Our Social Media Accounts
Data Processing by Social Networks
We maintain publicly accessible profiles on social media platforms. You can find a list of the specific social media platforms we use below.
Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, etc., can generally analyze your user behavior in detail when you visit their website or a website with integrated social media content (e.g., “Like” buttons or advertising banners). Visiting our social media pages triggers numerous data processing operations relevant to data protection. Specifically:
If you are logged into your social media account and visit our social media page, the operator of the social media platform may associate this visit with your user account. However, your personal data may also be collected even if you are not logged in or do not have an account with the respective social media platform. In this case, data collection occurs, for example, through cookies stored on your device or by recording your IP address.
Using the data collected in this way, social media platform operators can create user profiles that store your preferences and interests. This allows interest-based ads to be displayed to you both on and off the respective social media platform. If you have an account on the respective social network, interest-based ads may be displayed on all devices on which you are currently logged in or have been logged in in the past.
Please also note that we are not able to track all data processing activities on social media platforms. Depending on the provider, additional data processing operations may therefore be carried out by the operators of the social media platforms. For details, please refer to the terms of use and privacy policies of the respective social media platforms.
Legal Basis
Our social media accounts are intended to ensure the broadest possible online presence. This constitutes a legitimate interest within the meaning of Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. The analytics processes initiated by social networks may be based on different legal grounds, which must be specified by the operators of the social networks (e.g., consent within the meaning of Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR).
Data Controller and Exercising Your Rights
When you visit one of our social media pages (e.g., Facebook), we are jointly responsible with the operator of the social media platform for the data processing activities triggered by that visit. In general, you may exercise your rights (right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, and the right to lodge a complaint) both with us and with the operator of the respective social media platform (e.g., Facebook).
Please note that, despite our shared responsibility with the social media platform operators, we do not have full control over the data processing activities of these platforms. Our options are largely determined by the corporate policies of the respective provider.
Retention period
The data we collect directly through our social media presence is deleted from our systems as soon as you request that we delete it, revoke your consent to its storage, or the purpose for storing the data no longer applies. Stored cookies remain on your device until you delete them. Mandatory legal provisions—in particular retention periods—remain unaffected.
We have no control over how long your data is stored by social media platform operators for their own purposes. For more details, please contact the social media platform operators directly (e.g., in their privacy policies, see below).
Social Networks in Detail
We have a Facebook profile. The provider of this service is Facebook Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. According to Facebook, the data collected is also transferred to the United States and other third countries.
We have entered into a joint processing agreement (Controller Addendum) with Facebook. This agreement specifies which data processing operations we or Facebook are responsible for when you visit our Facebook page. You can view this agreement at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum.
You can adjust your ad settings yourself in your user account. To do so, click the following link and log in: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads.
Data transfers to the United States are based on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. For details, see here: www.facebook.com/legal/EU_data_transfer_addendum and www.facebook.com/help/566994660333381.
For more details, please refer to Facebook’s Privacy Policy: www.facebook.com/privacy/policy
We have an Instagram account. The service is provided by Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.
Data transfers to the U.S. are based on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. For details, see here: www.facebook.com/legal/EU_data_transfer_addendum, www.help.instagram.com/519522125107875, and www.facebook.com/help/566994660333381.
For details on how Instagram handles your personal data, please refer to Instagram’s Privacy Policy: www.help.instagram.com/519522125107875.