Data protection declaration

Name and contact of the person responsible according to Article 4 para. 7 GDPR

Editor: Sebastian Matthias
Address: –
Phone: –
E-mail: mail[at]sebastianmatthias[dot]com

Security and protection of your personal data

We consider it our primary task to protect the confidentiality of the personal data you provide, and to protect it from unauthorized access. We therefore apply the utmost care and state-of-the-art security standards to ensure maximum protection of your personal data.

As a company under private law, we are subject to the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the provisions of the Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (BSDG, Federal Data Protection Act). We have taken technical and organizational measures to ensure that the data protection regulations are observed both by us and by our external service providers.

Definitions

The legislator requires that personal data be processed in a lawful manner, in good faith, and in a manner that is comprehensible to the person concerned (“lawfulness, processing in good faith, transparency”). In order to ensure this, we inform you about the individual legal definitions which are also used in this data protection declaration.

  1. Personal Information
    “Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter referred to as “data subject”); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by assignment to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier, or to one or more special characteristics which express the physical, physiological, genetic, psychological, economic, cultural, or social identity of that natural person.
  2. Processing
    “Processing” means any operation carried out, with or without the aid of automated procedures, or any such series of operations relating to personal data, such as the collection, capturing, organization, arrangement, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination, or any other form of provision, comparison or linking, restriction, erasure, or destruction.
  3. Restriction of processing
    “Restriction on processing” means the marking of stored personal data with the aim of restricting their future processing.
  4. Profiling
    “Profiling” means any automated processing of personal data consisting in the use of such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyze or predict aspects relating to the work performance, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or relocation of that natural person.
  5. Pseudonymization
    “Pseudonymization” means the processing of personal data in such a way that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that this additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organizational measures which ensure that the personal data cannot be attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person.
  6. File system
    “File system” means any structured collection of personal data accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralized, decentralized, functional, or geographical.
  7. Controller
    “Controller” means a natural or legal person, authority, body, agency, or other body which alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data; if the purposes and means of such processing are specified by Union law or the law of the Member States, the controller or certain criteria for his appointment may be laid down in accordance with Union law or the law of the Member States.
  8. Processor
    “Processor” means a natural or legal person, authority, institution, or other body processing personal data on behalf of the data controller.
  9. Recipient
    “Recipient” means a natural or legal person, authority, institution, or other body to which personal data is disclosed, whether or not it is a third party. However, authorities which may receive personal data under Union law or the law of the Member States under a particular investigation mandate shall not be considered recipients; the processing of such data by the said authorities shall be carried out in accordance with the applicable data protection rules in accordance with the purposes of the processing.
  10. Third party
    “Third party” means a natural or legal person, authority, institution, or other body other than the data subject, the controller, the data processor, and the persons authorized to process the personal data under the direct responsibility of the controller or the processor.
  11. Consent
    Data subject’s “consent” means any voluntary declaration of intent in the specific case, in an informed and unequivocal manner, in the form of a declaration or other clear affirmative act by which the data subject indicates that he or she agrees to the processing of personal data concerning him or her.

Lawfulness of processing

The processing of personal data is only lawful if there is a legal basis for the processing. Under Article 6(1) (a) – (f) of the GDPR, the legal basis for processing may in particular be:

  1. the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes;
  2. processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party, or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;
  3. processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject;
  4. processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person;
  5. processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
  6. processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.

Information about the collection of personal data

(1) In the following, we inform you about the collection of personal data when using our website. Personal data are, e.g., name, address, e-mail addresses, user behavior.

(2) If you contact us by e-mail or via a contact form, the data you provide (your e-mail address, if applicable your name and your telephone number) will be stored by us in order to answer your questions. We delete the data arising in this context after storage is no longer necessary, or processing is restricted if statutory retention obligations exist.

Collection of personal data when you visit our website
When using the website for information purposes only, i.e., if you do not register or otherwise provide us with information, we only collect the personal data that your browser transmits to our server. If you wish to view our website, we collect the following data, which are technically necessary for us to display our website to you, and to guarantee stability and security (legal basis is Art. 6[1] [f] GDPR):

  • IP address
  • Date and time of the request
  • Time zone difference to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
  • Content of the request (specific page)
  • Access status/HTTP status code
  • The amount of data transferred in each case
  • Website from which the request comes
  • Browser
  • Operating system and its interface
  • Language and version of the browser software

Use of cookies
(1) In addition to the aforementioned data, cookies are stored on your computer when you use our website. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your hard disk in the browser you use and through which certain information flows to the place that sets the cookie. Cookies cannot run programs or transmit viruses to your computer. They generally assist making the services on the internet more user-friendly and effective.

(2) This website uses the following types of cookies, the scope and functioning of which are explained below:

  • Transient cookies (see a.)
  • Persistent cookies (see b.).
  1. a. Transient cookies are automatically deleted when you close your browser. This includes in particular the session cookies. These store a so-called session ID, by which different requests of your browser can be assigned to the session shared. This will allow your computer to be recognized as you return to our website. Session cookies are deleted when you log out or close your browser.
  2. b. Persistent cookies are automatically deleted after a specified period, which may vary depending on the cookie. You can delete cookies at any time in the security settings of your browser.
  3. You can configure your browser settings according to your wishes and, for example, refuse the acceptance of third-party cookies or all cookies. “Third-party cookies” are cookies that have been set by a third party, and therefore not by the actual website you are currently visiting. Please note that you may not be able to use all functions of this website by deactivating cookies.
  4. We use cookies to identify you for follow-up visits if you have an account with us. Otherwise, you will have to log in again for each visit.

Further functions and offers of our website
(1) In addition to the purely informational use of our website, we offer various services which you can use if you are interested. As a rule, you must provide further personal data, which we use to provide the respective service, and to which the aforementioned data processing principles apply.

(2) In some cases, we use external service providers to process your data. These have been carefully selected and commissioned by us, are bound by our instructions, and are regularly checked.

(3) Furthermore, we may pass on your personal data to third parties if we offer participation in promotions, competitions, conclusion of contracts, or similar services together with partners. For more information, please provide your personal data or see the description of the offer below.

(4) If our service providers or partners are based in a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we will inform you about the consequences of this circumstance in the description of the offer.

Newsletter

Newsletter data
If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter offered on this website, we will need from you an e-mail address as well as information that allow us to verify that you are the owner of the e-mail address provided and consent to the receipt of the newsletter. No further data shall be collected or shall be collected only on a voluntary basis. We shall use such data only for the sending of the requested information and shall not share such data with any third parties.

The processing of the information entered into the newsletter subscription form shall occur exclusively on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You may revoke the consent you have given to the archiving of data, the e-mail address and the use of this information for the sending of the newsletter at any time, for instance by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link in the newsletter. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data processing transactions that have taken place to date.

The data you archive with us for the purpose of the newsletter subscription shall be archived by us until you unsubscribe from the newsletter. Once you cancel your subscription to the newsletter, the data shall be deleted. This shall not affect data we have been archiving for other purposes.

MailChimp
This website uses the services of MailChimp to send out its newsletters. The provider is the Rocket Science Group LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Suite 5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA.

Among other things, MailChimp is a service that can be deployed to organise and analyse the sending of newsletters. Whenever you enter data for the purpose of subscribing to a newsletter (e.g. your e-mail address), the information is stored on MailChimp servers in the United States.

MailChimp is in possession of a certification that is in compliance with the “EU-US-Privacy-Shield.” The “Privacy-Shield” is a compact between the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA) that aims to warrant the compliance with European data protection standards in the United States.

With the assistance of the MailChimp tool, we can analyse the performance of our newsletter campaigns. If you open an e-mail that has been sent through the MailChimp tool, a file that has been integrated into the e-mail (a so-called web-beacon) connects to MailChimp’s servers in the United States. As a result, it can be determined whether a newsletter message has been opened and which links the recipient possibly clicked on. Technical information is also recorded at that time (e.g. the time of access, the IP address, type of browser and operating system). This information cannot be allocated to the respective newsletter recipient. Their sole purpose is the performance of statistical analyses of newsletter campaigns. The results of such analyses can be used to tailor future newsletters to the interests of their recipients more effectively.

If you do not want to permit an analysis by MailChimp, you must unsubscribe from the newsletter. We provide a link for you to do this in every newsletter message. Moreover, you can also unsubscribe from the newsletter right on the website.

The data is processed based on your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR).  You may revoke any consent you have given at any time by unsubscribing from the newsletter. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data processing transactions that have taken place prior to your revocation.

The data you archive with us for the purpose of the newsletter subscription shall be archived by us until you unsubscribe from the newsletter. Once you cancel your subscription to the newsletter, the data shall be deleted from our servers as well as those of MailChimp. This shall not affect data we have been archiving for other purposes.

For more details, please consult the Data Privacy Policies of MailChimp at: https://mailchimp.com/legal/terms/.

Execution of a contract data processing agreement

We have executed a so-called “Data Processing Agreement” with MailChimp, in which we mandate that MailChimp undertakes to protect the data of our customers and to refrain from sharing it with third parties.

Children

Our offer is generally aimed at adults. Persons under the age of 18 should not transmit any personal data to us without the consent of their parents or legal guardians.

Rights of the data subject

(1) ithdrawal of consent

If the processing of personal data is based on a given consent, you have the right to withdraw the consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the legality of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent until it is withdrawn.

You can contact us at any time to exercise your right of withdrawal.

(2) Right to confirmation
You have the right to request confirmation from the controller as to whether we are processing personal data relating to you. You can request confirmation at any time using the contact details above.

(3) Right to information

If personal data is processed, you can request information about this personal data and about the following information at any time:

  1. the purposes of the processing;

    2. the categories of personal data concerned;
    the recipients or categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, in particular recipients in third countries or international organizations;
    where possible, the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored, or, if not possible, the criteria used to determine that period;
    the existence of the right to request from the controller rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing of personal data concerning the data subject or to object to such processing;
    the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority;
    where the personal data are not collected from the data subject, any available information as to their source;
    the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, referred to in Article 22(1) and (4) and, at least in those cases, meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject.

Where personal data are transferred to a third country or to an international organization, you have the right to be informed of the appropriate safeguards pursuant to Article 46 GDPR relating to the transfer. We shall provide a copy of the personal data undergoing processing. For any further copies requested by you, the controller may charge a reasonable fee based on administrative costs. Where you make the request by electronic means, and unless otherwise requested by you, the information shall be provided in a commonly used electronic form. The right to obtain a copy referred to in article 15(3) shall not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

(4) Right to rectification
You have the right to obtain from the controller without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you. Taking into account the purposes of the processing, you have the right to have incomplete personal data completed, including by means of providing a supplementary statement.

(5) Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”)
You have the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data concerning you without undue delay and the controller shall have the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies:

  1. the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed;
  2. the data subject withdraws consent on which the processing is based according to point (a) of Article 6(1), or point (a) of Article 9(2), and where there is no other legal ground for the processing;
  3. the data subject objects to the processing pursuant to Article 21(1) and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing, or the data subject objects to the processing pursuant to Article 21(2);
  4. the personal data have been unlawfully processed;
  5. the personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation in Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject;
  6. the personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services referred to in Article 8(1).

Where the controller has made the personal data public and is obliged pursuant to paragraph 1 to erase the personal data, the controller, taking account of available technology and the cost of implementation, shall take reasonable steps, including technical measures, to inform controllers which are processing the personal data that the data subject has requested the erasure by such controllers of any links to, or copy or replication of, those personal data.

The right to cancellation (“right to be forgotten”) does apply to the extent that the processing is necessary:

  • for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information;
  • for compliance with a legal obligation which requires processing by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject, or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
  • for reasons of public interest in the area of public health in accordance with points (h) and (i) of Article 9(2) as well as Article 9(3);
  • for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes, or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) in so far as the right referred to in paragraph 1 is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the objectives of that processing; or
  • for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

(6) Right to restriction of processing
You have the right to obtain from the controller restriction of processing where one of the following applies:

  1. the accuracy of the personal data is contested by the data subject, for a period enabling the controller to verify the accuracy of the personal data;
  2. the processing is unlawful and the data subject opposes the erasure of the personal data and requests the restriction of their use instead;
  3. the controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of the processing, but they are required by the data subject for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims;
  4. the data subject has objected to processing pursuant to Article 21(1) pending the verification whether the legitimate grounds of the controller override those of the data subject.

Where processing has been restricted as above, such personal data shall, with the exception of storage, only be processed with the data subject’s consent or for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person or for reasons of important public interest of the Union or of a Member State.

In order to exercise the right to restrict processing, the data subject may contact us at any time using the contact details provided above.

(7) Right to data portability
You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you, which you have provided to a controller, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and have the right to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from the controller to which the personal data have been provided, where:

  1. the processing is based on consent pursuant to point (a) of Article 6(1) or point (a) of Article 9(2) GDPR or on a contract pursuant to point (b) of Article 6(1); and
  2. the processing is carried out by automated means.

In exercising your right to data portability pursuant to paragraph 1, you shall have the right to have the personal data transmitted directly from one controller to another, where technically feasible. The exercise of the right referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be without prejudice to the “right to erasure” (“right to be forgotten”). That right shall not apply to processing necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

(8) Right to object
You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time to processing of personal data concerning you which is based on point (e) or (f) of Article 6(1), including profiling based on those provisions. The controller shall no longer process the personal data unless the controller demonstrates compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interests, rights, and freedoms of the data subject or for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

Where personal data are processed for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to processing of personal data concerning you for such marketing, which includes profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing. Where the data subject objects to processing for direct marketing purposes, the personal data shall no longer be processed for such purposes.

In the context of the use of information society services, and notwithstanding Directive 2002/58/EC, you may exercise your right to object by automated means using technical specifications.

Where personal data are processed for scientific or historical research purposes, or statistical purposes pursuant to Article 89(1), you, on grounds relating to your particular situation, have the right to object to processing of personal data concerning you, unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.

You can exercise your right of objection at any time by contacting the person responsible.

(9) Automated individual decision-making, including profiling
You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you. This shall not apply if the decision:

  1. is necessary for entering into, or performance of, a contract between the data subject and a data controller;
  2. is authorized by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject and which also lays down suitable measures to safeguard the data subject’s rights and freedoms and legitimate interests; or
  3. is based on the data subject’s explicit consent.

The data controller shall implement suitable measures to safeguard the data subject’s rights and freedoms and legitimate interests, at least the right to obtain human intervention on the part of the controller, to express his or her point of view and to contest the decision.

The person concerned may exercise this right at any time by contacting the person responsible.

(10) Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
Without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement if you consider that the processing of personal data relating to you infringes this Regulation.

(11) Right to an effective judicial remedy
Without prejudice to any available administrative or non-judicial remedy, including the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority pursuant to Article 77, you have the right to an effective judicial remedy where you consider that your rights under this Regulation have been infringed as a result of the processing of your personal data in non-compliance with this Regulation.

Contract processor

We use external service providers (contract processors), e.g., for the dispatch of goods, newsletters, or payment processing. A separate data processing agreement has been concluded with the service provider in order to guarantee the protection of your personal data.

We cooperate with the following service providers:
– Domain Factory (www.df.eu)