Privacy Statement

1. Name and contact details of the responsible partner for the processing of data, as well as the partnership’s data protection officer

This data protection information applies to the processing of data by:

BETTE WESTENBERGER BRINK Rechtsanwälte PartmbB
(hereinafter responsible for content: Mr. Rechtsanwalt Christian Faber, Partner)
Große Langgasse 1a
D-55116 Mainz, Germany
T +49 (0)6131 28770 0
F +49 (0)6131 28770 99
E mainz@bwb-law.de‍

The data protection officer of BETTE WESTENBERGER BRINK Rechtsanwälte may be contacted at the above address or via email at datenschutz@bwb-business.de .

2. Collection and storage of personal data, as well as type and purpose of its use

2.1. When visiting the website
The Browser used on your computer will automatically send information to the server of our website when you access our website www.bwb-law.de . This information is temporally stored in a so-called log file. The following information is collected and stored until automated erasure without any activity on your part:

IP address of the requesting computer,
access date and time
name and URL of the retrieved file,
referring website (Referrer URL),
used Browser and operating system of your computer, as well as the name of your access provider.

We process the aforementioned data for the following purposes:

to ensure smooth establishment of the connection to the website,
to ensure convenient use of our website
analysis of system security and stability as well as
for additional administrative purposes.

The legal basis for the processing of personal data is Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. f GDPR. Our justified interest follows from the data collection purposes listed above. In no event will we use collected data to unmask your identity.We also use cookies and analysis services when you visit our website. Cookies and analysis services are explained in more detail in Item 4 and 5 of this privacy statement.

2.2. When using our contact form
If you have questions of any kind, you may contact us using the contact form we provide on our website. You must provide a valid email address in the contact form so that we know who is sending us an inquiry and can reply to your inquiry. You may provide additional information on a voluntary basis.

When you establish a contact with us, we will process your personal data based on Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. a GDPR and your consent you provided on a voluntary basis.

Personal data that we collected for the use of the contact form will be automatically erased after your inquiry is completed.

2.3. MailChimp
This website uses the services of MailChimp to send out its newsletters. The provider is the Rocket Science Group LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Suite 5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA.

Among other things, MailChimp is a service that can be deployed to organize and analyze the sending of newsletters. Whenever you enter data for the purpose of subscribing to a newsletter (e.g. your e-mail address), the information is stored on MailChimp servers in the United States.

With the assistance of the MailChimp tool, we can analyze the performance of our newsletter campaigns. If you open an e-mail that has been sent through the MailChimp tool, a file that has been integrated into the e-mail (a so-called web-beacon) connects to MailChimp’s servers in the United States. As a result, it can be determined whether a newsletter message has been opened and which links the recipient possibly clicked on. Technical information is also recorded at that time (e.g. the time of access, the IP address, type of browser and operating system). This information cannot be allocated to the respective newsletter recipient. Their sole purpose is the performance of statistical analyses of newsletter campaigns. The results of such analyses can be used to tailor future newsletters to the interests of their recipients more effectively.

If you do not want to permit an analysis by MailChimp, you must unsubscribe from the newsletter. We provide a link for you to do this in every newsletter message. Moreover, you can also unsubscribe from the newsletter right on the website.

The data is processed based on your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You may revoke any consent you have given at any time by unsubscribing from the newsletter. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data processing transactions that have taken place prior to your revocation.

The data deposited with us for the purpose of subscribing to the newsletter will be stored by us until you unsubscribe from the newsletter or the newsletter service provider and deleted from the newsletter distribution list after you unsubscribe from the newsletter. Data stored for other purposes with us remain unaffected.

After you unsubscribe from the newsletter distribution list, your e-mail address may be stored by us or the newsletter service provider in a blacklist to prevent future mailings. The data from the blacklist is used only for this purpose and not merged with other data. This serves both your interest and our interest in complying with the legal requirements when sending newsletters (legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR). The storage in the blacklist is indefinite. You may object to the storage if your interests outweigh our legitimate interest.

‍For more details, please consult the Data Privacy Policies of MailChimp at: https://mailchimp.com/legal/terms/.

3. Disclosure of Data

We will not transfer your personal data to third parties for purposes other than the purposes listed below.
We only disclose your personal data to third parties if:

you expressly provided your consent in accordance with Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. a GDPR,
disclosure in accordance with Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. f GDPR is required to enforce, exercise or defend legal claims and if there is no reason to believe that you have an overriding legitimate interest to the non-disclosure of your data,
disclosure in accordance with Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. c GDPR is required by law, or
disclosure of your personal data is permitted by law and is required for the processing of contractual relationships with you in accordance with Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. b GDPR.

4. Cookies

We use cookies on our website. Cookies are small files that your Browser automatically creates and that are stored on your device (laptop, tablet, Smartphone or similar) when you visit our website. Cookies do not cause any damage to your device and do not contain viruses, trojans or other malicious software.
In the cookie information is stored that is generated in connection with the specific used device. This does, however, not mean that this procedure provides us with direct knowledge of your identity.
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We use cookies on the one hand to provide you with a more convenient use of our offerings. We use, for example, Session Cookies to recognise that you visited individual pages of our website before. Session Cookies are automatically erased after you left our website.
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Furthermore, we also use temporary cookies to optimise user friendliness. Temporary cookies are stored on your device for a fixed period. When you visit our website again to use our services it is automatically recognised that you visited our website before and it is also recognised which data you entered and which settings you used so that you don’t have to enter those data again.
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And on the other hand, we use cookies to capture usage data of our website for statistical purposes and to analyse this data to optimise our offerings (see Item 5). These cookies enable us to automatically recognise that you visited our website before when you visit us again. These cookies are automatically erased after a defined period.
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The data that cookies process is required for the stated purposes to safeguard our justified interests and the justified interests of third parties according to Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. f GDPR.
Most Browsers automatically accept cookies. You may, however, configure your Browser such that cookies are not stored on your computer or a note is displayed in each case before a new cookie is set. Complete deactivation of cookies may however have the effect that you can no longer use all of the functions of our website.

5. Analysis Tools

5.1. Tracking Tools
The tracking measures listed below and used by us are applied based on Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. f GDPR. The purpose of the used tracking measures is to ensure an adequate design and ongoing optimisation of our website. And on the other hand, we use tracking measures to record usage of our website statistically and to analyse this data to optimise our offerings. These interests are deemed to be justified in terms of the aforementioned regulation.

The respective data processing purposes and data categories may be obtained from the respective tracking tools.

5.2. Google Analytics
This website uses functions of the web analysis service Google Analytics. The provider of this service is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Google Analytics enables the website operator to analyze the behavior patterns of website visitors. To that end, the website operator receives a variety of user data, such as pages accessed, time spent on the page, the utilized operating system and the user’s origin. Google may consolidate these data in a profile that is allocated to the respective user or the user’s device.

Google Analytics uses technologies that make the recognition of the user for the purpose of analyzing the user behavior patterns (e.g. cookies or device fingerprinting). The website use information recorded by Google is, as a rule transferred to a Google server in the United States, where it is stored.

This analysis tool is used on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of this website has a legitimate interest in the analysis of user patterns to optimize both, the services offered online and the operator’s advertising activities. If a corresponding agreement has been requested (e.g. an agreement to the storage of cookies), the processing takes place exclusively on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR; the agreement can be revoked at any time.

Browser plug-in
‍You can prevent the recording and processing of your data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available under the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

For more information about the handling of user data by Google Analytics, please consult Google’s Data Privacy Declaration at: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.

‍Archiving period
‍Data on the user or incident level stored by Google linked to cookies, user IDs or advertising IDs (e.g. DoubleClick cookies, Android advertising ID) will be anonymized or deleted after 14 month. For details please click the following link: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7667196?hl=en

5.3. Google Conversion-Tracking
This website uses Google Conversion Tracking. The provider of this service is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

With the assistance of Google Conversion Tracking we are in a position to recognize whether the user has completed certain actions. For instance, we can analyze the how frequently which buttons on our website have been clicked and which products are reviewed or purchased with particular frequency. The purpose of this information is to compile conversion statistics. We learn how many users have clicked on our ads and which actions they have completed. We do not receive any information that would allow us to personally identify the users. Google as such uses cookies or comparable recognition technologies for identification purposes.

We use Google Conversion Tracking on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. et seq. GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in the analysis of the user patterns with the aim of optimizing both, the operator’s web presentation and advertising. If a respective declaration of consent was requested (e.g. concerning the storage of cookies), processing shall occur exclusively on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR; the given consent may be revoked at any time.

For more information about Google Conversion Tracking, please review Google’s data protection policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

6. Plug-ins and Tools

Google reCAPTCHA
We use “Google reCAPTCHA” (hereinafter referred to as “reCAPTCHA”) on this website. The provider is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

The purpose of reCAPTCHA is to determine whether data entered on this website (e.g., information entered into a contact form) is being provided by a human user or by an automated program. To determine this, reCAPTCHA analyzes the behavior of the website visitors based on a variety of parameters. This analysis is triggered automatically as soon as the website visitor enters the site. For this analysis, reCAPTCHA evaluates a variety of data (e.g., IP address, time the website visitor spent on the site or cursor movements initiated by the user). The data tracked during such analyses are forwarded to Google.

reCAPTCHA analyses run entirely in the background. Website visitors are not alerted that an analysis is underway.

Data are stored and analyzed on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the protection of the operator’s websites against abusive automated spying and against SPAM. If appropriate consent has been obtained, the processing is carried out exclusively on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TTDSG, insofar the consent includes the storage of cookies or the access to information in the user’s end device (e.g., device fingerprinting) within the meaning of the TTDSG. This consent can be revoked at any time.

For more information about Google reCAPTCHA please refer to the Google Data Privacy Declaration and Terms Of Use under the following links:
https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en and
https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en.

7. Rights of Data Subjects

You have the right:

according to Art. 15 GDPR to request information on your personal data processed by us. You may, in particular request information on processing purposes, the category of personal data, the category of recipients to which your data was or is disclosed, planned period for which the personal data will be stored, the existence of a right to rectification, erasure, restriction of processing or objection, the existence of a right to lodge a complaint, source of your data, if data was not collected by us, as well as the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling and, if necessary, meaningful information about their details;
according to Art. 16 GDPR to demand prompt rectification of inaccurate personal data or completion of your personal data stored with us;
according to Art. 17 GDPR to demand erasure of your personal data stored with us, unless processing is necessary for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
according to Art. 18 GDPR to demand restriction of processing of your personal data, if you contest the accuracy of your personal data, the processing is unlawful and you oppose the erasure of your personal data and we no longer need your personal data, but you need this data for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or you objected to processing pursuant to Article 21 GDPR;
according to Art. 20 GDPR to receive your personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to demand the transmission of this data to another controller;
according to Art. 7 Para 3 GDPR to withdraw your consent provided to us at any time. This withdrawal has the consequence that we are not permitted to continue the processing that is based on this consent in the future and
according to Art. 77 GDPR to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. For this purpose, you may, in general, contact the supervisory authority located at your customary residence or work place or the seat of our law firm.

8. Right to object

If your personal data is processed based on justified interests according to Art. 6 Para 1 S. 1 lit. f GDPR, you have the right according to Art. 21 GDPR to object to the processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation or in the case the objection is lodged against direct marketing. In the latter case, you have a general right to object, which we will comply with and implement without any information of a particular situation being required.

If you wish to exercise your right to withdrawal or your right to object, it is sufficient to send an email to datenschutz@bwb-law.de

9. Data Security

Within the scope of your visit on our website, we use the common SSL procedure (Secure Socket Layer) in connection with the highest encryption level supported by your Browser. In general, this is a 256-bit encryption. If your Browser does not support 256-bit encryption, we use instead 128-bit v3 technology. You can recognise the encrypted transmission of an individual page on our Internet platform, if the key or lock symbol is displayed as closed in the lower status bar of your Browser.

In addition, we also employ appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your data against accidental or intentional manipulations, partial or total loss, destruction or unauthorised access by third parties. Security measures are continually improved according to the latest technology standards.

10. Up-To-Dateness and Changes to this Privacy Statement

This privacy statement is currently valid. The version is May 2018.

Further development of our website and our web offerings or due to changed statutory or official requirements it may become necessary to change this privacy statement. You can access and print out the valid privacy statement at any time on the website at: https://www.bwb-law.de/en/privacy-statement/.