Skip to main content
Hilt EvolutionHilt Evolution

Data Protection Declaration

This privacy policy applies to visitors to our websites, to our social media presence and to the general handling of the data of our business partners, prospective customers and applicants.

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 about the responsible party (referred to as the “controller” in the GDPR)” in this Privacy Policy.

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 analyze 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 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 analyzed when your visit this website. Such analyses are performed primarily with what we refer to as analysis programs.

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

2. Hosting

We are hosting the content of our website at the following provider:

Strato
The provider is Strato AG, Otto-Ostrowski-Straße 7, 10249 Berlin (hereinafter referred to as “Strato”). When you visit our website, Strato records various logfiles, including your IP addresses. For more information, please consult the Strato Data Privacy Policy:
https://www.strato.de/datenschutz/.

Strato is used on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. We have a legitimate interest in a depiction of our website that is as reliable as possible. If appropriate consent has been obtained, the processing is carried out exclusively on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TDDDG, insofar the consent includes the storage of cookies or the access to information in the user’s end device (e.g., device fingerprinting) within the meaning of the TDDDG. This consent can be revoked at any time.

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:

Edmund Hilt
hilt evolution
Nelkenstraße 36
D – 71272 Renningen

Fon:                +49 7159 49647-67
Fax:                +49 7159 49647-68
Mobil:             +49 160 7464344
E-Mail:           info(at)hilt-evolution.com
WEB:             www.hilt-evolution.com

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.).

Storage duration
Unless a more specific storage period has been specified in this privacy policy, your personal data will remain with us until the purpose for which it was collected no longer applies. If you assert a justified request for deletion or revoke your consent to data processing, your data will be deleted, unless we have other legally permissible reasons for storing your personal data (e.g., tax or commercial law retention periods); in the latter case, the deletion will take place after these reasons cease to apply.

General information on the legal basis for the data processing on this website
If you have consented to data processing, we process your personal data on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR or Art. 9 (2)(a) GDPR, if special categories of data are processed according to Art. 9 (1) DSGVO. In the case of explicit consent to the transfer of personal data to third countries, the data processing is also based on Art. 49 (1)(a) GDPR. If you have consented to the storage of cookies or to the access to information in your end device (e.g., via device fingerprinting), the data processing is additionally based on § 25 (1) TDDDG. The consent can be revoked at any time. If your data is required for the fulfillment of a contract or for the implementation of pre-contractual measures, we process your data on the basis of Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. Furthermore, if your data is required for the fulfillment of a legal obligation, we process it on the basis of Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR. Furthermore, the data processing may be carried out on the basis of our legitimate interest according to Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Information on the relevant legal basis in each individual case is provided in the following paragraphs of this privacy policy.

Information on the data transfer to third-party countries that are not secure under data protection law and the transfer to US companies that are not DPF-certified
We use, among other technologies, tools from companies located in third-party countries that are not safe under data protection law, as well as US tools whose providers are not certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF). If these tools are enabled, your personal data may be transferred to and processed in these countries. We would like you to note that no level of data protection comparable to that in the EU can be guaranteed in third countries that are insecure in terms of data protection law.

We would like to point out that the US, as a secure third-party country, generally has a level of data protection comparable to that of the EU. Data transfer to the US is therefore permitted if the recipient is certified under the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF) or has appropriate additional assurances. Information on transfers to third-party countries, including the data recipients, can be found in this Privacy Policy.

Recipients of personal data
In the scope of our business activities, we cooperate with various external parties. In some cases, this also requires the transfer of personal data to these external parties. We only disclose personal data to external parties if this is required as part of the fulfillment of a contract, if we are legally obligated to do so (e.g., disclosure of data to tax authorities), if we have a legitimate interest in the disclosure pursuant to Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR, or if another legal basis permits the disclosure of this data. When using processors, we only disclose personal data of our customers on the basis of a valid contract on data processing. In the case of joint processing, a joint processing agreement is concluded.

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. 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(1)(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(1) GDPR). IF YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS BEING PROCESSED IN ORDER TO ENGAGE IN DIRECT ADVERTISING, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBJECT TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR AFFECTED PERSONAL DATA FOR THE PURPOSES OF SUCH ADVERTISING AT ANY TIME. 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(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 have data that we process automatically on the basis of your consent or in fulfillment of a contract handed over to you or to a third party in a common, 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 demand information about your archived personal data, their source and recipients as well as the purpose of the processing of your data at any time. 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.

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. 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 instead 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(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.

SSL and/or TLS encryption
For security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as purchase orders or inquiries you submit to us as the website operator, this website uses either an SSL or a TLS encryption program. You can recognize an encrypted connection by checking whether the address line of the browser switches from “http://” to “https://” and also by the appearance of the lock icon in the browser line.

If the SSL or TLS encryption is activated, data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

4. Recording of data on this website

Consent with Usercentrics
This website uses the consent technology of Usercentrics to obtain your consent to the storage of certain cookies on your device or for the use of specific technologies, and to document the former in a data protection compliant manner. The party offering this technology is Usercentrics GmbH, Sendlinger Straße 7, 80331 München, Germany, website:
https://usercentrics.com/ (hereinafter referred to as “Usercentrics”).

Whenever you visit our website, the following personal data will be transferred to Usercentrics:

  • Your declaration(s) of consent or your revocation of your declaration(s) of consent
  • Your IP address
  • Information about your browser
  • Information about your device
  • The date and time you visited our website
  • Geolocation

Moreover, Usercentrics shall store a cookie in your browser to be able to allocate your declaration(s) of consent or any revocations of the former. The data that are recorded in this manner shall be stored until you ask us to eradicate them, delete the Usercentrics cookie or until the purpose for archiving the data no longer exists. This shall be without prejudice to any mandatory legal retention periods.

The Usercentrics banner on this website has been configured with the assistance of eRecht24. This can be identified by the eRecht24 logo. To display the eRecht24 logo in the banner, a connection to the image server of eRecht24 will be established. In conjunction with this, the IP address is also transferred; however, is only stored in anonymized form in the server logs. The image server of eRecht24 is located in Germany with a German provider. The banner as such is provided exclusively by Usercentrics.

Usercentrics uses cookies to obtain the declarations of consent mandated by law. The legal basis for the use of specific technologies is Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR.

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(1)(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.

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(1)(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(1)(f) GDPR) or on the basis of your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) if it has been obtained; the consent can be revoked at any time.

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. Social media

Data processing through social networks
We maintain publicly available profiles in social networks. The individual social networks we use can be found below.

Social networks such as Facebook, X etc. can generally analyze your user behavior comprehensively if you visit their website or a website with integrated social media content (e.g., like buttons or banner ads). When you visit our social media pages, numerous data protection-relevant processing operations are triggered. In detail:

If you are logged in to your social media account and visit our social media page, the operator of the social media portal can assign this visit to your user account. Under certain circumstances, your personal data may also be recorded if you are not logged in or do not have an account with the respective social media portal. In this case, this data is collected, for example, via cookies stored on your device or by recording your IP address.

Using the data collected in this way, the operators of the social media portals can create user profiles in which their preferences and interests are stored. This way you can see interest-based advertising inside and outside of your social media presence. If you have an account with the social network, interest-based advertising can be displayed on any device you are logged in to or have logged in to.

Please also note that we cannot retrace all processing operations on the social media portals. Depending on the provider, additional processing operations may therefore be carried out by the operators of the social media portals. Details can be found in the terms of use and privacy policy of the respective social media portals.

Legal basis
Our social media appearances should ensure the widest possible presence on the Internet. This is a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. The analysis processes initiated by the social networks may be based on divergent legal bases to be specified by the operators of the social networks (e.g., consent within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR).

Responsibility and assertion of rights
If you visit one of our social media sites (e.g., Facebook), we, together with the operator of the social media platform, are responsible for the data processing operations triggered during this visit. You can in principle protect your rights (information, correction, deletion, limitation of processing, data portability and complaint) vis-à-vis us as well as vis-à-vis the operator of the respective social media portal (e.g., Facebook).

Please note that despite the shared responsibility with the social media portal operators, we do not have full influence on the data processing operations of the social media portals. Our options are determined by the company policy of the respective provider.

Storage time
The data collected directly from us via the social media presence will be deleted from our systems as soon as you ask us to delete it, you revoke your consent to the storage or the purpose for the data storage lapses. Stored cookies remain on your device until you delete them. Mandatory statutory provisions - in particular, retention periods - remain unaffected.

We have no control over the storage duration of your data that are stored by the social network operators for their own purposes. For details, please contact the social network operators directly (e.g., in their privacy policy, see below).

Your rights
You have the right to receive information about the origin, recipient and purpose of your stored personal data at any time and free of charge. You also have the right to object, the right to data portability and the right to file a complaint with the responsible regulatory agency. Furthermore, you can request the correction, blocking, deletion and, under certain circumstances, the restriction of the processing of your personal data.

Individual social networks

XING
We have a profile on XING. The provider is New Work SE, Dammtorstraße 30, 20354 Hamburg, Germany. Details on their handling of your personal data can be found in the XING Privacy Policy:
https://privacy.xing.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung.

LinkedIn
We have a LinkedIn profile. The provider is the LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland. LinkedIn uses advertising cookies.

If you want to disable LinkedIn advertising cookies, please use the following link:
https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/guest-controls/retargeting-opt-out.
Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the EuropeanCommission. Details can be found here:
https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/dpa and
https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/eu-sccs.

For details on how they handle your personal information, please refer to LinkedIn's privacy policy:
https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

6. Analysis tools and advertising

Google Analytics
This website uses functions of the web analysis service Google Analytics. The provider of this service is
Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Google Analytics enables the website operator to analyze the behavior patterns of website visitors. To that end, the website operator receives a variety of user data, such as pages accessed, time spent on the page, the utilized operating system and the user’s origin. This data is assigned to the respective end device of the user. An assignment to a user-ID does not take place.

Furthermore, Google Analytics allows us to record your mouse and scroll movements and clicks, among other things. Google Analytics uses various modeling approaches to augment the collected data sets and uses machine learning technologies in data analysis.

Google Analytics uses technologies that make the recognition of the user for the purpose of analyzing the user behavior patterns (e.g., cookies or device fingerprinting). The website use information recorded by Google is, as a rule transferred to a Google server in the United States, where it is stored.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TDDDG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here:
https://privacy.google.com/businesses/controllerterms/mccs/.

The company is certified in accordance with the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the US, which is intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards for data processing in the US. Every company certified under the DPF is obliged to comply with these data protection standards. For more information, please contact the provider under the following link:
https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/s/participant-search/participant-detail?contact=true&id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active

IP anonymization
Google Analytics IP anonymization is active. As a result, your IP address will be abbreviated by Google within the member states of the European Union or in other states that have ratified the Convention on the European Economic Area prior to its transmission to the United States. The full IP address will be transmitted to one of Google’s servers in the United States and abbreviated there only in exceptional cases. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google shall use this information to analyze your use of this website to generate reports on website activities and to render other services to the operator of this website that are related to the use of the website and the Internet. The IP address transmitted in conjunction with Google Analytics from your browser shall not be merged with other data in Google’s possession.

Browser plug-in
You can prevent the recording and processing of your data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available under the following link:
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

For more information about the handling of user data by Google Analytics, please consult Google’s Data Privacy Declaration at:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.

7. Online-based Audio and Video Conferences (Conference tools)

Data processing
We use online conference tools, among other things, for communication with our customers. The tools we use are listed in detail below. If you communicate with us by video or audio conference using the Internet, your personal data will be collected and processed by the provider of the respective conference tool and by us.

The conferencing tools collect all information that you provide/access to use the tools (email address and/or your phone number). Furthermore, the conference tools process the duration of the conference, start and end (time) of participation in the conference, number of participants and other “context information” related to the communication process (metadata).

Furthermore, the provider of the tool processes all the technical data required for the processing of the online communication. This includes, in particular, IP addresses, MAC addresses, device IDs, device type, operating system type and version, client version, camera type, microphone or loudspeaker and the type of connection.

Should content be exchanged, uploaded, or otherwise made available within the tool, it is also stored on the servers of the tool provider. Such content includes, but is not limited to, cloud recordings, chat/ instant messages, voicemail uploaded photos and videos, files, whiteboards, and other information shared while using the service.

Please note that we do not have complete influence on the data processing procedures of the tools used. Our possibilities are largely determined by the corporate policy of the respective provider. Further information on data processing by the conference tools can be found in the data protection declarations of the tools used, and which we have listed below this text.

Purpose and legal bases
The conference tools are used to communicate with prospective or existing contractual partners or to offer certain services to our customers (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). Furthermore, the use of the tools serves to generally simplify and accelerate communication with us or our company (legitimate interest in the meaning of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Insofar as consent has been requested, the tools in question will be used on the basis of this consent; the consent may be revoked at any time with effect from that date.

Duration of storage
Data collected directly by us via the video and conference tools will be deleted from our systems immediately after you request us to delete it, revoke your consent to storage, or the reason for storing the data no longer applies. Stored cookies remain on your end device until you delete them. Mandatory legal retention periods remain unaffected.

We have no influence on the duration of storage of your data that is stored by the operators of the conference tools for their own purposes. For details, please directly contact the operators of the conference tools.

Conference tools used

We employ the following conference tools:

Microsoft Teams
We use Microsoft Teams. The provider is the Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited, One Microsoft Place, South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland. For details on data processing, please refer to the Microsoft Teams privacy policy:
https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement.

The company is certified in accordance with the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the US, which is intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards for data processing in the US. Every company certified under the DPF is obliged to comply with these data protection standards. For more information, please contact the provider under the following link:
https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/s/participant-search/participant-detail?contact=true&id=a2zt0000000KzNaAAK&status=Active

8. Custom Services

8.1 Handling applicant data

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 BDSG according to German Law (Negotiation of an Employment Relationship), Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (General Contract Negotiations) and – provided you have given us your consent – Art. 6(1)(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 BDSG and Art. 6(1)(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(1)(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.

Admission to the applicant pool
If we do not make you a job offer, you may be able to join our applicant pool. In case of admission, all documents and information from the application will be transferred to the applicant pool in order to contact you in case of suitable vacancies.

Admission to the applicant pool is based exclusively on your express agreement (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). The submission agreement is voluntary and has no relation to the ongoing application procedure. The affected person can revoke his agreement at any time. In this case, the data from the applicant pool will be irrevocably deleted, provided there are no legal reasons for storage.

The data from the applicant pool will be irrevocably deleted no later than two years after consent has been granted.

8.2 Notes on the general handling of data from business partners

Processing purposes and legal basis
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and other relevant data protection regulations. The processing and use of individual data depend on the agreed or requested service. Our contractual documents, forms, consent forms and other information provided to you (e.g. on the website or in the terms and conditions) can provide further details and supplements on the processing purposes.

Consent (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR)
If you have given us consent to process personal data, the respective consent is the legal basis for the processing mentioned there. You can revoke consent at any time with effect for the future.

Fulfillment of contractual obligations (Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR)
We process your personal data for the execution of our contracts with you. Furthermore, your personal data is processed for the implementation of measures and activities in the context of pre-contractual relations.

Fulfillment of legal obligations (Art. 6 (1) (c) GDPR)
We process your personal data if this is necessary to fulfill legal obligations (e.g. commercial, tax laws).

Furthermore, we may process your data for:

  • the prevention of fraud and money laundering
  • the prevention, combating and investigation of terrorist financing and crimes that endanger assets
  • the fulfillment of control and reporting obligations under tax law
  • archiving data for data protection and data security purposes
  • auditing by tax and other authorities

In addition, the disclosure of personal data may become necessary in the context of official/court measures for the purpose of gathering evidence, criminal prosecution or enforcement of civil claims.

Legitimate interest of us or third parties (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR)
We may also use your personal data on the basis of a balance of interests to protect the legitimate interest of us or third parties. This is done for the following purposes:

  • for advertising or market research, if you have not objected to the use of your data
  • for obtaining information and exchanging data with credit agencies, if this exceeds our economic risk
  • for the limited storage of your data, if deletion is not possible or only possible with disproportionate effort due to the special nature of storage
  • for comparison with European and international anti-terrorism lists, if this goes beyond the legal obligations
  • for the further development of services and products as well as existing systems and processes
  • for the disclosure of personal data as part of due diligence, e.g. in the case of company sales
  • for statistical evaluations or for market analyses
  • for the assertion of legal claims and defense in legal disputes that are not directly related to the contractual relationship
  • for internal and external investigations and/or security audits
  • for securing and exercising our house rights through appropriate measures (e.g. video surveillance)

Categories of personal data processed by us
We process the following data:

  • personal data (name, date of birth, place of birth, nationality, marital status, occupation/industry and similar data)
  • contact details (address, email address, telephone number and similar data)
  • payment/Coverage confirmation for Bank and Credit Cards
  • Information about your financial situation (creditworthiness data including scoring, i.e. data for assessing the economic risk)
  • Customer and supplier history

In addition, we process personal data from public sources (e.g. Internet, media, press, trade and civil registers).
We also process personal data that we have legally obtained from third parties (e.g. mailing list providers, credit agencies) if necessary for the provision of our services.

Who receives your data?
We share your personal data within our company with those departments that require your data to comply with contractual and legal obligations or to pursue our legitimate interests.
In addition, the following entities/bodies may receive your data:

  • Contract processors commissioned by us (Art. 28 GDPR) service providers for supporting activities and other responsible bodies within the meaning of the GDPR, especially in the areas of, e.g. IT services, logistics and printing services, external data centers, support/maintenance of data processing/IT applications, archiving, document processing, data destruction, marketing, auditing services, credit institutions.
  • Public authorities and institutions in the event of a legal or official obligation under which we are obliged to disclose, report or share data or the disclosure of data is in the public interest
  • Bodies and institutions on the basis of our legitimate interest or the legitimate interest of a third party (e.g. shared with public authorities, credit agencies, debt collection, lawyers, courts)
  • other bodies for which you have given us your consent for the transfer of data

Transfer of your data to a third country or an international organization
A transfer of data to countries outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), so-called third countries, takes place if it is necessary for the execution of an order/contract from or with you, if it is required by law (e.g. tax reporting obligations), if it is in the legitimate interest of us or a third party or if you have given us your consent.
In this context, the processing of your data in a third country may also take place in connection with the involvement of service providers as part of commissioned processing.
If there is no EU Commission decision on an adequate level of data protection for the country in question, we ensure that your rights and freedoms are adequately protected and guaranteed in accordance with EU data protection requirements by means of appropriate contracts and measures. We will provide you with the relevant detailed information upon request.

How long do we store your data?
We process your personal data during the entire course of our business relationship as necessary; this also includes the initiation and performance of a contract.
In addition, we are subject to various retention and documentation obligations that are set out in the German Commercial Code (HGB) and the German Fiscal Code (AO), among others. The retention and/or documentation periods specified there are up to ten years beyond the end of the business relationship or the pre-contractual legal relationship.
Ultimately, the retention period is also determined in line with statutory limitation periods, which under section 195 et seq. of the German Civil Code (BGB) are generally three years but may be up thirty years in certain cases.

To what extent is automated decision-making used in individual cases (including profiling)?
We do not use purely automated decision-making procedures as referred to in Article 22 GDPR. Should we use these procedures in individual cases, we will inform you separately provided we are required to do so by law.