Data Protection

We hereby inform you in accordance with the legal requirements of data protection law (especially in accordance with the BDSG new version and the European General Data Protection Regulation 'GDPR') about the nature, scope, and purpose of the processing of personal data by our company. This privacy policy also applies to our websites and social media profiles. With regard to the definition of terms such as "personal data" or "processing," we refer to Art. 4 GDPR.

Name and Contact Details of the Responsible Party
Our responsible party (hereinafter referred to as "Controller") within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 7 GDPR is:

Mehling and Becker GbR
Bergstr. 11
34323, Malsfeld, Hesse
E-mail Address: [email protected]

Types of Data, Purposes of Processing, and Categories of Data Subjects

Below we inform you about the type, scope, and purpose of the collection, processing, and use of personal data.

1. Types of Data We Process
Usage data (access times, visited websites, etc.), inventory data (name, address, etc.), contact data (telephone number, e-mail, fax, etc.), payment data (bank details, account data, payment history, etc.), contract data (subject of the contract, duration, etc.), content data (text entries, videos, photos, etc.), communication data (IP address, etc.),

2. Purposes of Processing according to Art. 13(1)(c) GDPR
Processing of contracts, technical and economic optimization of the website, providing easy access to the website, fulfillment of contractual obligations, contacting in case of legal complaints by third parties, fulfillment of statutory storage obligations, optimization and statistical evaluation of our services, supporting the commercial use of the website, improving user experience, making the website user-friendly, economic operation of advertising and website, marketing/sales/advertising, creating statistics, preventing spam and abuse, handling an application process, customer service and customer care, handling contact requests,

3. Categories of Data Subjects according to Art. 13(1)(e) GDPR
Visitors/users of the website, customers, prospects,

The data subjects are collectively referred to as "users."

Legal Bases for the Processing of Personal Data

Below we inform you about the legal bases for the processing of personal data:

1. If we have obtained your consent for the processing of personal data, Art. 6(1)(1)(a) GDPR is the legal basis.
2. If the processing is necessary for the performance of a contract or for the implementation of pre-contractual measures taken at your request, Art. 6(1)(1)(b) GDPR is the legal basis.
3. If the processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject (e.g., statutory retention periods), Art. 6(1)(1)(c) GDPR is the legal basis.
4. If the processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person, Art. 6(1)(1)(d) GDPR is the legal basis.
5. If the processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or a third party and your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms do not override those interests, Art. 6(1)(1)(f) GDPR is the legal basis.

Disclosure of Personal Data to Third Parties and Processors

We do not disclose data to third parties without your consent. If this does occur, the disclosure is based on the aforementioned legal bases, for example, when transferring data to online payment providers for the fulfillment of contracts or due to a court order or a legal obligation to provide data for the purpose of prosecution, hazard prevention, or the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
We also use processors (external service providers, e.g., for web hosting of our websites and databases) to process your data. If data is transferred to processors within the framework of a processing agreement, this is always done according to Art. 28 GDPR. We carefully select our processors, regularly monitor them, and have secured the right to issue instructions regarding the data. Additionally, processors must have implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures and comply with data protection regulations according to the BDSG new version and GDPR.

Data Transfer to Third Countries

With the adoption of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a uniform basis for data protection in Europe has been established. Therefore, your data is predominantly processed by companies to which GDPR applies. If processing by third-party services outside the European Union or the European Economic Area does occur, these must meet the special requirements of Art. 44 ff. GDPR. This means that processing takes place based on special guarantees, such as the EU Commission's officially recognized determination of a data protection level equivalent to that of the EU or the adherence to officially recognized specific contractual obligations, the so-called "Standard Contractual Clauses."
Since we rely on the invalidity of the so-called "Privacy Shield," according to Art. 49(1)(1)(a) GDPR, we obtain your explicit consent for data transfer to the USA. We point out the risk of secret access by US authorities and the use of data for surveillance purposes, possibly without legal remedies for EU citizens.

Deletion of Data and Retention Period

Unless explicitly stated otherwise in this privacy policy, your personal data will be deleted or blocked as soon as the consent you have given for processing is revoked or the purpose for storage no longer applies, or the data is no longer necessary for the purpose, unless further retention is required for evidentiary purposes or is opposed by statutory retention obligations. This includes, for example, commercial retention obligations of business letters according to § 257(1) HGB (6 years) as well as tax retention obligations according to § 147(1) AO for documents (10 years). Once the prescribed retention period expires, your data will be blocked or deleted unless the storage is still necessary for the conclusion of a contract or for the fulfillment of the contract.

Existence of Automated Decision-Making

We do not use automated decision-making or profiling.

Provision of Our Website and Creation of Log Files

1. If you use our website solely for informational purposes (i.e., no registration and no other transmission of information), we only collect the personal data that your browser transmits to our server. If you wish to view our website, we collect the following data:
   • IP address;
   • User's internet service provider;
   • Date and time of access;
   • Browser type;
   • Language and browser version;
   • Content of the request;
   • Time zone;
   • Access status/HTTP status code;
   • Data volume;
   • Websites from which the request originates;
   • Operating system.
   These data are not stored together with other personal data of yours.
   
   
2. These data serve the purpose of delivering our website to you in a user-friendly, functional, and secure manner with features and content, as well as optimizing and statistically evaluating them.
   
   
3. The legal basis for this is our legitimate interest in data processing according to Art. 6(1)(1)(f) GDPR, which also lies in the above purposes.
   
   
4. For security reasons, we store this data in server log files for a retention period of 0 days. After this period, they are automatically deleted unless we need to retain them for evidentiary purposes in the event of attacks on the server infrastructure or other legal violations.
   

Cookies

1. We use so-called cookies when you visit our website. Cookies are small text files that your internet browser places and stores on your computer. When you revisit our website, these cookies provide information to automatically recognize you. Cookies also include "user IDs," where user information is stored using pseudonymized profiles. We inform you about the use of cookies for the aforementioned purposes and how you can object to them or prevent their storage ("opt-out") via a notice to our privacy policy when you access our website.
   
   The following types of cookies are distinguished:
   
   • Necessary, Essential Cookies: Essential cookies are cookies that are absolutely necessary for the operation of the website to store certain functions of the website, such as logins, shopping carts, or user inputs (e.g., website language).
   
   • Session Cookies: Session cookies are required to recognize multiple uses of a service by the same user (e.g., if you are logged in to determine your login status). When you revisit our site, these cookies provide information to automatically recognize you. The information obtained in this way serves to optimize our services and provide you with easier access to our site. When you close the browser or log out, the session cookies are deleted.
   
   • Persistent Cookies: These cookies remain stored even after the browser is closed. They are used to store logins, measure reach, and for marketing purposes. These are automatically deleted after a specified period, which may vary depending on the cookie. In the security settings of your browser, you can delete the cookies at any time.
   
   • Third-Party Cookies (especially from advertisers): According to your preferences, you can configure your browser settings to reject, for example, the acceptance of third-party cookies or all cookies. However, we would like to point out that you may not be able to use all functions of this website if you do so. Read more about these cookies in the respective privacy policies of the third parties.
   
   
2. Data Categories: User data, cookies, user ID (including visited pages, device information, access times, and IP addresses).
   
   
3. Purposes of Processing: The information obtained in this way serves to technically and economically optimize our web offerings and to provide you with easier and secure access to our website.
   
   
4. Legal Bases: If we process your personal data using cookies based on your consent ("opt-in"), Art. 6(1)(1)(a) GDPR is the legal basis. Otherwise, we have a legitimate interest in the effective functionality, improvement, and economic operation of the website, so in this case, Art. 6(1)(1)(f) GDPR is the legal basis. Additionally, Art. 6(1)(1)(b) GDPR is the legal basis if the cookies are set for the initiation of a contract, e.g., during orders.
   
   
5. Retention Period / Deletion: The data are deleted as soon as they are no longer necessary for achieving the purpose of their collection. In the case of data collection for the provision of the website, this occurs when the respective session is terminated.
   
   Cookies are otherwise stored on your computer and transmitted from there to our site. Therefore, as a user, you also have full control over the use of cookies. By changing the settings in your internet browser, you can disable or restrict the transmission of cookies. Already stored cookies can be deleted at any time. This can also be done automatically. If cookies are disabled for our website, not all functions of the website may be fully usable.
   
   Here you will find information on deleting cookies by browser:
   
   Chrome: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95647
   
   Safari: https://support.apple.com/de-at/guide/safari/sfri11471/mac
   
   Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/de/kb/cookies-und-website-daten-in-firefox-loschen
   
   Internet Explorer: https://support.microsoft.com/de-at/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies
   
   Microsoft Edge: https://support.microsoft.com/de-at/help/4027947/windows-delete-cookies
   
   
6. Objection and "Opt-Out": You can generally prevent the storage of cookies on your hard drive regardless of consent or legal permission by choosing "do not accept cookies" in your browser settings. However, this may result in a limitation of the functionality of our offerings. You can object to the use of third-party cookies for advertising purposes via a so-called "opt-out" through this American website (https://optout.aboutads.info) or this European website (http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/).
   
   Edit Cookie Settings or Object to Them:
   
   
   insert opt-in here

Handling of Contracts

1. We process inventory data (e.g., company, title/academic degree, names and addresses as well as contact details of users, e-mail), contract data (e.g., services used, names of contact persons), and payment data (e.g., bank details, payment history) for the purpose of fulfilling our contractual obligations (knowing who the contracting party is; establishing, designing, and executing the contract; verifying the plausibility of the data) and service provisions (e.g., customer service contact) according to Art. 6(1)(1)(b) GDPR. The inputs marked as mandatory in online forms are required for the conclusion of the contract.
   
   
2. Disclosure of this data to third parties does not generally occur, unless it is necessary for the pursuit of our claims (e.g., handing over to a lawyer for debt collection) or for the fulfillment of the contract (e.g., handing over data to payment providers) or there is a legal obligation to do so according to Art. 6(1)(1)(c) GDPR.
   
   
3. We may also process the data you provide to inform you about other interesting products from our portfolio or to send you e-mails with technical information.
   
   
4. The data are deleted as soon as they are no longer necessary for achieving the purpose of their collection. This is the case for inventory and contract data when the data are no longer required for the execution of the contract and no claims can be asserted from the contract because they have expired (warranty: two years / statutory limitation: three years). Due to commercial and tax law requirements, we are obliged to store your address, payment, and order data for a period of ten years. However, upon termination of the contract after three years, we restrict the processing, i.e., your data are only used to comply with legal obligations. Information in the user account remains until it is deleted.
   
   

Use of Blog Features / Comments

1. You can leave public comments in our blog, which contains posts on topics related to our website. You can use a pseudonym instead of your real name. Your comment will then be published under the pseudonym. Providing an e-mail address is mandatory; all other information is voluntary.
   
   
2. When you post a comment, we store your IP address along with the date and time, which we delete after 0 days. The storage serves the legitimate interest of defending against claims by third parties in the event of the publication of unlawful or inaccurate content by you. We store your e-mail address for the purpose of contacting you if third parties legally contest your comments.
   
   
3. Legal bases are Art. 6(1)(1)(b) and (f) GDPR.
   
   
4. We do not review your comments before publication. In the event of complaints by third parties, we reserve the right to delete your comments. We do not disclose the data to third parties unless necessary to pursue our claims or there is a legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(1)(c) GDPR).
   
   
5. The data are deleted as soon as they are no longer necessary for achieving the purpose of their collection or the execution of the contract because the contract has been terminated.
   
   

Use of Our Forum

1. Prerequisite for using the forum is registration via the corresponding online form. You can read the forum without registering and, if you register, publish posts and topics under a pseudonym. There is no obligation to use your real name. After registering via the online form in the forum, you will receive a confirmation email to verify your data, which you can confirm with a single click ("Double Opt-In Procedure"). Upon activation of your account by the responsible party, the free forum usage contract is concluded (contract conclusion). If you do not confirm your registration by clicking, your registration will be deleted by us within 0 hours.
   
   
2. Once we have activated your account, we store all activities in the forum in addition to your registration data until you log out, including your public topics and posts, your profile information, your private messages, your signature, your account pinboard, and your reputation, in order to operate the forum. When you publish new topics and posts, we store your IP address along with the date and time, which we delete after 0 days. The storage serves the legitimate interest of defending against claims by third parties in the event of the publication of unlawful or inaccurate content by you. We store your e-mail address and name for the purpose of contacting you if third parties legally contest your content.
   
   
3. Legal bases are Art. 6(1)(1)(b) and (f) GDPR.
   
   
4. If your forum account is deleted, your forum posts and topics remain visible to all readers and discoverable via search engines and are marked as "Guest." All other data are deleted. If you also wish to have your forum posts and topics deleted, you must inform the responsible party of this before deleting the account using the contact details above. After the account is deleted, assigning and deleting the posts is no longer possible.
   
   

Matomo (formerly PIWIK)

1. We have installed the web analytics service/open-source software "Matomo" on our website to analyze and improve the use of our website.
   
   
2. Data Category and Description of Data Processing: IP address, technical information about browser and provider plus device, location, interests, and visited pages. For analysis, the software places cookies on your computer. We have activated "IP Anonymization," which truncates your IP address to the last digits. This makes personal identification of the data no longer possible. Additionally, this IP is not merged with other data we collect. The data are processed and stored on our servers in Hesse.
   
   
3. Purpose of Processing: These data are collected and stored for the purposes of marketing, analysis, and optimization of our website.
   
   
4. Legal Bases: If you have given your consent for the processing of your personal data using "tracking" ("opt-in"), Art. 6(1)(1)(a) GDPR is the legal basis. Additionally, our legitimate interest in data processing according to Art. 6(1)(1)(f) GDPR lies in the above purposes. For services provided in connection with a contract, tracking and analysis of user behavior are carried out according to Art. 6(1)(1)(b) GDPR to offer optimized services to fulfill the contractual purpose based on the information gained.
   
   
5. Retention Period: After collecting the data, they are anonymized. The retention period for cookies is a maximum of 13 months or until you delete them as a user. Server logs are automatically deleted after days.
   
   
6. Objection: You can object to the data collection and storage at any time free of charge with effect for the future. You can object to the installation of cookies by Matomo in various ways or prevent them:
   
   • You can block cookies in your browser by selecting the "Do not accept cookies" setting, which also includes third-party cookies;
   
   • You can disable Matomo cookies via this link:
   
   [Please insert your Matomo Opt-Out Link here]. This cookie only applies to our website and your current browser and remains valid only until you delete your cookies. In this case, you would need to set the cookie again.
   
   
7. For more information, please refer to Matomo's privacy policy at: https://matomo.org/privacy/.
   
   

Rights of the Data Subject

1. Objection or Withdrawal Against the Processing of Your Data
   
   If the processing is based on your consent according to Art. 6(1)(1)(a), Art. 7 GDPR, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. The legality of the processing carried out based on consent until the withdrawal remains unaffected.
   
   If we base the processing of your personal data on the balancing of interests according to Art. 6(1)(1)(f) GDPR, you can object to the processing. This is the case if the processing is not necessary for the fulfillment of a contract with you, as we describe in the following descriptions of the functions. When exercising such an objection, we ask you to state the reasons why we should not process your personal data as we have been doing. In the case of your justified objection, we will review the situation and either stop or adjust the data processing or show you our compelling legitimate reasons for continuing the processing.
   
   You can object to the processing of your personal data for advertising and data analysis purposes at any time. You can exercise your right to object free of charge. You can inform us about your objection to advertising at the following contact details:
   
   Mehling and Becker GbR
   Bergstr. 11
   34323, Malsfeld, Hesse
   E-mail Address: [email protected]
   
   
2. Right to Information
   You have the right to request confirmation from us as to whether personal data concerning you are being processed. If this is the case, you have the right to information about your personal data stored with us according to Art. 15 GDPR. This includes, in particular, information about the purposes of processing, the categories of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data have been or will be disclosed, the planned storage duration, the source of your data, provided that they were not collected directly from you.
   
   
3. Right to Rectification
   You have the right to have inaccurate data concerning you corrected or to have incomplete data completed according to Art. 16 GDPR.
   
   
4. Right to Deletion
   You have the right to have your data stored with us deleted according to Art. 17 GDPR, unless there are legal or contractual retention periods or other legal obligations or rights to continue storing them that oppose this.
   
   
5. Right to Restriction
   You have the right to request a restriction on the processing of your personal data if one of the conditions in Art. 18(1)(a) to (d) GDPR is met:
   • If you contest the accuracy of the personal data concerning you for a period that allows the controller to verify the accuracy of the personal data;
   
   • If the processing is unlawful and you refuse the deletion of the personal data and instead request the restriction of the use of the personal data;
   
   • If the controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of processing, but you need them for asserting, exercising, or defending legal claims, or
   
   • If you have objected to the processing according to Art. 21(1) GDPR and it has not yet been determined whether the legitimate grounds of the controller outweigh your reasons.
   
   
6. Right to Data Portability
   You have the right to data portability according to Art. 20 GDPR, which means you can receive the personal data stored about you with us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format or request the transmission to another controller.
   
   
7. Right to Lodge a Complaint
   You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. In general, you can address the supervisory authority in particular in the member state where you reside, where you work, or where the alleged violation occurred.
   
   

Data Security

To protect all personal data transmitted to us and to ensure that data protection regulations are observed by us and our external service providers, we have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures. Therefore, among other things, all data between your browser and our server are transmitted encrypted via a secure SSL connection.

Effective Date: 24.09.2024