Thank you for visiting my website and for your interest in my site
policies. My name is Rita Amend, I am the owner, creator and sole writer
here at germany-insider-facts.com.
On this page you will find important information about types of
personal information I receive and collect when you use
germany-insider-facts.com, as well as some of the steps I take to
safeguard your information. This shall help you make an informed
decision about sharing personal details on germany-insider-facts.com.
The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force
on 25. May 2018, so this policy was updated to cover & protect you
under the new law. Since this document was drafted with recommendations
from a lawyer, it might sound a bit formal in places, but hopefully easy
to understand. If you have any questions about these policies, please
don't hesitate to contact me using the email form on the bottom of this page.
Please do not use the website if you disagree with any of the terms outlined here.
What you find on this page - Table of Content (Toc)
Your data and privacy is important to me, I strive to maintain the highest standards of decency, fairness and integrity in all operations. Likewise, I am dedicated to protecting my customers' and online visitors' privacy on my website.
General
The following gives a simple overview of what happens to your personal information when you visit my website. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. Detailed information on the subject of data protection can be found in the detailed privacy policy following the general introduction.
How do I collect your data?
Some data are collected when you provide it to me. This could, for example, be data you enter on a contact form.
Other data are collected automatically by the IT systems when you visit the website. These data are primarily technical data such as the browser and operating system you are using or when you accessed the page. These data are collected automatically as soon as you enter our website.
What do I use your data for?
Part of the data is collected to ensure the proper functioning of the website. Other data can be used to analyze how visitors use the site.
What rights do you have regarding your data?
You always have the right to request information about your stored
data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection at
no charge. You also have the right to request that it be corrected,
blocked, or deleted.
You can contact me at any time using the contact form below if you have
further questions about the issue of privacy and data protection. You
may also, of course, file a complaint with the competent regulatory
authorities. But I'd prefer when you contact me first.
The operators of this website take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data as confidential and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.
If you use this website, various pieces of personal data will be collected. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. This privacy policy explains what information we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this happens.
Please note that data transmitted via the internet (e.g. via email communication) may be subject to security breaches. Complete protection of your data from third-party access is not possible.
Notice concerning the party responsible for this website
The data collected on this website are processed by the website operator. The operator's contact details can be found in the website's required legal notice. The responsible party is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (names, email addresses, etc.).
Many data processing operations are only possible with your express consent. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
If there has been a breach of data protection legislation, the person
affected may file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities.
The competent regulatory authority for matters related to data
protection legislation is the data protection officer of the German
state in which our company is headquartered.
A list of German data protection
officers and their contact details can be found at the following link: Bundesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit.
Or, you can file a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country of residence.
As permitted by law, you have the right to be provided at any time with information free of charge about any of your personal data that is stored as well as its origin, the recipient and the purpose for which it has been processed. You also have the right to have this data corrected, blocked or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in our legal notice if you have further questions on the topic of personal data.
This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content, such as the inquiries you send to us as the site operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection in your browser's address line when it changes from "http://" to "https://" and the lock icon is displayed in your browser's address bar.
If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transfer to us cannot be read by third parties.
Some of our web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses. Cookies help make our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.
Most of
the cookies we use are so-called "session cookies." They are
automatically deleted after your visit. We use cookies to help us
identify and track visitors, their use of our website, and their website
access preferences.
Other cookies remain in your device's memory until you delete them.
These cookies make it possible to recognize your browser when you next
visit the site.
You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. If you choose to refuse germany-insider-facts.com's cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the site.
Cookies which are necessary to allow electronic communications or to provide certain functions you wish to use (such as the shopping cart) are stored pursuant to Art. 6 paragraph 1, letter f of GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure an optimized service provided free of technical errors. If other cookies (such as those used to analyse your surfing behaviour) are also stored, they will be treated separately in this privacy policy.
The website provider automatically collects and stores information that your browser automatically transmits to us in "server log files". These are:
We collect each visitor's IP address, which helps us combat spam and fraud. We do not use IP addresses for any other purpose. These data will not be combined with data from other sources.
The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR, which allows the processing of data to fulfil a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.
germany-insider-facts.com may collect personally identifiable information from you in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, when you visit our site, register on the site, subscribe to our newsletter, or fill out a form, and in connection with other activities, services, features or resources we make available on our site.
You can always refuse to supply personally identifiable information
and visit our site anonymously. However, it may prevent you from
engaging in certain site-related activities.
If we make material changes in the collection of personally identifiable
information, we will inform you by placing a notice on our site. We
will use personal information received from you for internal purposes
only and will not sell it or provide it to third parties.
Should you send us questions via the contact form, we will collect the data entered on the form, including the contact details you provide, to answer your question and any follow-up questions. We do not share this information without your permission.
We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
We will retain the data you provide on the contact form until you request its deletion, revoke your consent for its storage, or the purpose for its storage no longer pertains (e.g. after fulfilling your request). Any mandatory statutory provisions, especially those regarding mandatory data retention periods, remain unaffected by this provision.
If you use the comment function on this site, the time at which you created the comment will be stored along with your comment, as well as your username, unless you are posting anonymously.
Storage of the IP address
Our comment function stores the IP addresses of those users who post comments. Since we do not check comments on our site before they go live, we need this information to be able to pursue action for illegal or slanderous content.
Subscribing to the comment feed
As a user of this site, you can sign up to receive the comment feed after registering. Your email address will be checked with a confirmation email. You can unsubscribe from this function at any time by clicking the link in the emails. The data provided when you subscribed to the comments feed will then be deleted, but if you have submitted this data to us for other purposes or elsewhere (such as subscribing to a newsletter), it will be retained.
How long comments are stored
The comments and the associated data (e.g. IP address) are stored and remain on our website until the content commented upon has been completely deleted or the comments are required to be removed for legal reasons (slander, etc.).
Legal basis
The comments are stored based on your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
We maintain publicly available profiles in social networks. The individual social networks we use can be found below.
Social networks such as Facebook, Google+ etc. can generally analyse
your user behaviour comprehensively if you visit their website or a
website with integrated social media content (e.g. like buttons or
banner ads). When you visit our social media pages, numerous data
protection-relevant processing operations are triggered.
In detail: If you are logged in to your social media account and visit our social media page, the operator of the social media portal can assign this visit to your user account. Under certain circumstances, your personal data may also be recorded if you are not logged in or do not have an account with the respective social media portal. In this case, this data is collected, for example, via cookies stored on your device or by recording your IP address.
Using the data collected in this way, the operators of the social media portals can create user profiles in which their preferences and interests are stored. This way you can see interest-based advertising inside and outside of your social media presence. If you have an account with the social network, interest-based advertising can be displayed on any device you are logged in to or have logged in to.
Please also note that we cannot retrace all processing operations on the social media portals. Depending on the provider, additional processing operations may therefore be carried out by the operators of the social media portals. Details can be found in the terms of use and privacy policy of the respective social media portals.
Our social media appearances should ensure the widest possible presence on the Internet. This is a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. The analysis processes initiated by the social networks may be based on divergent legal bases to be specified by the operators of the social networks (e.g. consent within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR).
If you visit one of our social media sites (e.g., Facebook), we, together with the operator of the social media platform, are responsible for the data processing operations triggered during this visit. You can in principle protect your rights (information, correction, deletion, limitation of processing, data portability and complaint) vis-à-vis us as well as vis-à-vis the operator of the respective social media portal (e.g. Facebook). Please note that despite the shared responsibility with the social media portal operators, we do not have full influence on the data processing operations of the social media portals. Our options are determined by the company policy of the respective provider.
The data collected directly from us via the social media presence will be deleted from our systems as soon as the purpose for their storage lapses, you ask us to delete it, you revoke your consent to the storage or the purpose for the data storage lapses. Stored cookies remain on your device until you delete them. Mandatory statutory provisions – in particular, retention periods – remain unaffected.
We have no control over the storage duration of your data that are stored by the social network operators for their own purposes. For details, please contact the social network operators directly (e.g. in their privacy policy, see below).
We have a profile on Facebook. The provider is Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA. Facebook is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield.
We have signed an agreement with Facebook on shared responsibility for the processing of data (Controller Addendum). This agreement determines which data processing operations we or Facebook are responsible for when you visit our Facebook Fan page. This agreement can be viewed at this link.
You can customise your advertising settings independently in your user account. Click on the following link and log in.
Details can be found in the Facebook privacy policy.
Our website includes plug-ins for the social network Facebook,
Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA. The
Facebook plug-ins can be recognized by the Facebook logo or the Like
button on our site.
For an overview of Facebook plug-ins, see Facebook developers plug-ins.
When
you visit our site, a direct connection between your browser and the
Facebook server is established via the plug-in. This enables Facebook to
receive information that you have visited our site from your IP address.
If you click on the Facebook "Like button" while you are logged into
your Facebook account, you can link the content of our site to your
Facebook profile. This allows Facebook to associate visits to our site
with your user account. Please note that, as the operator of this site,
we have no knowledge of the content of the data transmitted to Facebook
or of how Facebook uses these data.
For more information, please see Facebook's privacy policy at Facebook privacy policy.
If you do not want Facebook to associate your visit to our site with your Facebook account, please log out of your Facebook account.
The use of the Facebook plug-in is based on Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in being as visible as possible on social media.
Functions of the Twitter service have been integrated into our website and app. These features are offered by Twitter Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. When you use Twitter and the “Retweet” function, the websites you visit are connected to your Twitter account and made known to other users. In doing so, data will also be transferred to Twitter. We would like to point out that, as the provider of these pages, we have no knowledge of the content of the data transmitted or how it will be used by Twitter. For more information on Twitter's privacy policy, please go to Twitter privacy.
Your privacy preferences with Twitter can be modified in your account settings at Twitter account settings. You must be logged in to do this.
The use of the Twitter plug-in is based on Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in being as visible as possible on social media.
Our website contains functions of the Pinterest social network, operated by Pinterest Inc., 635 High Street, Palo Alto, CA, 94301, USA.
When you visit a page containing the Pinterest social plug-in, your browser establishes a direct connection to the Pinterest servers. The plug-in transmits this log data to Pinterest servers in the United States. This log data may include your IP address, the address of the websites visited, which also includes Pinterest features, browser type and settings, the date and time of the request, how you use Pinterest, and cookies.
More information about the purpose, scope and further processing and use of data by Pinterest, as well as your rights and options to protect your privacy, can be found in the privacy notices of Pinterest. Pinterest privacy policy.
The use of the Pinterest plug-in is based on Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in being as visible as possible on social media.
This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
Google Analytics uses so-called "cookies". These are 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.
Google Analytics cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising.
IP anonymization
We have activated the IP anonymization feature on this website. Your IP address will be shortened by Google within the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area prior to transmission to the United States. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address sent to a Google server in the US and shortened there. Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide other services regarding website activity and Internet usage for the website operator. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with any other data held by Google.
Browser plugin
You can prevent these cookies being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website. You can also prevent the data generated by cookies about your use of the website (incl. your IP address) from being passed to Google, and the processing of these data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at the following link: GA opt-out.
Objecting to the collection of data
You can prevent the collection of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set to prevent your data from being collected on future visits to this site: Disable Google AnalyticsFor more information about how Google Analytics handles user data, see Google's privacy policy.
Outsourced data processing
We have entered into an agreement with Google for the outsourcing of our data processing and fully implement the strict requirements of the German data protection authorities when using Google Analytics.
As a second tool we use to analyse visitors' favourite pages is
StatCounter, Guinness Enterprise Centre, Taylor's Lane, Dublin 8,
Ireland. We use the tool with settings that don't collect personalised
data, this means IP addresses are anonymised and cookie settings is
disabled.
Click here to read their Privacy Policy
This website uses Google AdSense, a service for including advertisements from Google Inc. ("Google"). It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
Google AdSense uses so-called "cookies", which are text files stored in your computer that enable an analysis of the way you use the website. Google AdSense also uses so-called web beacons (invisible graphics). Through these web beacons, information such as the visitor traffic on these pages can be evaluated.
The information generated by cookies and web beacons relating to your use of this website (including your IP address), and delivery of advertising formats, is transmitted to a Google server in the US and stored there. This information can be passed on from Google to contracting parties of Google. However, Google will not merge your IP address with other data you have stored.
AdSense cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analysing user behaviour to optimize both its website and its advertising.
You can prevent the installation
of cookies by setting your browser software accordingly. Please be
aware that in this case, you may not be able to make full use of all the
features of this website. By using this website, you agree to the
processing of data relating to you and collected by Google as described
and for the purposes set out above.
Read more about Google's advertising policies by clicking here.
Some third-party advertisements may be provided by Google, which uses cookies to serve ads on the site. Google uses the DoubleClick cookie, which enables it to serve ads to our users based on their visits to this site and other sites on the Web. You may opt out of the use of the DoubleClick cookie by clicking here.
Additionally, third-party vendors and ad networks may serve ads on germany-insider-facts.com. These vendors might use unidentifiable information about your visit. You may visit those vendors websites to opt out of cookies (if the vendor or ad network offers this capability). Users can opt out of some, but not all of these cookies in one location at the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out website at Networkadvertising.org or at aboutads.info.
Browsers can be set to accept or reject cookies or notify you when a cookie is being sent. Privacy software can be used to override web beacons. Taking either of these actions shouldn't cause a problem with our site, should you so choose.
This website uses also advertising through Media.net Advertising FZ-LLC, 2701 Aurora Tower, Dubai Media City, Dubai 215028.
The company is fully compliant with GDPR. Their contextual text ad units
are primarily driven by context and not audience data. For EEA users
and citizens of the EU, Media.net does not collect, store or use any
Personal Data for ad targeting and wherever applicable serves only
non-personalized ads across all ad formats. They only send the user IP
address to upstream providers for the purpose of fraud identification
and mitigation. The upstream providers may use IP addresses for geo
targeting not more granular than city or DMA level. For more details,
you can read their Privacy Policy here.
If you would like to receive our newsletter, we require a valid email address as well as information that allows us to verify that you are the owner of the specified email address and that you agree to receive this newsletter. No additional data is collected or is only collected on a voluntary basis. We only use this data to send the requested information and do not pass it on to third parties.
We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. You can revoke consent to the storage of your data and email address as well as their use for sending the newsletter at any time, e.g. through the "unsubscribe" link in the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted. Data we have stored for other purposes (e.g. email addresses for the members area) remain unaffected.
This website uses the services of MailChimp to send newsletters. This service is provided by Rocket Science Group LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Suite 5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA.
MailChimp is a service which organizes and analyses the distribution of newsletters. If you provide data (e.g. your email address) to subscribe to our newsletter, it will be stored on MailChimp servers in the USA.
MailChimp is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield is an agreement between the European Union (EU) and the US to ensure compliance with European privacy standards in the United States.
We use MailChimp to analyse our newsletter campaigns. When you open an email sent by MailChimp, a file included in the email (called a web beacon) connects to MailChimp's servers in the United States. This allows us to determine if a newsletter message has been opened and which links you click on. In addition, technical information is collected (e.g. time of retrieval, IP address, browser type, and operating system). This information cannot be assigned to a specific recipient. It is used exclusively for the statistical analysis of our newsletter campaigns. The results of these analyses can be used to better tailor future newsletters to your interests.
If you do not want your usage of the newsletter to be analysed by MailChimp, you will have to unsubscribe from the newsletter. For this purpose, we provide a link in every newsletter we send. You can also unsubscribe from the newsletter directly on the website.
Data processing is based on Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. You may revoke your consent at any time by unsubscribing to the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.
The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted from our servers and those of MailChimp. Data we have stored for other purposes (e.g. email addresses for the members area) remains unaffected.
For details, see the MailChimp privacy policy at MailChimp legal terms.
Completion of a data processing agreement
We have
entered into a data processing agreement with MailChimp, in which we
require MailChimp to protect the data of our customers and not to
disclose said data to third parties.
This agreement may be viewed at the following link: MailChimp DPA.
Our website uses plug-ins from YouTube, which is operated by Google. The operator of the pages is YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA.
If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube plug-in, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. Here the YouTube server is informed about which of our pages you have visited.
If you're logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behaviour directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.
YouTube is used to help make our website appealing. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.
Further information about handling user data, can be found in the Google policies.This site uses the Google Maps map service via an API. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
To use Google Maps, it is necessary to save your IP address. This information is generally transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. The provider of this site has no influence on this data transfer.
The use of Google Maps is in the interest of making our website appealing and to facilitate the location of places specified by us on the website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.
Further information about handling user data, can be found in the data protection declaration of Google.
Rita Amend/germany-insider-facts.com is participating in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Our pages contain Amazon advertisements and links to the sites run by amazon.com. Amazon uses cookies to trace the origin of the orders. As a result, Amazon can detect that you clicked the affiliate link on our website.
To obtain more information about how Amazon uses your data, see the Amazon privacy policy.
Other affiliate platforms include the following companies, click on their names to read their privacy policies.
Through these partner programs and advertising we receive a small commission
when website visitors book a tour or hotel room, or buy any products
offered. These commissions help to maintain the website and keep
information free of charge on this site.
Affiliate products and advertising is labelled accordingly.
germany-insider-facts.com disclaims any liability arising directly or
indirectly from using any of the products listed. Before you purchase a
product through any affiliate link, read the terms & conditions on
the provider's website.
All affiliate products offered in this website are selected by us. Affiliate products do not influence
the content of this website. Articles are always based on own
experience and personal views. Although we won't be able to test all
affiliate products personally, we research and check the products for
their usefulness and quality. We partner only with serious and reliable
companies.
The storage of Amazon cookies & other affiliate cookies is based on Art. 6 (f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in this service since it only receives credit for referral fees if these cookies are set.
Non-personally Identifiable Information
We may collect non-personally identifiable information about you whenever you interact with our site. Non-personally identifiable information may include the browser name, the type of computer and technical information about your method of connecting to our site, such as the operating system and the Internet service provider you used, and other similar information.
Children's Privacy Protection
This website is directed to adults. It is not directed to children under the age of 16. We operate our site in compliance with current regulations. Anyone under the age of 16 must provide parental consent to use this site. We do not knowingly collect or use personally identifiable information from anyone under 16 years of age.
Release of Information
If we sell germany-insider-facts.com, the information we have obtained from you through your voluntary participation in our site may transfer to the new owner as a part of the sale so that the service provided to you may continue. In that event, you will receive notice through our website of that change in control and practices, and we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that the purchaser honours any opt-out requests you might make.
Data Storage
Personally identifiable information and non-personally identifiable information collected by this site is stored on our host's servers. That host is SiteSell Inc., located at 1000 Saint-Jean Boulevard, Suite 702, Pointe-Claire, QC H9R 5P1 Canada.
How You Can Correct or Remove Information
We provide this privacy policy as a statement to you of our commitment to protect your personally identifiable information. If you have submitted personally identifiable information through our website and would like to download and review that information, click here to get a message about the info we store about you.
You can also request to edit or delete any of your information from the servers by clicking on this link.
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) enacted in 2018, creates new consumer rights relating to the access to, deletion of, and sharing of personal information that is collected by businesses.
We have not sold any personal information in the previous 12 months.
germany-insider-facts.com reserves the right to make changes in this policy. If there is a material change in our cookie and privacy practices, we will indicate on our site that those practices have changed and provide a link to the updated privacy policy. We encourage you to periodically review this policy so that you will know what information we collect and how we use it.
Agreeing to Terms
If you do not agree to germany-insider-facts.com's privacy policy as
posted here on this website, please do not consent to the setting of
cookies and the collection and storage of your personally identifiable
information.
This privacy policy was updated: 01. January 2020