Data Protection

Gütermann GmbH Data Protection Information – Website

Last updated: 28/11/2023

The controller under data protection law is Gütermann GmbH, Landstraße 1, D-79261 Gutach-Breisgau, Germany, represented by managing director Jürgen Drescher. Mr Drescher can be contacted at the above address, by e-mail at contact@guetermann.com or by phone on +49 7681 21 0.

Data privacy is of our utmost concern.

We are delighted that you are interested in our company, products and services and want you to feel safe visiting our websites, not least in terms of personal data protection. Your data is collected and used in strict compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Germany’s Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG n. F.) and Telecommunications Telemedia Data Protection Act (TTDSG). We are particularly committed to keeping your personal data confidential, and we therefore work strictly within the statutory framework in force. Personal data is collected on a voluntary basis, whenever this is possible for us. We will only share such data with third parties if you have expressly consented to this. By using SSL encryption, our aim is to ensure high levels of security on our website in general. After all, we do take the protection of your personal data very seriously. It goes without saying that we comply with the provisions of the Federal Data Protection Act and other data protection laws. We want you to know what data we are collecting, when, and how we are using it. We have put in place technical and organisational measures to ensure that both we, and external service providers, follow data privacy rules.

Personal data
‘Personal data’ means any information concerning the personal or material circumstances of an identified or identifiable individual. Personal data such as your real name, e-mail address, postal address or telephone number can identify you as an individual. Other personal data such as your age, gender, profession or your PC’s IP address cannot identify you directly, but can make you identifiable as an individual, and is therefore also included under data privacy.

Following the principles of data reduction and data economy, we only collect personal data to the extent that and for as long as this is necessary for using our website or as required by law. When collecting and processing personal data, we comply strictly with the applicable statutory provisions and with this Data Protection Information. If the purpose for which data was collected no longer applies, or the statutory retention period has lapsed, collected data is blocked or erased. Our website can often be used without any personal data being shared. When we collect personal data – your name, address or e-mail address, for example – this data is collected on a voluntary basis. Such data is never shared with third parties, unless you have expressly consented to this.

Provision of information, erasure and blocking
You can obtain from us, at any time and free of charge, information about the personal data we have stored about you, as well as about where this data came from, who the recipient was, and what the purpose was for collecting and processing the data. You also have the right to demand that your data be corrected, blocked or erased. This does not include data that must be retained by law or is required to properly perform transactions. So that data can be blocked at any time, data is held in a blocked file for control purposes. If data does not have to be archived by law, we will erase your data at your request. If there is an obligation to archive data, we will block your data. If you have any questions or concerns about the correction, blocking or erasure of personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer using the contact details given in this Data Protection Information or at the address given in the Legal Notice.

Collection of access data in server log files
In order to provide and display content through our website, certain data has to be recorded for technical purposes. When you access our website, these ‘server log files’ are recorded by us or the provider of the web space. This information cannot be attributed to you personally. For technical reasons, it is essential for providing and displaying our content. It is also used for statistical purposes and to help us continually improve our website. The information in question consists of the name of the website, the file, today’s date, the data volume, the web browser and version thereof, the operating system used, the domain name of your Internet provider, the referrer URL, i.e. the page from which you were referred to our site, and the corresponding IP address. We use this data in order to display and provide our content, and for statistical purposes. The information helps us to provide and continually improve our website. We also reserve the right to review the data mentioned at a later time, in the event that unlawful use of our website is suspected.

SSL encryption
Our website uses SSL encryption. Please note that SSL encryption is activated when you carry out certain activities. It is easy to recognise when encryption is being used: The display in your browser line changes from ‘http://’ to ‘https://’. SSL-encrypted data cannot be read by third parties. Only transmit your confidential information when SSL encryption is activated. If you are in any doubt, please contact us.

Cookies
Cookies are small text files containing data about your IP address, your browser, your operating system and your Internet connection. We do not link this information to personal data and do not share it with third parties. We will never use cookies to install malware or spyware onto your computer. The cookie information stored on our web server is erased two years after it was created, at the very latest.

Your visit to our website will not be tracked until you click on “accept” in the cookie hint. If you do not want your visit to be tracked again, please click on “decline”. You will then be redirected to our privacy page. Please deactivate the checkbox there.

The cookies we use are outlined below.

Web analytics using Google Analytics

If you have given your consent, this website uses Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC. The controller for users in the EU/EEA and Switzerland is Google Ireland Limited, Google Building Gordon House, 4 Barrow St, Dublin, D04 E5W5, Ireland (“Google”).

Nature and purpose of the processing
Google Analytics 4 uses cookies that enable an analysis of your use of our websites. The information collected by means of the cookies about your use of this website is generally transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

Google Analytics 4 has IP anonymisation enabled by default. Due to IP anonymisation, your IP address will be shortened by Google within Member States of the European Union or in other states party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transferred to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. According to Google, the IP address transferred by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other Google data.
During your website visit, your user behaviour is recorded in the form of “events”. Events can be:

• Page views
• First visit to the website
• Start of session
• Web pages visited
• Interaction with the website
• Scrolls
• Clicks on external links
• Internal search queries
• Interaction with videos
• File downloads

Also recorded:

• Your approximate location (region)
• Date and time of your visit
• Your IP address (in shortened form)
• Technical information about your browser and the end devices you use (e.g. language setting, screen resolution)
• Your internet service provider
• The referrer URL (via which website/advertising medium you came to this website)

Purposes of the data processing
Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate your use of the website and to compile reports on website activity. The reports provided by Google Analytics are used to analyze the performance of our website.

Recipients
Recipients of the data are/may be

Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (as processor under Art. 28 DSGVO).
Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
Alphabet Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
Third country transfer
For the USA, the European Commission adopted a news adequacy decision on 10 July 2023. Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Privacy Framework.

Retention period
The data sent by us and linked to cookies are automatically deleted after 2 month. The maximum lifespan of Google Analytics cookies is 2 years. The deletion of data whose retention period has been reached occurs automatically once a month.

Legal basis
The legal basis for this data processing is your consent pursuant to Art.6 para.1 p.1 lit.a GDPR and § 25 para. 1 p.1 TTDSG.

Withdrawal
You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by accessing the cookie and changing your selection there. The lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent until revocation remains unaffected.

You can also prevent the storage of cookies from the outset by setting your browser software accordingly. However, if you configure your browser to reject all cookies, this may result in a restriction of functionalities on this and other websites. You can also prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the website (including your IP address) by Google, and the processing of this data by Google, by

a. not giving your consent to the setting of the cookie or
b. download and install the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics at Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on Download Page

For more information on Google Analytics’ terms of use and Google’s privacy policy, please visit https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/us/ and at https://policies.google.com/?hl=en.

Google Tag Manager
We use the Google Tag Manager on our website. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Google Tag Manager provides a technical platform for executing and controlling other web services and web tracking programs in a bundled manner by means of so-called “tags”. In this context, Google Tag Manager stores cookies on your computer and, if web tracking tools are executed using Google Tag Manager, analyzes your surfing behavior (so-called “tracking”). This data sent by individual tags integrated in Google Tag Manager is merged, stored and processed by Google Tag Manager under a uniform user interface. When you use our website with activated integration of Google Tag Manager tags, data such as your IP address and your user activities are transmitted to servers of Google Ireland Limited. The tracking tools used in Google Tag Manager use IP anonymization to ensure that the IP address is anonymized by Google Tag Manager before transmission. Google Tag Manager only enables the anonymized collection of IP addresses (so-called IP masking).

Legal basis for data processing
Legal basis for the data processing is, according to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR, your consent in our information banner regarding the use of cookies and web tracking.

Purpose of data processing
On our behalf, Google will use the information obtained by means of Google Tag Manager to evaluate your visit to this website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide us with other services related to website and internet usage.

Duration of storage
Google will store the data relevant to the function of Google Tag Manager for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the booked web service. The data collection and storage is anonymous. If there should be a personal reference, the data will be deleted immediately, as far as they are not subject to any legal storage obligations. In any case, the deletion takes place after the expiration of the storage obligation.

Objection and deletion option
You can prevent the collection and forwarding of personal data to Google (in particular your IP address) and the processing of this data by Google by deactivating the execution of script code in your browser, installing a script blocker in your browser or activating the “Do Not Track” setting in your browser. You can also prevent the collection of data generated by the Google cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) to Google and the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing the available browser plug-in at Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on Download Page.
You can find more information on the terms of use of Google Analytics and on data protection at Google at https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/de/ and at https://policies.google.com/?hl=de.

Facebook pixels
On our website we use the remarketing function “Facebook Custom Audience”, a tool of Facebook Inc. (1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA; “Facebook”).

The purpose of “Facebook Custom Audience” is to reach Facebook users who have previously visited the website of our guetermann.com, to address them on Facebook with appropriate information about our products and services and possibly also to find new people who resemble our website visitors. This may lead, for example, to you being creatively addressed on Facebook with an advertising material from Gütermann GmbH/Gütermann after you have visited the website.

A Facebook pixel has been implemented on our website for this purpose. When you visit our website, information from this Facebook pixel is transferred to a Facebook cookie on your computer and from there a connection to the Facebook servers is established. The collected data is then indirectly transferred to Facebook via the Facebook cookie on your computer. Responsible for this data processing are Facebook Inc. and Gütermann GmbH.

The Facebook cookie set by Facebook on your computer is neither visible nor changeable by Gütermann GmbH.

Technical HTTP header data
Information about the web browser, page location, document, URL reference and user agent of the web browser as well as the IP address (which according to Facebook in Germany can only be evaluated at the general country level).

Pixel specific data
Pixel ID and Facebook cookie data are collected, as well as information about which pages you have visited.

Processing of the collected data
Facebook assigns the above information to your personal Facebook user account. Gütermann GmbH neither stores nor processes this information.

Recognition is possible across websites and, under certain circumstances, across devices by Facebook (but not by Gütermann GmbH), if Facebook can assign different devices to you, for example. Gütermann GmbH can only recognize you indirectly by allowing Gütermann GmbH to address you anonymously as a Facebook user on Facebook.

This assignment is largely made possible by the Facebook cookie. According to Facebook, the information sent from the Facebook pixel to Facebook is currently stored for 180 days, after which time it is encrypted and anonymized. Gütermann GmbH has no influence on this procedure.

The legal basis for using the Facebook pixel is your consent (Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR). See also Right to object, revocation of consent below.

Further information from Facebook on the collection, processing and use of your data by Facebook can be found under Internet addresses:
https://de-de.facebook.com/business/help/449542958510885/?helpref=hc_fnav
and https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/
We cannot take responsibility for the information provided by Facebook.

Opt-Out link:
https://www.facebook.com/ads/settings

Vimeo without Tracking (Do-Not-Track)
We have integrated video links from Vimeo on our website via an iframe. The provider of the video portal is Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA. When you visit one of our pages equipped with Vimeo videos, a connection to the Vimeo servers is established. In the process, the Vimeo server is informed which of our pages you have visited. In addition, Vimeo obtains your IP address. However, we have set Vimeo so that Vimeo will not track your user activity and will not set any cookies. Vimeo is used to present our online services in an appealing way. With your consent in the cookie banner, you agree to your user data being processed (Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR). See also Right to object, revocation of consent below.

For more information on how Vimeo handles user data, please see Vimeo’s privacy policy at: https://vimeo.com/privacy.

Use of YouTube
We use the video platform “YouTube” of the company Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, to post our own videos and make them publicly available. However, in the event that you follow a link on YouTube, we would like to point out that YouTube stores the data of its users (e.g. personal information, IP address) in accordance with its own data usage guidelines and uses it for business purposes. When you access a page that has an embedded video, a connection is established to Google’s servers and in doing so, the content is displayed on the website by notifying your browser. We use the “enhanced privacy mode” option provided by Google.

According to Google’s information, in “extended data protection mode” your data – in particular which of our Internet pages you have visited as well as device-specific information including the IP address – is only transmitted to the YouTube server in the USA when you watch the video. By clicking on the video, you consent to this transmission. If you are logged in to Google at the same time, this information will be assigned to your YouTube member account. You can prevent this by logging out of your member account before visiting our website. The legal basis for using YouTube is your consent (Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR). See also Right to object, revocation of consent below.

For more information on data protection in connection with YouTube, please refer to Google’s privacy policy.

WPML
This website uses the language plugin WPML by OnTheGoSystems Limited, 22/F 3 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong, to offer a German and English language version of the website. WPML uses cookies to determine the visitor’s current language, the last language visited and the language of users who have logged in. When you visit our website, WPML saves a cookie on your end device in order to save the language setting you have selected. This saves the user’s activity (in particular which pages were visited and which elements were clicked on), as well as device and browser information (in particular the IP address and the operating system). The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) sentence 1 lit. f GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in communicating with visitors to our website in German and English. The option “Message to wpml.org” and browser language redirection are deactivated, as they are not essential. Information on the cookies used can be found at https://wpml.org/documentation/support/browser-cookies-stored-wpml.

Wordfence
Our website is secured using the “Wordfence Security” service operated by Defiant Inc, 800 5th Ave, Suite 4100, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.

Wordfence is used to protect our website from unwanted access or malicious cyber attacks. The plug-in uses cookies to recognise whether the visitor is human or a robot. IP addresses are stored on the Wordfence servers. IP addresses classified as harmless are placed on a white list. Wordfence Security secures our website and thus protects visitors to the website from viruses and malware. The legal basis is the legitimate interest (Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR) to protect ourselves from cyber attacks. The “Participate in the Real-Time Wordfence Security Network” option of the plug-in is switched off, as it is not mandatory.

More information on the collection and use of data by Wordfence Security can be found in Defiant’s privacy policy: https://www.wordfence.com/privacy-policy/.

Borlabs Cookie
This website uses Borlabs Cookie, which sets a technically necessary cookie (borlabs-cookie) to store your cookie consents.
Borlabs cookie does not process any personal data.
The borlabs-cookie cookie stores your consents that you gave when you entered the website. If you wish to revoke these consents, simply delete the cookie in your browser. When you re-enter/reload the website, you will be asked again for your cookie consent.

What information is stored in the cookie?
The following information is stored in the borlabs-cookie cookie:

Cookie Runtime
Cookie version
Domain and path of the WordPress website
Consents
UID
The UID is a randomly generated ID and is not personal information.

For more information on the collection and use of data by Borlabs Cookie, please see: https://de.borlabs.io/datenschutz/

Social media services
We give you the opportunity to recommend and discuss content in selected social media services. For this purpose, corresponding links are provided by the operators of these platforms. These links are not executed automatically, but are only activated by clicking.

The data privacy practices of these platforms are beyond our control. Please see

Facebook data protection information
Instagram data protection information
LinkedIn data protection information
Xing data protection information
Pinterest data protection information
Youtube data protection information

for details of the privacy practices of each platform.

Ability to contact us through the website
In keeping with statutory requirements, the Gütermann GmbH website provides contact details, enabling you to communicate with us directly, quickly and electronically. This includes a general e-mail address. If a data subject contacts the controller through a contact form, an e-mail is sent to contact@guetermann.com. These e-mails are forwarded by our marketing staff to the relevant department. To provide you with the best possible customer care, your personal data is processed and used by the regional A&E Gütermann companies in order to deal with your enquiry. The data entered in the contact form is processed on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR). You can withdraw this consent at any time. All you need to do is send us an informal e-mail. The lawfulness of the data processing operations carried out up to the time of revocation remains unaffected by the revocation. The data you enter in the contact form will remain with us until you withdraw your consent to its storage. Mandatory statutory provisions – in particular retention periods – remain unaffected.

This data is not stored on the web server. Depending on the nature of your request, the data you provide will be stored on Gütermann systems if this is necessary to deal with your request. Please note that data transmitted online is not always secure. Particularly when communicating by e-mail, data protection cannot be guaranteed.

Data protection for applications and in the application process
The controller collects and processes the personal data of applicants for the purpose of performing the application process. Data can also be processed electronically. This is particularly the case if an applicant transmits relevant application documents electronically by e-mail to the controller. If the controller enters into a contract of employment with an applicant, the data transmitted is stored for the purpose of performing the employment relationship and in compliance with statutory provisions. If the controller does not enter into a contract of employment with the applicant, the application documents are automatically erased two months after the rejection decision has been made known, unless other legitimate interests of the controller prevent such erasure. For the purposes of this policy, ‘other legitimate interests’ means, for example, to satisfy the burden of proof under General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) proceedings.

Minors
People under 18 years of age should not provide us with any personal data without the consent of a parent or guardian. We do not request personal data from children and young people, nor do we store it or share it with third parties.

Security
We have put in place technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access and to prevent it from being lost, destroyed or manipulated. Where personal data is transmitted in electronic form, the information is encrypted to prevent the data being misused by third parties. Our security measures are revised on an ongoing basis, in line with technological progress.

Our staff and service providers that we commission to process your data are obligated to maintain confidentiality and data secrecy.

Links
If you use external links provided through our websites, this Data Protection Information does not cover linked pages. Gütermann GmbH is not responsible for the content of such pages and associated data privacy. The operators of the respective sites have this responsibility. For more details, please see the Legal Notice information and the privacy policies of any externally linked sites.

Right to object, withdrawal of consent
You can object to having your personal data processed or used by us at any time, or you can withdraw any previously provided consent, with future effect. In such cases, please write to Gütermann GmbH, Landstraße 1, 79261 Gutach, Germany or e-mail contact@guetermann.com.

Right of access, right to rectification, erasure and blocking
You can obtain information at any time about the data we have stored about you. If necessary, please write to Gütermann GmbH, Landstraße 1, 79261 Gutach, Germany or e-mail contact@guetermann.com. You can use the same contact details to request that
Gütermann GmbH rectify, erase or block your data.

Changes to our Data Protection Information
We reserve the right to modify our security and data privacy measures, to the extent necessary as technology develops or the law changes. In such cases, we will also update our data privacy notices accordingly. It is therefore important that you are familiar with the latest version of our Data Protection Information.

Questions, suggestions, complaints
If you have any further questions about our Data Privacy Policy or about the processing of your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer directly. Gütermann GmbH, Landstraße 1, 79261 Gutach, Germany, dataprotection@guetermann.com. He can also be contacted with any requests for information, suggestions or in the event of any complaints.

This Data Protection Information includes excerpts from the privacy policy generator of DGD Deutsche Gesellschaft für Datenschutz GmbH, which operates as an external data protection officer, contributions from RC GmbH, which recycles used computers, and the law firm WILDE BEUGER SOLMECKE, as well as excerpts from the privacy policy generator of www.datenschutzexperte.de