Privacy Policy
§1 INFORMATION ABOUT THE COLLECTION OF PERSONAL DATA
In running this website we take the protection of your personal data very seriously. Your personal data are handled confidentially in accordance with statutory data protection rules and with this data protection declaration.
(1) Details are given below about what personal data are collected when this website is used. Personal data are all data that relate to you personally, e.g. identity details (name, address, etc.), contact details (email addresses, telephone and fax numbers, etc.), content-related data (images, videos, text, etc.), user-related data (websites visited, access times, etc.) and communication data (IP addresses, device and browser details, etc.).
(2) The controller within the meaning of Article 4(7) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is Dr Christian Ehler, MEP, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 3, 14469 Potsdam christian.ehler@europarl.europa.eu.
Further contact details can be found in the imprint section.
You can contact our data protection officer by writing an email to christian.ehler@europarl.europa.eu or a letter to our postal address, marking it ‘Data protection officer’.
(3) If you contact us via email or a contact form, the data you provide (your email address and, possibly, your name and telephone number) will be saved so that your questions can be answered. Those data will be deleted once they no longer need to be saved, or processing will be restricted if there are statutory retention requirements.
(4) If we make use of contracted service providers or propose to use your data for advertising purposes, we shall give you detailed information, below, about the operations concerned. We shall also specify the criteria that determine the retention period.
§2 PERSONAL DATA COLLECTION WHEN OUR WEBSITE IS VISITED
(1) If the website is used for information purposes only, i.e. if you do not register or otherwise provide us with information, we shall collect only the personal data that your browser transmits to the server of our provider, Sharkness Media GmbH & Co. KG (sharkness.de). If you would like to view our website, we collect the following data, which are required for technical purposes in order to display the website and to guarantee stability and security, the legal basis for this being Article 6(1)(f) GDPR:
• IP address
• Date and time of request
• Time zone difference from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
• Content of request (specific page)
• Access status / HTTP status code
• Data volume transferred on each occasion
• Website from which request was sent
• Browser
• Operating system and interface
• Language and version of browser software
The data will be used exclusively to compile statistics; they will not be passed on to third parties for either commercial or non-commercial purposes.
The data cannot be associated with any particular individual; they will not be merged with other data sources. We reserve the right to check the data in due course if there is specific evidence of unlawful use.
When entering personal or business-related data on the website (email addresses, names, postal addresses), users disclose that information entirely voluntarily. In that instance, too, your data will be handled confidentially and will not be passed on to third parties.
Data are stored exclusively within Germany and the European Union.
§3 COOKIES
(1) In addition to the data referred to above, cookies are saved on your computer when you use our website. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your hard drive by your browser and send particular items of information to the entity which has placed them there. We are that entity in this instance. Cookies cannot run programs or transmit viruses to your computer; their purpose is to make website offerings more user-friendly and more effective overall.
(2) Use of cookies:
1. This website uses the following types of cookie, the scope and functioning of which are described below:
• transient cookies (see 2.)
• persistent cookies (see 3.)
2. Transient cookies are automatically deleted when you close the browser, i.e. in particular session cookies, which store a session ID that assigns a number of requests from your browser to a shared session. That will allow your computer to be recognised when you return to our website. Session cookies are deleted when you log out or close the browser.
3. Persistent cookies are automatically deleted after a specific period, which may differ from cookie to cookie. You can delete cookies in your browser’s security settings at any time.
4. You can configure your browser settings as you wish and, for example, refuse to accept third-party cookies or all cookies. We would point out that you may then not be able to use all this website’s functions.
Please read our notes on third-party providers as regards setting up cookies for social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
§4 OTHER FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES OF OUR WEBSITE
This website provides an Internet communications function.
(1) In addition to providing access to our website for information purposes only, we offer various services that may be of interest to you. As a rule, you will need to provide personal data which we use to provide the service concerned and which are subject to the data processing principles set out above.
To get in touch with us, please use the contact form. On the website you will also find other email addresses for particular bodies or individuals. You can send emails to those addresses, too. As far as sending emails with attachments is concerned, please note that not all commercially available file formats and applications are supported. In some cases, then, it may not be possible to process emails.
These details apply only to communication with this website; third-party offerings are not covered.
We would point out that, in the context of electronic communications, unauthorised access to data or falsification thereof cannot be ruled out.
(2) To some extent, we make use of external providers in order to process your data; they have been carefully selected and commissioned by us, must carry out our instructions and are subject to regular scrutiny.
(3) Should any of our service providers or partners be headquartered outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we shall inform you of the practical implications in the description of the function or feature offered.
§5 COPYRIGHT
Texts, images and graphics on the website of Dr Christian Ehler, MEP, including how they are arranged and laid out, are copyright-protected. This website authorises the transfer of texts to databases that are exclusively intended for private use by a user. Written consent is required in order to transfer and use texts, images and graphics for other purposes. Please get in touch with us via our contact form. Where content is permissibly stored, reproduced or distributed, reference must be made to the copyright held by this website or to the relevant copyright holder.
Anyone infringing copyright or trademark law may be the subject of actions brought by the rightholder for cease-and-desist orders and damages, including – for infringements of copyright and trademark law – criminal prosecution.
6§ WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT OR OBJECTION TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR DATA
(1) Any consent you have given for your data to be processed can be withdrawn at any time under Article 7(3) GDPR. Withdrawal of consent affects the permissibility of action to process your personal data.
(2) Insofar as we base the processing of your personal data on balance-of-interests considerations, under Article 21 GDPR you may object to processing. That is the case if, in particular, processing is not required in order to perform a contract with you, as is set out by us in the description of the function concerned. We would ask you, in the event of withdrawal of consent, to state why we should not process your personal data in the way that we have been doing. Where withdrawal of consent is substantiated by you, we shall look into the matter and either stop processing your data or make changes to processing arrangements or set out for you our compelling legitimate grounds for continuing with processing.
(3) It goes without saying that you may at any time withdraw consent for the processing of your personal data for direct marketing and data analysis purposes. Using the following contact details, you can inform us about withdrawal of consent in that connection:
Dr Christian Ehler, MEP
Gregor-Mendel-Straße 3
14469 Potsdam
Tel.: +49 331 200 857 0
Fax: +49 331 200 857 19
Email: christian.ehler@europarl.europa.eu
§7 APPLICABILITY OF TERMS OF USE / LIABILITY
(1) The content of this website extends to an exemption-from-liability clause and to the terms for its use. Any parts of the text or individual wording that are not, are no longer or are not completely in line with statutory requirements are without prejudice to the content or validity of the rest of the document.
(2) We compile all this website’s information and component sections to the best of our knowledge and in good faith. No liability is accepted, or guarantee given, that the information made available is up to date, accurate or complete; nor is this website liable for any harm caused by computer viruses when data are retrieved or downloaded from it.
§8: LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
We provide links to other websites. We cannot guarantee that the operators of those sites comply with data protection provisions.
As a provider, we bear statutory responsibility for our own content. Where appropriate, users must make a distinction between our content and links to other operators’ content. We accept no responsibility for third-party content accessible via links on this website, and identified accordingly, and that content is not our content. For unlawful, incorrect or incomplete content or for harm resulting from the use or non-use of information, liability is borne solely by the provider of the website to which the relevant link gives access. The operator of this website bears responsibility for external references only if it has positive knowledge of them, i.e. including the fact that they may involve illegal or criminal content, and it is possible and reasonable, within a limited period, to prevent the use thereof.
We very much welcome your questions and suggestions concerning data protection; we regard them as important. You can contact us at the following address: christian.ehler@europarl.europa.eu
§9 CONTACT FORM
If you send us queries on the contact form, the details you provide on it, including your contact details, will be transmitted to us, and saved, so that your queries (and any follow-up questions submitted by email) can be answered. Details concerning the fact that you have contacted us will not be saved on a server. If you do not give your consent we will not pass on those details to others.
§10: NEWSLETTER
(1) For signing up to our newsletter, we use the double opt-in method. That means that we send a confirmatory email to the email address you have given in order to ask you to confirm that you wish to receive the newsletter.
If you do not provide confirmation within 48 hours, your registration will be automatically deleted.
If you confirm that you wish to receive the newsletter, we shall store your email address until you cancel your subscription. The sole purpose of storing your address is to send you the newsletter. Furthermore, when you sign up and confirm, we save your IP address and the times, too, so as to prevent misuse of your personal data.
(2) In order to receive the newsletter, the only compulsory item of information you must give is your email address. Providing further details, which are marked accordingly, is optional; the only purpose of this is to create a more personalised newsletter. Those details, too, will be completely deleted if you withdraw consent.
(3) You can withdraw consent at any time to being sent the newsletter by clicking on the link given in every newsletter email or by getting in touch with us directly at our contact address. The details you provide will not be passed on to third parties.
(4) Your consent should be worded as follows: “I hereby give consent to the processing of the above data in order to be sent the newsletter of Dr Christian Ehler, MEP, Gregor-Mendel-Straße 3, 14469 Potsdam, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). My consent also covers any references in the above data to my ethnic origins, religion, political opinions or health.
My consent to being sent the newsletter may be withdrawn at any time (by email to [christian.ehler@europarl.europa.eu] or to the contact address given in the imprint). The newsletter is sent in accordance with the relevant data protection declaration by Dr Christian Ehler, MEP.
The rights of data subjects under the GDPR are set out below.
§11 RIGHTS OF DATA SUBJECTS
We are pleased to inform you in detail, in accordance with Article 13 of the EU GDPR, about the processing of your personal data (hereinafter referred to as “data”).
We explain below what data relating to you we process, and for what purposes, and what rights you have in that connection.
Your data are processed on the basis of the consent you gave in connection with receipt of the newsletter, your approach to us, and further offerings on our website.
Duration of processing
We process your data only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes referred to above, to comply with statutory provisions and to foster our relationship with you.
We will use your data to send the newsletter until such time as you withdraw consent. If you want your data to be deleted, we will do so immediately unless statutory retention periods rule out such a step.
(1) Vis-à-vis us, you have the following rights with regard to your personal data:
• provision of information about the processing of your data (Article 15 GDPR)
• correction or erasure of your data (Articles 16 and 17, respectively, GDPR)
• restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR)
• objection to processing (Article 21 GDPR)
• data portability (Article 20 GDPR)
• withdrawal of consent that produces effects in the future (Article 7(3) GDPR)
(2) Under Article 77 GDPR, you furthermore have the right to complain to a data protection supervisory authority about our processing of your personal data. Your competent supervisory authority is that which covers your place of residence. A list of supervisory authorities can be found here: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html
We hope that this information is helpful to you when exercising your rights. If you would like more information about data protection provisions, please read our data protection declaration carefully or make inquiries with your competent supervisory authority.
§12 SSL ENCRYPTION
On security grounds, and to safeguard the transmission of confidential content, such as inquiries you send us, for instance, this website uses SSL encryption. You can tell that a connection is encrypted by the fact that “https://” appears in your browser’s address bar, instead of “https://”, together with the padlock symbol. If SSL encryption is activated, the data you send us cannot be read by others.
§13 COMMENT FUNCTION ON THIS WEBSITE
In connection with the comment function on this website, the time when a comment is written, your email address and the name you have chosen will be saved in addition to the comment itself.
Saving IP addresses
The IP addresses of users writing comments are saved. Your comments on our site are checked before they are activated. We need this data so that, in the event of infringements of the law such as the posting of insults or actions that might result in a criminal prosecution, action can be taken against the authors concerned.
§14 USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLUG-INS
(1) At present we use the social media plug-ins for Facebook, Google+ and Twitter. In this connection, we use the two-click solution, meaning that initially, when you visit our website, no personal data are passed on to plug-in providers. You can see who the plug-in provider is thanks to the identifier in the box above the initial letter or the logo. Using the button, you can communicate directly with the plug-in provider. Only if you click on the marked field and in doing so activate it will the plug-in provider be informed that you have called up the website concerned from our online offering. In addition, the data referred to in point 3 of this declaration will be sent to us. In the case of Facebook, according to providers in Germany IP addresses are immediately anonymised after they are collected. As a result, then, of activating the plug-in, personal data relating you will be sent to the plug-in provider concerned and stored there (in the US in the case of US providers). As the plug-in provider collects data chiefly by means of cookies, we recommend that, before clicking on the greyed-out box, you delete all cookies via your browser’s security settings.
(2) We have no control over the data collected or the data processing operations concerned; and nor do we know what the full extent of the data collection process is, what purposes processing serves or what retention periods are applicable. We have no information, either, about the plug-in provider’s arrangements for deleting data that have been collected.
(3) The plug-in provider saves the data collected on you in user profiles, which it uses for advertising and market research purposes and/or for customising the design of its website. The principal purpose of such analyses, including as regards users not logged in, is to present tailored advertising and to inform other users of the social network concerned about your activity on our website. You have the right to object to the creation of user profiles; to exercise that right, however, you must approach the relevant plug-in provider. Via plug-ins, we enable you to interact with social networks and other users so that we can improve what we offer and make it more attractive to you as a user. The legal basis for the use of plug-ins is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
(4) Data are passed on regardless of whether you have an account with the plug-in provider and are logged in. If you are logged in with the plug-in provider, your data collected by us will be directly assigned to your existing profile there. If you click on the activate button and, for example, link the page, the plug-in provider will save that information, too, in your user account and share it with your contacts. We recommend that whenever you have used a social network, but in particular before the button is activated, you should log out so as to prevent data from being assigned to your profile held by the plug-in provider.
(5) Further information on the purpose and extent of data collection and processing by plug-in providers can be found in their data protection declarations, referred to below, as can further details concerning your rights in that connection and what you can do, via settings, in order to protect your privacy.
(6) Plug-in providers’ addresses, URLs and privacy policy statements:
(a) Facebook Inc., 1601 S California Ave, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA; https://www.facebook.com/policy.php; further information on data collection: https://www.facebook.com/help/186325668085084, https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info-on-other#applications sowie https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info#everyoneinfo. Facebook is subject to the EU-US Privacy Shield: https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework.
(b) Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountainview, California 94043, USA; https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/?hl=de. Google is subject to the EU-US Privacy Shield: https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework.
(c) Twitter, Inc., 1355 Market St, Suite 900, San Francisco, California 94103, USA; https://twitter.com/privacy. Twitter is subject to the EU-US Privacy Shield: https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework.
§15 DIRECT INTEGRATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLUG-INS
In addition to the two-click solution, we may also use plug-ins that establish a direct connection between you and a third-party provider (e.g. Facebook, Twitter or Google).
We use those plug-ins to enable you to interact with social networks and other users so that we can improve what we offer and make it more attractive to you as a user. The legal basis for the use of plug-ins is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.
We use Facebook social-network plug-ins. Facebook is operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland.
The plug-ins represent interactive elements and content (images, videos, texts, etc.) and are recognisable from their Facebook logo (a white “f” on a bright-blue tile, the “Like” button icon or the thumb icon).
A list of Facebook social plug-ins, showing what they look like, can be found here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/
Under the Privacy Shield agreement (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active) Facebook guarantees compliance with European data protection law.
A direct connection between your browser and Facebook’s server is established when you use our website. As result, Facebook is informed that you have visited our website on the basis of your IP address. If you click on Facebook’s “Like” button while you are logged in to your Facebook account, you can link content on our website to your Facebook profile. That means that Facebook can assign your visit to our website to your user account. We would point out that, as a website provider, we have no knowledge of the content of the data transferred or of what use is made thereof by Facebook. You can find further information on this in Facebook’s data protection declaration at: https://de-de.facebook.com/policy.php.
If you do not want Facebook to assign your visit to our website to your Facebook account, please log out of your Facebook account.
Twitter has been included – content and functions – in the light of our legitimate interest, within the meaning of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, in analysing and optimising our on-line offering and in operating on an economically viable footing. Twitter is operated by Twitter Inc., 1355 Market Street; Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA.
It is certified under the Privacy Shield agreement and guarantees compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000TORzAAO&status=Active). Twitter’s data protection declaration can be found at: https://twitter.com/personalization.
We primarily use Twitter to post content (images, videos, texts and buttons) on a social wall or in a newsbox.
Further information on the purpose and extent of data collection and processing by plug-in providers can be found in their data protection declarations, as can further details concerning your rights in that connection and what you can do, via settings, in order to protect your privacy.
Plug-in providers’ addresses, URLs and privacy policy statements: (a) Facebook Inc., 1601 S California Ave, Palo Alto, California 94304,
USA; https://www.facebook.com/help/186325668085084, https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info-on-other#applications sowie https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/your-info#everyoneinfo. Facebook is subject to the EU-US Privacy Shield: https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework.
(b) Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountainview, California 94043, USA; https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/?hl=de. Google is subject to the EU-US Privacy Shield: https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework.
(c) Twitter, Inc., 1355 Market St, Suite 900, San Francisco, California 94103, USA; https://twitter.com/privacy. Twitter is subject to the EU-US Privacy Shield: https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework.