Privacy

Privacy policy

Introduction

With the following data protection declaration, we would like to inform you about the types of your personal data (hereinafter also referred to as “data”) that we process, for what purposes and to what extent. The data protection declaration applies to all processing of personal data carried out by us, both as part of the provision of our services and in particular on our websites, in mobile applications and within external online presences, such as our social media profiles (hereinafter collectively referred to as “online offer”).

The terms used are not gender specific.

Status: 16 October 2021

Responsible

MB Software und Systeme GmbH

Görsbachstraße
57537 Selbach

Authorized representatives: Markus Bläser.

Email address: [email protected].

Phone: 02742 968872.

Imprint: https://mb-datasuite.com/de/impressum/

Overview of processing

The following overview summarises the types of data processed and the purposes of their processing and refers to the data subjects.

Types of data processed

  • Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses).
  • Applicant data (e.g. personal details, postal and contact addresses, the documents belonging to the application and the information contained therein, such as cover letter, curriculum vitae, certificates as well as other information provided with regard to a specific position or voluntarily by applicants concerning their person or qualifications).
  • Content data (e.g. entries in online forms).
  • Contact details (e.g. email, telephone numbers).
  • Meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times).
  • Contract data (e.g. subject matter of the contract, term, customer category).
  • Payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history).

Categories of persons concerned

  • Employees (e.g., employees, applicants, former employees).
  • Applicants.
  • Business and Contractual Partners.
  • Interested parties.
  • Communication partner.
  • Customers.
  • Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).

Purposes of the processing

  • Assessment of creditworthiness and credit standing.
  • Provision of our online offer and user friendliness.
  • Conversion measurement (measurement of the effectiveness of marketing measures).
  • Application procedure (establishment and possible subsequent implementation as well as possible subsequent termination of the employment relationship).
  • Office and organizational procedures.
  • Content Delivery Network (CDN).
  • Direct marketing (e.g. by e-mail or post).
  • Feedback (e.g. collecting feedback via online form).
  • Marketing.
  • Contact requests and communication.
  • Profiles with user-related information (creation of user profiles).
  • Reach measurement (e.g. access statistics, recognition of returning visitors).
  • Security Measures.
  • Provision of contractual services and customer service.
  • Managing and responding to requests.

Automated decisions in individual cases

  • Credit information (decision based on a credit check).

Relevant legal bases

Below you will find an overview of the legal basis of the GDPR on the basis of which we process personal data. Please note that in addition to the provisions of the GDPR, national data protection regulations may apply in your or our country of residence or domicile. Should more specific legal bases be relevant in individual cases, we will inform you of these in the data protection declaration.

  • Consent (Art. 6(1) p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO) – The data subject has given his or her consent to the processing of personal data relating to him or her for a specific purpose or purposes.
  • Contract performance and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6(1) p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO) – Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or for the performance of pre-contractual measures taken at the data subject’s request.
  • Legal obligation (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. c. DSGVO) – Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.
  • Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1) p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO) – Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests of the controller or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require the protection of personal data.
  • Application procedure as a pre-contractual or contractual relationship (Art. 9(2)(b) GDPR) – Insofar as special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9(1) GDPR (e.g. health data, such as severely disabled status or ethnic origin) are requested from applicants in the context of the application procedure, so that the controller or the data subject can exercise the rights accruing to him or her under employment law and social security and social protection law and fulfil his or her obligations in this respect, they are processed in accordance with Art. 9(2)(b) GDPR. If the data subject is asked to provide information about his or her health (e.g. severely disabled person or ethnic origin) to enable the data controller or the data subject to exercise his or her rights under employment, social security and social protection law and to comply with his or her obligations in this respect, the processing is carried out in accordance with Article 9(2)(b) of the GDPR. DSGVO, in the case of the protection of vital interests of the applicants or other persons pursuant to Art. 9 para. 2 lit. c. DSGVO or for the purposes of preventive health care or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the employee’s fitness for work, for medical diagnostics, care or treatment in the health or social sector or for the management of systems and services in the health or social sector pursuant to Art. 9 para. 2 lit. h. DSGVO. In the case of a communication of special categories of data based on voluntary consent, their processing is based on Art. 9 (2) lit. a. DSGVO.
  • Contract performance and pre-contractual requests (EKD) (Section 6 No. 5 DSG-EKD) – Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party or for the performance of pre-contractual measures carried out at the request of the data subject.

National data protection regulations in Germany: In addition to the data protection regulations of the General Data Protection Regulation, national regulations on data protection apply in Germany. These include, in particular, the Act on Protection against Misuse of Personal Data in Data Processing (Federal Data Protection Act – BDSG). In particular, the BDSG contains special regulations on the right to information, the right to erasure, the right to object, the processing of special categories of personal data, the processing for other purposes and the transmission as well as automated decision-making in individual cases including profiling. Furthermore, it regulates data processing for employment purposes (Section 26 BDSG), in particular with regard to the establishment, performance or termination of employment relationships as well as the consent of employees. Furthermore, state data protection laws of the individual federal states may apply.

Security measures

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of protection appropriate to the risk in accordance with the legal requirements, taking into account the state of the art, the implementation costs and the nature, scope, circumstances and purposes of the processing, as well as the different probabilities of occurrence and the extent of the threat to the rights and freedoms of natural persons.

The measures include, in particular, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data by controlling physical and electronic access to the data as well as the access, entry, disclosure, assurance of availability and separation of the data. We also have procedures in place to ensure the exercise of data subjects’ rights, the deletion of data, and responses to data compromise. Furthermore, we already take the protection of personal data into account in the development and selection of hardware, software and procedures in accordance with the principle of data protection, through technology design and through data protection-friendly default settings.

SSL encryption (https): To protect your data transmitted via our online offer, we use SSL encryption. You can recognise such encrypted connections by the prefix https:// in the address line of your browser.

Transmission of personal data

In the course of our processing of personal data, it may happen that the data is transferred to or disclosed to other bodies, companies, legally independent organisational units or persons. The recipients of this data may include, for example, service providers commissioned with IT tasks or providers of services and content that are integrated into a website. In such cases, we observe the legal requirements and, in particular, conclude appropriate contracts or agreements that serve to protect your data with the recipients of your data.

Transfer of data within the organization: We may transfer or provide access to personal data to other entities within our organization. Where this transfer is for administrative purposes, the transfer of the data is based on our legitimate business and operational interests or is made where it is necessary for the performance of our contractual obligations or where there is consent from the data subjects or legal permission.

Data processing in third countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e., outside the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA)) or the processing takes place in the context of the use of third-party services or the disclosure or transfer of data to other persons, entities or companies, this will only be done in accordance with the legal requirements.

Subject to express consent or contractually or legally required transfer, we only process or allow data to be processed in third countries with a recognised level of data protection, contractual obligation through so-called standard protection clauses of the EU Commission, in the presence of certifications or binding internal data protection regulations (Art. 44 to 49 DSGVO, information page of the EU Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection_de).

Deletion of data

The data processed by us will be deleted in accordance with the legal requirements as soon as their consents permitted for processing are revoked or other permissions cease to apply (e.g. if the purpose of processing this data has ceased to apply or it is not required for the purpose).

If the data are not deleted because they are required for other and legally permissible purposes, their processing is limited to these purposes. This means that the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be retained for reasons of commercial or tax law or whose storage is necessary for the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person.

As part of our privacy notice, we may provide users with additional information regarding the deletion and retention of data that is specific to the processing operation.

Use of cookies

Cookies are text files that contain data from visited websites or domains and are stored by a browser on the user’s computer. The primary purpose of a cookie is to store information about a user during or after his visit within an online offer. Stored information may include, for example, language settings on a website, login status, a shopping cart, or where a video was watched. The term cookies also includes other technologies that perform the same functions as cookies (e.g. when user details are stored using pseudonymous online identifiers, also known as “user IDs”).

The following cookie types and functions are distinguished:

  • Temporary cookies (also: session cookies): Temporary cookies are deleted at the latest after a user has left an online offer and closed his browser.
  • Permanent cookies: Permanent cookies remain stored even after the browser is closed. For example, the login status can be saved or preferred content can be displayed directly when the user visits a website again. Likewise, the interests of users used for reach measurement or marketing purposes can be stored in such a cookie.
  • First-party cookies: First-party cookies are set by us.
  • Third-party cookies (also: third-party cookies): Third-party cookies are mainly used by advertisers (so-called third parties) to process user information.
  • Necessary (also: essential or absolutely necessary) cookies: Cookies may be absolutely necessary for the operation of a website (e.g. to save logins or other user inputs or for security reasons).
  • Statistics, marketing and personalization cookies: Furthermore, cookies are usually also used in the context of range measurement and when a user’s interests or behavior (e.g. viewing certain content, using functions, etc.) on individual websites are stored in a user profile. Such profiles are used, for example, to show users content that matches their potential interests. This process is also referred to as “tracking”, i.e. tracking the potential interests of users. Insofar as we use cookies or “tracking” technologies, we will inform you separately in our data protection declaration or in the context of obtaining consent.

Notes on legal bases: The legal basis on which we process your personal data using cookies depends on whether we ask you for consent. If this is the case and you consent to the use of cookies, the legal basis for the processing of your data is your declared consent. Otherwise, the data processed with the help of cookies is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. in the business operation of our online offer and its improvement) or, if the use of cookies is necessary to fulfil our contractual obligations.

Storage period: If we do not provide you with explicit information on the storage period of permanent cookies (e.g. in the context of a so-called cookie opt-in), please assume that the storage period can be up to two years.

General information on revocation and objection (opt-out): Depending on whether the processing is based on consent or legal permission, you have the option at any time to revoke any consent given or to object to the processing of your data by cookie technologies (collectively referred to as “opt-out”). You can initially declare your objection by means of your browser settings, e.g. by deactivating the use of cookies (whereby this may also restrict the functionality of our online offer). An objection to the use of cookies for online marketing purposes can also be declared by means of a variety of services, especially in the case of tracking, through the websites https://optout.aboutads.info and https://www.youronlinechoices.com/. In addition, you can obtain further instructions on how to object in the context of the information on the service providers and cookies used.

Processing of cookie data on the basis of consent: We use a cookie consent management procedure, in the context of which the consent of users to the use of cookies, or the processing and providers mentioned in the cookie consent management procedure, can be obtained and managed and revoked by users. In this context, the declaration of consent is stored in order not to have to repeat its request and to be able to prove the consent in accordance with the legal obligation. The storage can take place on the server side and/or in a cookie (so-called opt-in cookie, or with the help of comparable technologies), in order to be able to assign the consent to a user or his device. Subject to individual information on the providers of cookie management services, the following information applies: The duration of the storage of consent can be up to two years. A pseudonymous user identifier is created and stored with the time of consent, information on the scope of consent (e.g. which categories of cookies and/or service providers) and the browser, system and end device used.

Cookie Settings/Opposition:

Cookie Settings

  • Types of data processed: Usage data (e.g. web pages visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • BorlabsCookie: Cookie consent management; Service provider: Borlabs; Website: https://de.borlabs.io/borlabs-cookie/; An individual user ID, language as well as types of consents and the time of their submission are stored server-side and in the cookie on the users’ device.

Business services

We process data of our contractual and business partners, e.g. customers and interested parties (collectively referred to as “contractual partners”) in the context of contractual and comparable legal relationships as well as related measures and in the context of communication with contractual partners (or pre-contractual), e.g. to answer inquiries.

We process this data to fulfil our contractual obligations, to secure our rights and for the purposes of the administrative tasks associated with this information as well as the corporate organisation. We only disclose the data of the contractual partners to third parties within the framework of the applicable law to the extent that this is necessary for the aforementioned purposes or for the fulfilment of legal obligations or with the consent of the persons concerned (e.g. to participating telecommunications, transport and other auxiliary services as well as subcontractors, banks, tax and legal advisors, payment service providers or tax authorities). The contractual partners will be informed about further forms of processing, e.g. for marketing purposes, within the scope of this data protection declaration.

We inform the contractual partners of the data required for the above-mentioned purposes before or in the course of data collection, e.g. in online forms, by means of special marking (e.g. colours) or symbols (e.g. asterisks or similar), or in person.

We delete the data after the expiry of legal warranty and comparable obligations, i.e., in principle after 4 years, unless the data is stored in a customer account, e.g., as long as it must be retained for legal archiving reasons (e.g., for tax purposes usually 10 years). We delete data disclosed to us by the contractual partner within the scope of an order in accordance with the specifications of the order, in principle after the end of the order.

Insofar as we use third-party providers or platforms to provide our services, the terms and conditions and data protection notices of the respective third-party providers or platforms apply in the relationship between the users and the providers.

Customer account: Contractual partners can create an account within our online offer (e.g. customer or user account, “customer account” for short). If registration of a customer account is required, contractual partners will be informed of this as well as of the details required for registration. Customer accounts are not public and cannot be indexed by search engines. Within the scope of registration and subsequent logins and uses of the customer account, we store the IP addresses of the customers together with the access times in order to be able to prove the registration and to prevent any misuse of the customer account.

If customers have terminated their customer account, the data relating to the customer account will be deleted, unless their retention is required for legal reasons. It is the responsibility of customers to back up their data upon termination of the customer account.

Shop and e-commerce: We process the data of our customers to enable them to select, purchase or order the selected products, goods and associated services, as well as their payment and delivery or execution. If necessary for the execution of an order, we use service providers, in particular postal, forwarding and shipping companies, to carry out the delivery or execution to our customers. For the processing of payment transactions, we use the services of banks and payment service providers. The required information is marked as such in the context of the order or comparable purchase process and includes the information needed for delivery, or provision and billing, as well as contact information, so that any consultation can be held.

Consulting: We process the data of our clients, customers as well as interested parties and other clients or contractual partners (uniformly referred to as “clients”) in order to be able to provide them with our consulting services. The data processed, the type, scope, purpose and necessity of its processing are determined by the underlying contractual and client relationship.

If it is necessary for the fulfilment of our contract, for the protection of vital interests or required by law, or if we have the consent of the client, we disclose or transfer the client’s data to third parties or agents, such as authorities, subcontractors or in the field of IT, office or comparable services, in compliance with the requirements of professional law.

Project and development services: We process the data of our clients and customers (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “Clients”) in order to enable them to select, acquire or commission the chosen services or works and related activities as well as their payment and provision or execution or performance.

The required information is identified as such in the context of the order, purchase order or comparable contract conclusion and includes the information required for the provision of services and billing as well as contact information in order to be able to hold any consultations. Insofar as we obtain access to information of the end customers, employees or other persons, we process this in accordance with the legal and contractual requirements.

Offer of software and platform services: We process the data of our users, registered users and any test users (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “users”) in order to be able to provide our contractual services to them as well as on the basis of legitimate interests in order to ensure the security of our offer and to be able to develop it further. The required information is identified as such in the context of the order, purchase order or comparable contract conclusion and includes the information required for the provision of services and billing as well as contact information in order to be able to hold any consultations.

Management consulting: We process the data of our customers, clients as well as interested parties and other clients or contractual partners (uniformly referred to as “customers”) in order to be able to provide them with our contractual or pre-contractual services, in particular consulting services. The data processed, the type, scope, purpose and necessity of its processing are determined by the underlying contractual and business relationship.

If it is necessary for the fulfilment of our contract or required by law, or if the customer has given his consent, we disclose or transfer the customer’s data to third parties or agents, such as authorities, courts or in the field of IT, office or comparable services, in compliance with the requirements of professional law.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), contract data (e.g. subject matter of contract, term, customer category), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Affected persons: Interested parties, business and contractual partners, customers.
  • Purposes of processing: provision of contractual services and customer service, contact requests and communication, office and organisational procedures, management and response to requests, security measures.
  • Legal basis: Contract fulfilment and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legal obligation (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. c. DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Payment procedure

Within the framework of contractual and other legal relationships, due to legal obligations or otherwise on the basis of our legitimate interests, we offer efficient and secure payment options to the data subjects and use other service providers in addition to banks and credit institutions for this purpose (collectively “payment service providers”).

The data processed by the payment service providers include inventory data, such as the name and address, bank data, such as account numbers or credit card numbers, passwords, TANs and checksums, as well as the contract, sum and recipient-related information. The information is required to complete the transactions. However, the data entered is only processed by the payment service providers and stored with them. I.e. we do not receive any account or credit card related information, but only information with confirmation or negative information of the payment. Under certain circumstances, the data may be transmitted by the payment service providers to credit agencies. The purpose of this transmission is to check identity and creditworthiness. In this regard, we refer to the terms and conditions and the data protection information of the payment service providers.

For payment transactions, the terms and conditions and data protection information of the respective payment service providers apply, which can be accessed within the respective websites or transaction applications. We also refer to these for the purpose of further information and assertion of revocation, information and other data subject rights.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history), contract data (e.g. subject matter of contract, term, customer category), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Affected persons: Customers, interested parties.
  • Purposes of processing: provision of contractual services and customer service.
  • Legal basis: Contract fulfilment and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • PayPal: payment services and solutions (e.g. PayPal, PayPal Plus, Braintree); service provider: PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg; website: https://www.paypal.com/de; privacy policy: https://www.paypal.com/de/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full.

Credit check

Insofar as we make advance payments or enter into comparable economic risks (e.g. when ordering on account), we reserve the right, in order to safeguard our legitimate interests, to obtain information on identity and creditworthiness for the purpose of assessing the credit risk on the basis of mathematical-statistical procedures from service companies specialising in this field (credit agencies).

We process the information received from the credit agencies on the statistical probability of a payment default within the framework of an appropriate discretionary decision on the establishment, implementation and termination of the contractual relationship. We reserve the right to refuse payment on account or other advance performance in the event of a negative result of the credit check.

The decision as to whether we will make advance payments is made solely on the basis of an automated decision in the individual case, which our software makes on the basis of the information from the credit agency, in accordance with Art. 22 DSGVO.

If we obtain express consent from contractual partners, the legal basis for the credit rating information and the transmission of the customer’s data to the credit agencies is the consent. If no consent is obtained, the creditworthiness information is provided on the basis of our legitimate interests in the default security of our payment claims.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), contract data (e.g. subject matter of contract, term, customer category).
  • Affected persons: Customers, interested parties.
  • Purposes of processing: assessment of creditworthiness and credit standing.
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).
  • Automated decisions in individual cases: credit information (decision based on a credit check).

Services used and service providers:

  • Creditreform Boniversum GmbH and Verband der Vereine Creditreform e.V.: Credit reference agency; service provider: Creditreform Boniversum GmbH, Hellersbergstraße 11, 41460 Neuss, Germany; website: https://www.boniversum.de/; data protection declaration: https://www.boniversum.de/datenschutzerklaerung/.
  • Verband der Vereine Creditreform e.V.: Credit reference agency; service provider: Verband der Vereine Creditreform e.V., Hellersbergstraße 12, D-41460 Neuss, Germany; Website: https://www.creditreform.de/; Privacy policy: https://www.creditreform.de/datenschutz.

Provision of the online offer and web hosting

In order to provide our online offer securely and efficiently, we use the services of one or more web hosting providers from whose servers (or servers managed by them) the online offer can be accessed. For these purposes, we may use infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space and database services as well as security services and technical maintenance services.

The data processed in the context of the provision of the hosting offer may include all information relating to the users of our online offer, which is generated in the context of use and communication. This regularly includes the IP address, which is necessary to be able to deliver the contents of online offers to browsers, and all entries made within our online offer or from websites.

E-mail dispatch and hosting: The web hosting services we use also include the dispatch, receipt and storage of e-mails. For these purposes, the addresses of the recipients and senders as well as further information regarding the e-mail dispatch (e.g. the providers involved) and the contents of the respective e-mails are processed. The aforementioned data may also be processed for the purpose of identifying SPAM. Please note that e-mails on the Internet are generally not sent in encrypted form. As a rule, e-mails are encrypted in transit, but (unless a so-called end-to-end encryption method is used) not on the servers from which they are sent and received. We can therefore not assume any responsibility for the transmission path of the e-mails between the sender and the reception on our server.

Collection of access data and log files: We ourselves (or our web hosting provider) collect data on each access to the server (so-called server log files). The server log files may include the address and name of the web pages and files accessed, date and time of access, data volumes transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user’s operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page) and, as a rule, IP addresses and the requesting provider.

The server log files can be used for security purposes, e.g. to avoid overloading the servers (especially in the case of abusive attacks, so-called DDoS attacks) and also to ensure the utilization of the servers and their stability.

Content Delivery Network: We use a “content delivery network” (CDN). A CDN is a service with the help of which the content of an online offer, in particular large media files such as graphics or program scripts, can be delivered faster and more securely with the help of regionally distributed servers connected via the Internet.

  • Types of data processed: Content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of the processing: Provision of our online offer and user-friendliness, Content Delivery Network (CDN).
  • Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • Cloudflare: Content delivery network (CDN); service provider: Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA; website: https://www.cloudflare.com; privacy policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/; standard contractual clauses (ensuring level of data protection in case of processing in third countries): https://www.cloudflare.com/de-de/gdpr/introduction/.
  • HostEurope: services in the field of provision of information technology infrastructure and related services (e.g. storage space and/or computing capacity); service provider: Host Europe GmbH, Hansestrasse 111, 51149 Cologne, Germany; Website: https://www.hosteurope.de; Privacy policy: https://www.hosteurope.de/AGB/Datenschutzerklaerung; Order processing agreement: https://www.hosteurope.de/Dokumente/.

Registration, login and user account

Users can create a user account. In the course of registration, users are provided with the required mandatory data and processed for the purpose of providing the user account on the basis of contractual obligation. The processed data includes in particular the login information (user name, password and an e-mail address).

In the context of the use of our registration and login functions as well as 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 as well as those of the users in protection against misuse and other unauthorized use. In principle, this data is not passed on to third parties unless it is necessary for the pursuit of our claims or there is a legal obligation to do so.

Users can be informed by e-mail about events that are relevant to their user account, such as technical changes.

Deletion of data after termination: If users have terminated their user account, their data with regard to the user account will be deleted, subject to any legal permission, obligation or consent of the users.

It is the responsibility of the users to save their data before the end of the contract in the event of termination. We are entitled to irretrievably delete all user data stored during the term of the contract.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: provision of contractual services and customer service, security measures, administration and response to requests.
  • Legal basis: Contract fulfilment and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Blogs and publication media

We use blogs or comparable means of online communication and publication (hereinafter “publication medium”). Readers’ data is processed for the purposes of the publication medium only to the extent necessary for its presentation and communication between authors and readers or for security reasons. For the rest, we refer to the information on the processing of visitors to our publication medium within the scope of this data protection notice.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: provision of contractual services and customer service, feedback (e.g. collecting feedback via online form).
  • Legal basis: Contract fulfilment and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Contact and inquiry management

When contacting us (e.g. by contact form, e-mail, telephone or via social media) as well as in the context of existing user and business relationships, the information of the inquiring persons is processed insofar as this is necessary to answer the contact requests and any requested measures.

The answering of contact inquiries as well as the administration of contact and inquiry data in the context of contractual or pre-contractual relations is carried out for the fulfilment of our contractual obligations or for the answering of (pre)contractual inquiries and, moreover, on the basis of the legitimate interests in answering the inquiries and maintaining user or business relations.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms).
  • Affected persons: Communication partners.
  • Purposes of processing: contact requests and communication.
  • Legal basis: Contract fulfilment and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • HubSpot: Customer management, process and sales support software (multi-channel communication, i.e. management of customer inquiries from different channels, sales, process management, analyses, feedback and survey functions); Service provider: HubSpot, Inc., 25 First St., 2nd floor, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA; website: https://www.hubspot.de; privacy policy: https://legal.hubspot.com/de/privacy-policy; standard contractual clauses (ensuring level of data protection for processing in third countries): https://legal.hubspot.com/dpa.

Chatbots and chat functions

We offer online chat and chatbot features (collectively, “Chat Services”) as a communication option. A chat is an online conversation conducted with some degree of timeliness. A chatbot is software that answers users’ questions or notifies them of messages. When you use our chat features, we may process your personal data.

If you use our chat services within an online platform, your identification number will also be stored within the respective platform. We may also collect information about which users interact with our chat services and when. Furthermore, we store the content of your conversations via the chat services and log registration and consent processes in order to be able to prove these in accordance with legal requirements.

We would like to point out to users that the respective platform provider can find out that and when users communicate with our chat services as well as collect technical information about the device used by the users and, depending on the settings of their device, also location information (so-called metadata) for the purpose of optimising the respective services and for security purposes. Likewise, the metadata of the communication via chat services (i.e., for example, the information about who communicated with whom) could be used by the respective platform providers in accordance with their provisions, to which we refer for further information, for marketing purposes or to display advertising tailored to users.

If users agree with a chatbot to activate information with regular messages, they have the option to unsubscribe from the information at any time in the future. The chatbot informs users how and with which terms they can unsubscribe from the messages. By unsubscribing from the chatbot messages, users’ data is deleted from the list of message recipients.

We use the foregoing information to operate our chat services, such as to personally address users, to respond to their inquiries, to deliver any requested content, and also to improve our chat services (e.g., to “teach” chatbots answers to frequently asked questions or to recognize unanswered inquiries).

Notes on legal basis: We use chat services on the basis of consent if we have previously obtained users’ permission to process their data within the scope of our chat services (this applies to cases where users are asked for consent, e.g. for a chatbot to send them messages on a regular basis). Where we use chat services to respond to users’ queries about our services or our business, this is for contractual and pre-contractual communication. Otherwise, we use chat services on the basis of our legitimate interests in optimising the chat services, their operational efficiency and increasing the positive user experience.

Revocation, objection and deletion: You can revoke a given consent or object to the processing of your data within the scope of our chat services at any time.

  • Types of data processed: contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Affected persons: Communication partners.
  • Purposes of processing: contact requests and communication, direct marketing (e.g. by e-mail or post).
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Contract performance and pre-contractual requests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • HubSpot: chatbot and assistance software and related services; service provider: HubSpot, Inc., 25 First St., 2nd floor, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA; Website: https://www.hubspot.de; Privacy Policy: https://legal.hubspot.com/de/privacy-policy; Standard Contractual Clauses (ensuring level of data protection in case of processing in third countries): https://legal.hubspot.com/dpa.

Video conferencing, online meetings, webinars and screen sharing

We use platforms and applications of other providers (hereinafter referred to as “conference platforms”) for the purpose of conducting video and audio conferences, webinars and other types of video and audio meetings (hereinafter collectively referred to as “conference”). When selecting the conference platforms and their services, we observe the legal requirements.

Data processed by conference platforms: In the context of participation in a conference, the conference platforms process the personal data of the participants mentioned below. The scope of the processing depends on the one hand on which data is requested in the context of a specific conference (e.g., provision of access data or clear names) and on the other hand on which optional information is provided by the participants. In addition to processing for the purpose of conducting the conference, participants’ data may also be processed by the conference platforms for security purposes or service optimization. The processed data includes personal data (first name, last name), contact information (e-mail address, telephone number), access data (access codes or passwords), profile pictures, information on professional position/function, the IP address of the Internet access, information on the participants’ terminal devices, their operating system, the browser and its technical and linguistic settings, information on the content of the communications, i.e. entries in chats and audio and video data, as well as the use of other available functions (e.g. surveys). The content of the communications is encrypted to the extent technically provided by the conference providers. If participants are registered as users with the conference platforms, then further data may be processed in accordance with the agreement with the respective conference provider.

Logging and recordings: If text entries, participation results (e.g. from surveys) as well as video or audio recordings are logged, this will be transparently communicated to the participants in advance and they will be asked for consent – if necessary.

Data protection measures of the participants: Please observe the details of the processing of your data by the conference platforms and select the optimal security and data protection settings for you within the framework of the settings of the conference platforms. Furthermore, please ensure data and privacy protection in the background of your recording for the duration of a videoconference (e.g. by notifying roommates, locking doors and using the function to make the background unrecognizable, if technically possible). Links to the conference rooms as well as access data, may not be passed on to unauthorized third parties.

Notes on legal bases: If, in addition to the conference platforms, we also process users’ data and ask users for their consent to use the conference platforms or certain functions (e.g. consent to a recording of conferences), the legal basis of the processing is this consent. Furthermore, our processing may be necessary for the fulfilment of our contractual obligations (e.g. in lists of participants, in the case of processing of call results, etc.). Otherwise, user data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests in efficient and secure communication with our communication partners.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Communication partners, users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: provision of contractual services and customer service, contact requests and communication, office and organisational procedures.
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Contract performance and pre-contractual requests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • fastviewer: conferencing software; service provider: FastViewer GmbH, Schwesterhausgasse 11, 92318 Neumarkt i. d. Opf., Germany; website: https://fastviewer.com/de/; privacy policy: https://fastviewer.com/de/datenschutzhinweis/.
  • Microsoft Teams: messenger and conferencing software; service provider: Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA; Website: https://products.office.com; Privacy Policy: https://privacy.microsoft.com/de-de/privacystatement, Security Notice: https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/trustcenter; Standard Contractual Clauses (ensuring level of data protection for processing in third countries): https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs/view/Microsoft-Products-and-Services-Data-Protection-Addendum-DPA.
  • TeamViewer: conferencing software; service provider: TeamViewer GmbH, Jahnstr. 30, 73037 Göppingen, Germany; website: https://www.teamviewer.com/de; privacy policy: https://www.teamviewer.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung/.

Application procedure

The application procedure requires applicants to provide us with the data necessary for their assessment and selection. The information required can be found in the job description or, in the case of online forms, in the details provided there.

Basically, the required information includes personal information such as the name, address, a contact option and proof of the qualifications required for a position. Upon request, we will gladly provide additional information on which details are required.

If provided, applicants can submit their applications to us using an online form. The data is transmitted to us in encrypted form in accordance with the state of the art. Applicants can also send us their applications by e-mail. Please note, however, that e-mails sent via the Internet are generally not encrypted. As a rule, e-mails are encrypted in transit, but not on the servers from which they are sent and received. We can therefore not assume any responsibility for the transmission path of the application between the sender and the reception on our server.

For the purposes of searching for applicants, submitting applications and selecting applicants, we may use applicant management or recruitment software and platforms and services from third party providers in compliance with the legal requirements.

Applicants are welcome to contact us regarding the method of submission of the application or to send us the application by post.

Processing of special categories of data: Insofar as special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 (1) of the GDPR (e.g. health data, such as severely disabled status or ethnic origin) are requested from applicants in the context of the application procedure so that the controller or the data subject can exercise the rights accruing to him or her under employment law and social security and social protection law and fulfil his or her obligations in this regard, their processing is carried out in accordance with Art. 9 (2) lit. b. DSGVO, in the case of the protection of vital interests of the applicants or other persons pursuant to Art. 9 para. 2 lit. c. DSGVO or for the purposes of preventive health care or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the employee’s fitness for work, for medical diagnostics, for care or treatment in the health or social sector or for the management of systems and services in the health or social sector pursuant to Art. 9 para. 2 lit. h. DSGVO. In the case of a communication of the special categories of data based on voluntary consent, their processing is carried out on the basis of Art. 9 (2) lit. a. DSGVO.

Deletion of data: The data provided by applicants may be further processed by us for the purposes of the employment relationship in the event of a successful application. Otherwise, if the application for a vacancy is unsuccessful, the applicants’ data will be deleted. Applicants’ data will also be deleted if an application is withdrawn, which applicants are entitled to do at any time. The deletion will take place, subject to legitimate withdrawal by applicants, no later than the expiry of a period of six months to enable us to answer any follow-up questions about the application and to meet our obligations to provide evidence under the Equal Treatment of Applicants Regulations. Invoices for any reimbursement of travel expenses will be archived in accordance with the requirements of tax law.

Inclusion in an applicant pool: Inclusion in an applicant pool, if offered, is based on consent. Applicants are informed that their consent to inclusion in the talent pool is voluntary, has no influence on the current application process and that they can revoke their consent at any time for the future.

  • Types of data processed: Applicant data (e.g. personal details, postal and contact addresses, the documents relating to the application and the information contained therein, such as cover letter, curriculum vitae, certificates and other information relating to a specific position or voluntarily provided by applicants on their person or qualifications).
  • Persons Concerned: Applicants.
  • Purposes of the processing: application procedure (establishment and possible subsequent implementation as well as possible subsequent termination of the employment relationship).
  • Legal basis: Application procedure as a pre-contractual or contractual relationship (Art. 9 para. 2 lit. b DSGVO).

Cloud services

We use software services accessible via the Internet and running on the servers of their providers (so-called “cloud services”, also referred to as “software as a service”) for the following purposes: document storage and management, calendar management, sending e-mails, spreadsheets and presentations, exchanging documents, content and information with specific recipients or publishing web pages, forms or other content and information, as well as chats and participation in audio and video conferences.

In this context, personal data may be processed and stored on the servers of the providers, insofar as these are part of communication processes with us or are otherwise processed by us as set out in the context of this privacy policy. This data may include, in particular, master data and contact data of users, data on transactions, contracts, other processes and their contents. The cloud service providers also process usage data and metadata used by them for security purposes and service optimization.

If we use cloud services to provide forms or other documents and content to other users or publicly accessible websites, the providers may store cookies on users’ devices for the purposes of web analytics or to remember users’ settings (e.g. in the case of media control).

Notes on legal bases: If we ask for consent to use the cloud services, the legal basis of the processing is the consent. Furthermore, their use may be a component of our (pre)contractual services, provided that the use of the cloud services has been agreed within this framework. Otherwise, the users’ data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e., interest in efficient and secure management and collaboration processes)

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Affected persons: Customers, employees (e.g. employees, applicants, former employees), interested parties, communication partners.
  • Purposes of the processing: office and organisational procedures.
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Contract performance and pre-contractual requests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • Microsoft Cloud Services: cloud storage, cloud infrastructure services and cloud-based application software; Service Provider: Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA; Website: https://microsoft.com/de-de; Privacy Policy: https://privacy.microsoft.com/de-de/privacystatement, Security Notice: https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/trustcenter; Standard Contractual Clauses (ensuring level of data protection for processing in third countries): https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs/view/Microsoft-Products-and-Services-Data-Protection-Addendum-DPA.

 

Newsletter and electronic notifications

We send newsletters, e-mails and other electronic notifications (hereinafter “newsletter”) only with the consent of the recipients or a legal permission. Insofar as the contents of the newsletter are specifically described in the context of a registration, they are decisive for the consent of the users. Otherwise, our newsletters contain information about our services and us.

To subscribe to our newsletters, it is generally sufficient to provide your e-mail address. However, we may ask you to provide a name for the purpose of a personal address in the newsletter, or further details if these are required for the purposes of the newsletter.

Double-Opt-In-Procedure: The registration for our newsletter is always carried out in a so-called double opt-in process. This means that after registration you will receive an e-mail in which you are asked to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that no one can register with other e-mail addresses. The registrations to the newsletter are logged in order to be able to prove the registration process according to the legal requirements. This includes the storage of the registration and confirmation time as well as the IP address. Changes to your data stored by the shipping service provider are also logged.

Deletion and restriction of processing: We may store unsubscribed email addresses for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests before deleting them in order to be able to prove consent formerly given. Processing of this data will be limited to the purpose of possible defence of claims. An individual request for deletion is possible at any time, provided that the former existence of consent is confirmed at the same time. In the event of obligations to permanently observe objections, we reserve the right to store the e-mail address in a block list (so-called “block list”) for this purpose alone.

The logging of the registration process takes place on the basis of our legitimate interests for the purpose of proving its proper course. If we commission a service provider to send e-mails, this is done on the basis of our legitimate interests in an efficient and secure sending system.

Notes on legal basis: The newsletter is sent on the basis of the recipients’ consent or, if consent is not required, on the basis of our legitimate interests in direct marketing, if and to the extent that this is permitted by law, e.g. in the case of existing customer advertising. Insofar as we commission a service provider to send e-mails, this is done on the basis of our legitimate interests. The registration process is recorded on the basis of our legitimate interests in order to prove that it has been carried out in accordance with the law.

Contents: Information about us, our services, promotions and offers.

Measurement of opening and click-through rates: The newsletters contain a so-called “web-beacon”, i.e. a pixel-sized file that is retrieved from our server when the newsletter is opened, or, if we use a shipping service provider, from their server. Within the scope of this retrieval, technical information, such as information on the browser and your system, as well as your IP address and the time of the retrieval, are initially collected.

This information is used for the technical improvement of our newsletter based on the technical data or the target groups and their reading behaviour based on their retrieval locations (which can be determined with the help of the IP address) or the access times. This analysis also includes determining whether newsletters are opened, when they are opened and which links are clicked. This information is assigned to the individual newsletter recipients and stored in their profiles until they are deleted. We use the analyses to identify the reading habits of our users and to adapt our content to them or to send different content according to the interests of our users.

The measurement of opening rates and click rates as well as the storage of the measurement results in the profiles of the users and their further processing are based on the consent of the users.

A separate revocation of the performance measurement is unfortunately not possible, in this case the entire newsletter subscription must be cancelled, or it must be contradicted. In this case, the stored profile information will be deleted.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times).
  • Data subjects: Communication partners, users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: direct marketing (e.g. by e-mail or post), reach measurement (e.g. access statistics, recognition of returning visitors), conversion measurement (measurement of the effectiveness of marketing measures), profiles with user-related information (creation of user profiles).
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).
  • Opt-out: You can cancel the receipt of our newsletter at any time, i.e. revoke your consent or object to further receipt. You will find a link to cancel the newsletter either at the end of each newsletter or you can otherwise use one of the above contact options, preferably e-mail, for this purpose.

Services used and service providers:

  • Google Analytics: measuring the success of email campaigns and building user profiles with a storage period of up to two years; service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; website: https://marketingplatform.google.com/intl/de/about/analytics/; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; opt-out: opt-out plugin: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de, settings for display of ads: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated; types of processing as well as data processed: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/adsservices; data processing conditions for Google advertising products and standard contractual clauses for third country transfers of data: https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms.
  • HubSpot: email marketing platform; service provider: HubSpot, Inc., 25 First St., 2nd floor, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA; website: https://www.hubspot.de; privacy policy: https://legal.hubspot.com/de/privacy-policy; standard contractual clauses (ensuring level of data protection for processing in third countries): https://legal.hubspot.com/dpa.
  • Sendinblue: Email marketing platform; Service provider: Sendinblue GmbH, Köpenicker Str. 126, 10179 Berlin, Germany; website: https://sendinblue.com/; privacy policy: https://de.sendinblue.com/legal/privacypolicy/.

Web analysis, monitoring and optimization

Web analytics (also referred to as “reach measurement”) is used to evaluate the flow of visitors to our online offering and may include behavior, interests or demographic information about visitors, such as age or gender, as pseudonymous values. With the help of reach analysis, we can, for example, identify at what time our online offer or its functions or content are most frequently used or invite re-use. Likewise, we can understand which areas require optimization.

In addition to web analysis, we may also use testing procedures, e.g. to test and optimize different versions of our online offer or its components.

For these purposes, so-called user profiles may be created and stored in a file (so-called “cookie”) or similar procedures may be used with the same purpose. This information may include, for example, content viewed, websites visited and elements used there and technical information such as the browser used, the computer system used and information on usage times. If users have consented to the collection of their location data, this may also be processed, depending on the provider.

The IP addresses of the users are also stored. However, we use an IP masking procedure (i.e., pseudonymization by shortening the IP address) to protect users. In general, in the context of web analysis, A/B testing and optimization, no clear data of the users (such as e-mail addresses or names) are stored, but pseudonyms. This means that we, as well as the providers of the software used, do not know the actual identity of the users, but only the information stored in their profiles for the purposes of the respective procedures.

Notes on legal bases: Where we ask users for their consent to use third-party providers, the legal basis for processing data is consent. Otherwise, users’ data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in efficient, economic and recipient-friendly services). In this context, we would also like to refer you to the information on the use of cookies in this privacy policy.

  • Types of data processed: Usage data (e.g. web pages visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: Reach measurement (e.g. access statistics, recognition of returning visitors), profiles with user-related information (creation of user profiles).
  • Security measures: IP masking (pseudonymization of the IP address).
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • Google Analytics: reach measurement and web analytics; service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; website: https://marketingplatform.google.com/intl/de/about/analytics/; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; types of processing as well as data processed: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/adsservices; data processing conditions for Google advertising products and standard contractual clauses for third country transfers of data: https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms.
  • Google Tag Manager: Google Tag Manager is a solution with which we can manage so-called website tags via an interface and thus integrate other services into our online offer (please refer to further information in this data protection declaration). With the Tag Manager itself (which implements the tags), therefore, no profiles of users are created or cookies are stored. Google only learns the IP address of the user, which is necessary to run the Google Tag Manager. Service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; website: https://marketingplatform.google.com; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; types of processing as well as data processed: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/adsservices; data processing terms for Google advertising products and standard contractual clauses for third country transfers of data: https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms.

Online Marketing

We process personal data for online marketing purposes, which may include, but are not limited to, marketing advertising space or displaying promotional and other content (collectively, “Content”) based on users’ potential interests and measuring its effectiveness.

For these purposes, so-called user profiles are created and stored in a file (so-called “cookie”) or similar procedures are used, by means of which the information about the user relevant for the presentation of the aforementioned content is stored. This information may include, for example, content viewed, websites visited, online networks used, but also communication partners and technical information such as the browser used, the computer system used and information on usage times. If users have consented to the collection of their location data, this may also be processed.

The IP addresses of the users are also stored. However, we use available IP masking procedures (i.e., pseudonymization by shortening the IP address) to protect users. In general, no clear data of the users (such as e-mail addresses or names) are stored within the scope of the online marketing procedure, but pseudonyms. This means that we as well as the providers of the online marketing procedures do not know the actual identity of the users, but only the information stored in their profiles.

The information in the profiles is usually stored in the cookies or by means of similar procedures. These cookies can later generally also be read on other websites that use the same online marketing procedure and analysed for the purpose of displaying content as well as supplemented with further data and stored on the server of the online marketing procedure provider.

Exceptionally, clear data may be associated with the profiles. This is the case, for example, if the users are members of a social network whose online marketing procedures we use and the network links the profiles of the users with the aforementioned data. We ask you to note that users can make additional agreements with the providers, e.g. by giving their consent as part of the registration process.

In principle, we only receive access to summarized information about the success of our advertisements. However, in the context of so-called conversion measurements, we can check which of our online marketing methods have led to a so-called conversion, i.e., for example, to a conclusion of a contract with us. The conversion measurement is used solely to analyse the success of our marketing measures.

Unless otherwise stated, we ask you to assume that cookies used will be stored for a period of two years.

Notes on legal bases: Where we ask users for their consent to use third-party providers, the legal basis for processing data is consent. Otherwise, users’ data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in efficient, economic and recipient-friendly services). In this context, we would also like to refer you to the information on the use of cookies in this privacy policy.

  • Types of data processed: Usage data (e.g. web pages visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: marketing, profiling with user-related information (creating user profiles), conversion measurement (measuring the effectiveness of marketing measures).
  • Security measures: IP masking (pseudonymization of the IP address).
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).
  • Opt-out option: We refer to the data protection information of the respective providers and the opt-out options given for the providers. If no explicit opt-out option has been specified, you have the option of deactivating cookies in your browser settings. However, this may restrict the functions of our online offer. We therefore recommend the following additional opt-out options, which are offered in summary for the respective regions: a) Europe: https://www.youronlinechoices.eu. b) Canada: https://www.youradchoices.ca/choices. c) USA: https://www.aboutads.info/choices. d) Cross-territory: https://optout.aboutads.info.

Services used and service providers:

  • Google Analytics: online marketing and web analytics; service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; website: https://marketingplatform.google.com/intl/de/about/analytics/; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; opt-out: opt-out plugin: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de, settings for display of ads: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated; types of processing as well as data processed: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/adsservices; data processing conditions for Google advertising products and standard contractual clauses for third country transfers of data: https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms.
  • Google Ads and conversion measurement: We use the online marketing method “Google Ads” to place ads in the Google advertising network (e.g., in search results, in videos, on web pages, etc.) so that they are displayed to users who have a presumed interest in the ads. We also measure the conversion of the ads. However, we only learn the anonymous total number of users who clicked on our ad and were redirected to a page tagged with a so-called “conversion tracking tag”. However, we ourselves do not receive any information that can be used to identify users; Service Provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; website: https://marketingplatform.google.com; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; types of processing as well as data processed: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/adsservices; data processing terms for Google advertising products: Information on services Data processing terms and conditions between data controllers and standard contractual clauses for third country transfers of data: https://business.safety.google/adscontrollerterms.
  • HubSpot: Lead generation, marketing automation and analytics marketing software; Service provider: HubSpot, Inc., 25 First St., 2nd floor, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA; website: https://www.hubspot.de; privacy policy: https://legal.hubspot.com/de/privacy-policy; standard contractual clauses (guaranteeing level of data protection for processing in third countries): https://legal.hubspot.com/dpa.
 Presence in social networks (social media)

We maintain online presences within social networks and process user data in this context in order to communicate with users active there or to offer information about us.

We would like to point out that user data may be processed outside the European Union. This may result in risks for the users, because, for example, the enforcement of the rights of the users could be made more difficult.

Furthermore, user data within social networks is usually processed for market research and advertising purposes. For example, usage profiles can be created based on the usage behavior and resulting interests of the users. The usage profiles can in turn be used, for example, to place advertisements within and outside the networks that presumably correspond to the interests of the users. For these purposes, cookies are usually stored on the computers of the users, in which the usage behavior and the interests of the users are stored. Furthermore, data independent of the devices used by the users may also be stored in the usage profiles (especially if the users are members of the respective platforms and are logged in to them).

For a detailed description of the respective forms of processing and the possibilities of objection (opt-out), we refer to the data protection declarations and information provided by the operators of the respective networks.

Also in the case of requests for information and the assertion of data subject rights, we point out that these can be asserted most effectively with the providers. Only the providers have access to the users’ data and can take appropriate measures and provide information directly. If you still need help, you can contact us.

Facebook: We are jointly responsible with Facebook Ireland Ltd for collecting (but not further processing) data from visitors to our Facebook page (known as a “Fan Page”). This data includes information about the types of content users view or interact with, or the actions they take (see “Things You and Others Do and Provide” in the Facebook Data Policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy), as well as information about the devices users use (e.g., IP addresses, operating system, browser type, language settings, cookie data; see “Device Information” in the Facebook Data Policy Statement: https://www.facebook.com/policy). As explained in the Facebook Privacy Policy under “How Do We Use This Information?”, Facebook also collects and uses information to provide analytics services, called “Page Insights,” to Page operators to provide them with insights into how people interact with their Pages and the content associated with them. We have entered into a special agreement with Facebook (“Page Insights Information”, https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum), which in particular regulates which security measures Facebook must observe and in which Facebook has agreed to fulfil the data subject rights (i.e. users can, for example, send information or deletion requests directly to Facebook). The rights of users (in particular to information, deletion, objection and complaint to the competent supervisory authority) are not restricted by the agreements with Facebook. Further information can be found in the “Information on Page Insights” (https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/information_about_page_insights_data).

  • Types of data processed: contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: contact requests and communication, feedback (e.g. collecting feedback via online form), marketing.
  • Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • Facebook: Social network; service provider: Facebook Ireland Ltd, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland; parent company: Facebook, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA; website: https://www.facebook.com; privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy; opt-out: settings for ads: https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/ad_settings (login to Facebook is required).
  • LinkedIn: social network; service provider: LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland; website: https://www.linkedin.com; privacy policy: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy; opt-out: https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/guest-controls/retargeting-opt-out.
  • Twitter: social network; service provider: Twitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2 D02 AX07, Ireland, parent company: Twitter Inc, 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA; privacy policy: https://twitter.com/de/privacy, (settings) https://twitter.com/personalization.
  • YouTube: Social network and video platform; Service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; opt-out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.
  • Xing: Social network; Service provider: XING AG, Dammtorstraße 29-32, 20354 Hamburg, Germany; website: https://www.xing.de; privacy policy: https://privacy.xing.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung.

Plugins and embedded functions and content

We integrate functional and content elements into our online offer that are obtained from the servers of their respective providers (hereinafter referred to as “third-party providers”). These can be, for example, graphics, videos or city maps (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “content”).

The integration always requires that the third-party providers of this content process the IP address of the user, as without the IP address they could not send the content to their browser. The IP address is thus required for the display of this content or function. We endeavour to use only such content whose respective providers only use the IP address to deliver the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as “web beacons”) for statistical or marketing purposes. The “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 contain, among other things, technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of our online offer as well as be linked to such information from other sources.

Notes on legal bases: Where we ask users for their consent to use third-party providers, the legal basis for processing data is consent. Otherwise, users’ data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in efficient, economic and recipient-friendly services). In this context, we would also like to refer you to the information on the use of cookies in this privacy policy.

  • Types of data processed: Usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), inventory data (e.g. names, addresses).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: provision of our online offer and user-friendliness, provision of contractual services and customer service, feedback (e.g. collecting feedback via online form).
  • Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO), consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), contract performance and pre-contractual requests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

  • Google Fonts: We integrate the fonts (“Google Fonts”) of the provider Google, whereby the user’s data is used solely for the purpose of displaying the fonts in the user’s browser. The integration is based on our legitimate interests in a technically secure, maintenance-free and efficient use of fonts, their uniform display, as well as taking into account possible licensing restrictions for their integration. Service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; website: https://fonts.google.com/; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.
  • reCAPTCHA: We include the function “reCAPTCHA” to be able to recognize whether entries (e.g. in online forms) are made by humans and not by automatically acting machines (so-called “bots”). Processed data may include IP addresses, information about operating systems, devices or browsers used, language settings, location, mouse movements, keyboard strokes, time spent on web pages, previously visited web pages, interactions with ReCaptcha on other websites, cookies in some circumstances, and results of manual recognition processes (e.g. answering questions asked or selecting objects in images). Service Provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, Parent Company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; website: https://www.google.com/recaptcha/; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; opt-out: opt-out plugin: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de, ad display settings: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.
  • Shariff: We use the privacy-safe “Shariff” buttons. “Shariff” was developed to allow more privacy on the net and to replace the usual “share” buttons of the social networks. In doing so, it is not the user’s browser, but the server on which this online offer is located, that establishes a connection with the server of the respective social media platforms and queries the number of likes, for example. The user remains anonymous. More information about the Shariff project can be found at the developers of the magazine c’t: https://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Shariff-Social-Media-Buttons-mit-Datenschutz-2467514.html; Service provider: Heise Medien GmbH & Co KG, Karl-Wiechert-Allee 10, 30625 Hannover, Germany; website: https://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Shariff-Social-Media-Buttons-mit-Datenschutz-2467514.html; privacy policy: https://www.heise.de/Datenschutzerklaerung-der-Heise-Medien-GmbH-Co-KG-4860.html.
  • YouTube videos: Video content; Service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; Website: https://www.youtube.com; Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; Opt-out: Opt-out plugin: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de, Ad display settings: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Management, organization and auxiliary tools

We use services, platforms and software from other providers (hereinafter referred to as “third-party providers”) for the purposes of organizing, managing, planning and providing our services. When selecting third-party providers and their services, we observe the legal requirements.

In this context, personal data may be processed and stored on the servers of the third-party providers. This may involve various data that we process in accordance with this privacy policy. This data may include, in particular, master data and contact data of users, data on transactions, contracts, other processes and their contents.

If users are referred to third-party providers or their software or platforms in the course of communication, business or other relationships with us, the third-party providers may process usage data and metadata for security purposes, service optimization or marketing purposes. We therefore ask you to observe the data protection notices of the respective third-party providers.

Notes on legal bases: If we ask users for their consent to the use of third-party providers, the legal basis for the processing of data is consent. Furthermore, their use may be a component of our (pre-)contractual services, provided that the use of the third-party providers has been agreed within this framework. Otherwise, user data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in efficient, economical and recipient-friendly services). In this context, we would also like to refer you to the information on the use of cookies in this privacy policy.

  • Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Data subjects: Communication partners, users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: Reach measurement (e.g. access statistics, recognition of returning visitors), profiles with user-related information (creation of user profiles).
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO), Contract performance and pre-contractual requests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO), Contract performance and pre-contractual requests (EKD) (§ 6 No. 5 DSG-EKD).

Services used and service providers:

  • HubSpot: social media publishing, reporting (e.g. traffic sources, access figures, web analytics), contact management (e.g. contact forms, direct communication and user segmentation), landing pages; service provider: HubSpot, Inc, 25 First St., 2nd floor, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141, USA; website: https://www.hubspot.de; privacy policy: https://legal.hubspot.com/de/privacy-policy; standard contractual clauses (ensuring level of data protection in case of processing in third countries): https://legal.hubspot.com/dpa.

Modification and updating of the privacy policy

We ask you to regularly inform yourself about the content of our data protection declaration. We adapt the data protection declaration as soon as the changes in the data processing carried out by us make this necessary. We will inform you as soon as the changes require an act of cooperation on your part (e.g. consent) or other individual notification.

If we provide addresses and contact information of companies and organizations in this privacy statement, please note that the addresses may change over time and please check the information before contacting us.

 

Rights of data subjects

As a data subject, you are entitled to various rights under the GDPR, which arise in particular from Articles 15 to 21 GDPR:

  • Right to object: You have the right to object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of personal data concerning you which is carried out on the basis of Article 6(1)(e) or (f) DSGVO; this also applies to profiling based on these provisions. If the personal data concerning you is processed for the purpose of direct marketing, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you for the purpose of such marketing; this also applies to profiling insofar as it is related to such direct marketing.
  • Right of revocation for consents: You have the right to revoke any consent you have given at any time.
  • Right of access: You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal data in question is being processed and to be informed of such data and to obtain further information and a copy of the data in accordance with the law.
  • Right to rectification: In accordance with the law, you have the right to request that data concerning you be completed or that inaccurate data concerning you be rectified.
  • Right to erasure and restriction of processing: You have the right, in accordance with the law, to request that data relating to you be erased immediately or, alternatively, to request restriction of the processing of the data in accordance with the law.
  • Right to data portability: You have the right to receive data concerning you, which you have provided to us, in a structured, common and machine-readable format in accordance with the legal requirements, or to demand that it be transferred to another person responsible.
  • Complaint to supervisory authority: In accordance with the law and without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular a supervisory authority in the Member State where you usually reside, the supervisory authority of your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement, if you consider that the processing of personal data concerning you infringes the GDPR.

Definitions

This section provides you with an overview of the terms used in this privacy policy. Many of the terms are taken from the law and defined primarily in Art. 4 of the GDPR. The legal definitions are binding. The following explanations, on the other hand, are primarily intended to aid understanding. The terms are sorted alphabetically.

  • Creditworthiness information: Automated decisions are based on automatic data processing without human intervention (e.g. in the case of an automatic rejection of a purchase on account, an online credit application or an online application procedure without any human intervention). Such automated decisions are only allowed under Art. 22 GDPR if data subjects consent, if they are necessary for the performance of a contract or if national laws allow such decisions.
  • Content Delivery Network (CDN): A “Content Delivery Network” (CDN) is a service with the help of which the content of an online offer, in particular large media files such as graphics or program scripts, can be delivered faster and more securely with the help of regionally distributed servers connected via the Internet.
  • IP masking: “IP masking” refers to a method in which the last octet, i.e., the last two numbers of an IP address, is deleted so that the IP address can no longer be used to uniquely identify a person. Therefore, IP masking is a means of pseudonymizing processing procedures, especially in online marketing
  • Conversion measurement: Conversion measurement (also referred to as “visit action evaluation”) is a procedure that can be used to determine the effectiveness of marketing measures. For this purpose, a cookie is usually stored on the users’ devices within the websites on which the marketing measures take place and then retrieved again on the target website. For example, this allows us to track whether the ads we have placed on other websites have been successful.
  • Personal data: “Personal data” means 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 to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
  • Profiles with user-related information: The processing of “profiles with user-related information”, or “profiles” for short, includes any type of automated processing of personal data that consists in using such personal data to analyze, evaluate or to predict certain personal aspects relating to a natural person (depending on the type of profiling, this may include different information concerning demographics, behavior and interests, such as interaction with websites and their content, etc.) (e.g. interests in certain content or products, click behavior on a website or location). Cookies and web beacons are often used for profiling purposes.
  • Reach measurement: Reach measurement (also referred to as web analytics) is used to evaluate the flow of visitors to an online offering and can include visitors’ behavior or interests in certain information, such as website content. With the help of reach analysis, website owners can see, for example, at what time visitors visit their website and what content they are interested in. This enables them, for example, to better adapt the content of the website to the needs of their visitors. For the purposes of reach analysis, pseudonymous cookies and web beacons are often used to recognize returning visitors and thus obtain more precise analyses of the use of an online offer.
  • Controller: 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.
  • Processing: “processing” means any operation or set of operations which is performed upon personal data, whether or not by automatic means. The term is broad and covers virtually any handling of data, be it collection, analysis, storage, transmission or erasure.