Privacy Policy

Data protection notice ODE.systems GmbH

Data protection information in accordance with the EU Data Protection Basic Regulation ("DSGVO") and the German Federal Data Protection Act ("Bundesdatenschutzgesetz, BDSG 2018") for users of the ODE-App

Status: October 2019

Thank you for using ODE-Services. Your trust is important to us. We respect your privacy. In this data protection notice, we explain to you how and why we use the personal data that you share with us and that we collect from you. In short, we use the personal information we collect to provide the service - our decision making app ("ODE App") - and its features to registered users. Without your consent, we will not use your personal data and information for any other purpose, nor will we transmit it to third parties.

Personal Information' means any information that can be used to identify you directly or indirectly by reference to an identifier, such as a name, location data or online identifier.

Please read on for detailed information about when we collect personal information, how and why we use it, and for more information about your rights.

1. Information on the responsible body

The body responsible under Article 4(7) of the DSGVO is:
ODE.systems GmbH
Alte Goethestrasse 3, 16321 Bernau bei Berlin
E-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The responsible body has appointed a data protection officer. The best way to contact our data protection officer is by e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or in writing at the above address with the addition "The data protection officer".

2. Definitions

Like all users in the ODE community, "moderators" have access to the decision topics published in the community.
"Administrators" are trained experts in accordance with the technical and organisational measures and the catalogue of measures to protect the processed personal data and the user accounts as well as the security of the ODE services. They continuously develop the ODE services and gain access to personal data within the scope of support cases.
"Personal data" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes, for example, information such as name, postal address, e-mail address or telephone number, but also usage data such as your IP address.
"Special categories of personal Data" means any information that allows a natural person to be identified based on biometric data and any data relating to gender, belief, sexual orientation, health, membership of a political or trade union organization, or criminal conviction or prosecution.
"Decision Topic" is the subject that the user uses the ODE app to process, in part algorithmically, or publishes in the ODE community with its network or in the ODE community, in order to obtain assistance in decision-making.
"Processing" means any operation or set of operations carried out with or without the aid of automated processes relating to (specifial categories of) personal data such as collection, recording, arrangement, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or association, limitation, erasure or destruction.

3. Processing processes and purposes

Hereinafter we would like to inform you which (special categories of) personal data we process and for which purposes we do this. The ODE app allows you to make votes or complex decisions using algorithm-based tools and guidance or by involving users of your community or the ODE community. In order to use the ODE app to make decisions, you must provide personal data when registering - with the exception of trial mode with limited functions - which we process to provide the respective service. In cases additional voluntary/optional information may given or if the possibilities of use are extended, these are marked accordingly as "optional". The decision topics selected by you may also contain (special) personal data at your choice.

3.1 Decision guidance

In connection with assistance with votes / decisions, the following personal data will be processed in accordance with Article 6 (1) b) or for special personal data in accordance with Article 9 (2) a) or e) DSGVO to fulfil our rental / service contract with you and in accordance with Article 6 (1) a) and Article 9 (2) a) or e) DSGVO for optional information:

3.1.1 General information

For the trial mode / test access you do not have to provide any personal information. If you use an ODE app, ODE.systems will automatically process the following information via the functions of the app store in trial mode according to the more detailed regulations of the respective app store with which the user is registered:

Used operating system and end device
Access date / time
Geographical allocation by country
IP address when submitting public user feedback

Content data of your decision topic is not processed by ODE.systems in trial mode. In this case, this data is only stored on your mobile device.

3.1.2 Registration

To register to use the ODE services, you must enter the following information:

First and last name, e-mail address and/or mobile phone number ("base data or inventory data") or, in the case of registration using social media identities, account name and the data transmitted by the respective social media service at your request.

Profile picture, if you use an authentic image, work and home address are optional details and are only collected and processed by us if you provide us with this information during registration or at a later date. We currently offer the ODE services as a beta version for free registered use. At the end of the beta phase, we will collect payment information and involve payment service providers.

You can agree to the use of your location data by ODE.systems during the installation of the ODE app or later via the operating system of your end device (smartphone, tablet, etc.), or revoke this authorization. In principle, your location data will only be processed if you are logged in and the ODE app is open as the active app in the front.

You can optionally grant access to the camera and the microphone of your device via the operating system of your device in order to upload photos, videos or audio data or, if offered, to use voice control and reset the use via the settings of your terminal device.

You can subscribe to news in the ODE app. We then process your data for the transmission of our news. If you no longer wish to receive the news, you can cancel the subscription in the ODE app. If we transmit information on the contract and the ODE app use, this is done within the framework of contract fulfilment.

The processing of this voluntarily provided personal data is based on your consent in accordance with Article 6 (1) a) or Article 9 (2) a) DSGVO. If you no longer wish the data you have optionally provided to be processed, you can revoke your consent by deleting the data from the ODE app.

The app also processes the contents and materials of your decision topic. If you use (special categories of) personal data of third parties as content and material in your decision topic, we process this content on the basis of Article 6 (1) b), 9 (2) a) or e) DSGVO. Information pursuant to Article 14 DSGVO is not reasonable for us, as we neither filter the content for personal data nor have the opportunity to identify and contact third parties. If you use the ODE app as a private individual, the provisions of the DSGVO and the German BDSG do not apply to the processing you carry out, but you must respect the personal rights of the third party.

3.2 Evaluation of the ODE Service

The ODE app allows the user to evaluate the decision making and support process of the ODE app, but also to inform us about problems. This data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interest pursuant to Article 6 (1) f) DSGVO in order to further develop our services and improve quality.

3.3 ODE Newsletter Subscription

You can subscribe to the ODE newsletter in the ODE app or on the ODE.systems website. We collect the personal data which we request using the input mask when ordering the newsletter. Optional data are marked with a *. ODE.systems informs you at regular intervals by means of the newsletter about its own offers or those of ODE.systems partners. The newsletter can only be received by the person concerned if (1) the person concerned has a valid e-mail address and (2) the person concerned registers for the newsletter. For legal reasons, a confirmation e-mail in the double opt-in procedure will be sent to the e-mail address entered for the first time by the person concerned for the purpose of sending the newsletter. This confirmation e-mail is used to check whether the owner of the e-mail address as the person concerned has authorised receipt of the newsletter.

When registering for the newsletter, we also store the IP address assigned by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) to the computer system used by the person concerned at the time of registration as well as the date and time of registration. The collection of this data is necessary in order to be able to track the (possible) misuse of the e-mail address of a data subject at a later point in time and therefore serves the legal protection of ODE.systems as the data controller.

The personal data collected as part of the newsletter service will not be transmitted to third parties. The subscription to our newsletter can be cancelled by the person concerned at any time. The consent to the storage of personal data, which the person concerned has given us for the newsletter dispatch, can be revoked at any time. For the purpose of revoking the consent, there is a corresponding link in each newsletter. It is also possible to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time directly on the ODE.systems website or in the ODE app.

The ODE newsletters contain so-called tracking pixels. A pixel is a miniature graphic that is embedded in our newsletter emails in HTML format to enable log file recording and log file analysis. This enables a statistical evaluation of the success or failure of online marketing campaigns. Using the embedded pixel-code, ODE.systems can detect if and when an email was opened by a person and which links in the email were accessed by that person.

ODE.systems stores and evaluates such personal data collected via the pixel-code contained in the newsletters in order to optimize the sending of the newsletter and to adapt the content of future newsletters even better to the interests of the recipients. This personal data will not be transmitted on to third parties. Affected persons are entitled at any time to revoke the relevant separate declaration of consent submitted via the double opt-in procedure.

3.4 Troubleshooting and improvement of functionality

In order to eliminate malfunctions of the ODE-App and to improve the functionalities and to adapt them to the needs of the users, we process the following personal data according to article 6 (1) f) DSGVO as far as necessary due to our legitimate interest:

First and last name, e-mail address, country, mobile phone number, profile picture (optional entry), your continental location data at the time of use (and your location data if you have permitted access), work and home address (optional entry), frequency and duration of use and information about your terminal (Device ID, Ad ID), language and time zone.

Insofar as it is sufficient to fulfil the respective purpose, we work with anonymised data and not with personal data.

3.5 Social Media Appearances

3.5.1 Facebook

When you access our Facebook page (via a link from our website, from our newsletter or directly), you are taken to the technical platform and services provided by Facebook Ireland Ltd, 4 Grand Canal Square Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Facebook").

We would like to point out that you use the Facebook page and its functions under your own responsibility. This applies in particular to the use of the interactive functions (e.g. commenting, sharing, rating).

When you visit our Facebook page, ODE.systems only collects personal information when you interact with us through our Facebook page, such as when you comment on something, click a like button or send us a message. The legal basis for the processing of such data by ODE.systems varies depending on how you use the features of our Facebook Page. If, for example, you send us a contract-relevant request, our data processing is based on Art. 6 (1) b) DSGVO. In addition, data processing can also take place on the basis of your consent in accordance with Art. 6 (1) a) DSGVO, for example if you "link" to one of our contributions/posts, comment on it or upload content to our Facebook page yourself. Your consent can be revoked at any time with effect for the future by deleting the comment or the relevant content. A revocation does not affect the legality of the processing that took place on the basis of the consent up to the revocation. In addition, we analyze the views and interactions on our Facebook page. For this purpose, Facebook creates user profiles and provides us exclusively with anonymous data in the form of page insights. Page insights are aggregated data that help us better understand how users interact with our Facebook page. Facebook provides more information about this at the following link: http://de-de.facebook.com/help/pages/insights.

Please note that when you use and access our Facebook page, your personal data is also processed by Facebook in addition to ODE.systems. ODE.systems and Facebook are jointly responsible for processing insights data. The respective responsibilities of ODE.systems and Facebook with regard to the processing of insights data are set out in the page insights supplement, which can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum

Facebook is responsible for how Facebook uses insigts data from visits to Facebook pages for its own purposes, the extent to which activities on the Facebook page are assigned to individual users, how long Facebook stores this data and whether data from a visit to the Facebook page is transmitted to third parties.

With regard to data processing via our Facebook Page, you have the option of asserting your data subject rights (see section 4 "Your rights" below) against ODE.systems as well as Facebook. Further information can be found in Facebook's data usage guidelines at de-de.facebook.com/about/privacy.

In addition to the processing described above, Facebook also processes your data for analysis and advertising purposes or to play out personalized advertising. To the best of our knowledge, Facebook also uses cookies, pixels or other techniques that store your usage behavior (even across different devices). This enables Facebook to play targeted advertising on its own platform and on third-party sites. The data collected about you in this context is also transferred by Facebook to the USA and other countries outside the European Union. Facebook describes in general terms in its data usage guidelines exactly what information Facebook receives and how it is used. You will also find information about how to contact Facebook and how to post advertisements. The data use guidelines are available at the following link: de-de.facebook.com/about/privacy. The complete Facebook data policies can be found here: https://de-de.facebook.com/full_data_use_policy

Facebook also offers Facebook members the opportunity to opt out of certain data processing practices by visiting https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads for information and opt-out options.

3.5.2 Links to social networks Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Vimeo, YouTube

On our website and in our newsletters we also link to our profiles of the other social networks Instagram (Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA; "Instagram"), LinkedIn (LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland "LinkedIn"); Twitter (Twitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland "Twitter"), Vimeo (Vimeo LLC headquartered at 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011 "Vimeo") and Youtube (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland ("Youtube"), each using the appropriate social network logo.

If you follow the links or access content from ODE.systems directly on these platforms, you will be on the websites of the respective social media service providers. The terms and conditions and data processing guidelines of the respective social media service providers will then apply.

We would like to point out that we are not aware of the content and scope of the processing of your data carried out by the respective service provider. Information on the handling of your data by the respective social media service provider can be found in the data protection declarations of these services:

for Instagram at http://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/
for LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
for Twitter at: https://twitter.com/de/privacy and https://help.twitter.com/de/rules-and-policies/twitter-cookies
for Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/privacy
for Youtube: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de&gl=de

We process data about our social media profiles to the extent that users of the social media platforms address messages or comments directly to us via our respective profile. Legal basis for the processing of the data is then the consent of the respective user according to Art. 6 (1) a) DSGVO or in the case of contract-relevant inquiries Art. 6 (1) b) DSGVO. We may share your content on our site if this is a function of the social media platform and communicate with you via the social media platform. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) f) DSGVO. In this case, data processing is carried out on the basis of our legitimate interest in public relations and communication.

4. Processing service providers and processing in countries outside the European Economic Area

Sometimes we use external service providers to process your data (e.g. hosting, troubleshooting, creation of mailings). For this purpose it is necessary for us to transfer your personal data to our external service provider for the intended purpose (limited to the respective purpose) or to make processing possible. Our service providers have been carefully selected and commissioned by us in writing. They are bound by our instructions and we have informed ourselves about their technical and organisational measures for the security of the processing of personal data. Furthermore, we require our service providers to comply with the applicable data protection regulations. We cooperate with service providers from the EU. To this end, we have concluded order processing agreements with our external service providers within the EU in accordance with Article 28 paragraph 3 DSGVO, insofar as this is necessary for the purpose of the agreement.

We store all our data at a cloud service provider within the EU or in IT infrastructures and devices (employees' computers) at our locations within the EU.

We do not sell or give away any personal data to third parties.

However, we reserve the right to disclose information about you if we are required to do so by law or if we are required to do so by authorities or law enforcement agencies (e.g. police or public prosecutors).

5. Your rights / rights of data subjects

If personal data is processed by us, you are the data subject within the meaning of the DSGVO and you have the following rights vis-à-vis ODE.systems:

You can request information about the scope, origin and recipients of the processed data as well as the purpose of the processing at any time and free of charge (Art. 15 DSGVO). You can request that incorrect data be corrected at any time (Art. 16 DSGVO). In addition, you have the option of receiving your personal data in a structured, common and machine-readable format (Art. 20 DSGVO).

You may object to the use of your personal data in the future (Art. 21 DSGVO). You may also request partial or complete deletion (Art. 17 DSGVO), restriction of processing or blocking (Art. 18 DSGVO) of your personal data. We will check this claim and, unless there is another legal basis for further processing, comply with it. We will inform you of the result.

Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you have the right to apply to a data protection supervisory authority such as The State Data Protection Commissioner and the Right of Access to Files of Brandenburg:

Dagmar Hartge
Stahnsdorfer Damm 77, 14532 Kleinmachnow, Phone: 033203/356-0, Fax: 033203/356-49
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

to complain about the processing of your personal data by us.

All requests for information, enquiries, revocations of consents, objections and other concerns regarding data processing can also be sent by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or to the address stated in the introduction.

6. Data security

We use appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure data security, in particular to protect your personal data against unauthorized access by third parties, accidental or intentional alteration, loss or destruction. These are regularly checked and adapted to the current state of the art. The transmission of your personal data from your end device (e.g. smartphone) to us is always encrypted.

7. Storage period and deletion

The data you provide us with will only be stored by us for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which you have provided us with your data or to comply with legal or official obligations. Personal data is generally anonymized by us after deletion of the account, unless we have a legitimate interest in a longer storage period (e.g. accounting requirements, litigation) of non-anonymized data, e.g. to meet our own archiving and verification obligations.

8. Updating and modification

We reserve the right to change this privacy policy in the future. If we decide to change this privacy statement, we will notify you of those changes in a timely manner and provide you with the opportunity to opt-in or opt-out of the changes.

Potsdam, October 2019
ODE.systems GmbH

Privacy Policy

1. An overview of data protection

General

The following gives a simple overview of what happens to your personal information when you visit our website. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. Detailed information on the subject of data protection can be found in our privacy policy found below.

Data collection on our website

Who is responsible for the data collection on this website?

The data collected on this website are processed by the website operator. The operator's contact details can be found in the website's required legal notice.

How do we collect your data?

Some data are collected when you provide it to us. This could, for example, be data you enter on a contact form.

Other data are collected automatically by our IT systems when you visit the website. These data are primarily technical data such as the browser and operating system you are using or when you accessed the page. These data are collected automatically as soon as you enter our website.

What do we use your data for?

Part of the data is collected to ensure the proper functioning of the website. Other data can be used to analyze how visitors use the site.

What rights do you have regarding your data?

You always have the right to request information about your stored data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection at no charge. You also have the right to request that it be corrected, blocked, or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in the legal notice if you have further questions about the issue of privacy and data protection. You may also, of course, file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities.

Analytics and third-party tools

When visiting our website, statistical analyses may be made of your surfing behavior. This happens primarily using cookies and analytics. The analysis of your surfing behavior is usually anonymous, i.e. we will not be able to identify you from this data. You can object to this analysis or prevent it by not using certain tools. Detailed information can be found in the following privacy policy.

You can object to this analysis. We will inform you below about how to exercise your options in this regard.

2. General information and mandatory information

Data protection

The operators of this website take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data as confidential and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.

If you use this website, various pieces of personal data will be collected. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. This privacy policy explains what information we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this happens.

Please note that data transmitted via the internet (e.g. via email communication) may be subject to security breaches. Complete protection of your data from third-party access is not possible.

Notice concerning the party responsible for this website

The party responsible for processing data on this website is:

ODE.systems GmbH
Alte Goethestrasse 3, 16321 Bernau bei Berlin,GERMANY

Telephone: +4933128128374
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The responsible party is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (names, email addresses, etc.).

SSL or TLS encryption

This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content, such as the inquiries you send to us as the site operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection in your browser's address line when it changes from "http://" to "https://" and the lock icon is displayed in your browser's address bar.

If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transfer to us cannot be read by third parties.

Encrypted payments on this website

If you enter into a contract which requires you to send us your payment information (e.g. account number for direct debits), we will require this data to process your payment.

Payment transactions using common means of payment (Visa/MasterCard, direct debit) are only made via encrypted SSL or TLS connections. You can recognize an encrypted connection in your browser's address line when it changes from "http://" to "https://" and the lock icon in your browser line is visible.

In the case of encrypted communication, any payment details you submit to us cannot be read by third parties.

Information, blocking, deletion

As permitted by law, you have the right to be provided at any time with information free of charge about any of your personal data that is stored as well as its origin, the recipient and the purpose for which it has been processed. You also have the right to have this data corrected, blocked or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in our legal notice if you have further questions on the topic of personal data.

3. Data collection on our website

Cookies

Some of our web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses. Cookies help make our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.

Most of the cookies we use are so-called "session cookies." They are automatically deleted after your visit. Other cookies remain in your device's memory until you delete them. These cookies make it possible to recognize your browser when you next visit the site.

You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

Cookies which are necessary to allow electronic communications or to provide certain functions you wish to use (such as the shopping cart) are stored pursuant to Art. 6 paragraph 1, letter f of DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure an optimized service provided free of technical errors. If other cookies (such as those used to analyze your surfing behavior) are also stored, they will be treated separately in this privacy policy.

Server log files

The website provider automatically collects and stores information that your browser automatically transmits to us in "server log files". These are:

Browser type and browser version
Operating system used
Referrer URL
Host name of the accessing computer
Time of the server request
IP address

These data will not be combined with data from other sources.

The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.

Contact form

Should you send us questions via the contact form, we will collect the data entered on the form, including the contact details you provide, to answer your question and any follow-up questions. We do not share this information without your permission.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will retain the data you provide on the contact form until you request its deletion, revoke your consent for its storage, or the purpose for its storage no longer pertains (e.g. after fulfilling your request). Any mandatory statutory provisions, especially those regarding mandatory data retention periods, remain unaffected by this provision.

Registration on this website

You can register on our website in order to access additional functions offered here. The input data will only be used for the purpose of using the respective site or service for which you have registered. The mandatory information requested during registration must be provided in full. Otherwise, we will reject your registration.

To inform you about important changes such as those within the scope of our site or technical changes, we will use the email address specified during registration.

We will process the data provided during registration only based on your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will continue to store the data collected during registration for as long as you remain registered on our website. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

Registration with Facebook Connect

Instead of registering directly on our website, you may also register using Facebook Connect. This service is provided by Facebook Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland.

If you decide to register with Facebook Connect and click on the "Login with Facebook" or "Connect with Facebook" buttons, you will be automatically redirected to the Facebook platform. There you can log in with your Facebook username and password. This will link your Facebook profile to our website or services. This link gives us access to your data stored on Facebook. Including especially your:

Facebook name
Facebook profile picture
Facebook cover picture
Email address provided to Facebook
Facebook ID
Facebook friends
Facebook Likes
Birthday
Gender
Country
Language

This data will be used to set up, provide, and personalize your account.

For more information, see Facebook's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. These can be found at https://de-de.facebook.com/about/privacy/ and https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/.

Leaving comments on this website

If you use the comment function on this site, the time at which you created the comment and your email address will be stored along with your comment, as well as your username, unless you are posting anonymously.

Storage of the IP address

Our comment function stores the IP addresses of those users who post comments. Since we do not check comments on our site before they go live, we need this information to be able to pursue action for illegal or slanderous content.

Subscribing to the comment feed

As a user of this site, you can sign up to receive the comment feed after registering. Your email address will be checked with a confirmation email. You can unsubscribe from this function at any time by clicking the link in the emails. The data provided when you subscribed to the comments feed will then be deleted, but if you have submitted this data to us for other purposes or elsewhere (such as subscribing to a newsletter), it will be retained.

How long comments are stored

The comments and the associated data (e.g. IP address) are stored and remain on our website until the content commented upon has been completely deleted or the comments are required to be removed for legal reasons (slander, etc.).

Legal basis

The comments are stored based on your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

Processing of data (customer and contract data)

We collect, process, and use personal data only insofar as it is necessary to establish, or modify legal relationships with us (master data). This is done based on Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract. We collect, process and use your personal data when accessing our website (usage data) only to the extent required to enable you to access our service or to bill you for the same.

Collected customer data shall be deleted after completion of the order or termination of the business relationship. Legal retention periods remain unaffected.

Data transferred when signing up for services and digital content

We transmit personally identifiable data to third parties only to the extent required to fulfill the terms of your contract with us, for example, to banks entrusted to process your payments.

Your data will not be transmitted for any other purpose unless you have given your express permission to do so. Your data will not be disclosed to third parties for advertising purposes without your express consent.

The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.

4. Analytics and advertising

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Google Analytics uses so-called "cookies". These are text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

Google Analytics cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising.

IP anonymization

We have activated the IP anonymization feature on this website. Your IP address will be shortened by Google within the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area prior to transmission to the United States. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address sent to a Google server in the US and shortened there. Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide other services regarding website activity and Internet usage for the website operator. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with any other data held by Google.

Browser plugin

You can prevent these cookies being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website. You can also prevent the data generated by cookies about your use of the website (incl. your IP address) from being passed to Google, and the processing of these data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

Objecting to the collection of data

You can prevent the collection of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set to prevent your data from being collected on future visits to this site: Disable Google Analytics.

For more information about how Google Analytics handles user data, see Google's privacy policy: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.

Outsourced data processing

We have entered into an agreement with Google for the outsourcing of our data processing and fully implement the strict requirements of the German data protection authorities when using Google Analytics.

Google reCAPTCHA

We use "Google reCAPTCHA" (hereinafter "reCAPTCHA") on our websites. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA ("Google").

reCAPTCHA is used to check whether the data entered on our website (such as on a contact form) has been entered by a human or by an automated program. To do this, reCAPTCHA analyzes the behavior of the website visitor based on various characteristics. This analysis starts automatically as soon as the website visitor enters the website. For the analysis, reCAPTCHA evaluates various information (e.g. IP address, how long the visitor has been on the website, or mouse movements made by the user). The data collected during the analysis will be forwarded to Google.

The reCAPTCHA analyses take place completely in the background. Website visitors are not advised that such an analysis is taking place.

Data processing is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in protecting its site from abusive automated crawling and spam.

For more information about Google reCAPTCHA and Google's privacy policy, please visit the following links: https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/ and https://www.google.com/recaptcha/intro/android.html.

5. Newsletter

Newsletter data

If you would like to receive our newsletter, we require a valid email address as well as information that allows us to verify that you are the owner of the specified email address and that you agree to receive this newsletter. No additional data is collected or is only collected on a voluntary basis. We only use this data to send the requested information and do not pass it on to third parties.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You can revoke consent to the storage of your data and email address as well as their use for sending the newsletter at any time, e.g. through the "unsubscribe" link in the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted. Data we have stored for other purposes (e.g. email addresses for the members area) remain unaffected.

MailChimp

This website uses the services of MailChimp to send newsletters. This service is provided by Rocket Science Group LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Suite 5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA.

MailChimp is a service which organizes and analyzes the distribution of newsletters. If you provide data (e.g. your email address) to subscribe to our newsletter, it will be stored on MailChimp servers in the USA.

MailChimp is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield is an agreement between the European Union (EU) and the US to ensure compliance with European privacy standards in the United States.

We use MailChimp to analyze our newsletter campaigns. When you open an email sent by MailChimp, a file included in the email (called a web beacon) connects to MailChimp's servers in the United States. This allows us to determine if a newsletter message has been opened and which links you click on. In addition, technical information is collected (e.g. time of retrieval, IP address, browser type, and operating system). This information cannot be assigned to a specific recipient. It is used exclusively for the statistical analysis of our newsletter campaigns. The results of these analyses can be used to better tailor future newsletters to your interests.

If you do not want your usage of the newsletter to be analyzed by MailChimp, you will have to unsubscribe from the newsletter. For this purpose, we provide a link in every newsletter we send. You can also unsubscribe from the newsletter directly on the website.

Data processing is based on Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time by unsubscribing to the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted from our servers and those of MailChimp. Data we have stored for other purposes (e.g. email addresses for the members area) remains unaffected.

For details, see the MailChimp privacy policy at https://mailchimp.com/legal/terms/.

Completion of a data processing agreement

We have entered into a data processing agreement with MailChimp, in which we require MailChimp to protect the data of our customers and not to disclose said data to third parties. This agreement may be viewed at the following link: https://mailchimp.com/legal/forms/data-processing-agreement/sample-agreement/.

6. Plugins and tools

YouTube

Our website uses plugins from YouTube, which is operated by Google. The operator of the pages is YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube plugin, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. Here the YouTube server is informed about which of our pages you have visited.

If you're logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

YouTube is used to help make our website appealing. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

Further information about handling user data, can be found in the data protection declaration of YouTube under https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy.

Vimeo

Our website uses features provided by the Vimeo video portal. This service is provided by Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a Vimeo plugin, a connection to the Vimeo servers is established. Here the Vimeo server is informed about which of our pages you have visited. In addition, Vimeo will receive your IP address. This also applies if you are not logged in to Vimeo when you visit our website or do not have a Vimeo account. The information is transmitted to a Vimeo server in the US, where it is stored.

If you are logged in to your Vimeo account, Vimeo allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your Vimeo account.

For more information on how to handle user data, please refer to the Vimeo Privacy Policy at https://vimeo.com/privacy.

Google Web Fonts

For uniform representation of fonts, this page uses web fonts provided by Google. When you open a page, your browser loads the required web fonts into your browser cache to display texts and fonts correctly.

For this purpose your browser has to establish a direct connection to Google servers. Google thus becomes aware that our web page was accessed via your IP address. The use of Google Web fonts is done in the interest of a uniform and attractive presentation of our website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

If your browser does not support web fonts, a standard font is used by your computer.

Further information about handling user data, can be found at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and in Google's privacy policy at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

Google Maps

This site uses the Google Maps map service via an API. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

To use Google Maps, it is necessary to save your IP address. This information is generally transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. The provider of this site has no influence on this data transfer.

The use of Google Maps is in the interest of making our website appealing and to facilitate the location of places specified by us on the website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

Further information about handling user data, can be found in the data protection declaration of Google at https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

7. Payment service providers

PayPal

Our website accepts payments via PayPal. The provider of this service is PayPal (Europe) S.à.r.l & Cie, S.C.A. (22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg.

If you select payment via PayPal, the payment data you provide will be supplied to PayPal based on Art. 6 (1) (a) (Consent) and Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO (Processing for contract purposes). You have the option to revoke your consent at any time with future effect. It does not affect the processing of data previously collected.