Privacy Policy

Preamble

With the following privacy policy, we would like to inform you about the types of your personal data (hereinafter also referred to as "data") we process, for what purposes, and to what extent. The privacy policy applies to all personal data processing operations we perform, both as part of the provision of our services and especially on our websites, in mobile applications, and within external online presences, such as our social media profiles (collectively referred to as "online offer").

The terms used are not gender-specific.

Status: July 12, 2024

Table of Contents

• Preamble

• Controller

• Overview of Processing Activities

• Relevant Legal Bases

• Security Measures

• Transfer of Personal Data

• International Data Transfers

• General Information on Data Storage and Deletion

• Rights of Data Subjects

• Provision of the Online Offer and Web Hosting

• Use of Cookies

• Blogs and Publication Media

• Contact and Inquiry Management

• Newsletters and Electronic Notifications

• Social Media Presences

• Plug-ins and Embedded Functions as well as Content

Controller

Tim Thuernau

Hartwig-Hesse-Str. 46

20257 Hamburg

Germany

Email: hello@timthuernau.com

Overview of Processing Activities

The following overview summarizes the types of data processed and the purposes of their processing and refers to the data subjects.

Types of Data Processed:

• Inventory data

• Contact data

• Content data

• Usage data

• Meta, communication, and procedural data

• Log data

Categories of Data Subjects:

• Communication partners

• Users

Purposes of Processing:

• Communication

• Security measures

• Direct marketing

• Organizational and administrative procedures

• Feedback

• Provision of our online offer and user-friendliness

• Information technology infrastructure

• Public relations

Relevant Legal Bases

Relevant Legal Bases under the GDPR:

Below you will find an overview of the legal bases of the GDPR, on which we process personal data. Please note that national data protection regulations in your or our country of residence may also apply. Should specific legal bases be relevant in individual cases, we will inform you of these in the privacy policy.

• Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR - The data subject has given their consent to the processing of personal data concerning them for one or more specific purposes.

• Performance of a contract and prior requests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR - The processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party or to take steps at the request of the data subject before entering into a contract.

• Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR - The processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or a third party, provided that such interests are not overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data.

National Data Protection Regulations in Germany:

In addition to the data protection regulations of the GDPR, national regulations on data protection apply in Germany. This includes, in particular, the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). The BDSG contains special regulations on the right to access, the right to deletion, the right to object, the processing of special categories of personal data, the processing for other purposes, and automated decision-making in individual cases, including profiling. Furthermore, state data protection laws of the individual federal states may apply.

Notice on GDPR and Swiss DSG Applicability:

These data protection notices serve both to provide information under the Swiss DSG and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Therefore, please note that due to broader geographical application and comprehensibility, the terms of the GDPR are used. Specifically, instead of the terms "processing" of "personal data," "overriding interest," and "special categories of personal data" used in the Swiss DSG, the terms "processing" of "personal data" as well as "legitimate interest" and "special categories of data" used in the GDPR are used. However, the legal meaning of the terms is still determined by the Swiss DSG within the scope of its applicability.

Security Measures

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk, considering the state of the art, implementation costs, and the nature, scope, circumstances, and purposes of the processing, as well as the different likelihoods and severities of risks to the rights and freedoms of natural persons.

The measures include, in particular, securing the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data by controlling physical and electronic access to the data, as well as the access, input, disclosure, securing of availability, and separation of data. Furthermore, we have established procedures that ensure the exercise of data subjects' rights, the deletion of data, and responses to data threats. Moreover, we consider the protection of personal data already during the development or selection of hardware, software, and procedures, according to the principle of data protection through technology design and through data protection-friendly default settings.

Transfer of Personal Data

As part of our processing of personal data, it may happen that this data is transferred to other entities, companies, legally independent organizational units, or persons or disclosed to them. The recipients of this data may include, for example, service providers tasked with IT tasks or providers of services and content that are embedded in a website. In such cases, we comply with legal requirements and conclude corresponding contracts or agreements that serve to protect your data with the recipients of your data.

International Data Transfers

Data processing in third countries: If we process data in a third country (i.e., outside the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA)) or the processing occurs as part of the use of third-party services or the disclosure or transfer of data to other persons, entities, or companies, this will only take place in compliance with the legal requirements. Provided that the level of data protection in the third country is recognized by a decision of the European Commission (adequacy decision) (Art. 45 GDPR), this forms the basis for the data transfer. Otherwise, data transfers will only occur if the level of data protection is otherwise ensured, particularly through standard contractual clauses (Art. 46 para. 2 lit. c) GDPR), explicit consent, or in the case of contractual or legally required transfer (Art. 49 para. 1 GDPR). Otherwise, we will inform you of the basis for third-country transfers at the individual providers from the third country, where the adequacy decisions apply as a priority. Information on third-country transfers and existing adequacy decisions can be found in the EU Commission's information offer: https://commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection_en?prefLang=de.

EU-US Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework: As part of the so-called "Data Privacy Framework" (DPF), the European Commission also recognized the data protection level as secure for certain companies from the USA as part of the adequacy decision of July 10, 2023. The list of certified companies and further information on the DPF can be found on the website of the US Department of Commerce at https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/ (in English). We will inform you as part of the data protection notices which of the service providers we use are certified under the Data Privacy Framework.

General Information on Data Storage and Deletion

We delete personal data we process in accordance with legal requirements as soon as the underlying consents are revoked or no further legal bases for the processing exist. This concerns cases where the original processing purpose ceases to apply or the data is no longer needed. Exceptions to this rule exist when legal obligations or specific interests require longer retention or archiving of the data.

In particular, data that must be retained for commercial or tax reasons or whose storage is necessary for legal enforcement or to protect the rights of other natural or legal persons must be archived accordingly.

Our data protection notices contain additional information on the retention and deletion of data, specifically applicable to certain processing activities.

Where multiple retention periods or deletion deadlines are specified for a piece of data, the longest period applies.

If a period does not explicitly begin on a specific date and lasts at least one year, it automatically starts at the end of the calendar year in which the triggering event occurred. In the case of ongoing contractual relationships within which data is stored, the triggering event is the effective date of the termination or other ending of the legal relationship.

Data retained not for the originally intended purpose but due to legal requirements or other reasons is processed solely for the reasons that justify their retention.

Further information on processing activities, procedures, and services:

• Retention and deletion of data: The following general periods apply for retention and archiving under German law:

  • 10 years - Retention period for books and records, annual accounts, inventories, management reports, opening balances, and the instructions and other organizational documents necessary for their understanding, booking documents, and invoices (§ 147 para. 3 in conjunction with para. 1 no. 1, 4, and 4a AO, § 14b para. 1 UStG, § 257 para. 1 no. 1 and 4, para. 4 HGB).

  • 6 years - Other business documents: received commercial or business letters, copies of sent commercial or business letters, other documents, as far as they are relevant for taxation, e.g., hourly wage slips, business calculation sheets, calculation documents, price labels, but also payroll documents, as far as they are not already booking documents, and cash register receipts (§ 147 para. 3 in conjunction with para. 1 no. 2, 3, 5 AO, § 257 para. 1 no. 2 and 3, para. 4 HGB).3 years - Data necessary to consider potential warranty and compensation claims or similar contractual claims and rights and related inquiries based on previous business experiences and common industry practices are stored for the duration of the regular statutory limitation period of three years (§§ 195, 199 BGB).

Rights of Data Subjects

Rights of data subjects under the GDPR: As a data subject, you have various rights under the GDPR, particularly arising from Art. 15 to 21 GDPR:

• Right to object: You have the right, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you, which is based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. e or f GDPR, including profiling based on those provisions. If the personal data concerning you is processed for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you for such marketing, including profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing.

• Right to withdraw consent: You have the right to withdraw any consent you have given at any time.

• Right of access: You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether personal data concerning you is being processed and, if so, access to the personal data and further information, as well as a copy of the data in accordance with legal requirements.

• Right to rectification: You have the right to have incomplete personal data completed or to have inaccurate personal data concerning you rectified, in accordance with the legal requirements.

• Right to erasure and restriction of processing: You have the right to demand the immediate deletion of personal data concerning you or, alternatively, to demand the restriction of processing of the data in accordance with the legal requirements.

• Right to data portability: You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you, which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit those data to another controller, in accordance with the legal requirements.

• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, particularly in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement, if you consider that the processing of personal data relating to you infringes the GDPR.

Provision of the Online Offer and Web Hosting

We process the data of users to be able to provide our online services to them. For this purpose, we process the IP address of the user, which is necessary to deliver the contents and functions of our online services to the user's browser or end device.

Processed Data Types:

• Usage data (e.g., pages viewed and duration of stay, click paths, usage intensity and frequency, types of devices and operating systems used, interactions with content and functions)

• Meta, communication, and procedural data (e.g., IP addresses, timestamps, identification numbers, involved persons)

• Log data (e.g., log files regarding logins or the retrieval of data or access times)

Data Subjects:

• Users (e.g., website visitors, users of online services)

Purposes of Processing:

• Provision of our online offer and user-friendliness

• Information technology infrastructure (operation and provision of information systems and technical devices (computers, servers, etc.))

• Security measures

Retention and Deletion:

• Deletion according to the information in the section "General Information on Data Storage and Deletion."

Legal Bases:

• Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR)

Further Information on Processing Activities, Procedures, and Services:

• Collection of Access Data and Log Files: Access to our online offer is logged in the form of so-called "server log files." Server log files may include the address and name of the retrieved web pages and files, the date and time of retrieval, transferred data volumes, messages about successful retrieval, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), and, as a rule, IP addresses and the requesting provider. The server log files can be used for security purposes, e.g., to prevent server overloads (especially in the case of abusive attacks, so-called DDoS attacks), and to ensure the stability and performance of the servers.

  • Legal Bases: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR).

  • Deletion of Data: Log file information is stored for a maximum of 30 days and then deleted or anonymized. Data that needs to be retained for evidence purposes are excluded from deletion until the final clarification of the respective incident.

Use of Cookies

Cookies are small text files or other storage notes that store information on end devices and read information from them. For example, to save the login status in a user account, the contents of a shopping cart in an e-shop, the called contents, or the used functions of an online offer. Cookies can also be used for different purposes, e.g., for the functionality, security, and comfort of online offers as well as for the creation of analyses of visitor flows.

Information on Consent:

We use cookies in accordance with the legal requirements. Therefore, we obtain prior consent from the users, unless it is not required by law. Consent is not required, in particular, if the storage and reading of the information, thus also of cookies, is absolutely necessary to provide the users with a telemedia service they expressly requested (thus our online offer). The revocable consent is clearly communicated to the users and includes the information on the respective cookie use.

Information on Data Protection Legal Bases:

On which data protection legal basis we process the personal data of the users with the help of cookies depends on whether we ask the users for consent. If the users agree, the legal basis for the processing of their data is the declared consent. Otherwise, the data processed with the help of cookies is processed based on our legitimate interests (e.g., in the economic operation of our online offer and its improvement) or, if this is done in the context of the fulfillment of our contractual obligations, if the use of cookies is necessary to fulfill our contractual obligations. For which purposes the cookies are processed by us, we inform in the course of this data protection declaration or in the context of our consent and processing procedures.

Storage Duration:

Regarding the storage duration, the following types of cookies are distinguished:

• Temporary cookies (also: session or session cookies): Temporary cookies are deleted at the latest after a user has left an online offer and closed their end device (e.g., browser or mobile application).

• Permanent cookies: Permanent cookies remain stored even after closing the end device. For example, the login status can be saved, or preferred content can be displayed directly when the user visits a website again. Similarly, the data collected with the help of cookies can be used for range measurement.

General Information on Withdrawal and Objection (Opt-Out):

Users can withdraw their given consent at any time and also object to the processing in accordance with the legal requirements, also through the privacy settings of their browser.

Processed Data Types:

• Meta, communication, and procedural data (e.g., IP addresses, timestamps, identification numbers, involved persons)

Data Subjects:

• Users (e.g., website visitors, users of online services)

Legal Bases:

• Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR)

• Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR)

Further Information on Processing Activities, Procedures, and Services:

• Processing of Cookie Data Based on Consent: We use a consent management solution, where users' consent to the use of cookies or the procedures and providers mentioned in the context of the consent management solution is obtained. This procedure serves to obtain, record, manage, and withdraw consent, particularly regarding the use of cookies and similar technologies for storing, reading, and processing information on users' end devices. In the context of this procedure, the consents of the users for the use of cookies and the related processing of information, including the specific processing and providers mentioned in the consent management procedure, are obtained. Users also have the option to manage and withdraw their consents. The consent declarations are stored to avoid a repeated request and to be able to prove the consent according to the legal requirements. The storage is done server-side and/or in a cookie (so-called opt-in cookie) or with the help of comparable technologies, to be able to assign the consent to a specific user or their device. Unless otherwise specified, the storage of consent lasts up to two years. In this process, a pseudonymous user identifier is created, which, together with the time of consent, information on the scope of consent (e.g., concerning categories of cookies and/or service providers), as well as information on the browser, system, and the used end device, is stored.

  • Legal Bases: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR)

Blogs and Publication Media

We use blogs or similar means of online communication and publication (hereinafter "publication medium"). The data of the readers are processed for the purposes of the publication medium only to the extent necessary for its presentation and the communication between authors and readers or for security reasons. Otherwise, we refer to the information on the processing of visitors of our publication medium in the context of this data protection declaration.

Processed Data Types:

• Inventory data (e.g., full name, home address, contact information, customer number, etc.)

• Contact data (e.g., postal and email addresses or telephone numbers)

• Content data (e.g., textual or image messages and contributions and the related information, such as details of authorship or time of creation)

• Usage data (e.g., pages viewed and duration of stay, click paths, usage intensity and frequency, types of devices and operating systems used, interactions with content and functions)

• Meta, communication, and procedural data (e.g., IP addresses, timestamps, identification numbers, involved persons)

Data Subjects:

• Users (e.g., website visitors, users of online services)

Purposes of Processing:

• Feedback (e.g., collecting feedback via online form)

• Provision of our online offer and user-friendliness

• Security measures

• Organizational and administrative procedures

Retention and Deletion:

• Deletion according to the information in the section "General Information on Data Storage and Deletion."

Legal Bases:

• Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR)

Further Information on Processing Activities, Procedures, and Services:

• Comments and Contributions: When users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses can be stored based on our legitimate interests. This is for our security in case someone leaves illegal content in comments and contributions (insults, forbidden political propaganda, etc.). In this case, we can be prosecuted for the comment or contribution and are therefore interested in the identity of the author.

  • Legal Bases: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR)