Logo

privacy-policy

Preamble

With the following Privacy Policy, 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. This Privacy Policy applies to all processing of personal data carried out by us, both in the context of providing 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 offering").

The terms used are not gender-specific.

Date: December 3, 2024

Table of Contents

Controller

Dr. Thorsten Teschke
Schillerstrasse 30
18055 Rostock

Email address: thorsten.teschke@web.de

Overview of Processing Activities

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

Types of Data Processed

  • Contact data.
  • Content data.
  • Usage data.
  • Meta, communication, and procedural data.
  • Protocol data.

Categories of Data Subjects

  • Communication partners.
  • Users.

Purposes of Processing

  • Contact inquiries and communication.
  • Security measures.
  • Reach measurement.
  • Tracking.
  • Provision of our online offering and user-friendliness.
  • Information technology infrastructure.

Relevant Legal Bases

Relevant legal bases under the GDPR: In the following, we provide an overview of the legal bases of the GDPR on which we base the processing of 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 this Privacy Policy.

  • Consent (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR) - The data subject has given consent to the processing of their personal data for one or more specific purposes.
  • Performance of a contract and pre-contractual inquiries (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR) - Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract.
  • Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR) - Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data.

National data protection regulations in Germany: In addition to the data protection regulations of the GDPR, 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 provisions on the right to information, the right to erasure, the right to object, the processing of special categories of personal data, processing for other purposes, and transmission as well as automated individual decision-making, including profiling. State data protection laws of the individual federal states may also apply.

Reference to applicability of GDPR and Swiss DPA: These privacy notices serve both to provide information pursuant to the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (Swiss DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For this reason, we kindly ask you to note that due to the broader spatial application and comprehensibility, the terms of the GDPR are used. In particular, instead of the terms "processing" of "personal data," "overriding interest," and "particularly sensitive personal data" used in the Swiss DPA, the terms "processing" of "personal data" as well as "legitimate interest" and "special categories of data" used in the GDPR are used. However, the legal meaning of the terms continues to be determined in accordance with the Swiss DPA within its scope of application.

Security Measures

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures in accordance with legal requirements, taking into account the state of the art, the costs of implementation, and the nature, scope, context, and purposes of processing as well as the risk of varying likelihood and severity for the rights and freedoms of natural persons, in order to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk.

The measures include, in particular, safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data by controlling physical and electronic access to the data as well as access to, input into, disclosure of, ensuring of availability of, and segregation of the data. Furthermore, we have established procedures to ensure the exercise of data subject rights, deletion of data, and responses to data compromise. Furthermore, we take the protection of personal data into account as early as the development or selection of hardware, software, and procedures in accordance with the principle of data protection, through technology design and through data protection-friendly default settings.

TLS/SSL encryption (https): To protect the data of users transmitted via our online services, we use TLS/SSL encryption. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the standard technology for securing internet connections by encrypting data transmitted between a website or app and a browser (or between two servers). Transport Layer Security (TLS) is an updated and more secure version of SSL. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is displayed in the URL when a website is secured by an SSL/TLS certificate.

General Information on Data Storage and Deletion

We delete personal data that we process in accordance with legal provisions as soon as the underlying consents are revoked or no other legal bases for the processing exist. This applies to cases where the original purpose of processing ceases to apply or the data are no longer needed. Exceptions to this rule exist if legal obligations or special interests require longer storage or archiving of the data.

In particular, data that must be retained for commercial or tax law reasons or whose storage is necessary for legal prosecution or for the protection of the rights of other natural or legal persons must be archived accordingly.

Our privacy notices contain additional information on the retention and deletion of data that primarily applies to the respective processing operations.

In the case of multiple pieces of information on the retention period or deletion deadlines of data, the longest period shall always prevail.

If a period does not expressly commence on a specific date and is at least one year, it automatically begins at the end of the calendar year in which the event triggering the period occurred. In the case of ongoing contractual relationships in the context of which data are stored, the event triggering the deadline is the time at which the termination or other termination of the legal relationship becomes effective.

Data that are no longer stored for their original purpose but due to legal requirements or other reasons are processed exclusively for the reasons justifying their retention.

Further information on processing methods, procedures, and services used:

  • Evaluation of event data and user interactions: To continuously improve our online offering, we evaluate event data and user interactions. These evaluations allow us to better understand user behavior, preferences, and needs. By analyzing this data, we can optimize our content, design, and functionalities as well as tailor them to our users' requirements in order to enhance user experience. The data collected remains pseudonymized whenever possible so that no direct inferences about individual persons are possible. The data collected in this context includes information on usage behavior, such as pages visited, interactions with content, and the time users spend on various areas of our online offering. This information helps us recognize trends, identify popular content, and detect potential issues in user experience.

Rights of Data Subjects

Rights of data subjects under the GDPR: 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 based on Article 6(1)(e) or (f) GDPR; this also applies to profiling based on these provisions. If the personal data concerning you are processed for direct marketing purposes, 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 to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing.
  • Right to withdraw consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
  • Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation as to whether data in question are being processed and to request information about these data as well as further information and a copy of the data in accordance with legal requirements.
  • Right to rectification: In accordance with legal requirements, you have the right to request the completion of data concerning you or the rectification of inaccurate data concerning you.
  • Right to erasure and restriction of processing: In accordance with legal requirements, you have the right to request that data concerning you be erased without undue delay or, alternatively, to request restriction of the processing of the data in accordance with legal requirements.
  • Right to data portability: You have the right to receive data concerning you which you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format in accordance with legal requirements or to request that they be transmitted to another controller.
  • Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement, if you consider that the processing of personal data relating to you infringes the GDPR.

Provision of Online Offering and Web Hosting

We process users' data in order to be able to provide them with our online services. For this purpose, we process the user's IP address, which is necessary to transmit the content and functions of our online services to the user's browser or terminal device.

  • Types of data processed: Usage data (e.g., page views and duration of visit, click paths, intensity and frequency of use, types of devices and operating systems used, interactions with content and functions); Meta, communication, and procedural data (e.g., IP addresses, timestamps, identification numbers, persons involved); Protocol data (e.g., log files concerning logins or data retrieval or access times.). Content data (e.g., textual or pictorial messages and posts as well as information concerning them, such as information on authorship or time of creation).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g., website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: Provision of our online offering and user-friendliness; Information technology infrastructure (operation and provision of information systems and technical devices (computers, servers, etc.).). Security measures.
  • Retention and deletion: Deletion in accordance with information in the section "General Information on Data Storage and Deletion."
  • Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR).

Further information on processing methods, procedures, and services used:

  • Provision of online offering on rented server space: For the provision of our online offering, we use server space, computing capacity, and software that we rent or otherwise obtain from a corresponding server provider (also called "web hoster"); Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR).
  • Collection of access data and log files: Access to our online offering is logged in the form of so-called "server log files." Server log files may include the address and name of the web pages and files accessed, the date and time of access, the volume of data 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. Server log files may be used for security purposes, for example, to avoid overloading servers (especially in the case of abusive attacks, so-called DDoS attacks), and on the other hand, to ensure the utilization of servers and their stability; Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR). Retention period: Log file information is stored for a maximum period of 30 days and then deleted or anonymized. Data whose further retention is necessary for evidentiary purposes are exempt from deletion until the respective incident has been finally clarified.
  • Content Delivery Network: We use a "Content Delivery Network" (CDN). A CDN is a service with the help of which content of our online offering, 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; Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR).

Contact and Inquiry Management

When contacting us (e.g., via postal mail, contact form, email, telephone, or via social media) and in the context of existing user and business relationships, the information of the inquiring persons is processed to the extent necessary to respond to the contact inquiries and any requested measures.

  • Types of data processed: Contact data (e.g., postal and email addresses or telephone numbers); Content data (e.g., textual or pictorial messages and posts as well as information concerning them, such as information on authorship or time of creation); Usage data (e.g., page views and duration of visit, click paths, intensity and frequency of use, types of devices and operating systems used, interactions with content and functions); Meta, communication, and procedural data (e.g., IP addresses, timestamps, identification numbers, persons involved). Master data (e.g., names, addresses).
  • Data subjects: Communication partners.
  • Purposes of processing: Contact inquiries and communication; Managing and responding to inquiries; Feedback (e.g., collecting feedback via online form). Provision of our online offering and user-friendliness.
  • Retention and deletion: Deletion in accordance with information in the section "General Information on Data Storage and Deletion."
  • Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR). Performance of a contract and pre-contractual inquiries (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR).

Further information on processing methods, procedures, and services used:

  • Contact form: When users contact us via our contact form, email, or other communication channels, we process the data communicated to us in this context to process the communicated request; Legal bases: Performance of a contract and pre-contractual inquiries (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR), Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR).

Plugins and Embedded Functions and Content

Within our online offering, we integrate functional and content elements that are obtained from the servers of their respective providers (hereinafter referred to as "third-party providers"). These may 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 user's IP address, as without the IP address they could not send the content to their browser. The IP address is therefore necessary for the presentation of this content or functions. We strive to use only such content whose respective providers use the IP address solely for the delivery of 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, visit time, and other information about the use of our online offering, as well as be linked to such information from other sources.

Notes on legal bases: If we ask users for their consent to use third-party providers, the legal basis for processing data is consent. Otherwise, users' data are 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., page views and duration of visit, click paths, intensity and frequency of use, types of devices and operating systems used, interactions with content and functions); Meta, communication, and procedural data (e.g., IP addresses, timestamps, identification numbers, persons involved); Contact data (e.g., postal and email addresses or telephone numbers). Content data (e.g., textual or pictorial messages and posts as well as information concerning them, such as information on authorship or time of creation).
  • Data subjects: Users (e.g., website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: Provision of our online offering and user-friendliness; Profiles with user-related information (creating user profiles); Reach measurement (e.g., access statistics, recognition of returning visitors); Tracking (e.g., interest/behavioral profiling, use of cookies); Target group formation. Marketing.
  • Retention and deletion: Deletion in accordance with information in the section "General Information on Data Storage and Deletion." Storage of cookies for up to 2 years (Unless otherwise stated, cookies and similar storage methods may be stored on users' devices for a period of two years.).
  • Legal bases: Consent (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR). Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR).

Further information on processing methods, procedures, and services used:

  • YouTube Videos: Videos stored on YouTube are embedded within our online offering. The integration of these YouTube videos is carried out via a special domain using the "youtube-nocookie" component in the so-called "privacy-enhanced mode." In "privacy-enhanced mode," only information including your IP address as well as details about the browser and your end device may be stored on your end device in cookies or by means of comparable procedures until the video is started, which YouTube requires for the output, control, and optimization of the video display. As soon as you play the videos, additional information for the analysis of usage behavior as well as for storage in the user profile and for the personalization of content and advertisements may be processed by YouTube. The storage period for the cookies may be up to two years; Service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; Legal bases: Consent (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR); Website: https://www.youtube.com; Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; Basis for third country transfers: Data Privacy Framework (DPF). Further information: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/171780?hl=de-DE#zippy=%2Cturn-on-privacy-enhanced-mode%2Cerweiterten-datenschutzmodus-aktivieren.
  • Vimeo Video Player: Integration of a video player; Service provider: Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street New York, New York 10011, USA; Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR); Website: https://vimeo.com; Privacy Policy: https://vimeo.com/legal/privacy; Data Processing Agreement: https://vimeo.com/legal/enterprise-terms/dpa. Basis for third country transfers: Standard Contractual Clauses (https://vimeo.com/legal/enterprise-terms/dpa).

Changes and Updates

We ask you to inform yourself regularly about the content of our Privacy Policy. We will adapt the Privacy Policy as soon as 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 Policy, please note that addresses may change over time and ask you to verify the information before making contact.

Definitions of Terms

In this section, you will receive an overview of the terminology used in this Privacy Policy. Insofar as the terminology is legally defined, their legal definitions apply. The following explanations, on the other hand, are primarily intended to aid understanding.

  • Master data: Master data comprises essential information necessary for the identification and management of contracting parties, user accounts, profiles, and similar allocations. This data may include personal and demographic information such as names, contact information (addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses), dates of birth, and specific identifiers (user IDs). Master data forms the basis for any formal interaction between persons and services, institutions, or systems by enabling clear allocation and communication.
  • Content data: Content data comprises information generated in the course of creating, editing, and publishing content of all kinds. This category of data may include texts, images, videos, audio files, and other multimedia content published on various platforms and media. Content data are not limited to the actual content but also include metadata that provide information about the content itself, such as tags, descriptions, author information, and publication dates.
  • Contact data: Contact data are essential information that enables communication with persons or organizations. They include telephone numbers, postal addresses, and email addresses, as well as means of communication such as social media handles and instant messaging identifiers.
  • Meta, communication, and procedural data: Meta, communication, and procedural data are categories that contain information about how data are processed, transmitted, and managed. Metadata, also known as data about data, comprises information describing the context, origin, and structure of other data. They may include information on file size, creation date, author of a document, and modification histories. Communication data capture the exchange of information between users via various channels, such as email traffic, call logs, messages in social networks, and chat histories, including the persons involved, timestamps, and transmission paths. Procedural data describe the processes and workflows within systems or organizations, including workflow documentation, logs of transactions and activities, as well as audit logs used to track and verify operations.
  • Usage data: Usage data refers to information that captures how users interact with digital products, services, or platforms. This data encompasses a wide range of information showing how users use applications, which functions they prefer, how long they stay on certain pages, and through which paths they navigate through an application. Usage data may also include frequency of use, timestamps of activities, IP addresses, device information, and location data. They are particularly valuable for analyzing user behavior, optimizing user experiences, personalizing content, and improving products or services. In addition, usage data play a crucial role in identifying trends, preferences, and potential problem areas within digital offerings.
  • 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, comprises any kind of automated processing of personal data consisting of using such personal data to analyze, evaluate, or predict certain personal aspects relating to a natural person (depending on the type of profiling, different information concerning demographics, behavior, and interests, such as interaction with websites and their content, etc. may be involved) (e.g., interests in certain content or products, click behavior on a website, or location). Cookies and web beacons are frequently used for profiling purposes.
  • Protocol data: Protocol data are information about events or activities that have been logged in a system or network. This data typically contains information such as timestamps, IP addresses, user actions, error messages, and other details about the use or operation of a system. Protocol data are often used for analyzing system problems, security monitoring, or creating performance reports.
  • Reach measurement: Reach measurement (also referred to as web analytics) serves to evaluate the visitor flows of an online offering and may include the behavior or interests of visitors in certain information, such as content of websites. With the help of reach analysis, operators of online offerings can, for example, recognize at what time users visit their websites and what content they are interested in. This enables them, for example, to better adapt the content of the websites to the needs of their visitors. Pseudonymous cookies and web beacons are frequently used for reach analysis purposes in order to recognize returning visitors and thus obtain more accurate analyses of the use of an online offering.
  • Tracking: "Tracking" refers to situations where the behavior of users can be traced across several online offerings. As a rule, behavioral and interest information with regard to the online offerings used is stored in cookies or on servers of the providers of tracking technologies (so-called profiling). This information can subsequently be used, for example, to show users advertisements that presumably correspond to their interests.
  • Controller: "Controller" means 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 on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means. The term is broad and covers practically every handling of data, be it the collection, the evaluation, the storage, the transmission, or the deletion.
  • Target group formation: Target group formation (in English "Custom Audiences") refers to the determination of target groups for advertising purposes, e.g., display of advertisements. For example, it can be concluded from a user's interest in certain products or topics on the internet that this user is interested in advertisements for similar products or the online shop in which he viewed the products. "Lookalike Audiences" (or similar target groups), in turn, refers to content deemed suitable being shown to users whose profiles or interests presumably correspond to the users for whom the profiles were created. Cookies and web beacons are typically used for the purposes of creating Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences.

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