Deutsche Fassung

Privacy Policy

for the VDS OMS portal and the VDS OMS services

Last revised: 5 November 2026. This is a convenience translation; the German version (Datenschutzerklärung) is authoritative.

1. Controller

VDS- Versand und DatenService Matthias Bick e.K.
An der Alten Mühle 7
37412 Herzberg am Harz
Germany
Represented by: Matthias Bick (Inhaber)
Register number: HRA 200132
VAT identification number under § 27a UStG: DE174241650
Phone: +49 (0) 5521 855 0
Email: kontakt@vds-fulfillment.com

Data protection officer

We have appointed a data protection officer. You can reach him at:

Herr Ingo Goldau
An der Alten Mühle 7
37412 Herzberg am Harz
Phone: +49 (0) 5521 855 0
Email: kontakt@vds-fulfillment.com

2. Scope and roles

This policy describes the personal data we process when a merchant uses our fulfillment services. That covers the VDS OMS portal, where the merchant and their staff view orders, returns and settings; the self-service through which the merchant’s end customers register returns, withdrawals and complaints; and the integrations with the merchant’s store systems through which orders reach us (currently the Shopify app “VDS OMS by Nexus aion”, see section 4, and the Billbee integration, see section 5).

We act in two distinct roles:

• For the merchant’s end customers’ data (buyers, recipients), the merchant is the controller within the meaning of Art. 4(7) GDPR. We process this data solely on the merchant’s behalf and instructions as a processor (Art. 28 GDPR) under the fulfillment agreement and data processing agreement concluded with the merchant.
• For the merchant’s own data (store domain or Billbee username, credentials, portal user accounts), we are the controller.

This policy does not cover the merchant’s online store. That store’s own privacy policy applies to its processing.

3. Portal user accounts

Staff of the merchant who use the VDS OMS portal sign in with an email address and password. We store the email address, name, assigned role, sign-in times and a session cookie. Sign-in is handled by Google Identity Platform (see section 8). Certain portal actions (for example approving an order) are recorded together with the identifier of the user who performed them, for accountability.

The portal sets only strictly necessary cookies (session, protection against cross-site request forgery), no tracking or analytics cookies.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR and our legitimate interest in secure, traceable use of the portal (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

4. The Shopify app “VDS OMS by Nexus aion”

Merchants with a Shopify store connect it to the portal through our Shopify app. The app takes over orders and product data from Shopify, reports shipment data (tracking numbers) back to Shopify and reconciles stock levels. It has no user interface of its own inside the Shopify admin.

4.1 Installation

When the app is installed via Shopify OAuth we store:

• the store domain (*.myshopify.com) as the installation’s identifier,
• the access token issued by Shopify for the granted permissions (scopes) and the list of those permissions,
• the time of installation and uninstallation,
• the fulfillment services and locations created in Shopify that correspond to our warehouses,
• technical identifiers of received Shopify events (event IDs), used to detect duplicate deliveries.

During installation we set one strictly necessary, short-lived cookie (shopify_oauth_state, httpOnly) that protects the OAuth flow against cross-site request forgery. It contains no personal data and is not needed once installation completes.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of the contract with the merchant).

4.2 What Shopify sends us

Once the app is installed, Shopify sends us every new or changed order by webhook, as well as changes to products and inventory. Which order data we take over from that and for what purpose is described in section 6. Product, variant and inventory data contains no personal data.

Not processed: end customers’ device data, IP addresses, location data or browsing behaviour. The app does not read the store’s customer accounts, only the details belonging to an order.

4.3 Uninstallation and privacy requests through Shopify

When the app is uninstalled, Shopify notifies us. We discard the access token immediately and deactivate the installation; no further data is fetched from the store. Access and erasure requests the merchant submits through Shopify’s privacy features (customer data access and erasure, store erasure after uninstall) are handled as described in section 9.

5. The Billbee integration

Merchants who manage their orders in Billbee connect their Billbee account to the portal through our Billbee integration. The integration takes over orders and article data from Billbee, reports shipment data back to Billbee and transfers stock levels.

5.1 Connecting

The merchant names the username of their Billbee account in the portal (the email address they sign in to Billbee with). They enter the API password only in the integration’s own form; it never passes through the portal. We store:

• the username as the connection’s identifier,
• the API password, with which the integration accesses the merchant’s Billbee account on their behalf,
• the webhook the integration sets up in Billbee, and the key with which we verify its messages,
• the stocks of the Billbee account and which of our warehouses each is assigned to,
• the time of connecting and disconnecting,
• technical identifiers of received Billbee events, used to detect duplicate deliveries.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (performance of the contract with the merchant).

5.2 What we exchange with Billbee

Billbee notifies us by webhook of new and changed orders and articles; the integration then fetches the order or article from Billbee. Which order data we take over and for what purpose is described in section 6. Article and stock data contains no personal data.

We send to Billbee:

• tracking numbers and the carrier, and the order’s state (such as “in fulfillment” or “shipped”),
• tags on the order showing whether we fulfill it, and tags set in the portal,
• a delivery address changed in the portal (name, company, street, address line 2, postcode, city, state, country, phone number). Billbee stores it as a new delivery address of that order only; the billing address and the customer’s other orders are left unchanged,
• stock levels per article and article weights.

Not processed: end customers’ device data, IP addresses, location data or browsing behaviour. The integration does not read customer accounts from Billbee, only the details belonging to an order.

5.3 Disconnecting and privacy requests

Billbee does not tell us when a merchant ends the connection in Billbee. Disconnecting therefore happens in the portal: the integration then deletes its webhook in Billbee, discards the API password and the webhook’s key, fetches no further data and processes no further messages from Billbee. Billbee does not forward customer access or erasure requests to us; the merchant sends them to us directly, and we handle them as described in section 9.

6. Order and customer data (processing on behalf)

6.1 Which data

From an order we take over and store:

• order number, order date, order status, currency and amounts,
• the buyer’s name, email address and customer number, and where present a VAT identification number for business customers,
• shipping and billing address including phone number, where provided,
• the ordered line items (product, SKU, quantity, prices, discounts, tax rate),
• payment method and status, chosen shipping method, voucher code,
• order notes and gift messages, where the customer entered them in the store,
• in the course of fulfillment: tracking numbers, carriers and shipment times.

6.2 Purposes

• picking, packing and shipping the order from our warehouse, including handing the recipient details to the carrier,
• reporting tracking numbers and shipment status back to the store system,
• deciding whether and from which warehouse an order is fulfilled, and reconciling stock levels with the store system,
• checking the delivery address for completeness and plausibility before the order goes to the warehouse (address check), where the merchant uses it. For addresses in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein we compare postcode, city and street against a public postcode and street directory (OpenPLZ, section 8),
• handling returns, withdrawals and complaints,
• showing orders to the merchant and their staff in the VDS OMS portal.

We process this data only for the purposes set by the merchant and never for our own purposes, in particular not for advertising or profiling.

6.3 Self-service for end customers

If the merchant offers their customers our self-service (returns, withdrawals, complaints via chat or form), we additionally process what the customer enters there: order number and postcode to identify the order, the selected items, return reasons, free text, uploaded photos and the chat transcript. To create a return label we send name, address, phone number and email address to the carrier (section 8). The chat is assisted by a language model operated exclusively in an EU data centre region; inputs are not used to train models.

7. Storage location and security

All systems of the portal and the store integrations run on Google Cloud in region europe-west3 (Frankfurt am Main, Germany). Databases and file storage are encrypted at rest and every transfer uses TLS. Our services’ keys are kept in a secret manager, the store systems’ access tokens and credentials in the integrations’ database. Neither is ever logged. Every message from a store system is cryptographically verified before it is processed. Access to order data is limited to the staff responsible for fulfillment.

8. Recipients and processors

We use the following service providers. Where they process personal data on our behalf, data processing agreements under Art. 28 GDPR are in place.

Transfers to providers outside the EU rely on the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses (Art. 46(2)(c) GDPR) or, where applicable, the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

9. Retention and deletion

• Order and customer data: kept for the duration of fulfillment and thereafter for as long as the merchant instructs us or statutory retention obligations require (in particular § 147 AO and § 257 HGB: up to ten years for order and invoice records). Disconnecting a store integration alone does not delete orders already taken over, because open shipments, returns and records still have to be handled.
• Deletion on request: the merchant can at any time request deletion of individual customers’ data or of all data of their store. We comply within 30 days unless a retention obligation prevents it, in which case the data is restricted from further processing.
• Portal user accounts are deleted when the merchant removes the account or the contract ends.
• Self-service sessions: an order identified in the chat stays linked to the session for 30 minutes and is then deleted automatically.
• System logs (which contain no customer data) are deleted after 30 days.

10. Data subject rights

Under Art. 15 to 21 GDPR, data subjects have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection, and the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.

End customers of a store should contact the merchant they ordered from; the merchant is the controller of their data and we support the merchant in responding. Requests that reach us directly are forwarded to the merchant concerned.

Merchants and portal users can reach us at kontakt@vds-fulfillment.com or through our data protection officer (section 1).

11. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when processing changes, for example through new features or new service providers. The current version is always available at this address; the revision date is shown at the top of the page.