General Privacy Policy

The German Association for Voluntary Self-Regulation of Digital Media service providers (FSM e.V.) and eco – Association of the Internet Industry operate the portal www.internet-beschwerdestelle.de as a partner project comprised of two independent hotlines, each with their own focus. Complaints that are reported via the portal “internet-beschwerdestelle.de” are processed by eco and the FSM according to the following responsibilities:

FSM:

• World Wide Web (when relating to an eco member, in cooperation with eco)
  
• Mobile Content & Apps
  
• Chat
  
  

eco:

• Newsgroups
• Spam / E-Mail
• Discussion Forums
  
• Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
• Other
  

The protection of your personal data in this process is important. The following explanation gives you an overview of how we ensure this protection. In particular, we would like to explain to you, as a visitor to our website, what kind of data we collect, why we collect this data, how we use this data, and how you can at any time determine the handling of your personal data.

This Privacy Policy applies to the processing of data by eco – Association of the Internet Industry, Lichtstrasse 43h, 50825 Köln and the and by the German Association for Voluntary Self-Regulation of Digital Media service providers (FSM e.V.), Beuthstr. 6, 10117 Berlin and for the following website: www.internet-beschwerdestelle.de.

eco’s Data Protection Officer, Jan Stumpf, can be contacted via the email address dataprotection@eco.de, by post to: eco – Association of the Internet Industry, Jan Stumpf, Lichtstrasse 43h, 50825 Cologne, with the keyword “Data Protection,” or by fax at the number +49 (221) 70 00 48-111.

FSM’s Data Protection Officer, Sandra Walter, can be contacted via the email address datenschutz@fsm.de, by post to: FSM - Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Mulitimedia-Diensteanbieter e.V., Beuthstr. 6, 10117 Berlin, Attn.: Sandra Walter or by fax at the number  +49 (30) 24 04 84 59.

On our website, you can direct your complaint to the FSM or eco by means of an online form. This can also be done anonymously if desired, especially in the case of reports about child and youth sexual abuse material. In other cases, FSM or eco, depending on whose responsibility your complaint falls under, will process the following personal data:

• Name
• Address
• Telephone Number
  
• E-Mail Address
  

By setting the Opt-In at the end of the online form, you give your permission for the use of the personal data disclosed voluntarily in this form. This occurs on the basis of your permission in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1a) GDPR. We guarantee that we will use the data received exclusively for the purpose of answering and processing your complaint. In the case of contact by e-mail, the requirement of legitimate interest also applies to the processing of the data.

The data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for the purpose for which it was collected. For the personal data from the input fields of the contact form and for data sent via e-mail, this is then the case when the process regarding your complaint has been concluded. The process regarding your complaint is concluded when the issue in question has been conclusively clarified to the extent possible given the circumstances. 

You can at any time withdraw your permission for the processing of the transferred personal data with effect for the future by email to dataprotection@eco.de or datenschutz@fsm.de.

eco, as the administrator of the website, gathers and automatically stores in its server log file information which your browser deposits with us while you were surfing.

In brief, here is the key data that we store: 

• Type of browser/browser version
  
• The operating system used
  
• Referrer URL (the page visited previously)
  
• URLs / pages on this website that have been accessed
  
• IP address of the accessing computer along with its name
  
• Time of the server request
  
• Visitor history, which we sometimes consolidate with comparable information about other visitors and depict in a form that cannot be personally identified in features like top content
  

Furthermore, we record the complete Uniform Resource Locator (URL) clickstream through and from our website, in anonymized form – i.e. the order of the pages on our Internet presence that you access, including date and time, cookie or Flash-cookie number, the content that you looked at or that you searched for.

During your visits, we sometimes use JavaScript in order to gather and evaluate information, including the time it takes a website to load, download errors, the duration of the visit on a subpage, information regarding the interaction between pages (e.g. scrolling, clicking, mouse-overs) and leaving the page.

The legal basis for the processing of the IP address is Article 6, Para 1f) of the GDPR. Our legitimate interest results from the following list of purposes of the data processing. Please note on this point that it is not possible for us to draw any direct conclusions about your identity on the basis of the data collected, nor do we attempt to draw such conclusions.

Die IP-Adresse Ihres Endgerätes sowie die weiteren oben aufgelisteten Daten werden durch uns für folgende Zwecke genutzt:

• Ensuring a seamless establishment of the connection,
  
• Ensuring the comfortable use of our website,
  
• Assessing the system security and stability.
  

The data is saved for a period of 7 days, after which it is automatically deleted or anonymized. IP addresses are anonymized by deleting the last 3 digits.

Further, we make use of so-called cookies and tracking tools for our website. Exactly what process is undertaken and how your data is used for these is clarified in Section 3. below.

a. Cookies

Our website only uses so-called cookies within the use of the web analytic service Matomo.

b. Matomo (ehemals Piwik)

On the basis of Article 6 Para 1f) of the GDPR, our website uses the web analytics service Matomo. Matomo uses cookies, text files that are saved on your computer and enable us to analyze your use of the website. For this purpose, user information generated through the cookie (including your abbreviated IP address) is transferred to our server and stored for the purpose of analyzing website usage, which supports our website optimization. Your IP address is immediately anonymized in this process, so that you remain anonymous to us as a user. The information generated through the cookie about your use of this website is not transferred to any third parties. You can prevent cookies from being used by activating the corresponding settings in your browser software; however, this may result in your not being able to make complete use of all functions on this website.
 

If you are not in agreement with the storage and analysis of data from your visit, you can dissent to the storage and analysis at any time by clicking on the link below. In this case, an Opt-Out cookie will be set in your browser, after which Matomo will collect no data from your sessions on this website. Please note: If you delete your cookies, this will also result in your Opt-Out cookie being deleted, so that you will need to reactivate it.
 

Click here to deactivate the tracking by Matomo.

If you impart personal data to us in conjunction with submitting a complaint, we will handle this data confidentially. We only use your data for the processing of the complaint and, on principle, we do not forward this to third parties, other than in the cases described below: 

a. Forwarding to project partners

In conjunction with submitting a complaint, you agree that eco and the FSM are within their right to forward your data in individual cases to the other project partner, if this is useful for the processing of your complaint. This case can arise in particular with complaints about the World Wide Web. 

b. Legally prescribed cases

In addition to this, we disclose your personal data only in exceptional circumstances when we are legally obliged to or when the forwarding of such is required in order to protect our rights and those of third parties.

c. With your consent

In all other cases, we seek your permission if, in an individual case, forwarding of data should be necessary for the processing of the complaint.

Alongside the right to withdraw the consent given to us, you also have the following rights, when the respective legal conditions are extant: 

• Right of information regarding your personal data stored by us in accordance with Article 15 of the GDPR; in particular, you can obtain information about the purpose of processing, the category of personal data, the category of recipient for whom your data is or has been made available, the planned period of retention, the origin of your data, insofar as it was not collected directly from you,
  
• Right of rectification of erroneous or to completion of correct data in accordance with Article 16 of the GDPR,
  
• Right to deletion of your data stored by us in accordance with Article 17 of the GDPR, insofar as there are no legal or contractual requirements to retain the data, or other legal obligations or rights to the continued retention of the data,
  
• Right to limit the processing of your data in accordance with Article 18 of the GDPR, insofar as you dispute the correctness of the data; the processing is illegal, but you oppose the deletion of said data; the data controller no longer requires the data, but you require said data for the assertion, exercise or defense of legal claims, or you have filed an objection to the processing in accordance with Article 21 of the GDPR,
  
• Right to data portability in accordance with Article 20 of the GDPR, i.e. the right to receive selected data about you stored by us in a standard, machine-readable format, or to have this transmitted to another data controller,
  
• Right to complain to a supervisory authority. As a rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your normal place of residence or work, or of our association headquarters to do this.
  
  

Under the conditions of Article 21, Para 1 of the GDPR, the data processing can be objected to on grounds arising out of the special situation of the person affected.

The above general right to object applies for all purposes of processing described in this Privacy Policy that are processed on the basis of Article 6, Para 1f) of the GDPR. We are, according to the GDPR, only obligated to implement such a general right to object if you can provide grounds of superordinate importance (e.g. a possible risk to life or health). 

Please address your request, depending on area of responsibility, to:

• eco

Jan Stumpf, Data Protection Officer, by using the email address dataprotection@eco.de, or by writing to: eco – Association of the Internet Industry, Lichtstrasse 43h, 50825 Cologne, with the keyword “Data Protection,” or by sending a fax to the number +49 (221) 70 00 48-111.

• FSM

Sandra Walter, Data Protection Officer, by using the email address datenschutz@fsm.de, or by writing to: FSM - Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Mulitimedia-Diensteanbieter e.V., Beuthstr. 6, 10117 Berlin, Attn.: Sandra Walter or by sending a fax to the number +49 (30) 24 04 84 59.

Cologne, Updated: December 2018