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IMPRINT & PRIVACY POLICY

This data protection declaration explains to you the type, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data (hereinafter referred to as „data“) within our online offer and the associated websites, functions and contents as well as external online presences, e.g. our social media profile (hereinafter jointly referred to as „online offer“). With regard to the terms used, such as „processing“ or „person responsible“, we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the Basic Data Protection Ordinance (DSGVO).

Person in charge

Michael Münch – Muench IBC
Bergstr. 141c
44791 Bochum, Germany

E-mail: info@muench-ibc.biz
Link to imprint: http://www.muench-ibc.biz/wordpress/#imprint

Types of data processed

·      Inventory data (e.g., names, addresses).

·      Contact details (e.g., e-mail, telephone numbers).

·      Content data (e.g., text input, photographs, videos).

·      Usage data (e.g., visited websites, interest in content, access times).

·      Meta/communication data (e.g., device information, IP addresses).

Categories of persons concerned

Visitors and users of the online offer (hereinafter referred to as „users“).

Purpose of processing

·      Provision of the online offer, its functions and contents.

·      Answer contact requests and communicate with users.

·      Security measures.

·      Range measurement/marketing

Terms used

„Personal data“ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter referred to as „data subject“); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by assignment to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier (e.g. cookie) or to one or more special features that express the physical, physiological, genetic, psychological, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

„processing“ means any operation or series of operations carried out with or without the aid of automated procedures in connection with personal data. The term goes a long way and covers practically every handling of data.

„pseudonymisation“ means the processing of personal data in such a way that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that this additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organizational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person.

„Profiling“ means any automated processing of personal data consisting in the use of such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects relating to the work performance, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location or relocation of that natural person.

Responsible“ means the natural or legal person, authority, institution or other body that alone or together with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data.

„processor“ means a natural or legal person, authority, institution or other body processing personal data on behalf of the controller.

Applicable legal bases

In accordance with Art. 13 DSGVO, we inform you of the legal basis of our data processing. If the legal basis is not mentioned in the data protection declaration, the following applies: The legal basis for obtaining consents is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a and Art. 7 DSGVO, the legal basis for processing for the performance of our services and performance of contractual measures as well as for answering inquiries is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b DSGVO, the legal basis for processing to fulfil our legal obligations is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c DSGVO, and the legal basis for processing to protect our legitimate interests is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO. In the event that the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person require the processing of personal data, Article 6(1)(d) DSGVO serves as the legal basis.

Safety precautions

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of protection appropriate to the risk, taking into account the state of the art, implementation costs and the nature, scope, circumstances and purposes of processing as well as the different probability of occurrence and severity of the risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, in accordance with Art. 32 DSGVO.

Such measures shall in particular include ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data by controlling physical access to the data, as well as the access, input, transmission, security of availability and its separation. Furthermore, we have established procedures to ensure the exercise of rights of data subjects, deletion of data and reaction to endangerment of data. Furthermore, we already consider the protection of personal data during the development or selection of hardware, software and procedures, in accordance with the principle of data protection through technology design and data protection-friendly presettings (Art. 25 DSGVO).

Cooperation with contract processors and third parties

If we disclose data to other persons and companies (contract processors or third parties) within the scope of our processing, transmit it to them or otherwise grant them access to the data, this shall only take place on the basis of a legal permission (e.g. if a transmission of the data to third parties, such as payment service providers, in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b DSGVO for contract fulfilment is necessary), if you have consented, if a legal obligation provides for this or on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. when using agents, web hosts, etc.).

If we commission third parties with the processing of data on the basis of a so-called „order processing contract“, this is done on the basis of Art. 28 DSGVO.

Transfers to third countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e. outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or if this occurs in the context of the use of third-party services or disclosure or transfer of data to third parties, this only takes place if it occurs for the fulfilment of our (pre)contractual obligations, on the basis of your consent, on the basis of a legal obligation or on the basis of our legitimate interests. Subject to legal or contractual permissions, we process or leave the data in a third country only if the special requirements of Art. 44 ff. Process DSGVO. This means, for example, processing is carried out on the basis of special guarantees, such as the officially recognised determination of a data protection level corresponding to the EU (e.g. for the USA by the „Privacy Shield“) or compliance with officially recognised special contractual obligations (so-called „standard contractual clauses“).

Rights of data subjects

You have the right to request confirmation as to whether the data concerned are being processed and to request information about these data as well as further information and a copy of the data in accordance with Art. 15 DSGVO.

They have correspondingly. In accordance with Article 16 of the DSBER, you have the right to request the completion of data concerning you or the correction of inaccurate data concerning you.

In accordance with Art. 17 DSGVO, you have the right to demand that relevant data be deleted immediately or, alternatively, to demand a restriction on the processing of the data in accordance with Art. 18 DSGVO.

You have the right to request that the data concerning you that you have provided to us be received in accordance with Art. 20 DSGVO and to request its transmission to other persons responsible.

In accordance with Art. 77 DSGVO, they also have the right to file a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

Right of revocation

You have the right to revoke consents granted pursuant to Art. 7 para. 3 DSGVO with future effect

Right of objection

You can object to the future processing of the data concerning you in accordance with Art. 21 DSGVO at any time. The objection may be lodged in particular against processing for direct marketing purposes.

Cookies and right of objection in direct advertising

Cookies“ are small files that are stored on the user’s computer. Different data can be stored within the cookies. A cookie is primarily used to store information about a user (or the device on which the cookie is stored) during or after his or her visit to an online offer. Temporary cookies, or „session cookies“ or „transient cookies“, are cookies that are deleted after a user leaves an online offer and closes his browser. In such a cookie, for example, the content of a shopping basket in an online shop or a login status can be stored. Cookies are referred to as „permanent“ or „persistent“ and remain stored even after the browser is closed. For example, the login status can be saved when users visit it after several days. Likewise, the interests of users used for range measurement or marketing purposes may be stored in such a cookie. Third-party cookies“ are cookies that are offered by providers other than the person responsible for operating the online offer (otherwise, if they are only its cookies, they are referred to as „first-party cookies“).

We may use temporary and permanent cookies and clarify this within the framework of our data protection declaration.

If users do not want cookies to be stored on their computer, they are asked to deactivate the corresponding option in the system settings of their browser. Stored cookies can be deleted in the system settings of the browser. The exclusion of cookies can lead to functional restrictions of this online offer.

A general objection to the use of cookies for online marketing purposes may be raised for a large number of services, in particular in the case of tracking, via the US site http://www.aboutads.info/choices/oder the EU site http://www.youronlinechoices.com/erklärt. Furthermore, the storage of cookies can be achieved by deactivating them in the browser settings. Please note that in this case not all functions of this online offer can be used.

Deletion of data

The data processed by us will be deleted or their processing restricted in accordance with Articles 17 and 18 DSGVO. Unless expressly stated in this data protection declaration, the data stored by us will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for its intended purpose and the deletion does not conflict with any statutory storage obligations. If the data are not deleted because they are necessary for other and legally permissible purposes, their processing is restricted. This means that the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be retained for commercial or tax reasons.

According to legal requirements in Germany, the storage is carried out in particular for 10 years in accordance with §§ 147 para. 1 AO, 257 para. 1 no. 1 and 4, para. 4 HGB (books, records, management reports, accounting documents, trading books, documents relevant for taxation, etc.) and 6 years in accordance with § 257 para. 1 no. 2 and 3, para. 4 HGB (commercial letters).

In accordance with legal requirements in Austria, storage is carried out in particular for 7 years in accordance with § 132 (1) BAO (accounting documents, receipts/invoices, accounts, receipts, business papers, statement of income and expenses, etc.), for 22 years in connection with real estate and for 10 years for documents in connection with electronically provided services, telecommunications, radio and television services which are provided to non-entrepreneurs in EU member states and for which the Mini-One-Stop-Shop (MOSS) is used.

Business processing

Additionally we process

• Contract data (for example, contract object, term, customer category).
• Payment data (e.g., bank details, payment history)

from our customers, prospects and business partners for the purpose of providing contractual services, service and customer care, marketing, advertising and market research.

Contacting

When contacting us (e.g. via contact form, e-mail, telephone or social media), the user’s details are processed for processing the contact enquiry and its processing in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b) DSGVO. User information can be stored in a customer relationship management system („CRM system“) or comparable request organization.

We delete the requests if they are no longer necessary. We review this requirement every two years; the statutory archiving obligations also apply.

Newsletter

With the following information we inform you about the contents of our newsletter as well as the registration, dispatch and statistical evaluation procedure and your rights of objection. By subscribing to our newsletter you agree to the receipt and the described procedures.

Content of the newsletter: We send newsletters, e-mails and other electronic notifications containing advertising information (hereinafter „newsletters“) only with the consent of the recipients or a legal permission. If the contents of a newsletter are specifically described within the scope of a registration, they are decisive for the consent of the users. In addition, our newsletters contain information about our services and us.

Double opt-in and logging: Subscription to our newsletter takes place in a so-called double opt-in procedure. This means that after registration you will receive an e-mail asking you to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that no one can log in with other e-mail addresses. Subscriptions to the newsletter are logged in order to be able to prove the registration process in accordance with legal requirements. This includes the storage of the login and confirmation time, as well as the IP address. The changes to your data stored with the shipping service provider are also logged.

Credentials: To subscribe to the newsletter, simply enter your e-mail address. Optionally, we ask you to enter a name in the newsletter in order to address us personally.

The dispatch of the newsletter and the performance measurement associated with it is based on the recipient’s consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a, Art. 7 DSGVO in conjunction with § 7 para. 2 no. 3 UWG or on the basis of the legal permission pursuant to § 7 para. 3 UWG.

The registration procedure is recorded on the basis of our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO. We are interested in the use of a user-friendly and secure newsletter system that serves both our business interests and the expectations of users and also allows us to provide proof of consent.

Cancellation/Revocation – You can cancel the receipt of our newsletter at any time, i.e. revoke your consent. You will find a link to cancel the newsletter at the end of each newsletter. We may store the e-mail addresses we have unsubscribed for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests before we delete them in order to be able to prove a previously given consent. The processing of these data is limited to the purpose of a possible defense against claims. An individual application for cancellation is possible at any time, provided that at the same time the former existence of a consent is confirmed.

Newsletter – Mailchimp

The newsletter is sent by the mail service provider „MailChimp“, a newsletter delivery platform of the US provider Rocket Science Group, LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE #5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA. The data protection regulations of the shipping service provider can be viewed here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/. The Rocket Science Group LLC d/b/a MailChimp is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee to comply with the European data protection level (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000TO6hAAG&status=Active). The dispatch service provider is used on the basis of our legitimate interests according to Art. 6 Para. 1 letter f DSGVO and an order processing contract according to Art. 28 Para. 3 S. 1 DSGVO.

The shipping service provider can use the recipient’s data in pseudonymous form, i.e. without assignment to a user, to optimize or improve its own services, e.g. to technically optimize the dispatch and presentation of the newsletter or for statistical purposes. However, the shipping service does not use the data of our newsletter recipients to write them down itself or to pass the data on to third parties.

Newsletter – Performance Measurement

The newsletters contain a so-called „web-beacon“, i.e. a pixel-sized file which is downloaded from our server when the newsletter is opened or, if we use a shipping service provider, from whose server. Within the scope of this retrieval, technical information, such as information about the browser and your system, as well as your IP address and time of retrieval are initially collected.

This information is used to technically improve the services based on the technical data or the target groups and their reading behavior based on their retrieval locations (which can be determined using the IP address) or access times. The statistical surveys also include determining whether the newsletters are opened, when they are opened and which links are clicked. For technical reasons, this information can be assigned to the individual newsletter recipients. However, it is neither our endeavor, nor, if used, that of the shipping service provider, to observe individual users. The evaluations serve us much more to recognize the reading habits of our users and to adapt our contents to them or to send different contents according to the interests of our users.

Hosting

The hosting services we use serve to provide the following services: Infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space and database services, security services and technical maintenance services that we use for the purpose of operating this online offering.

We or our hosting provider process inventory data, contact data, content data, contract data, usage data, meta- and communication data of customers, interested parties and visitors of this online offer on the basis of our legitimate interests in an efficient and secure provision of this online offer according to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f DSGVO in conjunction with. Art. 28 DSGVO (conclusion of order processing contract).

Collection of access data and log files

We, or our hosting provider, collect the following data on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO data on each access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). Access data includes the name of the accessed website, file, date and time of access, transferred data volume, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user’s operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider.

Log file information is stored for a maximum of 7 days for security reasons (e.g. to investigate misuse or fraud) and then deleted. Data whose further storage is required for evidentiary purposes are excluded from deletion until the respective incident has been finally clarified.

Google Analytics

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO) Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google LLC („Google“). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about the use of the online offer by users is generally transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee to comply with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).

Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate the use of our online offer by users, to compile reports on the activities within this online offer and to provide us with further services associated with the use of this online offer and the use of the Internet. Pseudonymous user profiles can be created from the processed data.

We use Google Analytics only with IP anonymization enabled. This means that Google will reduce the IP address of users within Member States of the European Union or in other states party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there.

The IP address transmitted by the user’s browser is not merged with other Google data. Users can prevent the storage of cookies by setting their browser software accordingly; users can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to their use of the online offer and the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

Further information on data use by Google, possible settings and objections can be found in Google’s data protection declaration (https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads) and in the settings for the display of advertisements by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated).

Users‘ personal data will be deleted or made anonymous after 14 months.

Google AdWords and Conversion Measurement

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO) the services of Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, („Google“).

Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee to comply with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).

We use the online marketing process Google „AdWords“ to place ads in the Google Advertising Network (e.g., in search results, in videos, on websites, etc.) so that they are displayed to users who have a presumed interest in the ads. This allows us to display ads for and within our online offer more specifically in order to present users only ads that potentially correspond to their interests. For example, if a user is shown ads for products in which he is interested in other online offers, this is referred to as „remarketing“. For these purposes, when our and other websites on which the Google Advertising Network is active are accessed, Google directly executes a code from Google and (re)marketing tags (invisible graphics or code, also known as „web beacons“) are integrated into the website. With their help, an individual cookie, i.e. a small file, is stored on the user’s device (comparable technologies can also be used instead of cookies). In this file it is noted which websites the user visits, which contents he is interested in and which offers the user has clicked on, technical information on the browser and operating system, referring websites, visiting time and further information on the use of the online offer.

We also receive an individual „conversion cookie“. The information collected with the help of cookies is used by Google to generate conversion statistics for us. However, we only see the total number of anonymous users who clicked on our ad and were redirected to a page with a conversion tracking tag. However, we do not receive any information that personally identifies users.

User data is processed pseudonymously within the Google advertising network. This means that Google does not store and process, for example, the names or e-mail addresses of users, but processes the relevant data cookie-related within pseudonymous user profiles. This means from Google’s point of view, the ads are not managed and displayed for a specifically identified person, but for the cookie holder, regardless of who this cookie holder is. This does not apply if a user has expressly permitted Google to process the data without this pseudonymisation. The information collected about the users is transmitted to Google and stored on Google’s servers in the USA.

Further information on data use by Google, possible settings and objections can be found in Google’s data protection declaration (https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads) and in the settings for the display of advertisements by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated).

Online presence in social media

We maintain online presences within social networks and platforms in order to communicate with active customers, interested parties and users and to inform them about our services. When accessing the respective networks and platforms, the terms and conditions and the data processing guidelines of their respective operators apply.

Unless otherwise stated in our privacy policy, we process the data of users who communicate with us within social networks and platforms, e.g. write articles on our websites or send us messages.

Integration of third-party services and content

Within our online offer, we make no representations or warranties of any kind based on our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO) content or service offerings of third parties to incorporate their content and services, such as videos or fonts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as „content“).

This always presupposes that the third-party providers of this content perceive the IP address of the users, since without the IP address they could not send the content to their browser. The IP address is therefore required for the display of this content. We make every effort to use only those contents whose respective providers use the IP address only for the delivery of the contents. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as „web beacons“) for statistical or marketing purposes. Pixel tags“ can be used to evaluate information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user’s device and may include technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, visit time and other information about the use of our online offer, as well as be linked to such information from other sources. 

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