Terms & Privacy

Terms of Service

Last updated: October 2026

1. Scope

These terms apply to all services that QkSkima K.K. ("QkSkima") provides to businesses (B2B) in developing and running web applications, desktop software and smartphone apps under plans. Customers are businesses based in the EU, the United Kingdom, the United States or Japan.

2. Plans and conclusion of contract

1. A plan belongs to exactly one application. The Development plan covers applications being built; the Production plan covers a live application, whether QkSkima built it or took it over from another developer. Where the same application has both a Development and a Production plan, both are billed together as Studio at the lower combined base fee; this happens automatically.
2. The contract is concluded when the customer accepts these terms during registration on the website and completes the order. Further plans can be ordered at any time in the customer area.
3. QkSkima opens the pipeline once payment of the first invoice has been received.

3. Prices

1. Each plan carries a monthly base fee. It is payable for every month in which the plan exists, whether or not tasks are submitted that month.
2. In addition, the time actually worked is billed at the hourly rate of the lane (Development or Production) in which it was worked. Time is recorded in quarter-hour steps (1.25 hours = 1 hour 15 minutes).
3. Organisational work between tasks (such as hosting, app store set-up or domains) is billed at the hourly rate of the plan concerned.
4. Calls on the Studio Hotline that clarify a specific task are billed at the hourly rate of the plan concerned. All other calls, and the 15-minute first call about a new project, are free.
5. The prices shown on the website at the time of the order apply.

4. Payment

1. Invoices are issued monthly by email, directly by QkSkima K.K. (Japan).
2. Unless agreed otherwise, invoices are payable by bank transfer without deduction within 14 days of the invoice date. Bank details are on the invoice.
3. If payment is late, QkSkima may pause the pipeline until payment is received.

5. Taxes

1. All prices are net. Where sales tax, VAT or consumption tax applies under applicable law and is to be charged by QkSkima, it is added to the invoice.
2. QkSkima is based in Japan. Invoices to customers based in the EU or the United Kingdom therefore do not include VAT. The place of supply is the customer's country; any VAT due there is accounted for by the customer at their own country's rate where required (the reverse charge; in the EU under Art. 196 of the VAT Directive). Customers with full input tax recovery normally bear no extra cost as a result.
3. Customers based in the EU need a valid VAT identification number; without one they cannot be served.
4. Invoices are payable without deduction of withholding taxes. If the customer needs evidence of QkSkima's tax residence for this (such as US form W-8BEN-E), QkSkima provides it on request.
5. This information is not tax advice and does not replace advice on the individual case from a tax adviser.

6. Term, cancellation and pipeline

1. Each plan runs in periods of 3 months from its start and can be cancelled with effect from the end of the current period. Unless cancelled, it renews for a further 3 months.
2. Only one instruction per plan can wait to be worked on at any time. Until work on an instruction has begun, the customer can change or withdraw it; later changes are submitted as a new instruction.
3. Production instructions received on a Japanese business day (excluding weekends and Japanese public holidays) by 09:00 Japan time are started the same day, with the aim of finishing by 18:00 Japan time. Instructions received later are handled the same way on the next Japanese business day. If the work exceeds one working day, QkSkima may move the deadline and will give its reasons.
4. Development instructions are worked on in the order received; no completion date is promised.
5. Source code created under a plan becomes the customer's property once it has been paid for in full.

7. Liability

1. QkSkima is liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, and for death or personal injury.
2. Otherwise, QkSkima's total liability, on whatever legal basis, is limited to the amounts the customer paid to QkSkima in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.
3. In the cases covered by paragraph 2, QkSkima is not liable for loss of profit, indirect or consequential loss.

8. Final provisions

1. These terms are governed by the laws of Japan, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
2. The Fukuoka District Court, Kokura Branch (福岡地方裁判所小倉支部), Japan, has exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes arising from this contract.
3. These terms exist in English, German and Japanese. The version for the customer's invoicing region is binding: English for the United Kingdom and the United States, German for the EU and Japanese for Japan.
4. If any provision of these terms is invalid, the remaining provisions remain in effect.

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Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2026

1. Controller

The controller under the GDPR, the UK GDPR and Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information (個人情報保護法) is QkSkima K.K., Kitakyushu, Japan, represented by its Representative Director, Colin Atkins. The full address is in the imprint.

For any question or request about your personal data, write to privacy@qkskima.com.

2. Data we collect

Through the contact form and registration we collect: company name, VAT number, billing address, contact person, email address, phone number and what you tell us about your request. While a contract runs we also store account data (name, email address, password as a hash), the instructions and attachments submitted to the pipeline, and the time recorded.

3. Purpose

We use the data to answer your enquiry, to prepare and perform the contract and to issue invoices.

4. Legal basis

Processing is based on Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR / UK GDPR (performance of a contract or steps before entering into one) and, where necessary, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR / UK GDPR (our legitimate interest in running the business efficiently).

5. Hosting and transfer to Japan

The website, the customer area and all data stored there are kept on a server in the European Union that QkSkima K.K. rents from a hosting provider. The provider processes the data only on our behalf (Art. 28 GDPR).

Our team accesses this data from Japan. The European Commission has found that Japan ensures an adequate level of data protection (adequacy decision under Art. 45 GDPR), and the United Kingdom recognises Japan as adequate as well.

6. Payments

Payment is by bank transfer only, through your own bank. No card data is processed on this website.

7. Retention

We keep your data for as long as the contract requires and beyond that for as long as statutory retention duties (in particular commercial and tax law) require.

8. Your rights

You have the right to access, rectify and erase your data, to restrict its processing, to data portability and to object. Write to us at privacy@qkskima.com.

You can also complain to a data protection authority, in particular in the country where you live or work; in the United Kingdom this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

9. Cookies

This website uses only technically necessary cookies (for example for your language setting and your session). There is no advertising tracking.