Personal data

Personal data refers to individual details on the personal or factual situation of a defined or definable natural person. This includes information such as name, address, phone number and date of birth.
 
Information that cannot be directly connected with the actual identity of the user – such as favoured websites or the number of users of a page – is, in contrast, not personal data.
 

Recording and processing of personal data

For the purposes of data security, when a user visits the provider’s web pages, the provider’s web server by default temporarily saves the calling computer’s connection data, the web pages that the user visits, the date and duration of the visit, the identification data of the browser, operating system type used and the web page from which the user visited the provider’s pages.
 
Any additional, personal information such as name, address, phone number or email address relating to the user is not recorded unless the user provides this information voluntarily, for example: during registration, in a survey or competition or if the user requests information from the provider or concludes a contract with the provider.

Use and forwarding of personal data

The provider only uses the personal data provided by the user for technical administration of the web pages and to fulfil the user’s requests and requirements, i.e. usually to process the concluded contract, for billing purposes or to answer the user’s enquiry.
 
The provider only uses this data for product-related surveys and marketing purposes if the user has given his or her agreement or – if legal provisions allow – has not refused to permit this use.
 
The user’s personal data is not sold to third parties. Forwarding or transmission by other means of the user’s personal data to third parties takes place within the framework of order data processing in accordance with § 11 BDSG [Federal Data Protection Act] for accounting and marketing support.
 
If the necessary prerequisites are met, the provider is entitled to record, process and use personal data required to identify and prevent the unlawful availment and assertion of claims. If necessary in an individual case, the provider is entitled to record, process and use the user data and connection data of those involved to identify, limit and eliminate defects and faults in communication systems.

According to the applicable provisions, the provider is able to provide the prosecution authorities and courts with information for the purposes of prosecution.

Use of cookies

As a rule, the provider does not use cookies on its web pages. However, in order to enable registered users to access applications, the provider uses session cookies which store the data on technical session control in the user’s browser’s cache. This data is not personal and is deleted (at the latest) when the browser is closed.
 
If, in exceptional cases, the provider has to store personal data in a cookie, the user’s permission is first obtained. The provider also informs the user that browsers usually have functions for managing cookies.

Website statistics

The provider uses third-party software for the statistical evaluation of its online offering. The data captured for this purpose is used exclusively for internal statistical analyses and is passed on neither to third parties nor published. No correlation is made between the data captured and personal data.

Security

The provider carries out extensive technical and organisational security measures to protect the user’s personal data against loss and misuse. The user’s data is stored in a secure operating environment that is not publicly accessible. In certain cases, personal data is encrypted during transmission by means of Secure Socket Layer technology (SSL). This means that communication between the user’s computer and the provider’s servers uses a recognised encryption technique, if the user’s browser supports SSL.
 
If the user contacts the provider by email, the provider informs the user that the confidentiality of the transmitted information cannot be guaranteed. The content of unencrypted emails can be viewed by third parties. The provider therefore recommends always sending confidential information by post.
 

Right to information

On written request, the provider will inform the user of which personal information about the user (e.g. name, address) was saved. At the request of the user, this information can also be provided electronically.