Privacy Policy - Genesis

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” for short) 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: May 3, 2021

Responsible person

Philipp Röttgers
Reinickendorfer Str. 13
58642 Iserlohn
Germany

E-mail address: info@genesis-band.com

Imprint: https://genesis-band.com/imprint/

Overview of processing operations

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

Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses).
Content data (e.g. entries in online forms).
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).
Contract data (e.g. subject matter of contract, term, customer category).
Payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history).

Categories of affected persons

Business and contractual partners.
Interested parties.
Communication partners.
Customers.
Users (e.g., website visitors, users of online services).

Purpose of processing

Affiliate tracking.
Provision of our online offer and user experience.
Conversion measurement (measuring the effectiveness of marketing efforts).
Office and organizational procedures.
Direct marketing (e.g., via email or postal mail).
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.
Management and response to requests.

Applicable legal bases

The following is 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. Furthermore, should more specific legal bases be relevant in individual cases, we will inform you of these in the data protection declaration.

Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a. DSGVO) – The data subject has given his/her consent to the processing of personal data relating to him/her for a specific purpose or purposes.
Performance of a contract and pre-contractual requests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO) – 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 data subject’s request.
Legal obligation (Art. 6 (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.

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, processing for other purposes and 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, implementation 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 organizational measures 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, in order to ensure a level of protection 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 of, disclosure of, assurance of availability of and segregation of the data. Furthermore, we have established procedures 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 during the development or selection of hardware, software as well as procedures in accordance with the principle of data protection, through technology design and through data protection-friendly default settings.

SSL encryption (https): In order to protect your data transmitted via our online offer, we use SSL encryption. You can recognize such encrypted connections by the prefix https:// in the address bar of your browser.

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

“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 all data handling.

“pseudonymization” shall mean the processing of personal data in such a way that the personal data cannot be related to a specific data subject without the inclusion of additional information, provided that this additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organizational measures ensuring that the personal data is not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person

“profiling” shall mean any automated processing of personal data consisting in using such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular with a view to analysing or predicting aspects relating to the performance of work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, conduct, whereabouts or movements of that natural person

The term “controller” shall mean the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.

“processor” means any natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

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 is only done in accordance with the legal requirements.

Subject to express consent or contractually or legally required transfer, we only process or allow the processing of data in third countries with a recognized 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).

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 information is stored using pseudonymous online identifiers, also referred to 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 ourselves.
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 store logins or other user input or for security reasons).
Statistical, marketing and personalization cookies: Furthermore, cookies are generally 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 privacy policy 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 processing 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 fulfill our contractual obligations.

Storage period: If we do not provide you with explicit information about 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 you have 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, via 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 based on 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 their 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), as well as the browser, system and end device used.

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 on the server side and in the cookie on the user’s 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 fulfill our contractual obligations, to secure our rights and for the purposes of the administrative tasks associated with this information as well as for business organization. Within the framework of applicable law, we only disclose the data of contractual partners to third parties to the extent that this is necessary for the aforementioned purposes or for the fulfillment of legal obligations or with the consent of the data subjects (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). 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 which data is required for the aforementioned purposes before or during data collection, e.g. in online forms, by means of special marking (e.g. colors) 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., generally 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 generally 10 years). We delete data disclosed to us by the contractual partner as part of an order in accordance with the specifications of the order, generally 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 shall apply in the relationship between the users and the providers.

Store and e-commerce: We process the data of our customers to enable them to select, purchase or order the selected products, goods and related 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 acquisition process and includes the information needed for delivery, or provision and billing, as well as contact information, so that any consultation can be held.

Artistic and literary services: We process the data of our clients in order to enable them to select, purchase or commission the chosen services or works and related activities, as well as their payment and delivery or execution or performance.

The required data are identified as such in the context of the order, purchase order or comparable contract conclusion and include the data required for delivery and invoicing as well as contact information in order to be able to hold any consultations.

Publication activities: We process the data of our contact partners, interview partners and other persons who are the subject of our publication, editorial, journalistic and related activities. In this context, we refer to the applicability of protective provisions of freedom of expression and freedom of the press pursuant to Art. 85 DSGVO in conjunction with the respective national laws. The processing serves the fulfillment of our commissioned activities and otherwise takes place in particular on the basis of the general public’s interest in information and media offerings.

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).
Data subjects: Interested parties, business and contractual partners, customers.
Purposes of processing: providing contractual services and customer service, contact requests and communication, office and organizational procedures, managing and responding to requests, security measures.
Legal basis: Contract performance and pre-contractual inquiries (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).

Google AdSense

This website uses Google AdSense. This is a service provided by Google Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, for the integration of advertisements. Google AdSense uses cookies. These are files that Google stores on your PC to analyze the data of your use of our website. In addition, Google AdSense also uses web beacons, which are invisible graphics that enable Google to analyze clicks on this website, traffic to this website and similar information.

The information obtained via cookies and web beacons, your IP address and the delivery of advertising formats are transmitted to a Google server located in the USA and stored there. Google may pass on this collected information to third parties if this is required by law or if Google instructs third parties to process the data. However, Google will merge your IP address with the other stored data.

By making the appropriate settings on your Internet browser, you can prevent the aforementioned cookies from being stored on your PC. However, this may mean that the contents of this website can no longer be used to the same extent. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

Payment procedure

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

The data processed by the payment service providers includes 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, total and recipient-related information. The information is required to carry out 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 payment service providers transmit the data 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 data protection information of the payment service providers.

For payment transactions, the terms and conditions and data protection notices 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).
Data subjects: Customers, interested parties.
Purposes of processing: provision of contractual services and customer service.
Legal basis: Contract performance and pre-contractual inquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services and service providers used:

Mastercard: payment services; service provider: Mastercard Europe SA, Chaussée de Tervuren 198A, B-1410 Waterloo, Belgium; Website: https://www.mastercard.de/de-de.html; Privacy Policy: https://www.mastercard.de/de-de/datenschutz.html.
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.
Visa: payment services; service provider: Visa Europe Services Inc, London Branch, 1 Sheldon Square, London W2 6TT, UK; website: https://www.visa.de; privacy policy: https://www.visa.de/nutzungsbedingungen/visa-privacy-center.html.

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

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, 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.

The server log files may be used on the one hand for security purposes, e.g., to prevent server overload (especially in the event of abusive attacks, so-called DDoS attacks) and on the other hand, to ensure the utilization of the servers and their stability.

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 processing: provision of our online offer and user-friendliness, provision of contractual services and customer service.
Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

WordPress.com: hosting platform for blogs / websites; service provider: Automattic Inc, 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA; Website: https://wordpress.com; Privacy Policy: https://automattic.com/de/privacy/.
STRATO: Services in the field of providing information technology infrastructure and related services (e.g. storage space and/or computing capacities); Service provider: STRATO AG, Pascalstraße 10,10587 Berlin, Germany; Website: https://www.strato.de; Privacy policy: https://www.strato.de/datenschutz.

Blogs and publication media

We use blogs or comparable means of online communication and publication (hereinafter “publication medium”). Readers’ data are 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.

Comments and contributions: When users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses may be stored based on our legitimate interests. This is done for our security in case someone leaves unlawful content in comments and posts (insults, prohibited political propaganda, etc.). In this case, we ourselves can be prosecuted for the comment or post and are therefore interested in the identity of the author.

Furthermore, we reserve the right, on the basis of our legitimate interests, to process users’ details for the purpose of spam detection.

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

The personal information provided in the context of comments and contributions, any contact and website information as well as the content-related information will be stored permanently by us until the user objects.

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: providing contractual services and customer service, feedback (e.g. collecting feedback via online form), security measures, managing and responding to requests.
Legal basis: Contractual performance and pre-contractual inquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate Interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Music and Podcasts

We use hosting and analytics services provided by service providers to offer our audio content for listening or downloading and to obtain statistical information about the retrieval of the audio content.

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), conversion measurement (measurement of the effectiveness of marketing measures), profiles with user-related information (creation of user profiles).

Services used and service providers:

Soundcloud: Soundcloud – Music Hosting; Service Provider: SoundCloud Limited, Rheinsberger Str. 76/77, 10115 Berlin, Germany; website: https://soundcloud.com; privacy policy: https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy.
Spotify: Spotify – music hosting and widget; service provider: Spotify AB, Regeringsgatan 19, SE-111 53 Stockholm, Sweden; website: https://www.spotify.com/de; privacy policy: https://www.spotify.com/de/legal/privacy-policy/.

Newsletter and electronic notifications

We send newsletters, e-mails and other electronic notifications (hereinafter referred to as “newsletters”) only with the consent of the recipients or a legal permission. If 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.

In order 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 personal address in the newsletter, or further information, if this is necessary 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 for 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. Likewise, changes to your data stored with the dispatch service provider are logged.

Deletion and restriction of processing: We may store unsubscribed e-mail addresses for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests before deleting them in order to be able to prove consent previously given. The processing of this data will be limited to the purpose of a possible defense against 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 case 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 to prove that it was carried out in accordance with the law.

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

Types of data processed: inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. email, phone numbers), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses), usage data (e.g. web pages visited, interest in content, access times).
Data subjects: Communication partners.
Purposes of processing: direct marketing (e.g., by e-mail or postal mail).
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:

Mailchimp: email marketing platform; service provider: “Mailchimp” – Rocket Science Group, LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE #5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA; website: https://mailchimp.com; privacy policy: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/; standard contractual clauses as the basis for processing in the USA: https://mailchimp.com/legal/data-processing-addendum/; special security measures: https://mailchimp.com/help/Mailchimp-european-data-transfers/.
Substack: email marketing platform; service provider: “Substack” – Substack Inc., 111 Sutter Street, 7th Floor
San Francisco CA 94104, USA ; website: https://substack.com/privacy

Affiliate programs and affiliate links

We include so-called affiliate links or other references (which may include, for example, search masks, widgets or discount codes) to the offers and services of third-party providers in our online offer (collectively referred to as “affiliate links”). If users follow the Affiliate Links or subsequently take advantage of the offers, we may receive a commission or other benefits from those third parties (collectively, “Commission”).

In order to be able to track whether users have taken advantage of the offers of an affiliate link used by us, it is necessary that the respective third-party providers learn that the users have followed an affiliate link used within our online offer. The assignment of the affiliate links to the respective business transactions or to other actions (e.g. purchases) serves the sole purpose of commission accounting and will be cancelled as soon as it is no longer necessary for the purpose.

For the purposes of the aforementioned assignment of the affiliate links, the affiliate links may be supplemented by certain values that are a component of the link or may be stored elsewhere, e.g. in a cookie. The values may include, in particular, the source website (referrer), the time, an online identifier of the operator of the website on which the affiliate link was located, an online identifier of the respective offer, the type of link used, the type of offer and an online identifier of the user.

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: contractual 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).
Data subjects: Users (e.g., website visitors, users of online services).
Purposes of processing: affiliate tracking.
Legal grounds: 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:

Amazon Affiliate Program: Amazon – Affiliate Program – Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or one of its affiliates. Service Provider: Amazon Europe Core S.à.r.l., Amazon EU S.à.r.l, Amazon Services Europe S.à.r.l. and Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., all four located at 38, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and Amazon Instant Video Germany GmbH, Domagkstr. 28, 80807 Munich, Germany (collectively “Amazon Europe”), parent company: Amazon.com, Inc, 2021 Seventh Ave, Seattle, Washington 98121, USA.; website: https://www.amazon.de; privacy policy: https://www.amazon.de/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201909010.

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, it could make it more difficult to enforce the rights of the users.

Furthermore, user data is usually processed within social networks 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 users’ computers, in which the usage behavior and 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 presentation of the respective forms of processing and the options to object (opt-out), we refer to the privacy statements and information provided by the operators of the respective networks.

In the case of requests for information and the assertion of data subject rights, we also 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, then you can contact us.

Facebook: We are jointly responsible with Facebook Ireland Ltd. for the collection (but not the further processing) of data of visitors to our Facebook page (so-called “fan page”). This data includes information about the types of content users view or interact with, or the actions they take (see under “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 under “Device Information” in the Facebook Data Policy-statement: https://www.facebook.com/policy). As explained in the Facebook Data 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 with 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 regulates in particular which security measures Facebook must observe and in which Facebook has agreed to fulfill 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:

Instagram: social network; service provider: Instagram Inc, 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA, parent company: Facebook, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA; website: https://www.instagram.com; privacy policy: https://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy.
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).
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.

Plugins and embedded functions and content

We incorporate into our online offering functional and content elements 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, since 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 functionality. We strive to use only such content whose respective providers use the IP address only 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 analyze 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 basis: If we ask users for their consent to the use of third-party providers, the legal basis for the processing of 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), profiles with user-related information (creation of user profiles).
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 Maps: We integrate the maps of the service “Google Maps” of the provider Google. The processed data may include, in particular, IP addresses and location data of users, which, however, are not collected without their consent (usually executed as part of the settings of their mobile devices); 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://cloud.google.com/maps-platform; 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.
OpenStreetMap: We integrate the maps of the service “OpenStreetMap”, which are offered on the basis of the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF). User data is used by OpenStreetMap solely for the purposes of displaying the map functions and for caching the selected settings. This data may include, in particular, IP addresses and location data of the users, which, however, are not collected without their consent (usually executed within the settings of their mobile devices). Service Provider: OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF); website: https://www.openstreetmap.de; privacy policy: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy.
Soundcloud Music Player Widget: Soundcloud Music Player Widget; Service provider: SoundCloud Limited, Rheinsberger Str. 76/77, 10115 Berlin, Germany; website: https://soundcloud.com; privacy policy: https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy.
Spotify Music Player Widget: Spotify Music Player Widget; service provider: Spotify AB, Regeringsgatan 19, SE-111 53 Stockholm, Sweden; website: https://www.spotify.com/de; privacy policy: https://www.spotify.com/de/legal/privacy-policy/.
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.
YouTube videos: Video content; YouTube is integrated via the domain https://www.youtube-nocookie.com in the so-called “Enhanced Privacy Mode”, whereby no cookies on user activities are collected in order to personalize video playback. Nevertheless, information on user interaction with the video (e.g. remembering the last playback point), may be stored; 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.
Vimeo: video content; service provider: Vimeo Inc., Attention: Legal Department, 555 West 18th Street New York, New York 10011, USA; Website: https://vimeo.com; Privacy Policy: https://vimeo.com/privacy; Opt-Out: We would like to point out that Vimeo may use Google Analytics and refer to the Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy) as well as the opt-out options for Google Analytics (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de) or Google’s settings for data use for marketing purposes (https://adssettings.google.com/).

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 will be limited to these purposes. I.e., 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 defense of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person.

Our data protection notices may also contain further details on the retention and deletion of data, which take priority for the respective processing operations.

Change and update of the privacy policy

We ask you to regularly inform yourself about the content of our privacy policy. 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 the data subjects

As a data subject, you are entitled to various rights under the GDPR, which arise in particular from Art. 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 Art. 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 to withdraw consent: You have the right to revoke any consent given at any time.
Right to information: you have the right to request confirmation as to whether data in question is being processed and to information about this data, as well as further information and a copy of the data in accordance with the legal requirements.
Right to rectification: you have the right, in accordance with the law, to request that data concerning you be completed or that inaccurate data concerning you be rectified.
Right to erasure and restriction of processing: In accordance with the legal requirements, you have the right to demand that data concerning you be deleted without delay, or alternatively, in accordance with the legal requirements, to demand restriction of the processing of the data.
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 its transfer to another responsible party.
Complaint to the 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, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement, if you consider that the processing of personal data relating to you infringes the requirements of the GDPR.

Definitions of terms

This section provides you with an overview of the terms used in this privacy statement. 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.

Affiliate tracking: Affiliate tracking logs links that the linking websites use to direct users to websites with product or other offers. The operators of the respective linking websites may receive a commission if users follow these so-called affiliate links and subsequently take advantage of the offers (e.g. buy goods or use services). For this purpose, it is necessary for the providers to be able to track whether users who are interested in certain offers subsequently take advantage of them at the instigation of the affiliate links. It is therefore necessary for the functionality of affiliate links that they are supplemented with certain values that become part of the link or are stored elsewhere, e.g. in a cookie. The values include, in particular, the source website (referrer), the time, an online identifier of the operator of the website on which the affiliate link was located, an online identifier of the respective offer, an online identifier of the user as well as tracking-specific values, such as, for example, advertising media ID, affiliate ID and categorizations.
Conversion measurement: Conversion measurement (also referred to as “visit action evaluation”) is a method used to determine the effectiveness of marketing measures. This is usually done by storing a cookie on users’ devices within the websites where the marketing actions take place and then retrieving it 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 of 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 known 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 reach analysis purposes, 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: “Controller” is 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 includes virtually any handling of data, be it collection, evaluation, storage, transmission or deletion.

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

Cookies and reports on access figures

We use “session cookies” from VG Wort, Munich, to measure access to texts in order to record the probability of copying. Session cookies are small units of information that a provider stores in the RAM of the visitor’s computer. A randomly generated unique identification number, a so-called session ID, is stored in a session cookie. In addition, a cookie contains information about its origin and the storage period. Session cookies cannot store any other data. These measurements are carried out by Kantar Germany GmbH using the Scalable Central Measurement Method (SZM). They help to determine the copy probability of individual texts for the remuneration of legal claims of authors and publishers. We do not collect any personal data via cookies.

Many of our pages are equipped with JavaScript calls, through which we report accesses to the Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort (VG Wort). We thus enable our authors to participate in the distributions of the VG Wort, which ensure the statutory remuneration for the uses of copyrighted works in accordance with § 53 UrhG.

It is also possible to use our offers without cookies. Most browsers are set to automatically accept cookies. However, you can deactivate the storage of cookies or set your browser to notify you as soon as cookies are sent.

Privacy policy on the use of the Scalable Central Measurement System.

Our website and our mobile website use the “Scalable Central Measurement Method” (SZM) of Kantar Germany GmbH to determine statistical parameters for determining the copy probability of texts.

Anonymous measurement values are collected in the process. The access count measurement alternatively uses a session cookie or a signature, which is created from various automatically transmitted information of your browser, for the recognition of computer systems. IP addresses are only processed in anonymized form.

The procedure was developed in compliance with data protection. The sole aim of the procedure is to determine the copying probability of individual texts.

At no time are individual users identified. Your identity always remains protected. You will not receive any advertising via the system.