Privacy Policy

Information about the processing of your data

We take the protection of your personal data very seriously. This privacy policy informs you about the details of the processing of your data and about your legal rights in this regard. For terms such as “personal data” or “processing”, the legal definitions from Art. 4 GDPR are authoritative. We reserve the right to adapt the privacy policy with future effect, in particular in the event of further development of the website, the use of new technologies or changes to the legal bases or the corresponding case law. We recommend that you read this privacy policy from time to time and take a printout or a copy for your documents.

Scope

This privacy policy applies to all pages of www.econtribute.de It does not cover any linked websites of other providers.

Responsible provider

ECONtribute is a joint initiative of the Universities of Bonn and Cologne that are jointly responsible for the processing of personal data within the scope of this privacy policy:

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Regina-Pacis-Weg 3
Deutschland
Tel.: +49 228 73 0
Email: kommunikation@uni-bonn.de
Website: https://www.uni-bonn.de

The University of Cologne
Albertus-Magnus-Platz
50923 Köln
Tel.: +49 221 / 470-0
Email: online-redaktion@uni-koeln.de
Website: http://www.uni-koeln.de

Questions about data protection

If you have any questions about data protection with regard to ECONtribute or our website, you can contact one of the following data protection officers:

Data Protection Officer of the University of Bonn

Dr. Jörg Hartmann
Genscherallee 3
53113 Bonn
Tel: + 49 (0)228 -73 – 6758

Email: joerg.hartmann@uni-bonn.de
https://www.datenschutz.uni-bonn.de

Data Protection Officer of the University of Cologne

Albertus-Magnus-Platz
50923 Köln
Tel.: +49 221 / 470-3872
Email: dsb@verw.uni-koeln.de

Security

We have taken comprehensive technical and organisational precautions to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, abuse, loss and other external disruption. To this end, we regularly review our security measures and adapt them to current standards.

Your rights

You have the following rights with regard to the personal data concerning you that you can assert against us:

  • right of access: You can request information about your personal data that we process (Art. 15 GDPR).
  • right to rectification: If the information concerning you is not (or is no longer) correct, you can request a correction (Art. 16 GDPR). If your data is incomplete, you may request that it be completed.
  • right to erasure: You can request the deletion of your personal data (Art. 17 GDPR).
  • right to restriction of processing: You have the right to request a restriction of your personal data. (Art. 18 GDPR).
  • right to object to processing: You have the right to object, on grounds relating to his or her particular situation, at any time to processing of personal data concerning him or her which is based on point (e) or (f) of Article 6 (1) GDPR (21 (1)GDPR). In this case, we will not process your personal data unless the controller demonstrates compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your interests, rights or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. You also have the right to object at any time to processing of personal data concerning him or her for direct marketing, which includes profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing (Art. 21 (2) GDPR).
  • right to withdraw your consent: Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time (Art. 7(3) GDPR).
  • right to data portability: You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you, which you has provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and the right to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from the controller to which the personal data have been provided, where and the right to transfer the data to another controller, if the prerequisites of Art. 20(1) (a), (b) GDPR are fulfilled (Art. 20 GDPR).

You can assert your rights by informing us using the contact details specified above under ‘Responsible provider’ or by contacting the data protection officer designated by us.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority about our processing of your personal data (Art. 77 GDPR). The regulatory authority of the University of Cologne is:

The State Officer for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of North Rhine-Westphalia

(Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen)

Postfach 20 04 44

40102 Düsseldorf

Tel.: +49 211/38424-0

Fax: +49 211/38424-10

Email: poststelle@ldi.nrw.de

 

1. Use of the website, access data

In principle, you can use our website for purely informational purposes without disclosing your identity. When you access the individual pages of the website in this sense, this only results in access data being transferred to our web hosting service so that the website can be displayed to you. This is the following data:

  • browser type/browser version,
  • operating system used,
  • language and version of the browser software,
  • hostname of the accessing device,
  • IP address,
  • website from which the request comes,
  • content of the request (specific page),
  • date and time of the server request,
  • access status/HTTP status code,
  • referrer URL (website visited before),
  • volume of data transferred,
  • time zone difference from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Temporary processing of the IP address by the system is necessary to make it technically possible to deliver the website to your device. This requires processing of your IP address for the duration of the session. The legal basis of such processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR.

The access data is not used to identify individual users and is not combined with other data sources. The access data is deleted when it is no longer required for achieving the purpose of its processing. In the case of recording the data to provide the website, this is the case when you end your visit to the website.

IP addresses are stored in log files to ensure the functionality of the website. In addition, the data serves us to optimise the website and to ensure the security of our information technology systems. No evaluation of the data for marketing purposes takes place in this context either. In principle, data is deleted after seven days at the latest; further processing is possible in individual cases. In this case, the IP address is deleted or so transformed that an assignment of the retrieving client is no longer possible.

You can object to the processing. Your right to object exists for reasons arising from your particular situation. You can send us your objection to the contact data provided under ‘Responsible provider’.

 

2. Cookies

In addition to the aforementioned access data, so-called cookies are stored in the internet browser of the device you use to access the website. These are small text files with a sequence of numbers that are stored locally in the cache of the browser used. Cookies do not become part of the device system and cannot execute programs. They serve to make our website user-friendly. The use of cookies may be technically necessary or may occur for other purposes (e.g. analysis/evaluation of website usage).

 

  1. a) Cookie management

Our website uses a consent management tool which asks users for their consent to the use of cookies or similar technologies. A banner displayed on the website gives you the opportunity to refuse your consent to certain features of our website, e.g. the integration of statistical analysis and external content. You can use the cookie banner to grant or refuse your consent for all functions or to grant your consent for individual purposes or services. You can change your settings again later on under “Privacy Settings”. The purpose of integrating the cookie banner is to allow users of our website to decide whether to allow cookies and similar technologies, and to offer them the opportunity to change settings that they have already made when they continue to use our website. When the cookie banner is used, personal data as well as information from the device used, such as the IP address, will be processed. The legal basis for this processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interests in this processing lie in the storage of users’ settings and preferences with regard to the use of cookies and other features. We will store your data for as long as your user settings are active. A new request for your consent will be made two years after you saved your user settings. Your user settings will then be saved again for the same period.

You may object to the processing. Your right of objection exists if you have reasons arising from your particular situation. You can send us your objection to the contact data provided under ‘Responsible provider’. You can also prevent data processing based on cookies as follows: by deactivating or restricting or deleting cookies in your browser settings, or by opening your browser in “private mode”.

 

  1. b) Essential Cookies

Essential cookies are required for the basic functions of the website. This ensures that the website works properly. Mandatory cookies are stored on our website for the following purposes:

  • Storage of privacy settings

The legal basis of this processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interests in processing are to provide the aforementioned special functionalities and thereby make the use of the website more attractive and effective.

You can object to the processing. Your right to object exists for reasons arising from your particular situation. If you do not wish to use cookies, you have the option of changing your browser settings in order to generally or selectively block the placement of cookies or remove stored cookies.

 

  1. c) Statistical Cookies

Google Analytics  

In order to tailor our website perfectly to user interests, we use Google Analytics, a web analytics service from Google (Google Ireland Ltd., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, fax: +353 (1) 436 1001). Google Analytics uses cookies (see “Cookies” above), which are stored on your device. Google uses the cookies to process the information generated about the use of our website by your device – e.g. the fact that you have visited a certain page – and processes, among other things, the data mentioned under “Using our website”, in particular your IP address, browser information, the website visited before and the date and time of the server request, for the purpose of statistical analysis of how people use our website. For this purpose, it is also possible to determine whether different devices belong to you or to your household. This website uses Google Analytics with the “anonymizeIp()” extension. This shortens IP addresses before they are processed, in order to make it much more difficult to identify individuals. According to Google, your IP address is shortened beforehand within member states of the European Union. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transferred to a Google server in the US and shortened there. On our behalf, Google will process this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of this website, compiling reports for us on website activity, and – where we point this out separately – providing us with other services relating to website usage. Google will not associate the IP address transmitted by your browser for these purposes with any other data held by Google. The legal basis of this processing is your consent under Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR. Google also processes the data in part in the US. The EU Commission has not issued an adequacy decision for data transfers to the US; the legal basis for transfers to the US is your consent under Art. 49(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR. Your data processed in connection with Google Analytics will be erased after 14 months at the latest. For further information about privacy at Google, please refer to: http://www.google.de/intl/en/policies/privacy

You can withdraw your consent to the processing at any time, either by sending your objection to the contact data provided under ‘Responsible provider’ or by moving the slider back in the consent tool “Privacy Settings” .This does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent prior to the withdrawal.

 

  1. d) External Content

Integration of YouTube videos  

Our website uses plug-ins from the video platform “YouTube.de” or “YouTube.com”, a service provided by YouTube LLC (head office at 901 Cherry Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066, US; hereinafter referred to as YouTube), for which Google (Google Ireland Ltd., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, fax: +353 (1) 436 1001) is responsible as the controller under data protection law. The purpose of this is to integrate visual content (“videos”) on the website that we have published on “YouTube.de”/”YouTube.com”. When the streaming feature is used, information is also processed which is stored on your device (e.g. IP address). The videos are embedded in “extended privacy mode”, which means that no data about you as a user will be transferred to YouTube if you do not play the videos. When videos are played on our website, YouTube receives the information that you have retrieved the corresponding page of our website. In addition, some of the data mentioned under “Using the website” is transmitted to Google. This occurs regardless of whether YouTube provides a user account that you are logged in with or whether no user account exists. If you are logged in to Google, your data will be directly associated with your account. If you do not wish for this data to be associated with your YouTube profile, you must log out before activating the button. YouTube stores your data as usage profiles and processes it, regardless of whether you have a Google account, for the purposes of advertising, market research and/or the demand-oriented design of its website. The legal basis for the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR. Google also processes the data in part in the US. The EU Commission has not issued an adequacy decision for data transfers to the US; the legal basis for transfers to the US is your consent under Art. 49(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR. The following descriptions of the individual third-party services specify how long your data will be stored in each case. For more information about the purpose and scope of data processing by YouTube and how long YouTube stores such data, please refer to the privacy information at: https://policies.google.com/privacy

You can withdraw your consent to the processing at any time, either by sending your objection to the contact data provided under ‘Responsible provider’ or by moving the slider back in the consent tool “Privacy Settings” .This does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent prior to the withdrawal.

 

Google Maps

This website also uses the Google Maps service from Google to display maps or sections of maps, thus enabling you to conveniently use the map function on the website.

By visiting the website, Google receives the information that you have retrieved the corresponding subpage of our website. In addition, the data mentioned under ‘Access data’ is transferred to Google. This occurs regardless of whether Google provides a user account that you are logged in with or whether no user account exists. If you are logged in to Google, your data will be directly associated with your account. If you do not wish for this data to be associated with your Google profile, you must log out before activating the button.

Google stores your data as usage profiles and processes it for purposes of advertising, market research and/or the demand-oriented design of its website. Such analysis takes place in particular (even for users who are not logged in) to provide demand-oriented advertising and to inform other users of the social network about your activities on our website.

The legal basis for the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR. Google also processes the data in part in the US. The EU Commission has not issued an adequacy decision for data transfers to the US; the legal basis for transfers to the US is your consent under Art. 49(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR. The following descriptions of the individual third-party services specify how long your data will be stored in each case. For more information about the purpose and scope of the data processing by the plug-in provider and the storage period for “Google Maps” can be found at: http://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy

You can withdraw your consent to the processing at any time, either by sending your objection to the contact data provided under ‘Responsible provider’ or by moving the slider back in the consent tool “Privacy Settings” .This does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent prior to the withdrawal.

 

3. Contacting ECONtribute

When contacting ECONtribute, e.g. by email, we will process the personal data provided by you so that we can respond to your enquiry.

In order for us to process enquiries submitted via the contact form on the website, it is essential that you provide your name and your email address. At the moment when you submit the message to us, your IP address and the date and time of your request will also be processed. The same applies to our service-specific forms such as Submitting ECONtribute Discussion Papers, ECONtribute Policy Briefs or Applying for Funding Opportunities.

The legal basis of the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR and Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(b) GDPR, if the contact is made with the intention of concluding a contract. If it is necessary to enter your data in order to conclude a contract, it may be impossible to conclude or execute the contract or to process the request if the data is not made available.

Processing the personal data from the form allows us alone to process the contact you make with us. Where you contact us by or contact form or by email, this also constitutes the necessary legitimate interest in the processing of the data.

The data will not be transmitted to third parties in this context. The data is only processed in order to process the conversation. As soon as processing is no longer necessary, we delete the data generated in this context or, if statutory retention obligations apply, restrict processing of the data.

You can object to the processing. Your right to object exists for reasons arising from your particular situation. You can send us your objection to the contact data provided under ‘Responsible provider’.

 

4. Processing and transmission of personal data for contractual purposes

We process your personal data if and to the extent necessary for the initiation, creation, execution and/or termination of a legal transaction with ECONtribute (e.g. registration to one of our events). The legal basis from this result is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(b) GDPR. If the data processing is necessary for the conclusion of a contract, the conclusion of the contract, the execution and/or the termination of a legal transaction with ECONtribute may be impossible if the data is not made available.

Once the purpose has been achieved (e.g. contract processing), the personal data will be blocked for further processing or erased, unless we are entitled to retain the data for a longer period and process it as required in the respective context on the basis of a consent granted by you (e.g. consent to the processing of your email address for sending promotional emails), a contractual agreement, a statutory authorisation (e.g. authorisation to send direct advertising) or on the basis of justified interests (e.g. retention for asserting claims).

Your personal data will be passed on if

  • it is necessary for the creation, execution or termination of legal transactions with ECONtribute (e.g. when transmitting data to a payment service provider/a shipping company to process a contract with you) (Art.6(1) Sentence 1(b) GDPR), or
  • a subcontractor or party we use to perform our obligations, which we use exclusively within the framework of providing the offers or services requested by you, needs this data (unless you are expressly informed otherwise, such auxiliary parties are only entitled to process the data insofar as this is necessary for the provision of the offer or service), or
  • there is an enforceable official order (Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(c) GDPR), or
  • there is an enforceable court order (Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(c) GDPR), or
  • we are legally obliged to do so (Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(c) GDPR), or
  • the processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person (Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(d) GDPR), or
  • we are authorised or even obliged to pursue overriding legitimate interests (Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR).

Your personal data will not be transmitted to other persons, companies or bodies unless you have effectively consented to such transmission. The legal basis of the processing is then Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR.

 

5. Newsletter for Publications

You have the possibility to subscribe on the website to our email newsletter, which we use to inform you regularly about the following content:

  • Publications, Discussion Papers, Policy Briefs and Events

In order to receive the newsletter, you need to give us the following personal data:

  • valid email address.

Further information, such as your institution, is voluntarily.

To subscribe to our email newsletter, we use the double opt-in process. Once you have completed and send the contact form, we will send you an email to the email address you have provided, in which we ask you to expressly confirm your subscription to the newsletter (by clicking on a confirmation link). This is how we ensure that you really want to receive our email newsletter. If no confirmation takes place within 24 hours, we block the information transferred to us and delete it automatically after one month at the latest.

We process your IP address, the time of registration for the newsletter as well as the time of your confirmation in order to document your newsletter registration and to prevent abuse of your personal data. The legal basis of the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR. We delete this data when the newsletter subscription ends.

After your confirmation, we will process the email address of the recipient concerned for the purpose of sending our email newsletter. The legal basis of the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR. We delete this data when you unsubscribe from the newsletter.

You can withdraw your consent to the processing of your email address for receiving the newsletter at any time, either by sending us a message (see the contact details under ‘Responsible provider’) or by clicking directly on the unsubscribe link in the newsletter. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing that has occurred based on the consent up until the point of your withdrawal (Art. 13(2)(c) GDPR).

We would like to point out that we analyse your user behaviour in relation to the sending of our newsletter. For this analysis, the emails sent out contain so-called web beacons or tracking pixels, which display single-pixel image files that are embedded in our website. Here we record when you read our newsletters, which links you click on in them and draw conclusions about your personal interests. The information is processed for as long as you have subscribed to the newsletter. Once you unsubscribe, we process the data for purely statistical purposes and anonymously.

Our intention here is to analyse the use of and to optimise the email advertising we send you. The legal basis of the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR.

For sending you our newsletter, we use “Sendinblue”, a service provided by Sendinblue GmbH, Köpenicker Str. 126, 10179 Berlin. For this purpose, we have concluded an order processing agreement according to Art. 28 GDPR with Sendinblue GmbH. For additional information, please refer to the privacy information at www.sendinblue.com/legal/privacypolicy/ as well as the FAQ for Email Recipients at www.sendinblue.com/information-for-email-recipients/

We draw your attention to the fact that you can object at any time to receiving the newsletter, and to data processing for the purpose of designing and sending newsletters, without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs according to the basic rates. Here you have a general right of objection without giving reasons (Art. 21(2) GDPR). To do this, click on the unsubscribe link in the relevant email or send us your objection to the contact details provided under “Responsible provider”.

 

6. Press distribution list

You have the possibility to subscribe on the website to our press distribution list, which we use to inform you regularly about the following content:

  • Press releases, events and updates from ECONtribute

In order to receive the press newsletter, you need to give us the following personal data:

  • recipient (name or pseudonym);
  • valid email address.

Further information, such as your institution, is voluntarily.

To subscribe to our press distribution list, we use the double opt-in process. Once you have completed and send the contact form, we will send you an email to the email address you have provided, in which we ask you to expressly confirm your subscription to the newsletter (by clicking on a confirmation link). This is how we ensure that you really want to receive our email newsletter. If no confirmation takes place within 24 hours, we block the information transferred to us and delete it automatically after one month at the latest.

We process your IP address, the time of registration for the press distribution list as well as the time of your confirmation in order to document your registration and to prevent abuse of your personal data. The legal basis of the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR. We delete this data when the subscription ends.

After your confirmation, we will process the email address and name/pseudonym of the recipient concerned for the purpose of sending our press newsletter. The legal basis of the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(a) GDPR. We delete this data when you unsubscribe from the press distribution list.

You can withdraw your consent to the processing of your email address for receiving the press newsletter at any time, either by sending us a message (see the contact details under ‘Responsible provider’) or by clicking directly on the unsubscribe link in the press newsletter. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing that has occurred based on the consent up until the point of your withdrawal (Art. 13(2)(c) GDPR).

We would like to point out that we analyse your user behaviour in relation to the sending of our press newsletter. For this analysis, the emails sent out contain so-called web beacons or tracking pixels, which display single-pixel image files that are embedded in our website. For analysis purposes, we link the data mentioned under ‘Access data’ and the web beacons with your email address and an individual ID. Links received in the newsletter also contain this ID.

We use the data collected in this way to create a user profile in order to tailor the press newsletter to your individual interests. Here we record when you read our newsletters, which links you click on in them and draw conclusions about your personal interests. We link this data to actions you perform on our website. The information is processed for as long as you have subscribed to the newsletter. Once you unsubscribe, we process the data for purely statistical purposes and anonymously.

Our intention here is to analyse the use of and to optimise the email advertising we send you. The legal basis of the processing is Art. 6(1) Sentence 1(f) GDPR.

For sending you our press newsletter, we use “Sendinblue”, a service provided by Sendinblue GmbH, Köpenicker Str. 126, 10179 Berlin. For this purpose, we have concluded an order processing agreement according to Art. 28 GDPR with Sendinblue GmbH. For additional information, please refer to the privacy information at www.sendinblue.com/legal/privacypolicy/ as well as the FAQ for Email Recipients at www.sendinblue.com/information-for-email-recipients/

We draw your attention to the fact that you can object at any time to receiving the press newsletter, and to data processing for the purpose of designing and sending press newsletters, without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs according to the basic rates. Here you have a general right of objection without giving reasons (Art. 21(2) GDPR). To do this, click on the unsubscribe link in the relevant email or send us your objection to the contact details provided under “Responsible provider”.