Data Protection Information / Datenschutzinformation

When you use this website, we process your personal data as data controllers and save them for the duration required to fulfill the defined purposes and legal obligations. The sections below provide further details about the data this involves, how they will be processed and which rights you have in this regard.

Personal data, as defined by Article 4 (1) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) include all information related to an identified or identifiable natural person.

1 Scope of Application

This data protection information applies to data processing all project websites of our project, as well as to all associated project service offers in the form of web utilities or mobile apps (hereinafter: Website to facilitate readability), in each case whenever reference is made to this data protection information. The controller is:

2 Name and Contact Information of Controller and Corporate Data Protection Office

The corporate data protection officer at Fraunhofer can be reached at the above-mentioned address in Munich, c/o Data Protection Officer or at datenschutz@zv.fraunhofer.de.

Please feel free to contact the data protection officer directly at any time with your questions concerning your data protection rights and/or your rights as data subject.

3 Personal Data Processing and Purposes of Data Processing

When visiting the website

You may access our website without having to disclose any details on your identity. The browser installed on your device merely transmits information automatically to the server of our website (e.g., browser type and version, date and time of access) to enable a connection with the website. This includes the IP address of your requesting device. This information is temporarily stored in a so-called log file and will be deleted after 30 Tage.

Your IP address is processed for technical and administrative purposes regarding connection set-up and stability, to guarantee the security and functioning of our website and, if necessary, to be able to track any illegal attacks on the website.

The legal basis for processing the IP address is Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. Our legitimate interest ensues from said security interest and the necessity of the unobstructed availability of our website.

We cannot draw any direct conclusions about your identity from processing the IP address and other information in the log file.

When subscribing to a newsletter or other email list

Once you have given your explicit consent pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR, we will use your email address to regularly send you selected information about the work in our Institute and/or in other institutions and/or events of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. The subjects and contents of the selected information are determined by the list you subscribed to.

Once you have subscribed, you will receive a registration notification by email, which you need to confirm to receive the newsletter (so-called double opt-in). Your email response serves as confirmation that you are in fact the person who initiated the subscription.

You may unsubscribe at any time, e.g., via a link at the end of each newsletter. Alternatively, you may also unsubscribe by email or by using the following link: https://www.fraunhofer.de/de/fraunhofer-newsletter-abmeldung.html.

Once we have received your cancellation of the newsletter subscription, we will immediately delete your email address.

When using contact forms

Our website gives visitors the opportunity to post comments on our articles and blog posts. Your comments will appear with your name below the article/post you are commenting on.

If you want to use the comment function on our website, we ask you to provide the following mandatory data:

• Name and
• Email address

Instead of your name, you may use a pseudonym/alias. The process requires that you provide your email address to send your comment. However, we do not publish your email address together with your comment. We use your email address only to inform you of a reaction to your comment.

The processing of data is in response to your comments and is justified in the context of publishing online contributions together with user reactions and on the basis of our legitimate interest in an opinion and information exchange pursuant to Article 6 (1) lit. f GDPR.

The personal data are processed for as long as the comment is published on the website and are then deleted.

When using our online shop

We offer an online shop on our website, where you can purchase Fraunhofer publications. As part of the order process, we collect the following mandatory data:

• Title
• First and last name
• Address
• Email address

The collection and processing of these data has the following purposes:

• To identify you as our contract partner
• To check the provided data for plausibility
• To complete the order and invoicing processes

In addition, you may voluntarily provide more data (company name, different billing address, contact information).

We process these data at your request, and this processing is required pursuant to Article 6 (1) lit. b GDPR for the purposes listed to fulfill your order and to implement precontractual measures. In the process, we use your email address to send you an order confirmation. We use all contact information exclusively to handle any inquiries connected to your order.

We will store the personal data collected in connection with your order until the end of the statutory warranty period (2 years, Sec. 438 (1) No. 3 BGB [German Civil Code]). At that time, the data will be deleted unless pursuant to Article 6 (1) lit. c GDPR longer storage is required due to statutory retention and documentation obligations for tax purposes (in particular pursuant to Sec. 147 AO [German Fiscal Code]). During this storage period (ordinarily ten years after entering into the sales contract), we will reprocess the data solely in the case of audits by fiscal authorities. Aside from that, the data will be blocked from any further processing.

When creating a user account

You can create a password-protected user account on our website.

Setting up the user account requires the following information:

• Title
• First and last name
• Valid email address

These data are processed in order to identify you as a user and create your user account.

To set up the user account, you must also enter a password you choose yourself. To access your user account, you will need to enter your email address and this password. In your user account, you can view the data saved in your user profile and change it at any time.

We process data at your request and for the purposes described by Article 6 (1) lit. b GDPR for the setup and usage of your user account and to meet the precontractual conditions. We will also use your email address for notification functions, if these are activated.

After your user account is deleted, your data will be deleted to prevent further use except if we are required pursuant to Article 6 (1) lit. c GDPR to observe a longer storage period due to retention and documentation obligations pursuant to tax and commercial law (in particular Sec. 147 AO in regard to taxes) or if you have consented to longer storage pursuant to Article 6 (1) lit. a GDPR.

4 Transfer of Data

If we transfer personal data collected through websites to processors, we will notify you in this data protection information regarding the respective data processing operation, citing the specific recipient.

Aside from that, we will transfer your personal data only if

• you have given explicit consent pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR;
• this is necessary pursuant to Article 6 (1) lit. b GDPR for the performance of a contract with you (for example, transfer to shipping companies for the purpose of delivering goods ordered by you, or transmitting payment information to payment service providers or credit institutions in order to process a payment transaction);
• there is a legal obligation for transfer pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. c GDPR.

The recipients must not use the transferred data for any purposes other than the above-mentioned ones.

5 Rights of the Data Subject

You have the right:

• pursuant to Art. 7(3) GDPR, to withdraw your consent at any time. This means that we may not continue the data processing based on this consent in the future;
• pursuant to Art. 15 GDPR, to obtain access to your personal data processed by us. In particular, you may request information about the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned, the categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, and the envisaged period for which the data will be stored. Moreover, you have the right to request rectification, erasure, or restriction of processing, to object to processing, the right to lodge a complaint, and to obtain information about the source of your data if they were not collected by us as well as about the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, and, if applicable, meaningful information about the details involved;
• pursuant to Art. 16 GDPR, to obtain without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate data or the completion of your personal data stored by us;
• pursuant to Art. 17 GDPR, to obtain the erasure of personal data stored by us unless processing is necessary to exercise the right of freedom of expression and information, to comply with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
• pursuant to Art. 18 GDPR, to obtain restriction of processing of your personal data if you contest the accuracy of the data, the processing is unlawful but you oppose the erasure of the personal data, or if we no longer need the personal data while you still require it for establishing, exercising or defending legal claims, or if you have filed an objection to the processing pursuant to Art. 21 GDPR;
• pursuant to Art. 20 GDPR, to receive your personal data that you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to demand the transfer of those data to another controller and
• pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR, the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Generally, you may contact the supervisory authority of your usual residence, place of work or the registered offices of our organization.

6 Data Security

All your personal data are transmitted in encrypted format, using the widely used and secure TLS (Transport Layer Security) standard. TLS is a secure and proven standard that is also used, for instance, in online banking. You will recognize a secure TLS connection by the additional s after http (i.e., https://...) in the address bar of your browser or by the lock icon in the bottom part of your browser window.

In all other regards, we use suitable technical and organizational security measures to protect your data against accidental or intentional manipulations, partial or complete loss, destruction, or the unauthorized access of third parties. We continuously improve our security measures in accordance with the state of the art.

7 Timeliness and Amendments to this Data Protection Information

The further development of our website and the products and services offered or changed due to statutory or regulatory requirements, respectively, may make it necessary to amend this data protection information. You may access and print out the latest data protection information at any time from our website.