclusion that the reported content is illegal, we will take appropriate measures to rectify the offence. This may include, for example, the removal or blocking of the reported content by idealo.

If we cannot clearly determine the illegality of the reported content, we will not take any further measures with regard to the reported content.

It can also happen that reported content is not or no longer available on idealo in the reported form at the time of our review, so that we can no longer determine a legal offence. (e.g. because an offer has been deleted or updated in the meantime and independently of your notification). In this case, we will not take any additional measures with regard to the reported content.

If you have provided your email address in the notification form, we will inform you of our decision regarding the reported content without delay. If you do not agree with our decision, you have six months to submit a complaint via our free internal complaint-handling system "ICHS". We also work with out-of-court dispute settlement bodies as part of our legal obligations to resolve any disputes in connection with the rejection of your notification.

For further information on our internal complaint-handling system and other available legal remedies, please contact us here.

Please note: If you have submitted your notification anonymously, you will not receive any communication about your notification, not even a final result.

7. Misuse of Our Notification Function

If you submit a notification via our notification system or a complaint via our internal complaint management system, you must act in good faith and ensure that the information you provide is correct and complete.

If we find that individuals or entities frequently submit manifestly unfounded notifications or complaints, we are required by law to suspend the processing of notifications and complaints from these individuals and entities for a reasonable period of time after prior warning.

When deciding on the suspension and, if applicable, the duration of the suspension, we take into account all facts and circumstances known to us. This includes in particular (i) the absolute number of manifestly unfounded notifications or complaints submitted within a certain period of time, (ii) their relative share of the total number of notifications or complaints submitted during this period, (iii) the nature of the notifications or complaints and the severity of the associated allegations, including their consequences for other users, and (iv) the intentions pursued by the user, if recognisable.

 

Correct as of: 17. Februar 2024

 

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