This is an unofficial translation of the original German document, compiled for informational purposes only. The German text of the official document is the only binding, authoritative version (https://www.steinbeis-sibe.de/datenschutzerklaerung/).

This data protection statement provides information on the type, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data (hereinafter „data“) within our online services and other websites affiliated with us, our functions and content as well as our other external online presences, such as our social media profile, for example (hereinafter „online services“). With regard to the terms used, such as „personal data“ or „processing“ we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Name/Company: SIBE GmbH
Address: Kalkofenstr. 53
Postal Code, City, Country: 71083 Herrenberg, Germany
Commercial register/No.: AG Stuttgart HRB 727153
Managing Director: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Werner G. Faix, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Kisgen
Telephone No.: +49 (0) 7032 / 94 58 – 0
E-mail address: info@steinbeis-sibe.de

Name: Dr. Eva Feldbaum
Address: Kalkofenstr. 53
Postal Code, City, Country: 71083 Herrenberg, Germany
Telephone No.: +49 (0) 7032 / 94 58 – 50
E-mail address: datenschutz@steinbeis-sibe.de

1.1. This data protection statement provides information about the type, extent and purpose of the processing of personal data within our online services and the related web pages, functions and content (hereinafter referred to as „online services“ or „website“). The data protection statement applies regardless of the domains, systems, platforms and devices (e.g. desktop or mobile) on which we have an active online presence.
1.2. With regard to the terms used, such as „personal data“ or its „processing“ we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1.3. In the context of our online services, the user data we process include:

* limited in each case to the data required for the processing purpose

1.4. Processing of special data categories (Art. 9 par. 1 GDPR)
Note: Please select whether or not, and if so, which categories of specific types of personal data are processed. These include data concerning racial and ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data for unique identification of a natural person, health data, sex life data or sexual orientation:
In principle, no special categories of data are processed, unless they are supplied for processing by users, e.g. entered in online forms.

1.5. Purpose of processing:
• Provision of the online offer, its contents and functions
• Performance of contractual services, service and customer care
• Answering contact requests and communication with users
• Marketing, advertising and market research

1.6. The term „user(s)“ includes all categories of data processing of affected persons. These include interested parties, applicants, students, alumni, company representatives, lecturers, cooperation partners, and other visitors of our online services. The terms used, such as „user(s)“ are to be understood as gender-neutral.

1.7. We process personal data from users only in compliance with the relevant data protection regulations. This means that user data is processed only if legal permission has been granted. In other words, especially when user data must be processed to provide our contractual services (e.g. processing orders) as well as online services, or is required by law, we have the consent of those users. In addition, we process user data only when this is in our legitimate interests, i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation and security of our online services in the sense of Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR. This applies in particular to audience measurement, the creation of profiles for advertising and marketing purposes as well as the collection of access data and use of third-party services.

1.8. We point out that the legal basis for consent is Art. 6 par. 1 lit. a. and Art. 7 GDPR; the legal basis for processing to fulfill our services and implement contractual measures is Art. 6 par. 1 lit. b. GDPR; the legal basis for processing in order to fulfill our legal obligations is Art. 6 par. 1 lit. c. GDPR; and the legal basis for processing in order to preserve our legitimate interests is Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR.

2.1. In accordance with Art. 32 GDPR and under consideration of the current state of technology, the costs of implementation and the type, scope, circumstances and purpose of the processing as well as the various likelihoods and severity of risks to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, we carry out suitable technical and organizational measures that guarantee a level of security appropriate to the risks. These measures specifically include protection of confidentiality, integrity and availability of data through the monitoring of physical access to data, as well as that of the respective access, entry, transfer, security of the availability and its separation. Furthermore, we have established processes that guarantee the exercise of the rights of the persons concerned, the deletion of data and the response to risks to the data. We also take into account the protection of personal data as early as the development process, or the selection of hardware, software as well as processes, in accordance with the principle of data protection by technical design and through data-protection-friendly defaults (Art. 25 GDPR).

2.2. These security measures include in particular the encrypted transmission of data between your browser and our server.

3.1. If we disclose data to other persons and companies (order processors or third parties) for processing, or if we transmit or give them some other kind of access to the data, this is done only on the basis of legal permission (e.g. if transmission of data to third parties, such as to payment service providers, in accordance with Art. 6 par. 1 lit. b GDPR is necessary for performance of the contract). Such third parties have a legal commitment that is required or is based on our legitimate interests (e.g. when agents, web hosters etc. are used).

3.2. If we commission a third party to process our data based on a so-called „order processing contract“, this is done on the basis of Art. 28 of the GDPR.

4.1. The transmission of data to third parties is only carried out in the framework of legal requirements. We only transmit user data to third parties if this is necessary for contractual purposes, e.g. based on Art. 6 par. 1 b) GDPR or on the basis of legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR or for the economic and effective operation of our business operations.

4.2. If we use cooperation partners to provide our services, we take appropriate legal measures as well as the corresponding technical and organizational measures in order to ensure the protection of the personal data in accordance with the relevant legal provisions.

If we process data in a third country (i.e. outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA) in which the GDPR is not directly applicable) or have it processed when using third-party services, or disclose or transmit data to third parties, this is done only to fulfill our (pre)contractual obligations, and either based on your consent, due to a legal obligation or based on our legitimate interests. Subject to legal or contractual permissions, we process or leave the data in a third country only with proof of compliance with the special conditions of Art. 44 ff. GDPR. This means that processing is carried out, for example, based on special guarantees such as the officially recognized determination of a data protection level corresponding to the EU (e.g. by the „Privacy Shield“ in the USA) or compliance with officially recognized special contractual obligations (so-called „standard contractual clauses“).

6.1. You have the right to request confirmation about whether the data concerned is processed and to information about this data as well as to further information and copies of the data in accordance with Art. 15 GDPR.

6.2. In accordance with Art. 16 GDPR, you correspondingly have the right to request the completion or correction of your data.

6.3. In accordance with Art. 17 GDPR, you have the right to demand that data be deleted immediately, or alternatively, in accordance with the provisions of Art. 18 GDPR, to request limitation of the processing of the data.

6.4. You have the right to demand that the data you have given us, in accordance with the provisions of Art. 20 GDPR, be retained and to request its transmission to other responsible persons.

6.5. Furthermore, in accordance with Art. 77 GDPR, you have the right to submit a complaint to the competent regulatory authorities.

In accordance with Art. 7 par. 3 GDPR, you have the right to withdraw any consent you have given us, with effect for the future.

Users can always refuse any future processing of their personal data in accordance with legal requirements. This right can be demanded in particular against processing for purposes of direct advertising.

9.1. We process data (e.g. names and addresses as well as contact data from users), contract data (e.g. services, names of contact persons, payment information) to perform our contractual obligations and services in accordance with Art. 6 par. 1 lit b. GDPR. The entries in online forms that are marked as mandatory are required for processing purposes.

9.2. Users can fill out a contact form or apply online and upload their application documents. In this case, users are informed about the required information. The data transmitted via contact forms or using the application tool are not public and cannot be indexed by search engines.

9.3. In the context of using our online services, we store the IP address and time of the respective user’s actions. Storage takes place based on our legitimate interests, as well as the legitimate interests of users to protect against misuse and other unauthorized use. In principle, this data is not transmitted to third parties unless necessary for the pursuit of our needs or unless we are legally obliged to do so in accordance with Art. 6 par. 1 lit. c GDPR.

9.4. Data are deleted after the expiry of the statutory and comparable obligations. The necessity of storing the data is checked every three years; in the case of legal archiving requirements, data are deleted after its expiry (end of commercial law (6 years) and fiscal law (10 years)); information in the customer account remains until its deletion.

10.1. When contacting us (via contact form or e-mail), user information is processed to handle the contact request in accordance with Art. 6 par. 1 lit. b) GDPR.

10.2. User information can be stored on our own EDP system based on our legitimate interests (rapid handling).

11.1. If users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses are stored for 7 days based on our legitimate interests in the sense of Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR.

11.2. We do this for our security, in the event that someone leaves illegal comments and contributions (e.g. insults, forbidden political propaganda, etc.). In this case, we can be prosecuted for the comments or contribution and are therefore interested in the identity of the author.

12.1. Based on our legitimate interests in the sense of Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR, we collect data on every access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). The access data includes the name of the retrieved website, file, date and time of the retrieval, amount of data transmitted, message about successful retrieval, type and version of browser, the user’s operating system, the referring URL (the previously visited page), pseudonymized IP address and the requesting provider.

12.2. Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g. to clear up cases of abuse or fraudulent actions) for maximal 7 days (or in case of backups 14 days) and subsequently deleted. Only pseudonymized IP addresses of website visitors are stored. At the web server level, this is done with defaults in the log file instead of the actual IP address of the visitor, e.g. for 123.123.123.123.123.123., storage of the IP address 123.123.123.123.XXX is stored, where XXX is a random value between 1 and 254 . It is no longer possible to connect any person with the data. Data that are required to be stored for purposes of proof are exempted from deletion until the respective incident is completely cleared up.

13.1. Based on our legitimate interests in the sense of Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR, we maintain online presences on social networks and platforms in order to communicate with active customers, interested parties and users and to inform them about our services. When using the respective networks and platforms, the terms and conditions and the data processing policies of the respective operators are valid.

13.2. Unless otherwise stated in our privacy policy, we process the data of social network and platform users only if they communicate with us on those platforms, e.g. write contributions on our online presences or send us a message.

14.1. Cookies are information transferred from our web server or the web servers of third parties to the web browsers of users and stored there for later retrieval. Cookies can be small files or other types of information storage.

14.2. We use „session cookies“ that are only stored on our online presence for the period of time of the current visit (e.g. in order to enable the storage of your login status and thus to use our online services). A randomly generated unique identification number, a so-called session ID, is stored in a session cookie. In addition, a cookie also contains an indication of its origin and the period of storage. These cookies cannot store any other data. Session cookies are deleted when you have ended the use of our online services and log out or close the browser, for example.

14.3. Users are informed about the use of cookies in the context of pseudonymous audience measurement in the context of this privacy policy.

14.4. If users do not want cookies to be stored on their computer, they are asked to disable the appropriate 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 restrictions of the online services.

14.5. You can also reject the use of cookies that serve audience measurement and advertising purposes by deactivating the network advertising initiatives (http://optout.networkadvertising.org/) and additionally the US-American website (http://www.aboutads.info/choices) or the European website (http://www.youronlinechoice.com/uk/your-ad-choices/).

15.1. Based on our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online services in the sense of Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR) we use Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google Inc. („Google“). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about the use of online services by users is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

15.2. Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus guarantees compliance with the European Data Protection Law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/partrant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).

15.3. Upon our request, Google uses this information to evaluate the use of our online services by users in order to compile reports on activities within these online services and to provide other services related to the use of the online services and the use of the Internet. In this case, pseudonymous user profiles can be created from the processed data.

15.4. We use Google Analytics to place ads with the advertising services of Google and its partners, and to show such ads only to users who have shown an interest in our online services or who have certain characteristics (e.g. interest in certain subjects or products) that can be determined based on the websites they have visited, which we transmit to Google (so-called „remarketing“, or „Google-Analytics audiences“). With the help of the remarketing audiences, we also want to ensure that our ads correspond to the potential interest of users and do not annoy them.

15.5. We use Google Analytics only with activated IP anonymization. This means that the IP addresses of users are shortened by Google within Member States of the European Union or in other Contracting States to the Agreement that are members of the European Economic Area. The full IP address is transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there only in exceptional cases.

15.6. The IP address transmitted by the user’s browser is not merged with other data from Google. Users can prevent the storage of cookies with the appropriate settings on their browser software; users can also prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and related to their use of the online services as well as the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin in the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout? hl=de.

15.7. For more information on the use of data by Google as well as settings and revocation options, please consult the Google website https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/partners („Data use by Google in its use of websites or apps of our partners“) http://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads („Data use for advertising purposes“) http://www.google.de/setting/ads („Management of information that Google uses to insert advertising on your browser“).

16.1. Based on our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online services in the sense of Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we use marketing and marketing services („Google marketing services“) of Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, („Google“).

16.2. Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus guarantees compliance with the European Data Protection Law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/partrant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).

16.3. Google marketing services allow us to display advertisements for our website in a more targeted manner so as to present these advertisements only to users who might be potentially interested in them. If ads are displayed to users for products they have shown interest in on other websites, for example, we speak of „remarketing“. For these purposes, when another website is viewed on which Google marketing services are active, a Google code is executed directly by Google and so-called (re)marketing tags (invisible graphics or code, also called „web beacons“) are included in the website. With their help, an individual cookie, i.e. a small file, is stored on the user’s device (instead of cookies, comparable technologies can be used). The cookies can be set by various domains, including google.com, doubleclick.net, invitemedia.com, admeld.com, googlesyndication.com or googleadservices.com. This file notes which web pages the user has searched for, which content he/she is interested in and what offers he/she has clicked on. Furthermore, it provides technical information about the user’s browser and operating system, the referring web page, the length of the visit as well as other information about the use of the online services. The user’s IP address is also recorded, whereby in the context of Google Analytics, the IP address is shortened within member states of the European Union or other contracting European Economic Area states, and only transferred to a Google server in the USA for shortening in exceptional cases. The IP address is not merged with the user’s data within other Google offers. The above-mentioned information can also be linked by Google to such information from other sources. If the user subsequently visits other websites, ads corresponding to his/her interests can be displayed.

16.4. User data are pseudonymously processed within the context of the Google marketing services. This means that Google does not store and process the name or e-mail address of the user, for example, but processes the relevant cookie data in pseudonymous user profiles. In other words, from the point of view of Google, the ads are not managed and displayed for a specifically identified person, but for the cookie owner, regardless of who this cookie owner is. This is not true if a user has expressly allowed Google to process the data without this pseudonymization. User information collected by Google marketing services is transmitted to Google and stored on Google servers in the USA.

16.5. The Google marketing services we use, among others, include the online advertising program „Google AdWords“. In the case of Google AdWords, every AdWords customer receives a different „conversion cookie“. Thus, cookies cannot be tracked down on the websites of AdWords customers. The information collected with the help of cookies is used to create conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have decided to track the conversion. The AdWords customers find out the total number of users who have clicked on their ad and who have been forwarded to a page that has a conversion tracking tag. However, these do not contain any information that could be used to personally identify users.

16.6. Based on the Google marketing service „DoubleClick“, we can include third-party ads. DoubleClick uses cookies that enable Google and its partner websites to place ads based on user visits to this website or other websites on the Internet.

16.7. We can also utilize the „Google Optimizer“ service. In the context of so-called „A/B testing“ Google Optimizer allows us to see the effects of various changes to a website (e.g. changes in the input fields, design, etc.). For these test purposes, cookies are stored on devices of users. Only pseudonymous user data are processed.

16.8. Furthermore, we can use the „Google Tag Manager“ to integrate and manage the Google analysis and marketing services on our website.

16.9. Further information on the use of data for marketing purposes by Google can be found on the overview page: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads; Google’s data protection statement is available at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy.

16.10. If you do not want to use the consumer-related advertising by Google marketing services, you can use the settings and opt-out options that Google has provided: http://www.google.com/ads/preferences.

17.1. Based on our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online services in the sense of Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f. GDPR) we use social plugins („plugins“) of the social network Facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland („Facebook“). The plugins can represent interaction elements or contents (e.g. videos, graphics or text contributions) and can be recognized by one of the Facebook logos (white „f“ on blue tile, the terms „Like“ or the „thumbs-up“ icon) or are designated with the words „Facebook Social Plugin“. The list and appearance of the Facebook social plugins can be viewed here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/.

17.2. Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus guarantees compliance with the European Data Protection Law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active).

17.3. If a user calls a function of this online service that contains such a plugin, the user’s device sets up a direct connection with the Facebook servers. The content of the plugin is directly transmitted by Facebook to the user’s device and included in the online services. In this case, user profiles can be created from the processed data. We thus have no influence on how much data Facebook collects with this plugin. We thus inform users about the knowledge we have.

17.4. By integrating the plugins, Facebook receives information that a user has opened the corresponding page of the online service. If the user has logged onto Facebook, Facebook can match the visit to his/her Facebook account. If users interact with the plugins, e.g. press the Like button or leave a comment, the corresponding information is transmitted directly from their device to Facebook and stored there. If a user is not a Facebook member, it is still possible that Facebook can find out and store the user’s IP address. According to Facebook, only anonymized IP addresses are stored in Germany.

17.5. The purpose and scope of data collection and further processing and use of the data by Facebook as well as the related rights and settings for protecting the user’s private sphere can be found in Facebook’s data protection statement: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

17.6. If a user is a Facebook member and does not want Facebook to collect data about him/her and link it to his/her Facebook member data, he/she must log out of Facebook before using our online service and delete his/her cookies. Other settings and rejection of the use of data for advertising purposes are possible within the Facebook profile settings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads or on the USA page http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU page http: //www.youronlinechoices.com/. The settings are platform-independent, i.e. they are used for all devices, including desktop computers or mobile devices.

18.1. Based on our legitimate interests in analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online services, we use in our online services so-called „Facebook pixels“ of the social network Facebook, operated by Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, or if you reside in the EU, Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland.

18.2. Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus guarantees compliance with the European Data Protection Law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active).

18.3. With the help of the Facebook pixel, Facebook can determine the audience of our online services as a target group for the placement of ads (so-called „Facebook-Ads“). Accordingly, we use the Facebook pixel to show the FacebookAds we have placed only to those Facebook users who have also shown an interest in our online services or who have certain features (e.g. an interest in certain topics or products determined by the websites they visit) that we transmit to Facebook (so-called „Custom Audiences“). The Facebook pixel also lets us ensure that our ads correspond to the potential interest of users and do not annoy them. With the help of the Facebook pixel we can also trace the effectiveness of our Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes by seeing whether users who click on one of our Facebook ads are forwarded to our website (so-called „Conversion“).

18.4. When our web pages are opened, the Facebook pixel is immediately integrated by Facebook and can store a so-called cookie on your device, i.e. save a small file. If you log in to Facebook again or visit Facebook in a logged-in state, a visit to our online services will be noted in your profile. The data collected about you are anonymous; they do not give us any information about the user’s identity. However, the data from Facebook are stored and processed so that a connection to the respective user profile is possible and can be used by Facebook for its own market research and advertising purposes. If we transmit data to Facebook for purposes of comparison, they will be locally encrypted in the browser and only then sent to Facebook via a secure https connection. This is done only for the purpose of comparison with the same data encrypted by Facebook.

18.5. Furthermore, when using the Facebook pixel, we utilize the additional function „extended comparison“ (including such data as telephone numbers, e-mail addresses or Facebook IDs of users) to form target groups („custom Audiences“ or „Lookalike Audiences“) to Facebook (encrypted). Further information about „extended comparison“ can be found at https://www.facebook.com/business/help/611774685654668).

18.6. Facebook processes data according to its own data usage regulations. Accordingly, general notes on the presentation of Facebook Ads are found in the Facebook data usage regulation: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php. Special information and details about Facebook pixel and its mode of operation are available in the help area of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/651294705016616.

18.7. You can object to the collection of your data by the Facebook pixel and its use for showing Facebook Ads. To set which types of advertising Facebook shows you, you can open the Facebook page and follow the directions for setting usage-based advertising: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads. The settings are platform-independent, i.e. used for all devices, including desktop computers or mobile devices.

18.8. You can also reject the use of cookies that serve audience measurement and advertising purposes by deactivating the network advertising initiatives (http://optout.networkadvertising.org/) and additionally the US-American website (http://www.aboutads.info/choices) or the European website (http://www.youronlinechoice.com/uk/your-ad-choices/).

19.1. With the following notes, we wish to inform you about the contents of our newsletter as well as the registration, mailing and statistical evaluation process as well as your right of appeal. By subscribing to our newsletter, you agree to its receipt and the procedure described.

19.2. Content of the newsletter: We send newsletters, e-mails and other electronic notifications with advertising information (hereinafter „newsletter“) only with the consent of recipients or legal permission. When registering for the newsletter, if the content is specifically written, it is crucial for the consent of the user. In addition, our newsletter also contains information on our program offers, actions / events and our company.

19.3. Double-opt-in and logging: The registration to our newsletter is made in a so-called Double-opt-in method. After registration, you will receive an e-mail that requests you to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that no one can register with the e-mail addresses of others. Registrations to the newsletter are logged to enable the registration process to be proven in accordance with legal requirements. These include storage of the registration and confirmation time as well as the IP address. Likewise, changes to your data that are stored with the newsletter delivery service are logged.

19.4. Newsletter delivery service: Newsletters are sent by „MailChimp“, a newsletter delivery platform of the US provider Rocket Science Group, LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE #5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA. You can read the data protection policy of this service provider here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/. Rocket Science Group LLC d/b/a MailChimp is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and guarantees that it complies with the European data protection level (https://www.privacyshield.gov/partrant? id=a2zt0000000TO6hAAG&status=Active).

19.5. Newsletter delivery service: Newsletters are sent by Mailjet SAS, 13-13 bis, rue de l’Aubrac, 75012 Paris, France, hereinafter referred to as „newsletter delivery provider“. You can read the data protection policy of the newsletter delivery provider here: https://www.mailjet.de/sicherheit-datenschutz/.

19.6. In addition, according to its own information, the newsletter delivery provider can use this data in pseudonymous form, i.e. without association with a user, in order to optimize or improve its own services, e.g. to technically optimize its delivery and display the newsletter, or for statistical purposes, in order to determine the countries from which recipients come. However, the service provider does not use the data of our newsletter recipients to write to them or give them to third parties.

19.7. Registration data: To register for the newsletter, it is sufficient to give your e-mail address. Optionally, you can specify a name so that you can be personally addressed.

19.8. Statistical collection and analysis: The newsletter contains a so-called „web-beacon“, i.e. a pixel-sized file retrieved by the newsletter delivery provider’s server when the newsletter is opened. In the context of this retrieval, technical information such as information about the browser and your system as well as your IP address and time of the retrieval are first collected. This information is used for technical improvement of the service based on the technical data or target groups and their reading behavior based on where they have opened the newsletter (which can be determined with the IP address) or the access times. The statistical surveys also include the determination of whether the newsletter is opened, when it is opened and which links are clicked. Although this information can be associated with individual newsletter recipients due to technical reasons, it is not our desire, nor that of the newsletter delivery provider, to observe individual users. The evaluations serve more to recognize the reading habits of our users and adapt our content to them, or to send various types of content that correspond to the interest of our users.

19.9. The use of the newsletter delivery service, execution of statistical surveys and analyses as well as logging of the registration process, are carried out based on our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f GDPR. Our interest is the creation of a user-friendly and secure newsletter system that serves both our business interests as well as the expectations of users.

19.10. Cancellation/Withdrawal: You can cancel the receipt of our newsletter at any time, i.e. withdraw your consent. This simultaneously terminates your consent to receive the newsletter from the newsletter delivery service and to statistical analyses. A separate cancellation of either newsletter delivery by the newsletter delivery service or statistical evaluation without newsletter delivery is not possible. A link to the newsletter cancellation function is provided at the end of each newsletter. If users have only registered for the newsletter and terminated their registration, their personal data are also deleted.

20.1. Within our online services, and based on our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online services in the sense of Art. 6 par. 1 lit. GDPR), we use third-party content or service offerings in order to integrate their content and services, such as videos or font types (hereinafter both referred to as „content“). This presupposes that the third-party providers of this content use the IP addresses of users, because they cannot send the content to user browsers without the IP address. The IP address is thus required for the representation of this content. We strive to use only such content whose respective providers use the IP address only to deliver the content. Third-party providers can also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also called „web beacons“) for statistical or marketing purposes. The „pixel tags“ enable the evaluation of information like the visitor traffic on the website. The pseudonymous information can also be stored in cookies on the user’s device and also contain technical information about the browser and operating system, referring web pages, time of visit and other information about the use of our online services as well as be linked with such information from other sources.

20.2. The following presentation offers an overview of third-party providers as well as their content, including links to their data protection declarations, which contain further information about how they process data and, in part already mentioned above, possibilities to object (so-called opt-outs).

• Our online services also include the Google+ service functions. These functions are offered by the third-party Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. If you are logged into your Google+ account, you can link the content of our web pages with your Google+ profile by clicking the Google+ button. This allows Google to assign the visit of our pages to your user account. We point out that as providers of the pages, we do not receive any knowledge of the content of the information transmitted or its use by Google+. Data protection statement: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, Opt-Out: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/.
• Videos of the platform „YouTube“ of the third-party Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Data protection statement: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, Opt-Out: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/.
• We also include Instagram service functions within our online services. These functions are offered by Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA. If you are logged into your Instagram account, you can link the content of our web pages with your Instagram profile by clicking the Instagram button. This allows Instagram to assign the visit of our pages to your user account. We point out that as providers of the pages, we do not receive any knowledge of the content of the information transmitted or its use by Instagram. Data protection statement: http://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/.
• Our online service uses functions of the LinkedIn network. The provider is the LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Each retrieval of one of our pages that contains LinkedIn functions establishes a connection to LinkedIn servers. LinkedIn is informed that you have visited our web pages with your IP address. If you click the „recommend button“ of LinkedIn and are logged in to your LinkedIn account, it is possible for LinkedIn to associate your visit to our website with you and your user account. We point out that as providers of the pages, we do not receive any knowledge of the content of the information transmitted or its use by LinkedIn. Data protection statement: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy, Opt-Out: https://www.linkedin.com/psetting-guest-controls/targeting-opt-out.
• Twitter functions can also be included within our online services. These functions are offered by Twitter Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. By using Twitter and the „Re-Tweet“ function, the web pages you visit are linked with your Twitter account and disclosed to other users. Data are also transmitted to Twitter. We point out that as providers of the pages, we do not receive any knowledge of the content of the information transmitted or its use by Twitter. Data protection statement by Twitter at http://twitter.com/privacy. Your Twitter data protection settings can be changed in your account settings at http://twitter.com/account/settings.
• We use functions of the XING network. The provider is XING AG, Dammtorstrasse 29-32, 20354 Hamburg, Germany. Each retrieval of one of our pages that contains Xing functions establishes a connection to Xing servers. As far as we know, no personal data are stored. In particular, no IP addresses are stored or user behavior evaluated. Data protection statement: https://www.xing.com/app/share?op=data_protection.
• External code of the Jquery framework „jquery“, provided by the third-party jQuery Foundation, https://jquery.org.
• External fonts by Google, Inc., https://www.google.com/fonts (“Google Fonts”). The inclusion of Google fonts is done by a server call to Google (usually in the USA). Data protection statement: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, Opt-Out: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/.

21.1. The data we process are deleted or their processing restricted in accordance with Art. 17 and 18 GDPR. Unless expressly stated in this privacy policy, the data we store are deleted once they are no longer necessary for their determined purpose and there are no legal requirements to keep them. If the data are not deleted because they are required for other purposes, or legally permitted purposes, their processing is restricted. This means that the data are blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be stored for commercial or fiscal reasons.

21.2. According to legal requirements, data must be stored in particular for 6 years according to § 257 par. 1 HGB (commercial books, inventories, opening balances, annual statements, commercial letters, booking documents, etc.) as well as for 10 years according to § 147 par. 1 AO (books, notes, status reports, accounting documents, commercial and business letters, documents relevant for taxation, etc.).

22.1. We reserve the right to change the data protection statement to adapt it to changed legal conditions, changes to the service or to data processing. However, this applies only to statements on data processing. If user consent is required or components of the data protection statement contain regulations of the contractual relationship with users, changes are only made with the consent of users.

22.2. Users are requested to regularly inform themselves about the content of the data protection statement.