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.
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.
Contacting Us
On our website we offer you the opportunity to contact us, either by email and/or by using a contact form. In such event, 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/internet connection subscriber is stored. This information is stored for our security in the event the author through his/her comments infringes against third party rights and/or unlawful content is entered. Consequently, we have a direct interest in the author’s stored data, particularly since we may be potentially liable for such violations. 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.
Use of Google Analytics with anonymization
Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service from Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA, hereinafter referred to as “Google“. Google Analytics employs so-called “cookies“, text files that are stored to your computer in order to facilitate an analysis of your use of the site.
The information generated by these cookies, such as time, place and frequency of your visits to our site, including your IP address, is transmitted to Google’s location in the US and stored there.
We use Google Analytics with an IP anonymization feature on our website. In doing so, Google abbreviates and thereby anonymizes your IP address before transferring it from member states of the European Union or signatory states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
Google will use this information to evaluate your usage of our site, to compile reports on website activity for us, and to provide other services related to website- and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties if this is required by law or to the extent this data is processed by third parties on Google´s behalf.
Google states that it will in never associate your IP address with other data held by Google. 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.
Google also offers a disabling option for the most common browsers, thus providing you with greater control over the data which is collected and processed by Google. If you enable this option, no information regarding your website visit is transmitted to Google Analytics. However, the activation does not prevent the transmission of information to us or to any other web analytics services we may use. For more information about the disabling option provided by Google, and how to enable this option, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en
Use of Google AdSense
Our website employs Google AdSense. Google AdSense is a service of Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA, for incorporating advertisements. Google-AdSense uses so-called “cookies“, text files, that are stored to your computer and which provide analysis of the use of our website. Furthermore, Google AdSense uses so-called “web beacons“. Web beacons allow Google to analyze information, such as visitor traffic to our website. This information, along with your IP address and the ad format displayed, is transmitted to Google in the US where it is stored and may be transferred by Google to contracting partners. However, Google does not merge your IP-address with other stored data on you. 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. By using our website you declare that you agree to the processing of data collected about you by Google in the manner previously described and for the purposes there specified.
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.
Sample Data Privacy Policy Statement provided by the Law Offices of Weiß & Partner