Privacy Policy

1. An overview of data protection

General information

The following information will provide you with an easy to navigate overview of what will happen with your personal data when you visit this website. The term “personal data” comprises all data that can be used to personally identify you. For detailed information about the subject matter of data protection, please consult our Data Protection Declaration, which we have included beneath this copy.

Data recording on this website

Who is the responsible party for the recording of data on this website (i.e. the “controller”)?

The data on this website is processed by the operator of the website, whose contact information is available under section “Information Required by Law” on this website.

How do we record your data?

We collect your data as a result of your sharing of your data with us. This may, for instance be information you enter into our contact form.

Other data shall be recorded by our IT systems automatically or after you consent to its recording during your website visit. This data comprises primarily technical information (e.g. web browser, operating system or time the site was accessed). This information is recorded automatically when you access this website.

What are the purposes we use your data for?

A portion of the information is generated to guarantee the error free provision of the website. Other data may be used to analyse your user patterns.

What rights do you have as far as your information is concerned?

You have the right to receive information about the source, recipients and purposes of your archived personal data at any time without having to pay a fee for such disclosures. You also have the right to demand that your data are rectified or eradicated. If you have consented to data processing, you have the option to revoke this consent at any time, which shall affect all future data processing. Moreover, you have the right to demand that the processing of your data be restricted under certain circumstances. Furthermore, you have the right to log a complaint with the competent supervising agency.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time under the address disclosed in section “Information Required by Law” on this website if you have questions about this or any other data protection related issues.

Analysis tools and tools provided by third parties

There is a possibility that your browsing patterns will be statistically analysed when your visit this website. Such analyses are performed primarily with cookies and with what we refer to as analysis programmes.

For detailed information about these analysis programmes please consult our Data Protection Declaration below.

2. Hosting and Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

External Hosting

This website is hosted by an external service provider (host). Personal data collected on this website are stored on the servers of the host. These may include, but are not limited to, IP addresses, contact requests, metadata and communications, contract information, contact information, names, web page access, and other data generated through a web site.

The host is used for the purpose of fulfilling the contract with our potential and existing customers (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR) and in the interest of secure, fast and efficient provision of our online services by a professional provider (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR).

Our host will only process your data to the extent necessary to fulfil its performance obligations and to follow our instructions with respect to such data.

Execution of a contract data processing agreement

In order to guarantee processing in compliance with data protection regulations, we have concluded an order processing contract with our host.

3. General information and mandatory information

Data protection

The operators of this website and its pages take the protection of your personal data very seriously. Hence, we handle your personal data as confidential information and in compliance with the statutory data protection regulations and this Data Protection Declaration.

Whenever you use this website, a variety of personal information will be collected. Personal data comprises data that can be used to personally identify you. This Data Protection Declaration explains which data we collect as well as the purposes we use this data for. It also explains how, and for which purpose the information is collected.

We herewith advise you that the transmission of data via the Internet (i.e. through e-mail communications) may be prone to security gaps. It is not possible to completely protect data against third party access.

Information about the responsible party (referred to as the “controller” in the GDPR)

The data processing controller on this website is:

Balzer & Partner
Klaus Balzer
Wilhelmstraße 72
52070 Aachen

Phone: +49 (0)241 94 37 96-0
E-mail: info@balzer-partner.de

The controller is the natural person or legal entity that single-handedly or jointly with others makes decisions as to the purposes of and resources for the processing of personal data (e.g. names, e-mail addresses, etc.).

Designation of a data protection officer as mandated by law

We have appointed a data protection officer for our company.

Ralf Meschke
Am Haarberg 27
52080 Aachen

Phone: +49-241-4120 2406
E-mail: balzer@datenschutz-aachen.de

Revocation of your consent to the processing of data

A wide range of data processing transactions are possible only subject to your express consent. You can also revoke at any time any consent you have already given us. To do so, all you are required to do is sent us an informal notification via e-mail. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data collection that occurred prior to your revocation.

Right to object to the collection of data in special cases; right to object to direct advertising (Art. 21 GDPR)

IN THE EVENT THAT DATA ARE PROCESSED ON THE BASIS OF ART. 6 SECT. 1 LIT. E OR F GDPR, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO AT ANY TIME OBJECT TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA BASED ON GROUNDS ARISING FROM YOUR UNIQUE SITUATION. THIS ALSO APPLIES TO ANY PROFILING BASED ON THESE PROVISIONS. TO DETERMINE THE LEGAL BASIS, ON WHICH ANY PROCESSING OF DATA IS BASED, PLEASE CONSULT THIS DATA PROTECTION DECLARATION. IF YOU LOG AN OBJECTION, WE WILL NO LONGER PROCESS YOUR AFFECTED PERSONAL DATA, UNLESS WE ARE IN A POSITION TO PRESENT COMPELLING PROTECTION WORTHY GROUNDS FOR THE PROCESSING OF YOUR DATA, THAT OUTWEIGH YOUR INTERESTS, RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OR IF THE PURPOSE OF THE PROCESSING IS THE CLAIMING, EXERCISING OR DEFENCE OF LEGAL ENTITLEMENTS (OBJECTION PURSUANT TO ART. 21 SECT. 1 GDPR).

IF YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS BEING PROCESSED IN ORDER TO ENGAGE IN DIRECT ADVERTISING, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO AT ANY TIME OBJECT TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR AFFECTED PERSONAL DATA FOR THE PURPOSES OF SUCH ADVERTISING. THIS ALSO APPLIES TO PROFILING TO THE EXTENT THAT IT IS AFFILIATED WITH SUCH DIRECT ADVERTISING. IF YOU OBJECT, YOUR PERSONAL DATA WILL SUBSEQUENTLY NO LONGER BE USED FOR DIRECT ADVERTISING PURPOSES (OBJECTION PURSUANT TO ART. 21 SECT. 2 GDPR).

Right to log a complaint with the competent supervisory agency

In the event of violations of the GDPR, data subjects are entitled to log a complaint with a supervisory agency, in particular in the member state where they usually maintain their domicile, place of work or at the place where the alleged violation occurred. The right to log a complaint is in effect regardless of any other administrative or court proceedings available as legal recourses.

Right to data portability

You have the right to demand that we hand over any data we automatically process on the basis of your consent or in order to fulfil a contract be handed over to you or a third party in a commonly used, machine readable format. If you should demand the direct transfer of the data to another controller, this will be done only if it is technically feasible.

Information about, rectification and eradication of data

Within the scope of the applicable statutory provisions, you have the right to at any time demand information about your archived personal data, their source and recipients as well as the purpose of the processing of your data. You may also have a right to have your data rectified or eradicated. If you have questions about this subject matter or any other questions about personal data, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time at the address provided in section “Information Required by Law.”

Right to demand processing restrictions

You have the right to demand the imposition of restrictions as far as the processing of your personal data is concerned. To do so, you may contact us at any time at the address provided in section “Information Required by Law.” The right to demand restriction of processing applies in the following cases:

  • In the event that you should dispute the correctness of your data archived by us, we will usually need some time to verify this claim. During the time that this investigation is ongoing, you have the right to demand that we restrict the processing of your personal data.
  • If the processing of your personal data was/is conducted in an unlawful manner, you have the option to demand the restriction of the processing of your data in lieu of demanding the eradication of this data.
  • If we do not need your personal data any longer and you need it to exercise, defend or claim legal entitlements, you have the right to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data instead of its eradication.
  • If you have raised an objection pursuant to Art. 21 Sect. 1 GDPR, your rights and our rights will have to be weighed against each other. As long as it has not been determined whose interests prevail, you have the right to demand a restriction of the processing of your personal data.

If you have restricted the processing of your personal data, these data – with the exception of their archiving – may be processed only subject to your consent or to claim, exercise or defend legal entitlements or to protect the rights of other natural persons or legal entities or for important public interest reasons cited by the European Union or a member state of the EU.

Rejection of unsolicited e-mails

We herewith object to the use of contact information published in conjunction with the mandatory information to be provided in section “Information Required by Law” to send us promotional and information material that we have not expressly requested. The operators of this website and its pages reserve the express right to take legal action in the event of the unsolicited sending of promotional information, for instance via SPAM messages.

4. Recording of data on this website

Cookies

Our websites and pages use what the industry refers to as “cookies.” Cookies are small text files that do not cause any damage to your device. They are either stored temporarily for the duration of a session (session cookies) or they are permanently archived on your device (permanent cookies). Session cookies are automatically deleted once you terminate your visit. Permanent cookies remain archived on your device until you actively delete them or they are automatically eradicated by your web browser.

In some cases it is possible that third party cookies are stored on your device once you enter our site (third party cookies). These cookies enable you or us to take advantage of certain services offered by the third party (e.g. cookies for the processing of payment services).

Cookies have a variety of functions. Many cookies are technically essential since certain website functions would not work in the absence of the cookies (e.g. the shopping cart function or the display of videos). The purpose of other cookies may be the analysis of user patterns or the display of promotional messages.

Cookies, which are required for the performance of electronic communication transactions (required cookies) or for the provision of certain functions you want to use (functional cookies, e.g. for the shopping cart function) or those that are necessary for the optimization of the website (e.g. cookies that provide measurable insights into the web audience), shall be stored on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR, unless a different legal basis is cited. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure the technically error free and optimized provision of the operator’s services. If your consent to the storage of the cookies has been requested, the respective cookies are stored exclusively on the basis of the consent obtained (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR); this consent may be revoked at any time.

You have the option to set up your browser in such a manner that you will be notified any time cookies are placed and to permit the acceptance of cookies only in specific cases. You may also exclude the acceptance of cookies in certain cases or in general or activate the delete function for the automatic eradication of cookies when the browser closes. If cookies are deactivated, the functions of this website may be limited.

In the event that third party cookies are used or if cookies are used for analytical purposes, we will separately notify you in conjunction with this Data Protection Policy and, if applicable, ask for your consent.

Server log files

The provider of this website and its pages automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files, which your browser communicates to us automatically. The information comprises:

  • The type and version of browser used
  • The used operating system
  • Referrer URL
  • The hostname of the accessing computer
  • The time of the server inquiry
  • The IP address

This data is not merged with other data sources.

This data is recorded on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The operator of the website has a legitimate interest in the technically error free depiction and the optimization of the operator’s website. In order to achieve this, server log files must be recorded.

Contact form

If you submit inquiries to us via our contact form, the information provided in the contact form as well as any contact information provided therein will be stored by us in order to handle your inquiry and in the event that we have further questions. We will not share this information without your consent.

The processing of these data is based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR, if your request is related to the execution of a contract or if it is necessary to carry out pre-contractual measures. In all other cases the processing is based on our legitimate interest in the effective processing of the requests addressed to us (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) or on your agreement (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) if this has been requested.

The information you have entered into the contact form shall remain with us until you ask us to eradicate the data, revoke your consent to the archiving of data or if the purpose for which the information is being archived no longer exists (e.g. after we have concluded our response to your inquiry). This shall be without prejudice to any mandatory legal provisions – in particular retention periods.

Request by e-mail, telephone or fax

If you contact us by e-mail, telephone or fax, your request, including all resulting personal data (name, request) will be stored and processed by us for the purpose of processing your request. We do not pass these data on without your consent.

These data are processed on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR if your inquiry is related to the fulfillment of a contract or is required for the performance of pre-contractual measures. In all other cases, the data are processed on the basis of our legitimate interest in the effective handling of inquiries submitted to us (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR) or on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR) if it has been obtained.

The data sent by you to us via contact requests remain with us until you request us to delete, revoke your consent to the storage or the purpose for the data storage lapses (e.g. after completion of your request). Mandatory statutory provisions – in particular statutory retention periods – remain unaffected.

5. Newsletter

Newsletter data

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter offered on this website, we will need from you an e-mail address as well as information that allow us to verify that you are the owner of the e-mail address provided and consent to the receipt of the newsletter. No further data shall be collected or shall be collected only on a voluntary basis. We shall use such data only for the sending of the requested information and shall not share such data with any third parties.

The processing of the information entered into the newsletter subscription form shall occur exclusively on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR). You may revoke the consent you have given to the archiving of data, the e-mail address and the use of this information for the sending of the newsletter at any time, for instance by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link in the newsletter. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data processing transactions that have taken place to date.

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.

CleverReach

This website uses CleverReach for the sending of newsletters. The provider is the CleverReach GmbH & Co. KG, Mühlenstr. 43, 26180 Rastede, Germany. CleverReach is a service that can be used to organize and analyse the sending of newsletters. The data you have entered for the purpose of subscribing to our newsletter (e.g. e-mail address) are stored on servers of CleverReach in Germany or in Ireland.

Newsletters we send out via CleverReach allow us to analyse the user patterns of our newsletter recipients. Among other things, in conjunction with this, it is possible how many recipients actually opened the newsletter e-mail and how often which link inside the newsletter has been clicked. With the assistance of a tool called Conversion Tracking, we can also determine whether an action that has been predefined in the newsletter actually occurred after the link was clicked (e.g. purchase of a product on this website). For more information on the data analysis services by CleverReach newsletters, please go to: https://www.cleverreach.com/en/features/reporting-tracking/.

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.

If you do not want to permit an analysis by CleverReach, 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 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 Protection Provisions of CleverReach at: https://www.cleverreach.com/en/privacy-policy/.

6. Plug-ins and Tools

Google Web Fonts

To ensure that fonts used on this website are uniform, this website uses so-called Web Fonts provided by Google. When you access a page on our website, your browser will load the required web fonts into your browser cache to correctly display text and fonts.

To do this, the browser you use will have to establish a connection with Google’s servers. As a result, Google will learn that your IP address was used to access this website. The use of Google Web Fonts is based on Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in a uniform presentation of the font on the operator’s website. If a respective declaration of consent has been obtained (e.g. consent to the archiving of cookies), the data will be processed exclusively on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR. Any such consent may be revoked at any time.

If your browser should not support Web Fonts, a standard font installed on your computer will be used.

For more information on Google Web Fonts, please follow this link: https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and consult Google’s Data Privacy Declaration under: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

Zendesk

We deploy the CRM system Zendesk to process user inquiries. The provider is Zendesk, Inc, 1019 Market Street in San Francisco, CA 94103 USA.

We use Zendesk to be able to respond to your inquiries promptly and efficiently. This constitutes a legitimate interest as defined in Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. f GDPR.

As a U.S.-based provider, Zendesk is Privacy Shield certified, which means that the company undertakes to comply with the EU data protection regulations. In addition, we have executed a contract data processing agreement with Zendesk (Data Processing Agreement, DPA). This ensures that Zendesk processes the user data received only within the framework of the EU data protection standards and exclusively for the processing of inquiries and that Zendesk will not share these data with third parties.

In order to be able to submit inquiries, you must provide your e-mail address and name.

You can also contact us via our chat window. In this case, we store your IP address in addition to your chat messages. Specifying your name is not required for the chat.

The data entered by you in the contact form or in the chat remains with us until you request deletion or the data storage purpose no longer applies (e.g. after completed processing of your request). Mandatory statutory provisions – in particular retention periods – remain unaffected.

If you should not want to agree to the processing of your inquiries by us via Zendesk, you have the alternative option to communicate with us via e-mail, telephone or fax.

For more information, please consult Zendesk’s Data Privacy Declaration at: https://www.zendesk.com/company/customers-partners/privacy-policy/.

7. eCommerce and payment service providers

Processing of data (customer and contract data)

We collect, process and use personal data only to the extent necessary for the establishment, content organization or change of the legal relationship (data inventory). These actions are taken on the basis of Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR, which permits the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or pre-contractual actions. We collect, process and use personal data concerning the use of this website (usage data) only to the extent that this is necessary to make it possible for users to utilize the services and to bill for them.

The collected customer data shall be eradicated upon completion of the order or the termination of the business relationship. This shall be without prejudice to any statutory retention mandates.

Data transfer upon closing of contracts for services and digital content

We share personal data with third parties only if this is necessary in conjunction with the handling of the contract; for instance, with the financial institution tasked with the processing of payments.

Any further transfer of data shall not occur or shall only occur if you have expressly consented to the transfer. Any sharing of your data with third parties in the absence of your express consent, for instance for advertising purposes, shall not occur.

The basis for the processing of data is Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR, which permits the processing of data for the fulfilment of a contract or for pre-contractual actions.

8. Custom Services

Job Applications

We offer website visitors the opportunity to submit job applications to us (e.g. via e-mail, via postal services on by submitting the online job application form). Below, we will brief you on the scope, purpose and use of the personal data collected from you in conjunction with the application process. We assure you that the collection, processing and use of your data will occur in compliance with the applicable data privacy rights and all other statutory provisions and that your data will always be treated as strictly confidential.

Scope and purpose of the collection of data

If you submit a job application to us, we will process any affiliated personal data (e.g. contact and communications data, application documents, notes taken during job interviews, etc.), if they are required to make a decision concerning the establishment or an employment relationship. The legal grounds for the aforementioned are § 26 New GDPR according to German Law (Negotiation of an Employment Relationship), Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR (General Contract Negotiations) and – provided you have given us your consent – Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. a GDPR. You may revoke any consent given at any time. Within our company, your personal data will only be shared with individuals who are involved in the processing of your job application.

If your job application should result in your recruitment, the data you have submitted will be archived on the grounds of § 26 New GDPR and Art. 6 Sect. 1 lit. b GDPR for the purpose of implementing the employment relationship in our data processing system.

Data Archiving Period

If we are unable to make you a job offer or you reject a job offer or withdraw your application, we reserve the right to retain the data you have submitted on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) for up to 6 months from the end of the application procedure (rejection or withdrawal of the application). Afterwards the data will be deleted, and the physical application documents will be destroyed. The storage serves in particular as evidence in the event of a legal dispute. If it is evident that the data will be required after the expiry of the 6-month period (e.g. due to an impending or pending legal dispute), deletion will only take place when the purpose for further storage no longer applies.

Longer storage may also take place if you have given your agreement (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR) or if statutory data retention requirements preclude the deletion.