Data Privacy
Privacy Statement
Thank you for your interest in our website and our services. For us, data is the basis for excellent service. However, our most important asset is the trust of our customers. Protecting customer data and using it only in the way our customers expect, is our number one priority. The following privacy notice is therefore intended to inform you about the processing of your personal data and your rights in this processing in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") and other applicable data protection regulations
1. General Information
1.1 Responsible for the operation of this website is METRO.digital GmbH, Schlüterstraße 5, 40235 Duesseldorf, Germany (hereinafter "METRO", "we" or "us").
1.2 If you have any questions about privacy and data protection, you can contact our data protection officer using the following contact details: METRO.digital GmbH, Data Protection Officer, Schlüterstraße 5, 40235 Duesseldorf, Germany, email: datenschutz@metro.digital.
1.3 This privacy policy explains how we collect, process and use personal data in connection with the provision of our website. Personal data are individual details about your personal or factual circumstances. We process your personal data that we collect, store and use exclusively within the framework of the applicable legal regulations.
1.4 We have taken appropriate technical measures to ensure that your data is protected against unauthorized disclosure, unlawful use, alteration and destruction. METRO employees are required to comply with data protection regulations when handling (personal) data.
2. Processing of Personal Data and Transfer to Third Parties
2.1 Some personal data is collected automatically via your device (computer, mobile phone, tablet, etc.) when you use our website. The IP address currently used by your device, date and time, the typ of browser and operating system of your device and the pages accessed are recorded. This is done for the purposes of data security and to optimise our offer as well as to improve our website. Any other analysis, with the exception of statistical purposes, and that always in anonymous form, is only carried out within the scope of this privacy policy. This personal data is processed on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. f) GDPR. The protection of our website and the optimisation of our services constitute a legitimate interest of METRO.
2.2 If you contact us (for example via an enquiry at datenschutz@metro.digital), we only collect, process and use the personal data that you have made available to us and that is necessary to process and respond to your enquiry. Legal basis for the processing is Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. b) GDPR.
2.3 You can register for our information service using a separate form. After you have filled out the relevant registration form and, by doing so, sent us your personal data supplied therein as well as your consent to the use of your data for the purposes selected by you, we will send you a confirmation email. The sending of our information takes place only with your consent and is based on Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a) GDPR. You can opt out of receiving the information at any time via the respective link at the bottom of each message that you receive from us.
2.4 In order to enable the data processing procedures mentioned in this privacy policy, we use service providers as data processors within the meaning of Art. 28 GDPR, for example service providers for sending e-mails, maintenance and other services. These are both external service providers and service providers within METRO located in countries within and eventually outside the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). Through contractual arrangements, we ensure that these service providers process personal data in accordance with the GDPR in order to guarantee a high level of privacy, even if personal data is transferred to a country with a different level of data protection for which no adequacy decision by the EU Commission exists. No further transmission of personal data to other recipients takes place unless we are legally obliged to do so. For more information on appropriate security measures for international data transfer or a copy thereof, please contact our data protection officer: datenschutz@metro.digital.
3. Cookies
We use so-called cookies to make our services attractive to visitors and to enable the use of certain functions. These are small text files that are stored on your device. Some of the cookies we use are deleted after the end of the browser session, i.e. after closing your browser (so-called session cookies). Other cookies remain on your device and enable us to recognise your browser on your next visit (persistent cookies). You can configure your browser so that you are notified when you receive a cookie and you can decide on an individual basis if you want to accept them; you can also refuse cookies for certain cases or generally refuse them. For more information, see the help section of your browser. If you do not accept cookies, the functionality of our website may be limited. By accepting the respective categories in our "cookie banner" or on the cookie selection site, you also agree to the processing of your personal data through cookies. This personal data is processed on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a) GDPR. To learn more about cookies and other possible web tracking tools and the choices you have in this regard, please visit: http://youronlinechoices.eu/ (for users in the European Union).
4. Individual Services
4.1 Siteimprove Analytics: This website uses Siteimprove Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Siteimprove GmbH, Kurfürstendamm 56, 10707 Berlin, Germany. We use Siteimprove Anlaytics to analyse general website usage by visitors in order to improve the functionality of our websites (e.g. accessibility of our texts, functionality of links, etc.) and to provide the most pleasant and useful visitor experience possible. For example, temporarily your anonymised IP address, your browser and operating system, the URL visited, page title, length of visit and other statistical data are collected for quality assurance purposes only and their analysis helps us to continuously improve our offering for all visitors. Siteimprove uses cookieless tracking for this service, in which no cookies are generated. The data that Siteimprove collects and processes is stored in encrypted form in the EU. The dedicated data centres are located in Germany and Denmark.
Siteimprove Analytics cookieless tracking replaces the traditional use of cookies with a "Visitor Hash" made of non-personal information. This information includes anonymized IP and HTTP header values with browser attributes such as browser type, browser version, browser language, and the user agent string. The Visitor Hash only consists of server-side attributes passed along by the website server. Cookieless tracking does not store any data on user’s terminal equipment. Cookieless tracking does not gain access to any client-side data about the user's device. IP anonymization prevents the website visitor from being identified by anonymizing the IP address, using encryption methods such as truncation and hashing, whereby the information is irreversibly shortened and encrypted.
The legal basis for the use of Siteimprove Analytics is Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR and our legitimate interest in analysing website activities.
4.2 Google Analytics: If you have activated performance/statistics cookies, this website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland ("Google"). Google Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will usually be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.
In the event that IP anonymization is activated on this website, however, your IP address will be truncated beforehand by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. We use Google Analytics to analyze and regularly improve the use of our website. The statistics obtained enable us to improve our offer and make it more interesting for you as a user.
On behalf of METRO as operator of this website, Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage to the website operator.
The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other data from Google. The data sent by us and linked to cookies, user IDs (e.g. user ID) or advertising IDs are automatically deleted after 14 months. The deletion of data whose retention period has been reached takes place automatically once a month.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that, if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. You can also prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) to Google and the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
This website uses Google Analytics with the extension "_anonymizeIp()". This means that IP addresses are processed in a shortened form, thus excluding the possibility of personal references. Insofar as the data collected about you is related to a person, this is therefore immediately excluded and the personal data is thus immediately deleted.
We use Google Analytics to analyze and regularly improve the use of our website. The statistics obtained enable us to improve our offer and make it more interesting for you as a user. The legal basis for the use of Google Analytics is your consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a) GDPR. Your consent can be revoked at any time with effect for the future and without giving reasons by contacting us as set out above. Any processing up to the time of the revocation remains unaffected.
4.3 Qualtrics: If you have activated performance/statistics cookies, we invite visitors of our website to rate their user experience with our website for continuous improvement of our offerings and services. We use the technologies of Qualtrics LLC (333 W. River Park Drive, Provo UT 84604, USA), which allow us to display online surveys to our website visitors. In order to display online surveys via Qualtrics, we use cookies to exclude multiple participations or to allow users to view different surveys.
Our surveys are conducted anonymously. Your participation in our surveys is voluntary.
We have contractual arrangements with Qualtrics by virtue of which Qualtrics has committed to comply with the level of data protection required by Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation).
4.4 Facebook Pixel: If you have activated marketing cookies, we use Facebook Pixel, a tool operated by Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Facebook"), on our website for the analysis, optimization and economic operation of the website. With the help of Facebook Pixel, Facebook is able to determine the visitors of our website as a target group for the display of Facebook ads. Accordingly, we use Facebook Pixel to display the Facebook ads we post only to Facebook users who have shown an interest in our website. This means that with the help of Facebook Pixel we want to ensure that our Facebook ads correspond to the potential interest of the users and are not annoying. We can also use Facebook Pixel to track the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes by seeing whether users have been redirected to our website after clicking on a Facebook ad (so-called "conversion" or "visitor interaction").
Facebook Pixel is deployed by Facebook directly when you visit our website and can store a cookie on your device. If you then log in to Facebook or visit Facebook while being logged in, the visit to our website will be recorded in your profile. The data collected about you is anonymous to us, it does not provide us with any information about the user’s identity. However, Facebook stores and processes the data so that a connection to the respective user profile is possible. This means that user profiles can be created from the processed data. Facebook processes the data in accordance with Facebook's Privacy Policy. You can find more information on how Facebook Pixel works and in general on how Facebook ads are displayed in Facebook's Privacy Policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy.
Furthermore, when using Facebook Pixel, we use the additional function "Advanced Matching". Here, data for the formation of target groups ("Custom Audiences" or "Look Alike Audiences") is transmitted to Facebook in encrypted form. This data is information that we collect via our website such as name, email address, etc., including information from non-Facebook users who are not logged in to a Facebook account while visiting our website.
The processing is legally based on Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a) GDPR.
You may opt out of Facebook Pixel and the collection and use of your information to display Facebook ads. To configure what types of ads you see within Facebook, you can go to the page set up by Facebook and follow the instructions on the settings for usage-based ads: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads. The settings are platform-independent, i.e. they are applied to all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.
You may also object to the use of cookies for tracking and advertising purposes via the Network Advertising Initiative's opt-out page http://optout.networkadvertising.org/ and additionally via the U.S. website http://www.aboutads.info/choices or the European website http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/.
You can also prevent us from using Facebook Pixel by disabling marketing cookies on our website.
4.5 Google Tag Manager: We use the service called Google Tag Manager from Google Ireland Limited ("Google"), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. We have concluded a data processing agreement with Google. In addition, so-called standard contractual clauses pursuant to Art. 46 GDPR have been established with Google as appropriate safeguards.
The Google Tag Manager is an auxiliary service and itself processes personal data only for technically necessary purposes. The Google Tag Manager takes care of loading other components, which by themselves may collect data. The Google Tag Manager does not access this data. If a deactivation has been made at domain or cookie level, this remains in place for all components that have been integrated with the Google Tag Manager.
It is in our legitimate interest to optimize the use of our website and to be able to integrate appropriate components for this purpose. The processing of your data is therefore based on Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. f) GDPR.
For more information on Google Tag Manager, please see Google's privacy policy: https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/
5. Third-party content
This website uses the embedding features to display and play videos and other external content (third-party content). The content is inactive by default, i.e. no personal data is transmitted to the third-party providers when you visit our website. It is also possible to use our website without the external content. However, the content can be activated on a voluntary basis individually for each third-party provider. By doing so, you then consent to cookies being set by the third-party providers, your personal data (usage data, meta-communication data (especially IP address), location data, if applicable) being transmitted to the third-party providers and possibly also being processed in third countries such as the USA. The legal basis for the transmission of the data is the consent voluntarily given by you in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. a) GDPR. You can revoke your consent at any time for the future by removing the checkmark for the third-party provider.
Further processing is carried out under the own responsibility of the respective third-party provider.
Special notes on YouTube:
YouTube is a service offered by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland ("Google"). Parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountainview, California 94043, USA. Independently of a playback of the embedded videos, a connection to the Google network "DoubleClick" is established each time this website is called up, which may trigger further data processing operations without our influence. Further information on data protection at YouTube can be found in the provider's privacy policy at: https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/. Information on the cookies used by Google can be found at: https://policies.google.com/technologies/cookies?hl=en&gl=en.
Special notes on Google Maps:
Our website uses the Google Maps plugin. This service is provided by Google Ireland Limited ("Google"), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Google as well as your rights and setting options for the protection of your privacy can be found in Google's data protection information at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy, Opt-Out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated..
6. Provision of personal data and retention periods
The provision of your personal data is voluntary. You are not legally obliged to make your personal data available to us. If you choose not to make your personal data available to us, this has no consequences for you, except that you may eventually not be able to use our services. Personal data that you make available to us via our website will only be stored until the purpose for which it was processed has been fulfilled, until you tell us to delete your data or there is a statutory retention period. If the processing of your data is based on consent, we will delete your data if you withdraw your consent, unless we are required by law to retain the personal data.
7. Your rights
to exercise your rights under the GDPR to
- obtain information about the processing of your personal data and a copy of this data (Art. 15 GDPR),
- rectification of inaccurate and completion of incomplete personal data (Art. 16 GDPR),
- erasure of your personal data and, if these have been made public, that METRO informs other controllers about the erasure request (Art. 17 GDPR),
- restriction of processing of your personal data (Art. 18 GDPR),
- data portability, so that your personal data is transmitted to you in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and the right to transmit this data to another controller without any hindrance from METRO (Art. 20 GDPR),
- withdrawal of consent given; the withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal (Art. 7 GDPR) and
- object to processing of your data (Art. 21 GDPR), you can contact METRO’s Data Protection Officer (datenschutz@metro.digital) at any time. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority if you consider the data processing to be incompatible with the GDPR (Art. 77 GDPR).
Competent supervisory authority:
State Commissioner for Data Protection and Information Security of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationssicherheit Nordrhein-Westfalen)
Home address: Kavalleriestraße 2-4, 40213 Duesseldorf, Germany
Postal address: Postfach 20 04 44, 40102 Duesseldorf, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0) 211 / 384 24 – 0
Fax: +49 (0) 211 /384 24 – 10
E-mail: poststelle@lfdi.nrw.de
Website: www.ldi.nrw.de
If your personal data is processed on the basis of legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 s. 1 lit. f) GDPR, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data pursuant to Art. 21 GDPR, provided that there are grounds for doing so that arise from your particular situation. If you wish to exercise your right to object, simply send an e-mail to METRO's Data Protection Officer (see above).
8. Updates
We reserve the right to update this data protection notice from time to time. Updates to this data protection notice will be posted on our website.
METRO.digital GmbH
People Experience
Last amended: April 2022
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