Privacy Policy
When you use our website, personal data is collected from you. This personal data may be the information necessary for you to use our website, any information that may be required to accommodate your preferences, or information that you provide us with yourself through the contact options on our website.
The protection of your personal data is important to us, starting with your visit to our website. Your data will be protected in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
Below you will find information about which data is collected during your visit to our website and how it is used.
1. Name and contact details of the controller and the data protection officer
This privacy policy applies to data processing by:
Responsible:
SMA Europe e. V.
Im Moos 4
79112 Freiburg, Germany
Email: [email protected]
2. Collection and storage of personal data as well as the nature and purpose of their use
a) When visiting the website
When you visit our website https://www.sma-europe.eu/, the browser used on your device automatically sends information to the server of our website. This information is temporarily stored in a so-called log file. The following information will be collected without your intervention and stored until automated deletion:
- IP address of the requesting computer,
- date and time of access,
- name and URL of the retrieved file,
- website from which access is made (referrer URL),
- the browser used and, if applicable, the operating system of your computer as well as the name of your access provider.
- The data mentioned are processed by us for the following purposes:
- ensuring a smooth connection of the website,
- ensuring comfortable use of our website,
- evaluation of system security and stability as well
- for further administrative purposes.
The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 sent. 1 lit. f of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
3. Disclosure of data
A transfer of your personal data to third parties for purposes other than those listed below does not take place. We only share your personal information with third parties if:
- you have given express consent to this according to Art. 6 para. 1 sent. 1 lit. a of the GDPR,
- disclosure pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 sent. 1 lit. f of the GDPR is required to assert, exercise or defend legal claims and there is no reason to assume that you have an overriding legitimate interest in not disclosing your data,
- disclosure pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 sent. 1 lit. c of the GDPR is a legal obligation, as well as
- this is legally permissible and according to Art. 6 para. 1 sent. 1 lit. b of the GDPR is required for the settlement of contractual relationships with you.
Our legitimate interest follows from the data collection purposes listed above. We never use the collected data for the purpose of drawing conclusions about you. In addition, we use cookies and analysis services when visiting our website. Further explanations can be found under no. 8, 9 and 10 of this Privacy Policy.
4. Affected rights
You have the right:
- in accordance with Art. 15 of the GDPR, to obtain information about your personal data pro-cessed by us. In particular, you may provide information on the processing purposes, the category of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data has been disclosed, the planned retention period, the right of rectification, erasure, restriction of processing or opposition the existence of a right of appeal, the origin of their data, if not collected from us, and the existence of automated decision-making including profiling and, if necessary, meaningful information about their details;
- in accordance with Art. 16 of the GDPR, immediately demand the correction of incorrect or complete personal data stored with us;
- in accordance with Art. 17 of the GDPR, to seek the cancellation of your personal data stored by us, unless the processing for exercising the right to freedom of expression and information, for the fulfilment of a legal obligation, for reasons of the public interest or for assertion, Exercise or defence of legal rights is required;
- in accordance with Art. 18 of the GDPR, to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data, as far as the accuracy of the data is disputed by you, the processing is unlawful, but you reject its deletion and we no longer need the data, but you do so for Require the prosecution, exercise or defence of legal claims or you have objected to the processing pursuant to Art. 21 of the GDPR;
- in accordance with Art. 20 of the GDPR, to receive your personal data provided to us in a structured, standard and machine-readable format or to request transmission to another person responsible;
- according to Art. 7 para. 3 of the GDPR, to revoke your once given consent to us at any time. As a result, we are not allowed to continue the data processing based on this consent for the future and
- to complain to a supervisory authority pursuant to Art. 77 of the GDPR. As a rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your usual place of residence or workplace or our registered office.
5. Right to object
If your personal data are based on legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f of the GDPR are processed, you have the right to file an objection against the processing of your personal data in accordance with Art. 21 of the GDPR, provided that there are reasons for this arising from your particular situation or the objection is directed against direct mail. In the latter case, you have a general right of objection, which is implemented by us without specifying any particular situation. If you would like to exercise your right of revocation or objection, please send an email to [email protected].
6. Data security
We use the popular SSL (Secure Socket Layer) method within the site visit, in conjunction with the highest level of encryption supported by your browser. We also take appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your data against accidental or intentional manipulation, partial or total loss, destruction or against unauthorised access by third parties. Our security measures are continuously improved in line with technological developments.
7. Updating and changing the privacy policy
This privacy statement is currently valid as of February 2022. As our website evolves and offers become available, or as a result of changes in legal or regulatory requirements, it may be necessary to change this privacy policy.
8. Cookies
We use cookies on our site. These are small files that your browser automatically creates and that are stored on your device (laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) when you visit our site. Cookies do not harm your device, do not contain viruses, Trojans or other malicious software. In the cookie information is stored, each resulting in connection with the specific terminal used. This does not mean that we are immediately aware of your identity. On the one hand, the use of cookies serves to make the use of our offer more pleasant for you. For example, we use so-called session cookies to recognise that you have already visited individual pages on our website. These are automatically deleted after leaving our page.
In addition, to improve usability, we also use temporary cookies that are stored on your device for a specified period of time become. If you visit our site again to take advantage of our services, we automatically recognise that you have already been with us and what inputs and settings you have made, so you do not have to re-enter them. On the other hand, we use cookies in order to statistically record the use of our website and to evaluate it for the purpose of optimising our offer (see Section 5). These cookies allow us to automatically recognise when you visit our site again that you have already been with us. These cookies are automatically deleted after a defined time.
The data processed by cookies are for the purposes stated in order to safeguard our legitimate interests as well as the third party pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 sent. 1 lit. f of the GDPR.
Most browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can configure your browser so that no cookies are stored on your computer or a warning always appears before a new cookie is created. However, disabling cookies completely may mean that you cannot use all features of our website.
9. Tracking tools
The tracking measures listed below and used by us are based on Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f of the GDPR. With the tracking measures to be used, we want to ensure a needs-based design and the continuous optimisation of our website. On the other hand, we use the tracking measures to statistically record the use of our website and evaluate it for the purpose of optimising our offer for you. These interests are to be regarded as justified within the meaning of the aforementioned provision. The respective data processing purposes and data categories can be found in the corresponding tracking tools.
a) Google Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses so-called "cookies", text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. However, if IP anonymisation is activated on this website, your IP address will be shortened by Google beforehand within member states of the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the US and shortened there. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services related to website activity and internet usage to the website operator.
The information is used to evaluate the use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services related to website activity and internet usage for the purposes of market research and tailor-made website design. This information may also be transferred to third parties if required by law or if third parties process this data in the order. In no case will your Google Analytics determined IP address be merged with any other Google data. The IP addresses are anonymised, so that an assignment is not possible (IP masking).
You can prevent the storage of cookies by a corresponding setting of your browser software; however, please note that if you do this, you may not be able to use all the features of this website to the fullest extent possible. In addition, you may prevent the collection by Google of the data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) as well as the processing of this data by Google by using the following link (http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en) to download and install the available browser plugin.
As an alternative to the browser add-on, especially for browsers on mobile devices, you can prevent the collection by Google Analytics by clicking on this link. An opt-out cookie will be set which prevents the future collection of your data when visiting this website. The opt-out cookie is only valid in this browser and only for our website and is stored on your device. If you delete the cookies in this browser, you must set the opt-out cookie again.
For more information about privacy related to Google Analytics, see the Google Analytics Help Centre (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en).
10. Social Media Plugin
We rely on our website on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f of the GDPR social plug-ins from the social networks Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn to make our association better known. The underlying commercial purpose is to be regarded as a legitimate interest within the meaning of the GDPR. Responsibility for the operation compliant with data protection is to be guaranteed by the respective provider. The integration of these plug-ins by us is done by means of the so-called two-click method to protect visitors to our website in the best possible way.
a) Facebook
On our website social media plugins from Facebook are used to personalise their use. For this we use the "LIKE" or "SHARE" button. It is an offer from Facebook. If you visit a page of our website that contains such a plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to the Facebook servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by Facebook directly to your browser and incorporated by him into the website.
By integrating the plugins, Facebook receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are currently not logged in to Facebook. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted from your browser directly to a Facebook server in the US and stored there.
If you are logged in to Facebook, Facebook can assign the visit to our website directly to your Facebook account. If you interact with the plugins, for example by pressing the "LIKE" or "SHARE" button, the corresponding information is also transmitted directly to a Facebook server and stored there. The information will also be posted on Facebook and displayed to your Facebook friends.
Facebook may use this information for the purpose of advertising, market research and tailor-made Facebook pages. For this purpose, Facebook uses user, interest and relationship profiles, e.g., to evaluate your use of our website in relation to the advertisements displayed to you at Facebook, to inform other Facebook users about your activities on our website, and to provide other services related to the use of Facebook.
If you do not want Facebook to associate the data collected through our website with your Facebook account, you must log out of Facebook before visiting our website. To read more about the purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook as well as your related rights and settings options for protection of your privacy, please refer to Facebook’s privacy policy (https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/).
b) Twitter
Plugins of the short message network of Twitter Inc. (Twitter) are integrated on our website. The Twitter plugins (tweet button) can be recognised by the Twitter logo on our site. An overview of tweet buttons can be found here (https://about.twitter.com/resources/buttons). When you visit a page of our website that contains such a plugin, a direct connection is established between your browser and the Twitter server. Twitter receives the information that you have visited our site with your IP address. If you click on the Twitter "tweet button" while logged in to your Twitter account, you can link the contents of our pages to your Twitter profile. This allows Twitter to associate your visit to our pages with your user account. We point out that we as the provider of the pages are not aware of the content of the transmitted data and their use by Twitter.
If you do not want Twitter to associate your visit to our pages, please log out of your Twitter account.
Further information can be found in Twitter’s privacy policy (https://twitter.com/privacy).
c) YouTube
Our website also uses so-called "social plugins" ("plugins") provided by YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. ("YouTube"). The plugins are marked with a YouTube logo, for example in the form of a "YouTube camera".
When you visit a page of our website that contains such a plugin, your browser connects directly to the servers of YouTube. The content of the plugin is transmitted by YouTube directly to your browser and integrated into the page. Through this integration, YouTube receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a YouTube profile or are currently not logged in to YouTube.
This information (including your IP address) is sent from your browser directly to a YouTube server in the US and stored there. If you are logged in to YouTube, YouTube can immediately associate your visit to our website with your YouTube account. If you interact with the plugins, for example by clicking the "YouTube" button, this information will also be sent directly to a server on YouTube and stored there. The information will also be posted on your YouTube account and displayed there to your contacts.
If you do not want YouTube to directly associate the data collected through our website with your YouTube account, you must log out of YouTube prior to visiting our website. Further information can be found in YouTube’s privacy policy (https://www.youtube.de/t/privacy).
d) LinkedIn
Our website uses social media plugins from LinkedIn Ireland U.C., Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland to personalise their use. For this we use the "SHARE" button. For example, the plugins are labelled with a LinkedIn logo in the form of an "in" in a boxed square. This is a LinkedIn offer. When you visit a page of our website that contains such a plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to LinkedIn's servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by LinkedIn directly to your browser and integrated by this into the website.
By integrating the plugins, LinkedIn receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a LinkedIn account or are currently not logged in to LinkedIn. This information (including your IP address, proxy server, browser, add-ons, device ID, and features of your ISP or mobile operator, including location detection) will be sent directly from your browser to a LinkedIn server in the US and outside the US and stored there.
If you are logged in to LinkedIn, LinkedIn can directly link your visit to our website to your LinkedIn account. If you interact with the plugins, for example by clicking the "SHARE" button, the corresponding information is also transmitted directly to a LinkedIn server and stored there. The information will also be posted on LinkedIn and displayed on your LinkedIn contacts.
LinkedIn may use this information for the purpose of advertising, market research, and tailoring the LinkedIn pages. To do this, LinkedIn will create usage, interest, and relationship profiles, such as to evaluate your use of our website for the advertisements you see on LinkedIn, to inform other LinkedIn users about your activities on our website, and to provide other services related to the use of LinkedIn.
If you do not want LinkedIn to associate the data collected through our website with your LinkedIn account, you must log out of LinkedIn before visiting our website. For information on the purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by LinkedIn, as well as your rights and options for protecting your privacy, please refer to LinkedIn’s privacy policy (https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy).
11. Subscription to our newsletters
a) Subscription
Users are given the opportunity to subscribe to our newsletter. The input mask used for this purpose determines what personal data are transmitted, as well as when the newsletter is ordered from the controller.
Our newsletter may only be received by the data subject if (1) the data subject has a valid email address and (2) the data subject registers for the newsletter. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address registered by a data subject for the first time for newsletter, for legal reasons, in the double opt-in procedure. This confirmation email is used to prove whether the owner of the email address as the data subject is authorised to receive the newsletter.
During the registration for the newsletter, we also store the IP address of the computer system assigned by the Internet service provider (ISP) and used by the data subject at the time of the registration, as well as the date and time of the registration. The collection of this data is necessary in order to understand the (possible) misuse of the email address of a data subject at a later date, and it therefore serves the aim of the legal protection of the controller.
The personal data collected as part of a registration for the newsletter will only be used to send our newsletter. In addition, subscribers to the newsletter may be informed by email, as long as this is necessary for the operation of the newsletter service or a registration in question, as this could be the case in the event of modifications to the newsletter offer, or in the event of a change in technical circumstances. There will be no transfer of personal data collected by the newsletter service to third parties. The subscription to our newsletter may be terminated by the data subject at any time. The consent to the storage of personal data, which the data subject has given for shipping the newsletter, may be revoked at any time. For the purpose of revocation of consent, a corresponding link is found in each newsletter. It is also possible to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time directly on the website of the controller, or to communicate this to the controller in a different way.
b) Newsletter-Tracking
The newsletter contains so-called tracking pixels. A tracking pixel is a miniature graphic embedded in such emails, which are sent in HTML format to enable log file recording and analysis. This allows a statistical analysis of the success or failure of online marketing campaigns. Based on the embedded tracking pixel, may see if and when an email was opened by a data subject, and which links in the email were called up by data subjects.
Such personal data collected in the tracking pixels contained in the newsletters are stored and analysed by the controller in order to optimise the shipping of the newsletter, as well as to adapt the content of future newsletters even better to the interests of the data subject. These personal data will not be passed on to third parties. Data subjects are at any time entitled to revoke the respective separate declaration of consent issued by means of the double-opt-in procedure. After a revocation, these personal data will be deleted by the controller. We automatically regard a withdrawal from the receipt of the newsletter as a revocation.