General data protection policy
1. Introduction
PAASP GmbH welcomes you to our website; thank you for your interest in our company, and our products and services. The protection of your personal information throughout the entire business process is a matter of importance to us and we want you to feel safe while visiting our website. That is why we treat your data confidentially and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations.
In the following we explain which data is collected by PAASP GmbH, or in some circumstances by a service provider commissioned by us, and how this data is used. In addition, we would like to inform you of your rights concerning the use of your data.
2. General data protection policy
This data protection policy applies to all websites for which we are responsible. However, our websites can contain links to third-party companies to which our data protection policy does not apply.
We guarantee confidential treatment of your personal data: All of our employees are bound to secrecy in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations. In addition, the company data protection officer ensures observance and compliance with this data protection policy.
Personal data stored in our systems is deleted after complete processing of contracts and after expiration of the periods specified in the tax and commercial regulations, unless you have expressly agreed to use of your data beyond those periods.
2.1. Data security
We use suitable technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data stored in our systems against unauthorised third-party access, manipulation, and partial or complete loss. These security measures are continuously modified in accordance with technological developments and other new findings.
We point out that the transmission of data over the Internet (e.g. through e-mail communication) can involve security gaps, which means that it is impossible to guarantee one-hundred percent protection of your data against access by third parties. Sensitive data should therefore either not be transmitted or should be transmitted via a secure connection or in encrypted form.
In addition, after visiting our websites you should close your web browser window, especially if you share the computer with other people.
3. General information on data collection, processing and utilisation
3.1. Data that is transmitted via browser/Internet technology
When you visit our websites your web browser automatically sends the following data to us or to our website provider:
- browser type and version,
- operating system,
- website from which you visited us (referrer URL),
- website that you visit,
- date and time of your visit,
- your Internet protocol (IP) address.
This pseudonymised data is saved in a server log file for technical and statistical purposes in order to further optimise our website and our content. In addition, we reserve the right in the event of misuse of the system to use this data to determine the cause or the source of the misuse.
The aforementioned data will be saved separately: there will be no correlation of this data with any personal data provided by you, which makes it impossible to draw conclusions about a particular individual.
3.2. Contact form / e-mails sent to us
We offer you the opportunity of contacting us by means of a contact form and/or by e-mail. Information provided by you for this purpose is voluntary. At least your name, your e-mail address and your message, as well as other voluntary information, additional contact data (address, phone number) to be used for our reply or where we can reach you, will be recorded and saved, if this information is required for the purpose desired by you.
Your personal data will therefore be used for processing and responding to your concern, such as an inquiry, and/or for processing any contracts concluded with you. There will be no comparison of the data thus collected with data that is possibly collected by other components and/or services of our websites.
Please be aware that this means of communication – due to the lack of possibilities for encryption at the present time – is not suitable for transmitting confidential information! For such cases we recommended sending the data by post.
3.3. Communication of data to third parties
Your data is forwarded to third parties only if this is permissible by law and is necessary for purposes of processing contracts. The communicated data may be used by the third party only for the purpose of forwarding the data.
If we make use of services of third-party service providers, it is possible that data will be transmitted to them. The contractual conditions with these third-party service providers are regulated by the statutory data protection regulations, and in this case the communicated data may be used only for the contractually agreed purpose of forwarding of the data.
In addition, your data will be forwarded to third parties only if you have expressly given your approval. The communication of your data to third parties can take place on the basis of statutory obligations or court decisions. In addition, we reserve the right to forward your data to criminal prosecution authorities for the purpose of criminal prosecution.
4. Cookies
We use so-called cookies on our websites. Cookies are small text files that your web browser automatically creates and saves on your end device (PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) so that the browser can retrieve them at a later time. Our cookies will cause no damage to your end device; they contain no viruses, trojans or other malware.
Most browsers automatically accept cookies. However, you can control how cookies are saved on your end device in the browser settings. Your browser can be configured so that you are informed when cookies are saved, or you can allow cookies on an individual basis or reject the acceptance of cookies in general for certain cases. Every browser also allows the user to display the saved cookies and to delete some or all cookies. It is also possible to enable automatic deletion of cookies when the browser is closed. For further information on settings for cookies, please refer to your browser documentation.
Do not accept cookies on end devices that are used by several persons (such as in an Internet café) without user management (personal login with a secret password), since this holds the potential for misuse of data by the other users. If you ever have to accept cookies on an end device used by several persons, you should delete all cookies before you close the browser. The browser documentation provides information on how to delete cookies.
4.1. Classification of cookies
4.1.1. Technically required cookies
These cookies, which are also known as session cookies, are necessary for the proper operation of our websites and your trouble-free visit; our websites will not function without the technically required cookies. For example, session cookies control the connection during your visit to our websites. Session cookies can contain personal data. These cookies, however, are stored on your end device only temporarily – they are automatically deleted when you close the browser. We are responsible for the session cookies, which are therefore known as first-party cookies.
If you reject the use of technically required cookies, full functionality of our websites is no longer guaranteed.
4.1.1.1. Individual settings in combination with websites
Some cookies are intended to make our websites more user-friendly. For example, they are used to store the selected language for display of the websites. Cookies of this type are stored for an extended period, so that your preferences for your next visit are not lost. These cookies contain no personal data; they contain only the parameters for the particular settings. We are likewise responsible for these cookies (first-party cookies). If you reject the use of session cookies, full functionality of our websites will be maintained; however, you will then have to set your preferences again every time you visit.
4.1.2. Technically not required (optional) cookies
We also use cookies to gather statistics on the use of our websites, in order to optimise our content (see section on “Website analysis services”). These cookies make it possible to determine in particular the frequency of use and the number of users of our websites, and to analyse user behaviour. The cookies are saved after you close your web browser and are retrieved when you visit us again; they therefore serve to recognise your repeated use of our content. You are recognised on the basis of your Internet Protocol (IP) address. This does not mean, however, that we receive direct knowledge of personal data. These cookies are automatically deleted after a pre-defined time period. The providers of web analysis services such as “Google Analytics” are responsible for these cookies; such optional cookies are known as third-party cookies.
All standard web browsers meanwhile have an option to block third-party cookies. If you reject the use of these cookies, which are technically not required, full functionality of our websites is likewise no longer guaranteed.
5. Web analysis services
For the purpose of designing and continuously optimising our websites, we use the web analysis service “Google Analytics”. This service creates pseudonymised user profiles of the visitors and uses cookies (see section on “Cookies”).
5.1. Google Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files saved on your computer to help the website analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about the use of this website is usually transferred to and stored on Google servers in the USA. IP anonymisation is activated on this website, which means that Google will shorten IP addresses for member states of the European Union and for other parties to the Agreement of the European Economic Area before transmitting them. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website to evaluate the use of the website by its users, to compile reports on website activity and to provide further services for the website operator relating to website activity and internet usage. Google will not associate the IP address transmitted by your browser for Google Analytics purposes with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. Furthermore, users can prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie about their use of the website (including their IP address) and its processing by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in provided under the following link.
The current link is https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
6. Your rights: information, correction, deletion, blocking, objection
Without having to state a reason you will receive, free of charge, information on the stored data that relates to your person, its origin, recipients to whom the data is forwarded, and the purpose of the data processing. Furthermore, you have a right to correction of incorrect data and to deletion of personal data that is no longer needed, as long as there is no obligation of retention on the basis of other legal regulations. In these cases, you have the right to blocking of the data. In addition, you can object at any time to the collection and storage of data by means of cookies. For further information on disabling cookies, please refer to the section on “Cookies”. If you have granted us permission to collect and use your personal data, you can cancel this permission for the future free of charge, at any time and without stating a reason.
7. Updating of the data protection policy
As a result of further development of our websites or due to changes in statutory or governmental regulations it may be necessary to modify this data protection policy. The current version of the data protection policy is available on our websites at all times.
8. Contact
To exercise your rights or if you have any questions concerning the processing or use of your personal data, you can contact PAASP GmbH.
