Privacy Policy

Our website may be used without entering personal information. Different rules may apply to certain services on our site, however, and are explained separately below. We collect personal information from you (e.g. name, address, email address, telephone number, etc.) in accordance with the provisions of German data protection statutes. Information is considered personal if it can be associated exclusively to a specific natural person. The legal framework for data protection may be found in the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the Telemedia Act (TMG). The provisions below serve to provide information as to the manner, extent and purpose for collecting, using and processing personal information by the provider.

Please be aware that data transfer via the internet is subject to security risks and, therefore, complete protection against third-party access to transferred data cannot be ensured.

Cookies

Our website makes use of so-called cookies in order to recognize repeat use of our website by the same user/internet connection subscriber. Cookies are small text files that your internet browser downloads and stores on your computer. They are used to improve our website and services. In most cases these are so-called "session cookies" that are deleted once you leave our website.

To an extent, however, these cookies also pass along information used to automatically recognize you. Recognition occurs through an IP address saved to the cookies. The information thereby obtained is used to improve our services and to expedite your access to the website.

You can prevent cookies from being installed by adjusting the settings on your browser software accordingly. You should be aware, however, that by doing so you may not be able to make full use of all the functions of our website.

Server Data

For technical reasons, data such as the following, which your internet browser transmits to us or to our web space provider (so called server log files), is collected:

• Type and version of the browser you use
• Operating system
• Websites that linked you to our site (referrer URL)
• Websites that you visit
• Date and time of your visit
• Your Internet Protocol (IP) address

This anonymous data is stored separately from any personal information you may have provided, thereby making it impossible to connect it to any particular person. The data is used for statistical purposes in order to improve our website and services.

Purpose of Registering

We offer you the opportunity to sign up for our website. The information entered when signing up is collected and stored solely for use by our website. When signing up, we also store your IP address and the date and time you registered. This serves to protect us in the event a third party improperly and without your knowledge makes use of your data to sign up for our site. None of this information is transferred to third parties. Nor is any of this information matched to any information that may be collected by other components of our website.

Newsletter

Our website offers you the opportunity to subscribe to our newsletter. To receive our newsletter, we require a valid email address. When subscribing, we will store your IP address as well as the date and time you subscribed. This serves to protect us in the event a third party improperly and without your knowledge makes use of your email address to subscribe. We will not collect any other data. The data thereby collected is used solely for the purpose of receiving our newsletter. No data is transferred to third parties. You may cancel your subscription at any time.

Contacting Us

On our website we offer you the opportunity to contact us, either by email and/or by using a contact form. Information provided by the user is stored for the purpose of facilitating communications with the user. No data is transferred to third parties. Nor is any of this information matched to any information that may be collected by other components of our website.

Posting Comments

On our website we offer you the opportunity to post comments about individual articles. For this purpose, the IP address of the user is stored for our security in the event the author infringes against third party rights and/or unlawful content is entered. No data is transferred to third parties.

Use of Google+ Recommendation Components

Our website employs the "+1" button from Google+ belonging to Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Each time our website receives an access request equipped with a "+1" component, the component prompts your browser to download an image of this component from Google. Through this process, Google is informed which page of our website is being visited. Additional information is available at: developers.google.com/+/web/buttons-policy

Use of Facebook Components

Our website employs components provided by facebook.com, a service of Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. Each time our website receives an access request equipped with a Facebook component, the component prompts your browser to download an image of this Facebook component. Through this process, Facebook is informed which page of our website is being visited. The data protection policies of Facebook are available at: de-de.facebook.com/about/privacy

Use of Twitter Recommendation Components

Our website employs components provided by Twitter, a service of Twitter Inc., 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA. To the best of our knowledge, Twitter collects the URL of each website accessed as well as the IP address of the user, but does so solely for the purpose of displaying Twitter components. Additional information: twitter.com/privacy

Use of LinkedIn Recommendation Components

Our website employs components provided by LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. By clicking the LinkedIn "recommend button" while logged into your LinkedIn account, you can link content from our website to your LinkedIn profile. Details on data collection by LinkedIn are available at: linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy

Use of YouTube Components

On our website we use components (videos) of YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave., 94066 San Bruno, CA, USA, a company belonging to Google Inc. We use the enhanced data protection mode option provided by YouTube. According to YouTube, in enhanced data protection mode, data is only transferred to the YouTube server if you actually watch the video. Further information: google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy

Use of Instagram

We promote the service Instagram on our website. Instagram is a service of Instagram Inc. By means of the integrated button on our page, Instagram receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding page of our website. More information is available at: help.instagram.com

Job Applications

We electronically collect and process your application data for the purpose of completing the application process. If your application results in an employment contract, the data collected may be stored in your personnel file in compliance with appropriate legal requirements. Upon rejection of your application, data you have provided is automatically deleted two months after notification of rejection.

Information / Cancellation / Deletion

On the basis of the Federal Data Protection Act, you may contact us at no cost if you have questions relating to the collection, processing or use of your personal information, if you wish to request the correction, blocking or deletion of the same, or if you wish to cancel explicitly granted consent.

Please note that you have the right to have incorrect data corrected or to have personal data deleted, where such claim is not barred by any legal obligation to retain this data.