With the following information, we would like to inform you about the processing of your personal data and give you an overview of your rights under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Please note that not all parts of this letter apply to you, as the question of which data is processed in detail and how it is used depends largely on the agreed services.

I. Controller and data protection officer

The controller responsible for data processing is

Ebner Media Group GmbH & Co KG
Karlstraße 3
89073 Ulm
E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www.ebnermedia.de

You can reach our data protection officer at:

AGOR AG
Niddastraße 74
60329 Frankfurt am Main
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 (0) 69 – 9494 32 410
Website: www.agor-ag.com
E-Mail: [email protected]

II. Categories of personal data, legal basis and purposes of the processing

1. Contractual relationship between company and customer (B2C)

a) Customer Management

As part of our contractual relationship with our customers, we process data within master data management. This generally includes the management of data within our CRM system, document management and storage, the use of cloud services, the creation of system-side logs and the delivery of service emails as part of the provision of our service.

Within internal communication and external communication with our customers, we use the usual communication channels, in particular by email, telephone and in writing (by post). In addition, customer management includes the creation of presentations/spreadsheets, calendar management, document exchange, chat communication and participation in audio and video conferences via cloud services.

You have the option of informing us of changes to your data (e.g. new delivery address, changed bank details) or other concerns relating to an existing contractual relationship (e.g. complaints, vacation service requests, termination). For this purpose, you may also need to provide address, contact and communication data as well as information about your contractual relationship with us so that we can process your request.

The legal basis for data processing in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. b GDPR is the performance of a contract with you or to take prior steps to entering a contract that take place at your request.

We pass your data on to the sales, marketing and service providers commissioned by us, who support us both in the fulfillment of the contract and in customer service, for the intended purpose and in compliance with data protection regulations. In accordance with the GDPR, we contractually oblige them neither to use your data for their own purposes nor to pass it on to other third parties.

We delete your personal data as soon as it is no longer required for the above-mentioned purposes. After termination of the contractual relationship, the personal data will be stored for as long as the controller is legally obliged to do so. The statutory retention periods (e.g. in accordance with the German laws HGB, AO) are generally up to ten years.

We also process your data in individual cases for statistical evaluations and for the further development of our services and products.

b) Conclusion of a subscription

When you take out or receive a print or digital subscription (including trial subscriptions), we collect the following mandatory information:

Salutation
First Name
Last Name
Address
E-Mail address
Your bank details when using a SEPA direct debit mandate (only required for combined subscriptions or direct debit payments)
If necessary, a different delivery address.
Mandatory information is always marked as such. As a rule, you can also make use of our offers without providing voluntary information. If this is not the case, we will inform you separately.

If you change or update your customer data, the new data will be adopted. The changed data will be used for the same purposes as the data originally collected.

This data is collected in order to identify you as our customer;

in the contract initiation phase in order to be able to identify you as our potential contractual partner
to be able to supply you;
for correspondence with you;
For the provision of service mailings regarding our services
for invoicing;
if necessary, to process the contractual relationship;
for the settlement of any liability claims and the assertion of any claims against you;
If you wish to order a subscription, you must provide us with your address, contact and communication data and, if applicable, your payment data for the purpose of concluding the contract. The data processing takes place at your request and is required in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. b GDPR for the purposes mentioned for the appropriate fulfillment of the contractual relationship and for the mutual fulfillment of obligations arising from the contract.

To use our service, you also need an online user account, which is created through a one-time registration. You can find more information on this in the privacy policy on our website.

c) Payment processing

Payment transactions within our contractual relationship are essential for the fulfillment of the contract. External payment service providers are used for this purpose.

We, or the payment service providers used, collect and process inventory data required for the transaction, such as contact details, bank details/credit card numbers, passwords, and contract details. The data collected is only processed and stored by us or the selected service provider. This means that we do not receive and store any transaction data. The respective payment service provider only sends us information about a confirmation of the payment. Under certain circumstances, individual payment service providers may transmit your personal data to credit agencies for the purpose of a credit check.

The legal basis for the processing is our contractual relationship pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. b GDPR.

Within the individual websites you will find the terms and conditions of the payment service providers used, as well as further information on the assertion of revocation rights and other rights of data subjects.

2. Contractual relationship between companies and customers (B2B)

a) Advertising management

As part of our advertising management services for our B2B customers, we process personal data of the contact persons of the respective partner company. Data such as name, e-mail address and postal address are processed in our CRM systems Salesforce and Mediasweet for the purpose of preparing offers, managing products and issuing invoices. This data is then stored in our SAP system as a business contact.

Within internal communication and external communication with our business partners, we use the usual communication channels, which take place in particular by email, telephone and in writing (by post). In addition, business customer management includes the creation of presentations/spreadsheets, calendar management, document exchange, chat communication and participation in audio and video conferences via cloud services.

You have the option of informing us of changes to your data (e.g. new postal address, new contact person, changed bank details) or other matters relating to an existing contractual relationship (e.g. complaints, termination). For this purpose, you may also need to provide address, contact and communication data as well as information about your contractual relationship with us so that we can process your request.

The legal basis for data processing and communication with the contact person of the companies with which we have a business relationship is our legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. f GDPR, which consists in being able to handle the contractual relationship with the companies with which we have a contractual relationship.

We pass your data on to the sales, marketing and service providers commissioned by us, who support us both in the fulfillment of the contract and in communication with our business partners, for the intended purpose and in compliance with data protection regulations. In accordance with the GDPR, we contractually oblige them neither to use your data for their own purposes nor to pass it on to other third parties.

We delete the personal data as soon as it is no longer required for the above-mentioned purposes. After termination of the contractual relationship, the personal data will be stored for as long as the controller is legally obliged to do so. The statutory retention periods (e.g. in accordance with HGB, AO) are generally up to ten years.

3. Advertising

a) Postal Advertising

In some cases, your name and address data will be processed by us based on our legitimate interest in direct marketing in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. f GDPR for advertising purposes to send you advertising by post.

If you no longer wish to receive postal advertising from us, you can object to the use of your data for advertising purposes for the future at any time by contacting [email protected].

Your data will be deleted as soon as you have declared your objection to us and there are no other reasons for retaining the data.

b) E-mail advertising

If you have given us your consent in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a GDPR to send you advertising by e-mail, we will use your e-mail address and, if applicable, other contact and contract data to send you e-mail advertising.

We verify your consent with a so-called double opt-in procedure. After registering, you will receive an e-mail asking you to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that no one can register with other people’s e-mail addresses.

Registrations are logged to be able to prove the registration process in accordance with legal requirements. This includes storing the time of registration and confirmation as well as the IP address.

When you open an advertising e-mail sent by us, a file contained in the e-mail (known as a web beacon) connects to our servers. This allows us to determine whether an e-mail has been opened and which links, if any, have been clicked on. Technical information is also recorded (e.g. time of retrieval, IP address, browser type and operating system). This information is used exclusively for the statistical analysis of our advertising campaign. The results of these analyses can be used to better adapt future marketing campaigns to the needs of our recipients.

If you do not wish to be analyzed, you must unsubscribe from e-mail advertising. We provide a link for this purpose in every e-mail.

If you do not wish to receive any further e-mail advertising from us, you can revoke your consent to the use of your data for advertising purposes at any time for the future at [email protected].

Your data will be deleted as soon as you have withdrawn your consent and there are no other reasons for retaining the data.

c) Telephone Advertising

If you have given us your consent in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a GDPR, we will use your telephone number for advertising purposes to contact you by telephone.

If you do not wish to receive advertising calls from us, you can revoke your consent for us to contact you by telephone at any time in the future by calling [email protected].

Your data will be deleted as soon as you have withdrawn your consent and there are no other reasons for retaining the data.

d) Existing customer exception (new customers only)

We would like to point out that we use your e-mail address to send advertising for similar articles or services in accordance with Section 7 III UWG. You can object to this use of your contact address at any time by sending a message to [email protected] or by clicking on the unsubscribe link in our advertising emails. This will not incur any costs for you other than the transmission according to basic rates.

e) Paying with data

In addition to the usual monetary payment options, you can also pay with your data for selected offers. For example, you receive a trial subscription from us, in return for which you provide us with your e-mail address and telephone number for a certain period from the time you receive the newspaper to advertise our publishing offers (newspapers, magazines, subscriptions, online, offline).

The channels, the period and the products covered by the promotion can be found in the respective offer. The data collected will be used to carry out e-mail and telephone advertising. The legal basis for data processing is the execution of a contractual relationship pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. b GDPR. Your data will be deleted after termination of the contractual relationship within the statutory retention obligations.

f) Contract based communication and exclusive services

With selected offers, you will receive an exclusive newsletter as part of the contract. This is part of the contract, so you will receive it for as long as your subscription with us exists.

There is therefore no separate right to cancel or object to the newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, you must cancel your respective contract with us.

The legal basis for data processing for sending newsletters as part of the contract is Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. b GDPR.

The data will be deleted after termination of the contractual relationship within the statutory retention obligations.

g) Linked consent for competitions

In some cases, participation in our competition requires the granting of advertising consent, which can be revoked at any time. The consent only applies to us as the operator of the competition. We use the advertising consent to inform you about the products mentioned in the consent text.

The legal basis for data processing in this context is Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a GDPR.

Your data will not be passed on to third parties. You have the right to revoke your advertising consent for the future at any time by contacting [email protected].

Further information on the processing of your personal data in the context of our competitions can be found in this document under point no. „Competitions“. You can find out how your data is processed because of your advertising consent under section „E-mail advertising“ or section „Telephone advertising“.

4. Competitions

You can regularly take part in our competitions. For this purpose, the personal data provided by the data subject will be used to carry out/process the competition. The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. b GDPR.

Participation in the competition is voluntary. A prerequisite for participation is the granting of advertising consent by the participant, which can be revoked at any time, as the competition is financed through the placement of advertising. Otherwise, participation in the competition is not subject to any further conditions or costs. Further information on your voluntary advertising consent can be found under „Linked consent for competitions“.

As a rule, the personal data collected in the context of the competition is passed on to third parties. These are our partners in the organization of the competition.

The personal data will be deleted after the competition has been completed. This does not apply to the winners‘ data, which will be deleted after the statutory periods have expired.

If the data subject has given consent to the further use of data, the data will not be deleted until the data subject revokes this consent.

5. Product evaluation

You can submit reviews of the products you have purchased. If you make use of this option, we will process the personal data that you enter in the product review form.

These are the following data:

Name/pseudonym
E-Mail address
Commentary in text form
Rating
IP address
Date and time of assessment
The purpose of data processing is to obtain useful information to improve our products/services. In this context, data may be passed on to responsible internal company departments. The legal basis for this is your consent in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a GDPR.

We will then check the submitted rating and publish it if it complies with our standards and legal requirements.

Please note that your rating data will be stored permanently. You can revoke your consent at any time at [email protected]. The associated rating and data will then be deleted.

6. Customer satisfaction survey

Following the successful completion of orders, we send you as a user a survey by e-mail at regular intervals. Through this survey, we want to continuously improve our offer and our products based on your satisfaction.

The following data will be linked to the previously saved data from your profile when you participate:

Name/pseudonym
E-Mail address
Commentary in text form
Rating
IP address
Date and time of the assessment
The legal basis for the surveys and the linking of the data provided with a profile is your consent in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a GDPR.

Your data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for the purpose for which it was collected. For the survey, this is the case when the survey has been evaluated. You also have the option of withdrawing your consent to the processing of the data provided in the survey at [email protected].

7. Complaints management

You have the right to inform us of complaints at any time. For this purpose, the published e-mail addresses and, if applicable, the corresponding telephone numbers are available.

In order to process your complaint, we generally collect the following personal data:

Names
Address
Phone number
E-Mail address
The legal basis for this is usually the fulfillment of the contract within our customer relationship in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. b GDPR.

If you do not have a direct contractual relationship with us, we process your data in the context of communication based on our legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. f GDPR, which consists of being able to process any inquiries we receive conscientiously and reliably.

We use the data collected exclusively to process and respond to your complaint. The data will not be passed on to third parties. However, to process your complaint, it may be necessary to pass it on to internal company departments. The data will be deleted once the processing of the complaint has been completed, provided there are no legal obligations to the contrary.

8. Events (digital/webinars and on-site) incl. photos

We regularly organize events for you as our customers or interested parties. These take place partly digitally and partly on site.

For increased transparency, we have created separate information for our events, which you will find when registering or directly at the event. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact [email protected] any time.

9. Visitors

If you visit us on our premises, we collect personal data for the purpose of access control, i.e. to control physical access. You will receive further information on how we process your data in this context directly during your visit.

10. Lead Generation

In some cases, the granting of revocable advertising consent is a prerequisite for downloading our white papers or registering for webinars.

In doing so, you consent to Ebner Media Group GmbH & Co. KG and the partner companies named in the respective consent text informing you by email about their own journalistic offers, events and further training offers, whitepapers and webinars, other publishing products and special editions of the newsletter. This includes the transfer of your personal data to the providers of the whitepaper, for product information and for establishing contact.

The e-mails are also analyzed by individually measuring, storing and evaluating opening and click rates for the purpose of designing future e-mails.

Consent to receive the newsletter and e-mails and to the measurement can be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future. To do so, the unsubscribe option provided in the newsletter can be used. Alternatively, the withdrawal should be addressed to: [email protected].

III. Recipients of your data

Within the company, those departments that need your data to fulfill our contractual and legal obligations will have access to it.

Within our group of companies, your data will be transferred to certain companies if they perform data processing tasks centrally for the companies affiliated in the group (e.g. accounting, disposal of contracts).

In addition, we use several different service providers to fulfill our contractual and legal obligations. You can view a list of the contractors and service providers we use, with whom we have more than a temporary business relationship, in the data protection declaration on our website at: https://ebnermedia.de/datenschutzerklaerung/ .

In addition, we may transfer your personal data to other recipients outside the company if this is necessary to fulfill contractual and legal obligations. These may be, for example:

Authorities (e.g. tax authorities, courts)
Public bodies and institutions in the event of a legal or official obligation
Credit institutions for the processing of payment transactions
Law firms and competent jurisdiction for the enforcement of claims
Auditor for the performance of the statutory audit engagement
Debt collection company
Insolvency administrator in the event of personal insolvency
Tax consultant
Printing, postal and shipping service providers (e.g. DHL)
Other data recipients may be those bodies for which you have given us your consent to transfer data or for which you have released us from the obligation of confidentiality in accordance with the agreement or consent or to which we are authorized to transfer personal data on the basis of a balancing of interests.

IV. Rights as a data subject

The data subject has the right of access from the controller about the personal data concerning him or her, as well as the right to rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, a right to object to processing and a right to data portability.

If the data subject has given consent to the further use of data, they have the right to withdraw their consent for the future at any time without giving reasons.

The aforementioned rights can be asserted at:

[email protected].

Notwithstanding the aforementioned rights, the data subject also has the option to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if they believe that the processing of the data concerning them is in breach of the GDPR.

V. Storage duration

Companies in Germany are subject to numerous statutory retention obligations, in particular from the German Fiscal Code (AO) and the German Commercial Code (HGB). These laws provide for retention periods of up to ten years, e.g., for invoices, offers or other contract-relevant documents. Accordingly, we store your data that we have collected in the context of pre-contractual measures or contract fulfillment in accordance with the statutory retention periods. If the data is then no longer required for the fulfillment of the purpose and does not conflict with statutory retention obligations, the data will be deleted.

If you have given us your voluntary consent for data processing, we will store the data until you withdraw your consent. Revocation is possible at any time for the future. Provided that there are no other purposes or retention periods that prevent deletion, your personal data will be deleted when you withdraw your consent. This does not apply to your first name and surname, which are stored for three years as part of the legal obligation to provide evidence. After expiry of the statutory retention obligations, your complete personal data (first name and surname) will be deleted.

If separate deletion periods apply to the processing of your personal data in individual cases, you will find this information in the data processing section under Section II.

VI. Transfer to a third country

Furthermore, some personal data is processed in the USA. As part of the so-called „Data Privacy Framework“ (DPF), the EU Commission has also recognized the level of data protection for certain companies from the USA as secure as part of the adequacy decision of 10.07.2023. The list of certified companies as well as further information on the DPF can be found on the website of the US Department of Commerce at https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/s/participant-search .

Furthermore, some personal data is processed in the UK. On June 28, 2021, the European Commission issued an adequacy decision for the United Kingdom, which means that the UK is now considered a safe third country. This means that the transfer of personal data after Brexit remains possible in compliance with data protection regulations.

Furthermore, individual personal data is processed in Switzerland. On 15.01.2024, the European Commission confirmed the adequacy decision for Switzerland of 26.07.2000, whereby it is considered a safe third country. The transfer of personal data to Switzerland is therefore possible in compliance with data protection regulations.

VII. Provision of data

As part of our business relationship, you must provide the personal data that is necessary for the establishment, execution, and termination of a business relationship and for the fulfillment of the associated contractual obligations or that we are legally obliged to collect. Please note that without this data we will not be able to conclude, execute or terminate a contract with you.