Personal data (usually referred to just as "data" below) will only be processed by us to the extent necessary and for the purpose of providing a functional and user-friendly website, including its contents, and the services offered there.
Per Art. 4 No. 1 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, i.e. the General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the "GDPR"), "processing" refers to any operation or set of operations such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation, alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination, or otherwise making available, alignment, or combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction performed on personal data, whether by automated means or not.
The following privacy policy is intended to inform you in particular about the type, scope, purpose, duration, and legal basis for the processing of such data either under our own control or in conjunction with others. We also inform you below about the third-party components we use to optimize our website and improve the user experience which may result in said third parties also processing data they collect and control.
Our privacy policy is structured as follows:
I. Information about us as controllers of your data
II. The rights of users and data subjects
III. Information about the data processing
The party responsible for this website (the "controller") for purposes of data protection law is:
BALance Technology Consulting GmbH
Contrescarpe 33
28203 Bremen
Germany
Telephone: +49 421 33517-0
Fax: +49 421 33517-11
e-Mail: balance@bal.eu
With regard to the data processing to be described in more detail below, users and data subjects have the right
- to confirmation of whether data concerning them is being processed, information about the data being processed,
further information about the nature of the data processing, and copies of the data (cf. also Art. 15 GDPR);
- to correct or complete incorrect or incomplete data (cf. also Art. 16 GDPR);
- to the immediate deletion of data concerning them (cf. also Art. 17 DSGVO), or, alternatively, if further processing
is necessary as stipulated in Art. 17 Para. 3 GDPR, to restrict said processing per Art. 18 GDPR;
- to receive copies of the data concerning them and/or provided by them and to have the same transmitted to other
providers/controllers (cf. also Art. 20 GDPR);
- to file complaints with the supervisory authority if they believe that data concerning them is being processed by
the controller in breach of data protection provisions (see also Art. 77 GDPR).
In addition, the controller is obliged to inform all recipients to whom it discloses data of any such corrections, deletions, or restrictions placed on processing the same per Art. 16, 17 Para. 1, 18 GDPR. However, this obligation does not apply if such notification is impossible or involves a disproportionate effort. Nevertheless, users have a right to information about these recipients.
Likewise, under Art. 21 GDPR, users and data subjects have the right to object to the controller's future processing of their data pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. In particular, an objection to data processing for the purpose of direct advertising is permissible.
Your data processed when using our website will be deleted or blocked as soon as the purpose for its storage ceases to apply, provided the deletion of the same is not in breach of any statutory storage obligations or unless otherwise stipulated below.
For technical reasons, the following data sent by your internet browser to us or to our server provider will be collected, especially to ensure a secure and stable website: These server log files record the type and version of your browser, operating system, the website from which you came (referrer URL), the webpages on our site visited, the date and time of your visit, as well as the IP address from which you visited our site.
The data thus collected will be temporarily stored, but not in association with any other of your data.
The basis for this storage is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the improvement, stability, functionality, and security of our website.
The data will be deleted within no more than seven days, unless continued storage is required for evidentiary purposes. In which case, all or part of the data will be excluded from deletion until the investigation of the relevant incident is finally resolved.
a) Session cookies
We use cookies on our website. Cookies are small text files or other storage technologies stored on your computer by your browser. These cookies process certain specific information about you, such as your browser, location data, or IP address.
This processing makes our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure, allowing us, for example, to display our website in different languages or to offer a shopping cart function.
The legal basis for such processing is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b) GDPR, insofar as these cookies are used to collect data to initiate or process contractual relationships.
If the processing does not serve to initiate or process a contract, our legitimate interest lies in improving the functionality of our website. The legal basis is then Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR.
When you close your browser, these session cookies are deleted.
If necessary, our website may also use cookies from companies with whom we cooperate for the purpose of advertising, analyzing, or improving the features of our website.
Please refer to the following information for details, in particular for the legal basis and purpose of such third-party collection and processing of data collected through cookies.
You can refuse the use of cookies by changing the settings on your browser. Likewise, you can use the browser to delete cookies that have already been stored. However, the steps and measures required vary, depending on the browser you use. If you have any questions, please use the help function or consult the documentation for your browser or contact its maker for support. Browser settings cannot prevent so-called flash cookies from being set. Instead, you will need to change the setting of your Flash player. The steps and measures required for this also depend on the Flash player you are using. If you have any questions, please use the help function or consult the documentation for your Flash player or contact its maker for support.
If you prevent or restrict the installation of cookies, not all of the functions on our site may be fully usable.
If you create a customer account with us via our website, we will use the data you entered during registration (e.g. your name, your address, or your email address) exclusively for services leading up to your potential placement of an order or entering some other contractual relationship with us, to fulfill such orders or contracts, and to provide customer care (e.g. to provide you with an overview of your previous orders or to be able to offer you a wishlist function). We also store your IP address and the date and time of your registration. This data will not be transferred to third parties.
During the registration process, your consent will be obtained for this processing of your data, with reference made to this privacy policy. The data collected by us will be used exclusively to provide your customer account.
If you give your consent to this processing, Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a) GDPR is the legal basis for this processing.
If the opening of the customer account is also intended to lead to the initiation of a contractual relationship with us or to fulfill an existing contract with us, the legal basis for this processing is also Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b) GDPR.
You may revoke your prior consent to the processing of your personal data at any time under Art. 7 Para. 3 GDPR with future effect. All you have to do is inform us that you are revoking your consent.
The data previously collected will then be deleted as soon as processing is no longer necessary. However, we must observe any retention periods required under tax and commercial law.
If you contact us via email or the contact form, the data you provide will be used for the purpose of processing your request. We must have this data in order to process and answer your inquiry; otherwise we will not be able to answer it in full or at all.
The legal basis for this data processing is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b) GDPR.
Your data will be deleted once we have fully answered your inquiry and there is no further legal obligation to store your data, such as if an order or contract resulted therefrom.
We use Google Analytics on our website. This is a web analytics service provided by Google Inc., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irland (hereinafter: Google).
Through certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active
Google guarantees that it will follow the EU's data protection regulations when processing data in the United States.
The Google Analytics service is used to analyze how our website is used. The legal basis is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the analysis, optimization, and economic operation of our site.
Usage and user-related information, such as IP address, place, time, or frequency of your visits to our website will be transmitted to a Google server in the United States and stored there. However, we use Google Analytics with the so-called anonymization function, whereby Google truncates the IP address within the EU or the EEA before it is transmitted to the US.
The data collected in this way is in turn used by Google to provide us with an evaluation of visits to our website and what visitors do once there. This data can also be used to provide other services related to the use of our website and of the internet in general.
Google states that it will not connect your IP address to other data. In addition, Google provides further information with regard to its data protection practices at
https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/partners,
including options you can exercise to prevent such use of your data.
In addition, Google offers an opt-out add-on at
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en
in addition with further information. This add-on can be installed on the most popular browsers and offers you further control over the data that Google collects when you visit our website. The add-on informs Google Analytics' JavaScript (ga.js) that no information about the website visit should be transmitted to Google Analytics. However, this does not prevent information from being transmitted to us or to other web analytics services we may use as detailed herein.
Within our online offer the so-called "Facebook pixel" of the social network Facebook, which is operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbor, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Facebook"), is used.
With the help of the Facebook pixel, it is on the one hand possible for Facebook to determine the visitors to our online offer as a target group for the presentation of advertisements (so-called "Facebook ads"). Accordingly, we use the Facebook Pixel to display the Facebook Ads we have been sent only to those Facebook users who have also shown an interest in our online offering or certain features (eg interests in certain topics or products that have been determined by visited web pages), which we transmit to Facebook (so-called "Custom Audiences"). With the help of the Facebook pixel, we also want to make sure that our Facebook ads are in line with the potential interest of users and are not annoying. With the help of the Facebook pixel, we can also understand the effectiveness of the Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes, in which we see whether users were redirected to our website after clicking on a Facebook ad (so-called "conversion").
The processing of the data by Facebook is part of Facebook's data usage policy. Accordingly, general notes on how to display Facebook Ads, in Facebook's Data Usage Policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy. For specific information and details about the Facebook Pixel and how it works, visit the help section of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/651294705016616.
If we ask users for consent (for example, in the context of a cookie consent), the legal basis of this processing is Art. 6 (1) lit. a. GDPR. Otherwise, the personal data of the users are processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (ie interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Article 6 (1) (f) of the GDPR).
Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement, thereby ensuring compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active).
You may object to the capture by the Facebook Pixel and use of your data to display Facebook Ads. To set which types of ads you see within Facebook, you can go to the page set up by Facebook and follow the instructions for the usage-based advertising settings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads. The settings are platform independent, i. they are adopted for all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.
Our website uses Google reCAPTCHA to check and prevent automated servers ("bots") from accessing and interacting with our website. This is a service provided by Google Inc., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irland (hereinafter: Google).
Through certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active
Google guarantees that it will follow the EU's data protection regulations when processing data in the United States.
This service allows Google to determine from which website your request has been sent and from which IP address the reCAPTCHA input box has been used. In addition to your IP address, Google may collect other information necessary to provide and guarantee this service.
The legal basis is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the security of our website and in the prevention of unwanted, automated access in the form of spam or similar.
Google offers detailed information at
https://policies.google.com/privacy
concerning the general handling of your user data.
We use YouTube on our website. This is a video portal operated by YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave, 94066 San Bruno, CA, USA, hereinafter referred to as "YouTube".
YouTube is a subsidiary of Google LLC, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irland, hereinafter referred to as "Google".
Through certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active
Google and its subsidiary YouTube guarantee that they will follow the EU's data protection regulations when processing data in the United States.
We use YouTube in its advanced privacy mode to show you videos. The legal basis is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in improving the quality of our website. According to YouTube, the advanced privacy mode means that the data specified below will only be transmitted to the YouTube server if you actually start a video.
Without this mode, a connection to the YouTube server in the USA will be established as soon as you access any of our webpages on which a YouTube video is embedded.
This connection is required in order to be able to display the respective video on our website within your browser. YouTube will record and process at a minimum your IP address, the date and time the video was displayed, as well as the website you visited. In addition, a connection to the DoubleClick advertising network of Google is established.
If you are logged in to YouTube when you access our site, YouTube will assign the connection information to your YouTube account. To prevent this, you must either log out of YouTube before visiting our site or make the appropriate settings in your YouTube account.
For the purpose of functionality and analysis of usage behavior, YouTube permanently stores cookies on your device via your browser. If you do not agree to this processing, you have the option of preventing the installation of cookies by making the appropriate settings in your browser. Further details can be found in the section about cookies above.
Further information about the collection and use of data as well as your rights and protection options in Google's privacy policy found at
https://policies.google.com/privacy
Our website uses the plug-ins of the following social networks. To integrate these plug-ins, we use the Shariff plug-in.
The legal basis is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in improving the quality of our website.
Shariff is an open source program developed by c't and heise. By integrating this plug-in, linked graphics prevent the following social network plug-ins from automatically establishing a connection to the respective social networks server when you visit website(s) on which the plug-ins are integrated. Only if you click on one of these linked graphics will you be forwarded to the service of the respective social network. Only then will information about your use of our site be recorded by the respective social network. This information may include your IP address, the date and time you visited our site, as well as the pages you viewed.
If you are logged in to one of the social network services while visiting one of our plugged-in websites, the information collected by the plug-in from your specific visit will be recognized by the provider of that social network and assigned to your personal user account there and/or publish information about your interaction with our site there. If, for example, you use the a share button for the social network, this information may be stored in your user account there and published on the platform of the respective social network provider. To prevent this, you must either log out of the social network before clicking the graphic or make the appropriate settings in your social network account.
Further information about Shariff is available at
http://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/Shariff-Social-Media-Buttons-mit-Datenschutz-2467514.html
The following social networks are integrated into our website:
Facebook operated by Facebook Inc, 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA, operated within the EU by Facebook Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Privacy information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php
Through certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active
Facebook guarantees that it will follow the EU's data protection regulations when processing data in the United States.
Twitter operated by Twitter Inc, 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA.
Privacy information can be found at https://twitter.com/privacy
Through certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000TORzAAO&status=Active
Twitter guarantees that it will follow the EU's data protection regulations when processing data in the United States.
WhatsApp operated by WhatsApp Inc, 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA, operated within the EU by WhatsApp Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Privacy information can be found at https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#privacy-policy
Through certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000TSnwAAG&status=Active
WhatsApp guarantees that it will follow the EU's data protection regulations when processing data in the United States.
LinkedIn operated by LinkedIn Corporation, 1000 W. Maude Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94085, USA, operated within the EU by LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Irland.
Privacy information can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
Through certification according to the EU-US Privacy Shield
https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000L0UZAA0&status=Active
LinkedIn guarantees that it will follow the EU's data protection regulations when processing data in the United States.
Model Data Protection Statement by Anwaltskanzlei Weiß & Partner