Data Protection Declaration

This Privacy Policy clarifies the nature, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data (hereinafter referred to as "data") within our online offering and the related websites, features and content, as well as external online presence, e.g. our Social Media Profile (collectively referred to as the "online offering"). With regard to the terminology used, e.g. "processing" or "responsible", we refer to the definitions in Article 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Responsible
Merites Public Relations
Dr. Thomas Oelschlägel
Ricarda-Huch-Straße 63
72760 Reutlingen
Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 7121-909 49 91
Fax: +49 (0) 7121-909 49 92
E-mail: Thomas.Oelschlaegel@merites.de

Types of processed data:

  • Inventory data (e.g., names, addresses).
  • contact information (e.g., e-mail, phone numbers).
  • content data (e.g., text input, photographs, videos).
  • usage data (e.g., websites visited, interest in content, access times).
  • >Meta / communication data (e.g., device information, IP addresses).

Categories of affected persons Visitors and users of the online offer (hereinafter we refer to the affected persons as "users").

Purpose of processing:

  • Provision of the online offer, its functions and contents.
  • Answering contact requests and communicating with users.
  • Safety measures.
  • Reach Measurement / Marketing.

Used terms

"Personal data" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter the "data subject"); a natural person is considered as identifiable, which can be identified directly or indirectly, in particular by means of assignment to an identifier such as a name, to an identification number, to location data, to an online identifier (e.g. cookie) or to one or more special features, that express the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of this natural person. "Processing" means any process performed with or without the aid of automated procedures or any such process associated with personal data. The term goes far and includes virtually every handling of data. "Pseudonymization" means the processing of personal data in such a way that the personal data can no longer be assigned to a specific data subject without additional information being provided, as long as such additional information is kept separate and subject to technical and organizational measures to ensure that the personal data not assigned to an identified or identifiable natural person. "Profiling" means any kind of automated processing of personal data which involves the use of such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular aspects relating to job performance, economic situation, health, personal to analyze or predict preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, whereabouts or relocation of that natural person. "Responsible person" means the natural or legal person, public authority, institution or any other body that decides, alone or together with others, on the purposes and means of processing personal data. "Cotract Processor" means a natural or legal person, public authority, institution or any other body that processes personal data on behalf of the responsible person.

Relevant legal bases

In accordance with Article 13 GDPR, we inform you about the legal basis of our data processing. Unless the legal basis in the Data Protection Declaration is mentioned, the following applies: the legal basis for obtaining consent is Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. a and Article 7 DSGVO, the legal basis for the processing for the performance of our services and the execution of contractual measures as well as the response to inquiries is Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. b DSGVO, the legal basis for processing in order to fulfill our legal obligations is Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. c DSGVO, and the legal basis for processing in order to safeguard our legitimate interests is Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. f DSGVO. In the event that vital interests of the data subject or another natural person require the processing of personal data, Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. d DSGVO as legal basis.

Safety measures

We take appropriate technical measures in accordance with Article 32 GDPR, 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 likelihood and severity of the risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons and organizational measures to ensure a level of protection appropriate to the risk. Measures include, in particular, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data by controlling physical access to the data, as well as their access, input, disclosure, availability and separation. We have also set up procedures to ensure the enjoyment of data subject rights, data deletion and data vulnerability. Furthermore, we consider the protection of personal data already in the development, or selection of hardware, software and procedures, according to the principle of data protection through technology design and privacy-friendly default settings (Article 25 DSGVO). Collaboration with contract processors and third parties.

If, in the context of our processing, we disclose data to other persons and companies (contract processors or third parties), transmit these data to them or otherwise grant access to the data, this will only be done on the basis of a legal permission (e.g. if a transmission of the data to third parties, as required by payment service providers, pursuant to Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR to fulfill the contract), you have consented to a legal obligation or based on our legitimate interests (e.g the use of agents, webhosters, etc.). If we commission third parties to process data on the basis of a so-called "contract processing contract", this is done on the basis of Article 28 GDPR.

Transfers to third countries

If we process data in a third country (e.g. outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or in the context of the use of third party services or disclosure or transmission of data to third parties, this will only be done if it is to fulfill 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 have the data processed in a third country only in the presence of the special conditions of Article 44 et seq. DSGVO. That the processing is e.g. on the basis of specific guarantees, such as the officially recognized level of data protection (e.g. for the US through the Privacy Shield) or compliance with officially recognized special contractual obligations (so-called "standard contractual clauses").

Rights of the affected persons

You have the right to ask for confirmation as to whether the data in question is being processed and for information about this data as well as for further information and a copy of the data in accordance with Article 15 GDPR. You have accordingly Article 16 DSGVO the right to demand the completion of the data concerning you or the correction of the incorrect data concerning you. In accordance with Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to demand that the relevant data be deleted immediately or, alternatively, to require a restriction of the processing of data in accordance with Article 18 GDPR. You have the right to demand that the data relating to you, which you have provided to us, be obtained in accordance with Article 20 GDPR and request their transmission to other persons responsible. Besides you have in accordance with Article 77 DSGVO the right to file a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

Right of revocation

You have the right to revoke any consent you may have given to us before in accordance with Article 7, Paragraph 3 DSGVO with effect for the future.

Right of objection

You can object to the future processing of your data in accordance with Article 21 GDPR at any time. The objection may in particular be made against processing for direct marketing purposes.

Cookies and right to object in case of direct advertising

"Cookies" are small files that are stored on users' computers. Different information can be stored within the cookies. A cookie is primarily used to store the information about a user (or the device on which the cookie is stored) during or after his visit to an online offer. Temporary cookies, or "session cookies" or "transient cookies", are cookies that are deleted after a user leaves an online service and closes his browser. In such a cookie, e.g. the contents of a shopping cart in an online shop or a login status are saved. The term "permanent" or "persistent" refers to cookies that remain stored even after the browser has been closed. Thus, e.g. the login status will be saved if users visit it after several days. Likewise, in such a cookie the interests of the users can be stored, which are used for range measurement or marketing purposes. A "third-party cookie" refers to cookies that are offered by providers other than the person who is responsible for the online offer (otherwise, if the cookies are his, they are called "first-party cookies"). We can use temporary and permanent cookies and clarify this in the context of our privacy policy.

If users do not want cookies stored on their computer, they will be asked to disable the option in their browser's system settings. Saved 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 used for online marketing purposes can be found in a variety of services, especially in the case of tracking, via the US website http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU page http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ be explained. Furthermore, the storage of cookies can be achieved by switching them off in the settings of the browser. Please note that not all features of this online offer may be used.

Deletion of data

The data processed by us are deleted or limited in their processing in accordance with Articles 17 and 18 GDPR. Unless explicitly stated in this privacy policy, the data stored by us are deleted as soon as they are no longer required for their purpose and the deletion does not conflict with any statutory storage requirements. Unless the data is deleted because it is required for other and legitimate purposes, its processing will be restricted. That means the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example for data that must be kept for commercial or tax reasons. According to legal requirements in Germany, the storage takes place in particular for 10 years according to §§ 147 Abs. 1 AO, 257 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 and 4, Abs. 4 HGB (books, records, management reports, accounting documents, trading books, relevant for taxation Documents, etc.) and 6 years in accordance with § 257 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 and 3, Abs. 4 HGB (commercial letters).

Agency services

We process our clients' data as part of our contractual services, which include conceptual and strategic consulting, campaign planning, software and design development / consulting or maintenance, campaign / process / handling implementation, server administration, data analysis / consulting services, and training services. Here we process stock data (e.g, customer master data, such as names or addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. text inputs, photographs, videos), contract data (e.g, subject matter, term), payment data (e.g, Bank account, payment history), usage and metadata (e.g. in the context of the evaluation and success measurement of marketing measures). In principle, we do not process special categories of personal data, unless these are components of a commissioned processing. Those affected include our customers, prospects and their customers, users, website visitors or employees as well as third parties. The purpose of the processing is the provision of contract services, billing and our customer service. The legal basis of the processing results from Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. b DSGVO (contractual services), Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. f DSGVO (analysis, statistics, optimization, security measures). We process data that are necessary for the establishment and performance of the contractual services and indicate the necessity of their information. Disclosure to external parties will only be made if required by an order. When processing the data provided to us within the framework of an order, we act in accordance with the instructions of the client as well as with the legal requirements of order processing pursuant to Article 28 DSGVO and process the data for no other purpose than the order. We delete the data after expiry of legal warranty and comparable obligations. The necessity of keeping the data is checked every three years; in the case of legal archiving obligations, the deletion takes place after its expiry (6 years, according to legal requirements in Germany, § 257, Abs. Nr. 1 HGB, 10 years in accordance with § 147, Abs. 1 AO). In the case of data disclosed to us in the context of an order by the client, we delete the data according to the specifications of the order, in principle after the end of the order. Administration, financial accounting, office organization, contact management.

We process data in the context of administrative tasks and organization of our business, financial accounting and compliance with legal obligations, such as archiving. In doing so, we process the same data that we process in the course of rendering our contractual services. The processing principles are Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. c. DSGVO, Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. f. DSGVO. The processing affects customers, prospects, business partners and website visitors. The purpose and interest in processing lies in administration, financial accounting, office organization, data archiving, that is, tasks that serve to maintain our business, perform our duties and provide our services. The deletion of the data in terms of contractual performance and contractual communication corresponds to the information provided in these processing activities. We disclose or transmit data to the financial administration, consultants, such as tax accountants or auditors, and other fee institutions and payment service providers. Furthermore, based on our business interests, we store information about suppliers, promoters and other business partners, e.g. for later contact. We generally store this majority of company-related data permanently.

Hosting

The hosting services we use are for the purpose of providing the following services: infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage and database services, security and technical maintenance services we use to operate this online offer. Here 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 to this online offer on the basis of our legitimate interests in an efficient and secure provision of this online offer pursuant Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. f DSGVO in conjunction with Article 28 DSGVO (conclusion of contract processing contract). Collection of access data and log files.

We, or our hosting provider, collects on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Article 6, Paragraph 1 lit. f. DSGVO data on every access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). The access data includes name of the retrieved website, file, date and time of retrieval, amount of data transferred, message about successful retrieval, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider. Logfile information is stored for security purposes (for example, to investigate abusive or fraudulent activities) for a maximum of 7 days and then deleted. Data whose further retention is required for evidential purposes shall be exempted from the cancellation until final clarification of the incident.