Impressum

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy informs you about the nature, scope, and purpose of the processing of personal data (hereinafter referred to as “data”) within our online offering and the associated websites, functions, and content, as well as external online presences, such as our social media profiles (hereinafter collectively referred to as “online offering”). Regarding the terminology used, such as “processing” or “controller,” we refer to the definitions in Article 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Controller

The data processing on this website is carried out by the website operator. You can find their contact details in the imprint of this website.

Types of Data Processed:

Categories of Data Subjects

Visitors and users of the online offering (hereinafter collectively referred to as “users”).

Purpose of Processing

Terminology Used

“Personal data” refers to any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter “data subject”); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier (e.g., cookie), or one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of that natural person.

“Processing” is any operation or set of operations performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means. The term is broad and encompasses virtually any handling of data.

“Pseudonymization” refers to the processing of personal data in such a manner that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organizational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person.

“Profiling” refers to any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyze or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or movements.

“Controller” refers to the natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.

“Processor” refers to a natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

Relevant Legal Bases

In accordance with Article 13 GDPR, we inform you of the legal bases for our data processing. If the legal basis is not specified in the Privacy Policy, the following applies: The legal basis for obtaining consent is Article 6(1)(a) and Article 7 GDPR, the legal basis for processing to fulfill our services and contractual measures as well as responding to inquiries is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR, the legal basis for processing to fulfill our legal obligations is Article 6(1)(c) GDPR, and the legal basis for processing to protect our legitimate interests is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. In cases where vital interests of the data subject or another natural person require the processing of personal data, Article 6(1)(d) GDPR serves as the legal basis.

Security Measures

In accordance with Article 32 GDPR, taking into account the state of the art, the costs of implementation, and the nature, scope, context, and purposes of processing as well as the varying likelihood and severity of the risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, we implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk.

These measures include, in particular, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data by controlling physical access to the data, as well as access, input, disclosure, and ensuring availability and separation of data. Furthermore, we have established procedures to ensure the exercise of data subjects’ rights, the deletion of data, and responses to data risks. We also consider the protection of personal data during the development or selection of hardware, software, and procedures in accordance with the principle of data protection by design and by default (Article 25 GDPR).

Collaboration with Processors and Third Parties

If, in the course of our processing, we disclose data to other persons or companies (processors or third parties), transmit data to them, or otherwise grant them access to the data, this will only be done on the basis of legal permission (e.g., if the transmission of data to third parties, such as payment service providers, is necessary for contract fulfillment pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) GDPR), your consent, a legal obligation, or our legitimate interests (e.g., when using agents, web hosts, etc.).

If we commission third parties to process data on the basis of a so-called “data processing agreement,” this is done on the basis of Article 28 GDPR.

Transfers to Third Countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e., outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or if this occurs in the context of using third-party services or disclosing or transferring data to third parties, this will only take place if it is necessary to fulfill our (pre)contractual obligations, based on your consent, due to a legal obligation, or based on our legitimate interests. Subject to legal or contractual permissions, we process or have the data processed in a third country only if the special requirements of Articles 44 et seq. GDPR are met. This means, for example, that processing is carried out on the basis of special guarantees, such as the officially recognized determination of a data protection level equivalent to that of the EU (e.g., for the USA through the “Privacy Shield”) or compliance with officially recognized specific contractual obligations (so-called “standard contractual clauses”).

Rights of Data Subjects

You have the right to request confirmation as to whether the data in question is being processed and to obtain information about this data as well as further information and a copy of the data in accordance with Article 15 GDPR.

You have the right, in accordance with Article 16 GDPR, to request the completion of data concerning you or the correction of inaccurate data concerning you.

In accordance with Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to demand that the data in question be deleted immediately or, alternatively, to demand a restriction on the processing of the data in accordance with Article 18 GDPR.

You have the right to request that the data concerning you, which you have provided to us, be received in accordance with Article 20 GDPR and to request its transmission to other controllers.

You also have the right, pursuant to Article 77 GDPR, to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

Right of Withdrawal

You have the right to withdraw consents granted pursuant to Article 7(3) GDPR with effect for the future.

Right to Object

You may object to the future processing of data concerning you in accordance with Article 21 GDPR at any time.

Cookies

“Cookies” are small files stored on users’ devices. Different types of information can be stored within cookies. A cookie is primarily used to store information about a user (or the device on which the cookie is stored) during or after their visit to an online offering. Temporary cookies, or “session cookies” or “transient cookies,” are cookies that are deleted after a user leaves an online offering and closes their browser. Such a cookie may, for example, store the contents of a shopping cart in an online shop or a login status. “Permanent” or “persistent” cookies remain stored even after the browser is closed. For example, the login status can be saved if users revisit the site after several days. Likewise, users’ interests can be stored in such a cookie for reach measurement or marketing purposes. “Third-party cookies” are cookies offered by providers other than the controller operating the online offering (otherwise, if they are only the controller’s cookies, they are referred to as “first-party cookies”).

We may use temporary and permanent cookies and provide information about this in our Privacy Policy.

If users do not want cookies to be stored on their computer, they are asked to deactivate the corresponding option in their browser’s system settings. Stored cookies can be deleted in the browser’s system settings. Disabling cookies may lead to functional restrictions of this online offering.

A general objection to the use of cookies for online marketing purposes can be declared for many services, especially in the case of tracking, via the US website http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU website http://www.youronlinechoices.com/. Furthermore, the storage of cookies can be prevented by deactivating them in the browser settings. Please note that not all functions of this online offering may be available in this case.

Data Deletion

The data processed by us will be deleted or restricted in its processing in accordance with Articles 17 and 18 GDPR. Unless expressly stated in this Privacy Policy, the data stored by us will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for its intended purpose and the deletion does not conflict with any statutory retention obligations. If the data is not deleted because it is required for other legally permissible purposes, its processing will be restricted. This means the data will be blocked and not processed for other purposes.

Registration Function

Users can create a user account. During registration, users are informed of the required mandatory information, which is processed on the basis of Article 6(1)(b) GDPR for the purpose of providing the user account. The processed data includes, in particular, login information (name, password, and email address). The data entered during registration is used for the purposes of using the user account and its intended purpose.

Users may be informed by email about information relevant to their user account, such as technical changes. If users terminate their user account, their data related to the user account will be deleted, subject to any statutory retention obligations. It is the users’ responsibility to back up their data upon termination before the end of the contract. We are entitled to irretrievably delete all user data stored during the contract term.

In the context of using our registration and login functions and the use of the user account, we store the IP address and the time of the respective user action. The storage is based on our legitimate interests and those of the users in protection against misuse and other unauthorized use. This data is generally not passed on to third parties unless it is necessary to pursue our claims or there is a legal obligation to do so pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) GDPR. IP addresses are anonymized or deleted no later than 7 days.

Comments and Contributions

When users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses may be stored for 60 days based on our legitimate interests within the meaning of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. This is done for our security in case someone leaves illegal content in comments or contributions (e.g., insults, prohibited political propaganda, etc.). In such cases, we may be held liable for the comment or contribution and are therefore interested in the author’s identity.

Furthermore, we reserve the right, based on our legitimate interests pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, to process users’ information for the purpose of spam detection.

On the same legal basis, we reserve the right, in the case of surveys, to store users’ IP addresses for their duration and to use cookies to prevent multiple votes.

The data provided in the context of comments and contributions will be permanently stored by us until the user objects.

Comment Subscriptions

Follow-up comments can be subscribed to by users with their consent pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. Users will receive a confirmation email to verify that they are the owner of the provided email address. Users can unsubscribe from ongoing comment subscriptions at any time. The confirmation email will contain information on the options for revocation. For the purpose of proving users’ consent, we store the registration time along with the users’ IP address and delete this information when users unsubscribe from the subscription.

You can cancel the receipt of our subscription at any time, i.e., withdraw your consent. We may store unsubscribed email addresses for up to three years based on our legitimate interests before deleting them to prove previously given consent. The processing of this data is limited to the purpose of potentially defending against claims. An individual deletion request is possible at any time, provided that the former existence of consent is confirmed at the same time.

Newsletter

With the following information, we inform you about the content of our newsletter as well as the registration, dispatch, and statistical evaluation procedures and your rights to object. By subscribing to our newsletter, you agree to receive it and the described procedures.

Double-Opt-In and Logging: Registration for our newsletter follows a so-called double-opt-in procedure. This means that after registration, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary to prevent anyone from registering with someone else’s email address. Newsletter registrations are logged to prove the registration process in accordance with legal requirements. This includes storing the registration and confirmation times as well as the IP address. Changes to your data stored with the dispatch service provider are also logged.

Registration Data: To register for the newsletter, it is sufficient to provide your email address.

The dispatch of the newsletter and the associated performance measurement are based on the recipient’s consent pursuant to Article 6(1)(a), Article 7 GDPR in conjunction with Section 7(2)(3) of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG) or, if consent is not required, based on our legitimate interests in direct marketing pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR in conjunction with Section 7(3) UWG.

The logging of the registration process is based on our legitimate interests pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our interest is focused on using a user-friendly and secure newsletter system that serves both our business interests and meets users’ expectations while also allowing us to prove consent.

Cancellation/Revocation – You can cancel the receipt of our newsletter at any time, i.e., withdraw your consent. You will find a link to cancel the newsletter at the end of each newsletter. We may store unsubscribed email addresses for up to three years based on our legitimate interests before deleting them to prove previously given consent. The processing of this data is limited to the purpose of potentially defending against claims. An individual deletion request is possible at any time, provided that the former existence of consent is confirmed at the same time.

Hosting and Email Dispatch

The hosting services we use are intended to provide the following services: infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space, database services, email dispatch, security services, and technical maintenance services, which we employ for the operation of this online offering.

In this context, we or our hosting provider process identification data, contact data, content data, contract data, usage data, and meta- and communication data of customers, prospects, and visitors to this online offering based on our legitimate interests in efficiently and securely providing this online offering pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR in conjunction with Article 28 GDPR (data processing agreement).

Collection of Access Data and Log Files

We or our hosting provider collect data about every access to the server on which this service is hosted (so-called server log files) based on our legitimate interests within the meaning of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Access data includes the name of the accessed website, file, date and time of access, transferred data volume, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user’s operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address, and the requesting provider.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC (“Google”), based on our legitimate interests (i.e., interest in the analysis, optimization, and economic operation of our online offering within the meaning of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about users’ use of the online offering is generally transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement, thereby guaranteeing compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).

Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate users’ use of our online offering, to compile reports on activities within this online offering, and to provide us with additional services related to the use of this online offering and internet usage. Pseudonymous user profiles may be created from the processed data.

We use Google Analytics only with activated IP anonymization. This means that users’ IP addresses are truncated by Google within member states of the European Union or other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address transmitted to a Google server in the USA and truncated there.

The IP address transmitted by the user’s browser is not merged with other Google data. Users can prevent the collection of their data by Google Analytics by clicking the following link, which sets an opt-out cookie that prevents the collection of their data on future visits to this website: WTF.

Furthermore, users can prevent the storage of cookies by configuring their browser software accordingly; users can also prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and related to their use of the online offering by Google, as well as the processing of this data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.

For more information about Google’s data usage, settings, and opt-out options, see Google’s Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads) and the settings for the display of advertisements by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated).

Users’ personal data is deleted or anonymized after 14 months.

Online Presence in Social Media

We maintain online presences within social networks and platforms to communicate with active customers, prospects, and users and to inform them about our services. When accessing the respective networks and platforms, the terms and conditions and data processing policies of their respective operators apply.

Unless otherwise stated in our Privacy Policy, we process users’ data if they communicate with us within social networks and platforms, e.g., by posting on our online presences or sending us messages.

Social Plugins

We offer users the option to use so-called “social media buttons” on our website. To protect user data, we implement the “Shariff” solution. This means that these buttons are integrated on the website merely as graphics containing a link to the respective button provider’s website. By clicking the graphic, users are redirected to the services of the respective provider. Only then are users’ data sent to the respective provider. If users do not click the graphic, no data exchange occurs with the social media button providers. Information about the collection and use of user data in social networks can be found in the respective providers’ terms of use. More information about the Shariff solution: http://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Shariff-Social-Media-Buttons-mit-Datenschutz-2467514.html

We have integrated social media buttons from the following companies on our website:

Integration of Third-Party Services and Content

We use content or service offerings from third-party providers within our online offering based on our legitimate interests (i.e., interest in the analysis, optimization, and economic operation of our online offering within the meaning of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) to integrate their content and services, such as videos or fonts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “content”).

This always requires that the third-party providers of this content perceive users’ IP addresses, as they cannot send the content to the users’ browsers without the IP address. The IP address is thus necessary for the display of this content. We strive to use only content whose providers use the IP address solely for delivering the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as “web beacons”) for statistical or marketing purposes. These “pixel tags” can be used to evaluate information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user’s device and may include technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, visit time, and other information about the use of our online offering, as well as being linked to such information from other sources.

YouTube

We integrate videos from the “YouTube” platform provided by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy Policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, Opt-Out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Created with Datenschutz-Generator.de by RA Dr. Thomas Schwenke

Cookies and Access Metrics

We use “session cookies” from VG Wort, Munich, to measure access to texts to determine the likelihood of copying. Session cookies are small units of information that a provider stores in the visitor’s computer memory. A session cookie contains a randomly generated unique identification number, known as a session ID, as well as information about its origin and storage period. Session cookies cannot store other data. These measurements are carried out by INFOnline GmbH using the Scalable Central Measurement Method (SZM). They help determine the likelihood of copying individual texts for the remuneration of legal claims by authors and publishers. We do not collect personal data via cookies.

Many of our pages contain JavaScript calls through which we report access to the Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort (VG Wort). This enables our authors to participate in VG Wort’s distributions, which ensure statutory remuneration for the use of copyrighted works pursuant to Section 53 of the German Copyright Act (UrhG).

Use of our offerings is also possible without cookies. Most browsers are set to accept cookies automatically. However, you can disable the storage of cookies or configure your browser to notify you as soon as cookies are sent.