Home Data protection

Data pro­tec­tion

The protection of your personal rights is of great importance for the GDV. Therefore, we proceed with all data processing according to the principle of limiting data processing only to the required information and the required degree.

By way of our Information on data protection concerning Social-Media-Appearances and our Further information on data processing at GDV, we inform you of the purposes for which personal data are collected, processed and used when you visit this website.

Controller

“Controller” in the terms of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the German Insurance Association (Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e.V.), Wilhelmstraße 43 / 43G, 10117 Berlin (“GDV”).

Data collection when using our website

When you access our website, the browser on your device automatically sends information to the server of our website / application and temporarily stores it in a log file. We have no influence over this. The following information is also recorded without your intervention and stored until it is automatically deleted:

  • the IP address of the requesting Internet-enabled device;
  • the date and time of access;
  • the name and URL of the retrieved file;
  • the website from which access was made (referrer URL);
  • the browser you are using and, if necessary, the operating system and user interface of your Internet-enabled computer as well as the name of your access provider;
  • an individual process ID, status code (information about the data retrieval process, e.g. whether it was successful), the response time of the server and the amount of data transferred in bytes.

The legal basis for processing the IP address is Article 6(1)f GDPR. Our legitimate interest follows from the purposes of data collection listed below. We are unable to draw any direct conclusions about your identity from the data collected.

The IP address of your terminal device and the other data listed above will be used by us for the following purposes:

  • to ensure a smooth connection setup;
  • to ensure comfortable use of our website;
  • to evaluate system safety and stability.

The server log files can also be checked subsequently if there are concrete indications of illegal use of our website. The data are stored for a period of 6 months and then automatically deleted. Furthermore, we use cookies and social media plug-ins for our website. The exact procedures involved, whether using the website can lead to tracking and how your data are used for this purpose are explained in more detail below.

Security

We use technical and organisational security measures to warrant that your personal data are protected against loss, falsifications and unauthorised access by third parties at all times. All safety measures are continuously adapted to technical progress. If you are requested to enter personal data within the offer, data will be transmitted over the Internet encrypted using SSL and thus protected against unauthorized access.

Google Maps

We use the Google Maps API in order to display geographic information. When using Google Maps, Google (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) will collect, process and use data about the usage of the maps-functions by the visitors of the websites. Your data will only be transmitted to Google, once you have given us your consent according to Art. 6 (1) a GDPR. When opening our website a so-called banner will be displayed. You will be given the opportunity to consent to the processing of personal data by clicking “I agree”. In case you click on “Change Settings” Google Maps will only be displayed after you tick the box next to “third parties” or if you consent to the processing of personal data by clicking the information text in the map window on the website. If you click on “I decline”, you can also consent to the processing of personal data by clicking the information text in the map window on the website. You can withdraw your consent for future data processing at all times by using our Consent-Manager-Tool. For further information on how Google processes personal data, please refer to Google’s privacy policy:  https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US

Google also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).

Orders

Personal data (name, address data, e-mail addresses) are collected and processed in accordance with Article 6(1) b GDPR in order to process orders of association publications or individual inquiries, for example. To send publications, it may be necessary to pass on your address data to companies that support us. Furthermore, we will not pass on your personal data unless, in an exceptional case, an authority requests the data, e.g. for criminal prosecution or security purposes. After complete processing of your request, your data will be blocked and deleted after expiry of the storage obligations in tax and commercial law.

Newsletter

If you have registered for our newsletter, we only use the data (name, e-mail addresses) collected during registration to send the newsletter. The processing of your data is based on your consent (Article 6(1) a GDPR). In addition, we record the e-mail address from which the newsletter was opened and links clicked. We evaluate this information for statistical purposes in order to optimise our newsletter offer. The legal basis for this data processing is Article 6(1)f GDPR. After completion of the statistical evaluation (once a month after three months), the data will be deleted.

We use the so-called “double opt-in procedure” for sending the newsletter. We will not send you a newsletter until you confirm in our notification e-mail that we should activate the newsletter service by clicking on a link. If you no longer wish to receive newsletters from us, you can unsubscribe at any time. A message in text form (e.g. e-mail to onlineredaktion@gdv.de, fax, letter) is sufficient. Of course, you will also find a link to unsubscribe in each newsletter.

Contact form

When you contact us via a contact form on our website, the data you provide (e-mail address and name) will be processed by us in accordance with Article 6(1) f GDPR in order to answer your questions. We will delete the data arising in this context after the storage is no longer necessary, or restrict the processing if statutory retention obligations exist.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are stored locally in the cache of the visitor's Internet browser. If we require your consent for the use of cookies according to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR, we will only use cookies after you have given us your consent. In the following we inform you about the data processing concerned and how you may give your consent. You can withdraw your consent for future data processing at all times by using our Consent-Manager-Tool.

Necessary Cookies

In order to enable the use of our website, the use of cookies is necessary. These Cookies are for instance necessary for functioning website navigation. Cookies that are necessary for the use of the website can’t be deactivated. However, you can prevent the storage of Cookies on your computer through appropriate browser settings. We would like to point out that the website might not work properly without the necessary Cookies.

Matomo

We also use the open source web analytics service Matomo (formerly Piwik) in order to analyse and regularly improve the use of our website. The resulting statistics enable us to improve our services and make them more interesting for you as a user.

With Matomo’s technology only anonymized data (e. g. shortened IP-addresses, date and time of the page view, length of stay or the page, from which you accessed our website) is stored or processed. The IP-addresses are anonymized immediately after the processing and before their storage. They do not enable the identification of visitors to our website. Your personal data will not be transmitted to third parties. Matomo also uses so-called “Cookies”.

The legal basis for the use of Matomo is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. You have the opportunity to object to the analysis. When accessing our website, a so-called “banner” will be displayed. There, you can prevent the analysis by Matomo by clicking the button “Change Settings” and unchecking the box next to “Analysis”. You can object to the webanalysis for future data processing at all times using our Consent-Manager-Tool or if you click the button “I decline” on the “banner”. In this case, no analysis of the use of our website will be conducted afterwards. Instead, a so-called Opt-out Cookie will be placed, which ensures that no usage will be analysed. Should you delete your Cookies, the Opt-out Cookie will be deleted too and you may have to activate it again.

Information on Matomo’s privacy policy can be found here: https://matomo.org/privacy-policy/

Social plugins and sharing functions

On our website we use social plugins from various social networks. With the help of these plugins, you can recommend articles from our website. Other users of the social network can then see that you recommend this post. We aim to promote the recommendation of articles on our websites via social plugins.

To ensure that your use of our websites can only be recorded on the social network if you wish, using the button is only possible, once you have consented to the transfer of data in accordance with Art. 6 (1) a GDPR. When opening our website a so-called banner will be displayed. You will be given the opportunity to consent to the processing of personal data by clicking “I agree”. If you click on “Change Settings”, you can give your consent by ticking the box next to “third parties”. In case you do not wish to do so or if you click the button “I decline” on the “banner”, you will be informed about the possible processing of your personal data by the social network through the overlay of information on the display area of the button prior to using the button of each respective social network. Only once you have consented to the processing of data by clicking on the information, you will be able to activate the respective button. You can withdraw your consent for future data processing at all by using our Consent-Manager-Tool. Only after having given your consent a connection to the website of the respective social network will be established and you are asked in a new window to register in the social network, if you are not already registered. In this case, a social network cookie will also be placed on your computer. The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by social networks as well as your relevant rights and setting options for the protection of your privacy can be found in the data protection information of the respective networks or websites. We use social plugins and sharing functions of the following social networks:

  • We use the sharing button of the social network facebook.com,which is operated by Facebook Inc, 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ("Facebook"). By using the sharing buttons, the social network receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding page of our website. If you are already logged in to the social network or if you log in to it, it can attribute the visit to your account. If you recommend a post, the relevant information is transmitted directly from your browser to the social network and stored there. You can find the link to Facebook's privacy policy here: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/. Facebook also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).
  • We use the sharing button of the social network Twitter, Twitter Inc, 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA ("Twitter"). The Twitter sharing button is just a link to Twitter. For this reason, accessing our website alone does not provide any data. As with any link, only when you click the button does Twitter know from which website you are coming. The further processing of this information is the sole responsibility of Twitter. You can find the link to Twitter's privacy policy here: https://twitter.com/privacy. Twitter also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).
  • We also use the WhatsApp sharing button of WhatsApp Inc, 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, California 94025 USA ("WhatsApp"). This allows you to easily send content from our website to your WhatsApp contacts. The WhatsApp sharing button is just a link to WhatsApp. For this reason, accessing our website alone does not provide any data. As with any link, only when you click the button does WhatsApp know from which website you are coming. It is the sole responsibility of WhatsApp to process this information. You can find the link to WhatsApp's privacy policy here: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/#privacy-policy. WhatsApp Inc. also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).
  • We use the sharing button of the social network LinkedIn which is operated by LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland (LinkedIn). The LinkedIn sharing button is just a link to LinkedIn. For this reason, accessing our website alone does not provide any data. As with any link, only when you click the button does LinkedIn know from which website you are coming. The further processing of this information is the sole responsibility of LinkedIn. You can find the link to LinkedIn's privacy policy here: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy. LinkedIn also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).
  • We use the sharing button of the social network XING which is operated by New Work SE, Dammtorstraße 30, 20354 Hamburg, Germany (XING). The XING sharing button is just a link to XING. For this reason, accessing our website alone does not provide any data. As with any link, only when you click the button does XING know from which website you are coming. The further processing of this information is the sole responsibility of XING. You can find the link XING's privacy policy here: https://privacy.xing.com/en. XING also processes your personal data in third countries (please see “Transfer to third countries”).

Display of embedded content

If you open content posted on social networks through our website, that content will be retrieved from the respective social network in order to display it. If you activate the content after your prior consent, the social network receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding page of our website. Your IP address, the browser you are using and, if necessary, the operating system are transmitted, as is the case every time you visit a website. If you are registered with the social network or log in, it may be able to associate the visit with your account.

These external contents are all embedded in "extended privacy mode. The transfer of data is only carried out, after you have given us your consent for the transfer in accordance with Art. 6 (1) a GDPR. When opening our website, a so-called banner will be displayed. You will be given the opportunity to consent to the processing of personal data by clicking “I agree”. If you click on “Change Settings”, you can give your consent by ticking the box next to “third parties”. In case you do not wish to do so or if you click the button “I decline” on the “banner”, information on the processing of your personal data will be displayed on the display area of the content when watching the content. Only once you have consented to the processing of data by clicking on the information, you will be able to activate the content. You can withdraw your consent for future data processing at all times by using our Consent-Manager-Tool.

We use content of the following social networks:

  • We use the social network facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Inc, 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ("Facebook"). You can find the link to Facebook's privacy policy here: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/. Facebook also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).
  • We use the social network Instagram, which is operated by Facebook Inc, 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ("Facebook"). You can find the link to Instagram's privacy policy here: https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875. Instagram also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).
  • We use the social network Twitter of Twitter Inc, 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA ("Twitter"). You can find the link to Twitter's privacy policy here: https://twitter.com/privacy. Twitter also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).

Display of videos

We use services of YouTube, LLC 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA represented by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Irland, to display the videos contained on our website. Therefore, when you open a video sequence, the YouTube website is called up.

These YouTube videos are all 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. The transfer of data is only carried out, after you have given us your consent to the transfer in accordance with Art. 6 (1) a GDPR. Only then will you be able to start the respective video. When opening our website a so-called banner will be displayed. You will be given the opportunity to consent to the processing of personal data by clicking “I agree”. If you click on “Change Settings”, you can give your consent by ticking the box next to “third parties”. In case you do not wish to do so or if you click the button “I decline” on the “banner”, information on the processing of your personal data will be displayed on the display area of the video when playing the video. Only once you have consented to the processing of data by clicking on the information, you will be able to start the video. You can withdraw your consent for future data processing at all times by using our Consent-Manager-Tool. If you play the videos after having given your consent, the following data be transmitted:

By opening the video sequence, YouTube receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding subpage of our website. This is independent of whether YouTube provides a user account through which you are logged in or whether no user account exists. If you are logged in to Google, the information will be directly associated with your account. If you do not wish the information to be associated with your profile on YouTube, you must log out before opening the video sequence. YouTube stores your data as a user profile and uses them for purposes of advertising, market research and/or demand-oriented design of its website. Such evaluation 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.

You have the right to object to the creation of these user profiles, though you must contact YouTube to exercise this right.

When you play the YouTube videos included on our site, YouTube uses DoubleClick by Google to present ads relevant to you. We do not use DoubleClick ourselves. We have no influence on the data collected and data processing procedures, nor are we aware of the full extent of data collection, the purposes of processing or the storage periods. Below we inform you how Google processes your data according to our current state of knowledge:

A cookie used by Google DoubleClick  (see also above in the section Cookies) assigns a pseudonymous identification number (ID) to your browser in order to check which ads were displayed in your browser and which ads were called. Google Dynamic Remarketing can also be used when calling up a YouTube video. It is used to serve ads that advertise the products and services you have viewed on other websites. By integrating such functions (e.g. AdWords), Google receives the information that you have called up the corresponding part of our website. If you are registered with a Google service, Google may associate your visit with your account. Even if you are not registered with Google or have not logged in, it is possible that the provider may obtain and store your IP address.

You can prevent participation in these tracking procedures in various ways:

  • by setting your browser accordingly, in particular the suppression of third party cookies means that you will not receive any ads from third parties, though this setting will be deleted if you delete your cookies;
  • by disabling cookies for conversion tracking by setting your browser at https://www.google.de/settings/ads to block cookies from Google, which will also be deleted if you delete your cookies;
  • by deactivating the interest-based ads of the providers that are part of the "About Ads" self-regulation campaign via the link http://www.aboutads.info/choices; these settings will also be deleted if you delete your cookies;
  • by permanent deactivation using a browser add-on, which you can find at http://www.google.com/settings/ads/plugin for Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.

Google also processes your personal data in the USA (please see “Transfer to third countries”).

Transfer to third countries

Insofar as personal data is transferred to a country that is neither a member state of the European Union nor a signatory state to the agreement on the European Economic Area (third country) in accordance with this data protection notice, the transferral will be conducted, as far as possible, on the basis of the European Commission’s adequacy decisions or standard data protection clauses. When using standard data protection clauses, we will endeavour to implement additional measures for the protection of your personal data if necessary.

Your rights

If we process your data to protect legitimate interests, you may object to such processing for reasons relating to your particular situation. We will then no longer process your personal data unless we can document compelling reasons worthy of protection for the processing which outweigh your interests, rights and freedoms or the processing serves to assert, exercise or defend legal claims.

Consent-Manager-Tool

We use a Consent-Manager-Tool on our website, through which you can give and withdraw your consent for data processing when using Google Maps, social plugins, sharing-features, embedded content and when displaying videos and through which you can decide about the performance of webanalysis.

You can request information about the data stored by us at any time. Please contact the data protection officer at GDV by e-mail (datenschutz@gdv.de) or by post to the controller’s above address.

You may also request that your data be corrected or deleted under certain circumstances. As soon as you assert a claim for deletion or if the data are no longer necessary to fulfil the purpose for which they were stored or if the storage thereof is inadmissible for other legal reasons, we will delete the personal data you have stored. You may also have the right to restrict the processing of your data and to have the data you provide disclosed in a structured, common and machine-readable format.

You have the option to contact the aforementioned data protection officer or a data protection supervisory authority with a complaint. The data protection supervisory authority responsible for us is the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Friedrichstr. 219, 10969 Berlin.

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