Privacy Policy

1. An overview of data protection

General

The following gives a simple overview of what happens to your personal information when you visit our website. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. Detailed information on the subject of data protection can be found in our privacy policy found below.

Data collection on our website

Who is responsible for the data collection on this website?

The data collected on this website are processed by the website operator. The operator's contact details can be found in the website's required legal notice.

How do we collect your data?

Some data are collected when you provide it to us. This could, for example, be data you enter on a contact form.

Other data are collected automatically by our IT systems when you visit the website. These data are primarily technical data such as the browser and operating system you are using or when you accessed the page. These data are collected automatically as soon as you enter our website.

What do we use your data for?

Part of the data is collected to ensure the proper functioning of the website. Other data can be used to analyze how visitors use the site.

What rights do you have regarding your data?

You always have the right to request information about your stored data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection at no charge. You also have the right to request that it be corrected, blocked, or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in the legal notice if you have further questions about the issue of privacy and data protection. You may also, of course, file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities.

Analytics and third-party tools

When visiting our website, statistical analyses may be made of your surfing behavior. This happens primarily using cookies and analytics. The analysis of your surfing behavior is usually anonymous, i.e. we will not be able to identify you from this data. You can object to this analysis or prevent it by not using certain tools. Detailed information can be found in the following privacy policy.

You can object to this analysis. We will inform you below about how to exercise your options in this regard.

2. General information and mandatory information

Data protection

The operators of this website take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data as confidential and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.

If you use this website, various pieces of personal data will be collected. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. This privacy policy explains what information we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this happens.

Please note that data transmitted via the internet (e.g. via email communication) may be subject to security breaches. Complete protection of your data from third-party access is not possible.

Notice concerning the party responsible for this website

The party responsible for processing data on this website is:

Excellence Cluster CECAD at the
University of Cologne
Albertus Magnus Platz
50923 Cologne

Telephone: +49 221-478 89532
Email: cga-coordination[at]uni-koeln.de

The responsible party is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (names, email addresses, etc.).

Revocation of your consent to the processing of your data

Many data processing operations are only possible with your expressed consent. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

Right to file complaints with regulatory authorities

If there has been a breach of data protection legislation, the person affected may file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities. The competent regulatory authority for matters related to data protection legislation is the data protection officer of the German state in which our company is headquartered. A list of data protection officers and their contact details can be found at the following link: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html.

SSL or TLS encryption

This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content, such as the inquiries you send to us as the site operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection in your browser's address line when it changes from "http://" to "https://" and the lock icon is displayed in your browser's address bar.

If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transfer to us cannot be read by third parties.

3. Data collection on our website

Cookies

 


Privacy Policy

 

Server log files

The website provider automatically collects and stores information that your browser automatically transmits to us in "server log files". These are:

  • Browser type and browser version
  • Operating system used
  • Referrer URL
  • Host name of the accessing computer
  • Time of the server request
  • IP address

These data will not be combined with data from other sources.

The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.

Contact form

Should you send us questions via the contact form, we will collect the data entered on the form, including the contact details you provide, to answer your question and any follow-up questions. We do not share this information without your permission.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will retain the data you provide on the contact form until you request its deletion, revoke your consent for its storage, or the purpose for its storage no longer pertains (e.g. after fulfilling your request). Any mandatory statutory provisions, especially those regarding mandatory data retention periods, remain unaffected by this provision.

Registration on this website

You can register on our website in order to access additional functions offered here. The input data will only be used for the purpose of using the respective site or service for which you have registered. The mandatory information requested during registration must be provided in full. Otherwise, we will reject your registration.

To inform you about important changes such as those within the scope of our site or technical changes, we will use the email address specified during registration.

We will process the data provided during registration only based on your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will continue to store the data collected during registration for as long as you remain registered on our website. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

Processing of data (customer and contract data)

We collect, process, and use personal data only insofar as it is necessary to establish, or modify legal relationships with us (master data). This is done based on Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract. We collect, process and use your personal data when accessing our website (usage data) only to the extent required to enable you to access our service or to bill you for the same.

Collected customer data shall be deleted after completion of the order or termination of the business relationship. Legal retention periods remain unaffected.

Data transferred when signing up for services and digital content

We transmit personally identifiable data to third parties only to the extent required to fulfill the terms of your contract with us, for example, to banks entrusted to process your payments.

Your data will not be transmitted for any other purpose unless you have given your expressed permission to do so. Your data will not be disclosed to third parties for advertising purposes without your expressed consent.

The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (b) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.

4. Social media

Links to Facebook and LinkedIn

This website offers only simple Links to the social networks. It does not automatically transfer user data to the operators of these platforms.

5. Analytics and advertising

Matomo (formerly Piwik)

This website uses the open source web analytics service Matomo. Matomo uses so-called "cookies". These are text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. For this purpose, the information generated by the cookie about the use of this website is stored on our server. The IP address is anonymized before it is stored.

Matomo cookies remain on your device until you delete them.

The storage of Matomo cookies is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior in order to optimize both its website and its advertising.

The information generated by the cookies about your use of this website will not be disclosed to third parties. You can prevent these cookies being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website.

6. Plugins and tools

YouTube

Our website uses plugins from YouTube, which is operated by Google. The operator of the pages is YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube plugin, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. Here the YouTube server is informed about which of our pages you have visited.

If you are logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

YouTube is used to help make our website appealing. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

Further information about handling user data, can be found in the data protection declaration of YouTube under https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy.

Vimeo

Our website uses features provided by the Vimeo video portal. This service is provided by Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a Vimeo plugin, a connection to the Vimeo servers is established. Here the Vimeo server is informed about which of our pages you have visited. In addition, Vimeo will receive your IP address. This also applies if you are not logged in to Vimeo when you visit our website or do not have a Vimeo account. The information is transmitted to a Vimeo server in the US, where it is stored.

If you are logged in to your Vimeo account, Vimeo allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your Vimeo account.

For more information on how to handle user data, please refer to the Vimeo Privacy Policy at https://vimeo.com/privacy.

Web Fonts

For uniform representation of fonts, this page uses web fonts provided by fonts.com, a service by Monotype Inc. When you open a page, your browser loads the required web fonts into your browser cache to display texts and fonts correctly.

When you call up a page of our website, your browser makes a direct connection with Monotype servers. Monotype thus becomes aware that our web page was accessed via your IP address. The use of Monotype web fonts is done in the interest of a uniform and attractive presentation of our website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

If your browser does not support web fonts, a standard font is used by your computer.

Further information about handling user data, can be found at www.monotype.com/de/rechtshinweise/datenschutzrichtlinie/web-font-tracking-privacy-policy/

Google Maps

This site uses the Google Maps map service via an API. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

To use Google Maps, it is necessary to save your IP address. This information is generally transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. The provider of this site has no influence on this data transfer.

The use of Google Maps is in the interest of making our website appealing and to facilitate the location of places specified by us on the website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

Further information about handling user data, can be found in the data protection declaration of Google at https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/.