THIS IS A TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL GERMAN PRIVACY STATEMENT. IN CASE OF ANY DISCREPANCIES, THE GERMAN VERSION SHALL BE BINDING
The following guidance gives a simple outline of what happens to your personal data when you visit our website. Personal data are all data that can be used to personally identify you.
This privacy policy informs you on the type, scope, and purpose of processing personal data (hereinafter referred to as “data”) within our online offering and its related websites, functions, and content as well as within external online presences such as our social media profiles (hereinafter collectively referred to as “online offering”).
Regarding the technical terms used, such as “processing” or “controller”, we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
We reserve the right to adapt this privacy policy in order to ensure it continually meets the current legal requirements or to incorporate changes to our services into our privacy policy, e.g., when introducing new services. This new privacy policy shall apply to any future visit to our website.
Table of Contents
- Controller
- Types of processed data
- Purpose of processing
- Technical terms used
- Relevant legal grounds
- Preventive measures
- Cooperation with processors and third parties
- Transfers to third countries
- Rights of the data subject
- Right of withdrawal
- Right to object
- Right of appeal to the competent supervisory authority
- Right of data portability
- SSL and TLS encryption
- Erasure of data
- Collection of general information upon visiting our website
- Cookies and your right to object to direct marketing
- Hosting
- Collection of access data and log files (server log data)
- Provision of contractual services
- Administration, financial accounting, office management, contact management
- Business analyses and market research
- Contacting
- Google Analytics
- Online presences in social media
- Integration of third-party services and content
- Google Fonts
- Google ReCaptcha
- Google Maps
- Changes to our privacy policy
- Note for warnings
Controller
The responsible body as defined by current data protection laws, specifically by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is:
Forkel Logistics e.K.
Andreas Forkel
Schreinerweg 8
22549 Hamburg, Germany
Email: af(at)forkel-logistics.de
Imprint: http://forkel-logistics.com/imprint-terms-and-conditions/
Types of processed data
- Inventory data (e.g., names, addresses).
- Contact data (e.g., email addresses, phone numbers).
- Content data (e.g., text entries, photographs, videos).
- Usage data (e.g., visited websites, interest in content, access times).
- Metadata / Communication data (e.g., device information, IP addresses).
Furthermore, we process
- Contract data (e.g., subject matter of the contract, duration, customer category)
- Payment data (e.g., bank details, payment history)
of our customers, interested parties, and business partners for the purpose of providing contractual services, customer care, marketing, advertising, and market research.
Purpose of processing
- To provide our online offering, its functions, and content.
- To answer to contact requests and to communicate with users.
- Preventive measures.
- Audience measurement / marketing.
We shall process your personal data exclusively for the purposes set out in this privacy policy. Your personal data shall not be forwarded to third parties for other purposes than those set out above. We shall only forward your personal data to third parties if:
- You have given us your express consent to do so,
- Processing is necessary in order to settle a contract with you,
- Processing is necessary in order to comply with a legal obligation,
- Processing is necessary in order to safeguard legitimate interests and there is no reason to assume that you have an overriding interest in preventing the disclosure of your data.
Technical terms used
“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter referred to as “data subject”); identifiable is any natural person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, location data, online identifier (e.g., cookie), or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of this natural person.
“Processing” is any operation or set of operations, whether or not by automated means, in relation to personal data. The term goes far and includes nearly any handling of data.
The “controller” is the natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.
Relevant legal grounds
Pursuant to Art. 13 GDPR, we inform you on the legal grounds for our data processing. Unless described otherwise in the privacy policy, the following shall apply:
The legal grounds for obtaining consent are Art. 6 Para. 1(a) and Art. 7 GDPR, the legal basis for processing in order to perform our services, to implement contractual measures, and to answer to inquiries is Art. 6 Para. 1(b) GDPR, the legal basis for processing in order to comply with our legal obligations is Art. 6 Para. 1(c) GDPR, and the legal basis for processing in order to safeguard our legitimate interests is Art. 6 Para. 1(f) GDPR. In case the vital interests of a data subject or another natural person require a processing of personal data, Art. 6 Para. 1(d) GDPR serves as legal basis.
Preventive measures
We urge you to inform yourself on the content of our privacy policy at regular intervals. We shall adapt our privacy policy whenever changes to our data processing call for it. We shall inform you in case any change requires your cooperation (e.g., consent) or any other individual notification.
Cooperation with processors and third parties
In case we disclose data to other persons and companies (processors or third parties), transfer data to them, or grant them access to data as part of our processing, this shall happen exclusively on the basis of a statutory authorization (e.g., if a data transfer to third parties, such as payment service providers, is necessary in order to perform a contract in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1(b) GDPR), if the data subjects have given their consent, if it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation, or on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g., when assigning agents, web hosters, etc.).
If we engage third parties with processing data on the basis of a so-called “Data Processing Agreement”, this shall happen in compliance with Art. 28 GDPR.
In certain cases – if a legitimate interest exists –, our company will review your credit status. To this end, we cooperate with Creditreform (Hamburg, Creditreform Hamburg von der Decken KG, Wandalenweg 8-10, D-20097 Hamburg, Germany), who provide us with the relevant data. For this purpose, we will communicate your name and your contact data to Creditreform. You can obtain further information on data processing at Creditreform in their detailed information sheet Creditreform-Information in accordance with Art. 14 EU-GDPR or at www.creditreform-hamburg.de/EU-DSVGO.
Transfers to third countries
In case we process data in a third country (e.g., outside of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or data are processed when using the services of third parties or disclosed / transferred to third parties, this shall only happen for the purpose of performing our (pre)contractual obligations, on the basis of your consent, due to a legal obligation, or on the basis of our legitimate interests. Subject to statutory or contractual authorizations, we shall only process data or have them processed in a third country if special requirements apply, according to Art. 44 et seq. GDPR.
Such processing may be done on the basis of special guarantees, such as an officially recognized assessment of a level of data protection appropriate to the EU (e.g., for the U.S. via the Privacy Shield) or for compliance with officially recognized special contractual obligations (so-called “standard contractual clauses”).
Rights of the data subject
You have the right to obtain a confirmation as to whether or not the respective data are being processed as well as the right to access these data and further information. Moreover, you have the right to obtain a copy of the data in accordance with Art. 15 GDPR.
In accordance with Art. 16 GDPR, you have the right to demand the completion of data concerning your person or the rectification of inaccurate personal data.
Pursuant to Art. 17 GDPR, you have the right to demand the erasure of the respective data without undue delay or alternatively, in accordance with Art. 18 GDPR, a restriction of their processing.
You have the right to access your personal data – which you have provided to us – in accordance with Art. 20 GDPR and to demand their transmittance to other controllers.
Moreover, pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.
Right of withdrawal
In accordance with Art. 7 Para. 3 GDPR, you have the right to withdraw your consent with effect for the future.
Right to object
Pursuant to Art. 21 GDPR, you have the right to object to any future processing of your personal data at any time. In particular, you have the right to object to processing for the purpose of direct marketing.
Right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority
In case data protection regulations are violated, the data subject has the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority. The relevant supervisory authority for data protection issues is the data protection commissioner of the federal state in which our company is domiciled. A list of data protection commissioners as well as their contact data can be drawn from the following link: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html.
Right of data portability
You have the right to have the data we automatically process, on the basis of your consent or in the performance of a contract, transmitted to yourself or a third party in a commonly used and machine-readable format. If you demand a direct transmittance of your data to another controller, this shall only be done where technically feasible.
SSL / TLS encryption
For safety reasons and to protect the transmittance of sensitive content, such as orders or inquiries you send to us as operators of the website, this website uses a SSL or TLS encryption. You can tell that a connection is encrypted when the address line of your browser changes from “http://” to “https://” and you can see a lock symbol in your browser line.
If the SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.
Erasure of data
The data we process shall be erased or their processing shall be restricted in accordance with Art. 17 and 18 GDPR. Unless explicitly stated in this privacy policy, the data stored on our servers shall be erased as soon as they are no longer necessary for their intended purpose and their erasure is not opposed by any statutory requirement to preserve records. In case your data are not erased because they are necessary for other lawful purposes, their processing shall be restricted. This means that the data will be blocked and not processed for any other purpose. As an example, this applies to data that must be stored in accordance with commercial or tax law.
In compliance with statutory regulations in Germany, data shall be stored for 6 years pursuant to § 257 Para. 1 of the German Commercial Code HGB (trading books, inventories, opening balances, annual financial statements, commercial letters, accounting records, etc.) and for 10 years pursuant to § 147 Para. 1 of the German Fiscal Code AO (books, records, status reports, accounting records, commercial and business correspondence, documents relevant for taxation, etc.).
Collection of general information upon visiting our website
When you access our website, a cookie will automatically collect general information. This information (server log files) includes, among other things, the type of the web browser, the operating system used, or the domain name of your Internet service provider. This general information exclusively comprises information that cannot be traced back to your person.
This information is technically necessary to correctly deliver the web content you requested as well as for any Internet usage. In particular, the information is processed for the following purposes:
- To ensure a smooth set-up of the connection to our website,
- To ensure a trouble-free usage of our website,
- To analyze system security and stability as well as for other administrative purposes.
The processing of your personal data is based on our legitimate interest for the purposes of data collection described above. We shall not use your data to draw conclusions about your person. Your data shall only be received by the competent authority and processor, if applicable.
Anonymous information of this kind might be statistically evaluated by us in order to optimize our online presence and the technology behind it.
Cookies and your right to object to direct marketing
“Cookies” are small files that are stored on a user’s computer. A cookie can store different information. It is primarily used to store details on a user (or the device on which the cookie is stored) during or after his or her visit to an online offering.
Temporary cookies or “session cookies” or “transient cookies” are cookies that will be deleted after a user has left an online offering and closed his or her browser. Such a cookie can, for instance, store the contents of a shopping basket in an online shop or a login status.
A “permanent” or “persistent” cookie remains stored also after the browser has been closed. This allows for a user’s login status to be saved, for instance, if he or she revisits the website several days later. Moreover, such a cookie can store information on the user’s interests and use it for reach measurement or marketing purposes.
A “third-party cookie” is a cookie offered by other providers than the controller responsible for our online offering (otherwise, if all cookies pertain to the controller, they are also referred to as “first-party cookies”).
We can use temporary and permanent cookies as set out in our privacy policy.
Users who do not want cookies to be stored on their computers are kindly asked to deactivate the respective option within their browsers’ system settings. Stored cookies can be deleted in your browser’s system settings. However, the exclusion of cookies can limit the functions of our online offering.
A general contradiction to the use of cookies for the purpose of online marketing can be declared with many services, particularly in the case of tracking, via the U.S. website http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU website http://www.youronlinechoices.com/. Furthermore, the storage of cookies can be disabled in your browser settings. Please note that you might not be able to use all functions of our online offering afterwards.
Hosting
The hosting services we use help us to provide the following services: infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space, database services, security services, as well as technical maintenance services we use in order to operate our online offering.
In doing so, we – or rather our hosting provider – process inventory data, contact data, content data, contract data, usage data, metadata, and communication data of customers, interested parties, and visitors to our online offering on the basis of our legitimate interest in an efficient and secure provision of our online offering pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1(f) GDPR in conjunction with Art. 28 GDPR (conclusion of a Data Processing Agreement).
Collection of access data and log files
On the basis of our legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1(f) GDPR, we or our hosting provider collect data on every access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files).
Access data include the name of the requested website, file, date and time of the request, data volume transferred, confirmation of successful access, browser type and version, operating system of the user, referrer URL (the website visited beforehand), IP address, and querying provider.
For safety reasons (e.g., to clarify abuse or fraud), log file information shall be saved for a maximum duration of 7 days and then be deleted. Data that must be stored for a longer period of time for evidence purposes shall be excluded from erasure until the final clarification of the respective incident.
Provision of contractual services
We process inventory data (e.g., names and addresses as well as user contact data) and contract data (e.g., services used, names of contact persons, payment information) in order to fulfill our contractual obligations and provide our services pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1(b) GDPR. The entries marked as obligatory in our online form are necessary for concluding a contract.
When our online services are used, we store the IP address and the time of the respective user activity. This occurs on the basis of our legitimate interests as well as on the basis of the user’s interest in protecting him or her from abuse and other unauthorized usage. These data are generally not forwarded to third parties unless it is necessary to pursue our standards or for compliance with a legal obligation in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1(c) GDPR.
We process usage data (e.g., visited websites of our online offering, interest in our products) and content data (e.g., entries in the contact form or user profile) for advertising purposes in a user profile – to show product information to the user, for instance, based on the services used in the past.
These data shall be erased after the expiration of legally required warranty and other obligations; moreover, the necessity to store data shall be reviewed every three years. In case statutory storage duties apply, the respective data shall be erased after their expiration. Entries in a potential customer account will be stored until the respective account is deleted.
Administration, financial accounting, office management, contact management
We process data for administrative tasks, to organize our business and financial accounting, and to fulfill our legal obligations, such as storage duties. On this occasion, we process the same data that is processed in order to provide our contractual services. The legal grounds for processing are Art. 6 Para. 1(c) GDPR and Art. 6 Para. 1(f) GDPR. Data subjects are customers, interested parties, business partners, and visitors to our website. This processing serves the purpose and interest to accomplish administration, financial accounting, office management and data storage tasks – i.e., tasks that serve to maintain our business activities, to perform our duties, and to provide our services. For the erasure of data with regards to contractual services as well as the contractual communication, the information stated in relation to these processing activities shall apply.
We disclose and transfer data to the tax authority, advisors such as tax consultants or auditors, as well as to other payment agents and payment service providers.
On the basis of our business management interests, we store further information on suppliers, organizers, and other business partners, e.g., for future contacting. These data are predominantly of corporate nature and are generally saved permanently.
Business analyses and market research
We analyze the data available to us on business transactions, contracts, queries, etc. in order to operate our business in an economic way and to recognize market trends as well as customer and user preferences. In doing so, we process inventory data, communication data, contract data, payment data, usage data, and metadata pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1(f) GDPR. Data subjects include customers, interested parties, business partners, visitors, and users of our online offering.
The analyses serve the purpose of business evaluations, marketing, and market research. We can take into account the profiles of registered users as well as information on their purchases, for instance. These analyses serve to enhance the user-friendliness, to optimize our offering, and to reduce our operating expenses. They are intended solely for us and shall not be disclosed externally, except for anonymous analyses with summarized values.
Analyses or profiles of personal nature shall be deleted or anonymized with the cancellation of the respective users, at the latest two years after the conclusion of a contract. By the way, our overall business analyses as well as the determination of general trends are conducted anonymously whenever possible.
Contacting
When contacting us (e.g., via our contact form, email, phone, or social media), the provided user information is used to process and handle his or her contact request in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1(b) GDPR. User details can be stored in a customer relationship management system (CRM system) or any comparable query organization system.
We shall delete all queries as soon as they are no longer needed. We shall review their necessity every two years; moreover, statutory storage duties apply.
Google Analytics
On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e., the interest to analyze and optimize our online offering and to run it economically pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1(f) GDPR), we use Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google LLC (“Google”). Google uses cookies. The information on the usage of our online offering by the users, generated by the cookie, is usually transmitted to and stored on a Google server in the United States.
Google is certified under the privacy shield agreement, thus offering a guarantee to comply with European data protection requirements (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).
Google will use this information on our account in order to analyze the usage of our online offering by the users, to compile reports on the activities within this online offering, and to provide us with further services related to the usage of our online offering and the Internet. In doing so, pseudonymous user profiles of the users can be created from the processed data.
We only use Google Analytics with activated IP anonymization. This means that a user’s IP address will be shortened by Google, within member countries 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 transmitted to a Google server in the U.S. and shortened there.
The IP address transmitted by a user’s browser will not be combined with other Google data. Users can prevent the respective cookies from being stored by choosing the corresponding setting in their browser software; moreover, users can prevent Google from collecting the data produced by the cookie and related to their use of the online offering as well as from processing these data by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
Further information on the use of data by Google as well as on settings and your options to object can be found in the privacy policy of Google (https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads?hl=en) as well as in the settings for the presentation of advertising by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated).
Personal user data will be deleted or anonymized after 14 months.
Online presences in social media
We maintain online presences in social networks and platforms to be able to communicate with clients, interested parties, and users who are active in such media, and to inform them on our services. Upon visiting the respective networks and platforms, the terms and conditions of their respective operators as well as their data processing guidelines shall apply.
Unless stated otherwise within the framework of our privacy policy, we process data of users who communicate with us within social networks and platforms, e.g., write a comment on our online presence or send us a message.
Integration of third-party services and content
On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e., the interest to analyze and optimize our online offering and to run it economically pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1(f) GDPR), we use third-party content or service offerings within our online offering in order to integrate their content and services, such as videos or fonts (hereinafter collectively referred to as “content”).
This always presupposes that third-party providers of such content use the IP addresses of the users because they would not be able to send content to their browsers otherwise. Hence, the IP address is necessary in order to present such content. We make every attempt to exclusively use content of providers who only use IP addresses in order to transmit their content. In addition, third-party providers may use so-called Pixel Tags (invisible graphics, also known as Web Beacons) for statistical or marketing purposes.
These Pixel Tags allow for an evaluation of information such as the traffic of visitors on the pages of this website. This pseudonymous information can be stored in cookies on the user’s device and include, for instance, technical information on the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit, and other information on the usage of our online offering. They can be linked to similar information from other sources.
Google Fonts
We integrate the fonts (“Google Fonts”) of the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, U.S. Privacy Statement:
https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, opt out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.
Google ReCaptcha
We integrate the function to detect Bots, e.g., with entries in online forms (“ReCaptcha”), of the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, U.S.. Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, opt out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.
Google Maps
We integrate the maps of the service “Google Maps” from the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, U.S. In particular, processed data can include the users’ IP addresses and location data. Nonetheless, these data will not be collected without their consent (in general via the settings of their mobile devices). These data can be processed in the United States. Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, opt out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.
Changes to our privacy policy
This privacy policy is as of 20 May 2018. It is the current and valid version of our privacy policy.
We reserve the right to adapt this privacy policy in order to ensure it continually meets the current legal requirements or to incorporate changes to our services into our privacy policy, e.g. when introducing new services. This new privacy policy will apply to any future visit to our website.
Note for warnings
In case the content or the presentation of our website violate any third-party rights or legal regulations, we kindly request you to communicate with us without sending a cost note. Any potential copyright violation by these pages must not be removed by the owners of the respective copyright without our consent. We guarantee that any passage containing genuine cause for objection will be removed immediately, without any need to take legal action on your part. We will, however, reject any costs incurred by you without prior contact to us and, if necessary, put forward a counter-claim for the violation of the before-mentioned provisions.
Sources of this privacy policy:
