Information on data protection

December 2023

Thank you for your interest in our website. Below we will inform you about the data we collect and process for which purposes when you use our website.

1. Contact details of the data controller and the data protection officer

The data controller within the meaning of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the collection, processing and use of personal data of website visitors (hereinafter “you”) is

aconium GmbH

Invalidenstraße 91

10115 Berlin

Telefon: +49 (0)30 22183-0

Contact details of our data protection officer are: datenschutz@aconium.eu. You are welcome to send us your data protection concerns to this address.

2. Data processing when using our website

2.1 Data processing when using our website

Every time you use our website, the following data are automatically processed:

• Date and time of access
• Name of the requested file
• Website from which the file was requested
• Access status (e.g. file transferred, file not found)
• the web browser you use and the operating system of your device
• the IP address of the requesting device

The processing of this data is necessary to enable you to visit the website and to ensure the long-term functionality, availability and security of our systems. This represents our legitimate interest. The legal basis for this data processing is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter f GDPR.

These access data are also temporarily stored in internal log files in order to create statistical information about the use of our website in order to further develop our website with regard to the usage habits of our visitors (e.g. if the proportion of mobile devices increases, with which the pages are accessed) and to generally maintain our website administratively. The legal basis for this data processing is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter f GDPR, based on our legitimate interest in the proper optimization of our website.The information stored in the log files does not allow any direct conclusions to be drawn about you personally – in particular, we only store the IP addresses in a shortened, anonymized form. The log files are stored for 6 months and then deleted.

We also use the Matomo tool to analyze website user movements. The following data is collected for this:

• IP address of the website visitor (here we anonymize 2 bytes of the IP address)
• website accessed
• Website from which the website visitor accessed the website accessed
• Subpages that are accessed from the website being accessed
• Time spent on the website
• Frequency of access to the website within 24 hours
• Device type, operating system, browser, browser plugins, localisation, timestamp and browser language

We host Matomo on our own server and use analysis methods that do not require the setting of cookies. The legal basis for the associated data processing is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter f GDPR, based on our legitimate interest in the appropriate optimization of our website and improving the user experience of website visitors. The data collected for this will be deleted after 180 days.

2.2 aconium-Newsletter

You have the option of ordering our aconium newsletter, which will regularly inform you about new projects, events, dates and current information on the topics of regional development, broadband, digitalization as well as publications from aconium GmbH and, among other things also informs about possibilities in the area of ​​geoinformation systems.

When registering for our newsletter, for which we use a double opt-in procedure, we ask you to provide your email address so that we can send you the newsletter. You also have the option of providing further voluntary information (first name, last name, organization, position). We use your voluntary information to analyze our subscribers for the purpose of customization of the newsletter content. The legal basis for processing is your consent in accordance with Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter a GDPR. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the unsubscribe link contained in every newsletter.

We store your consent for verification and documentation purposes for up to three years to the end of the year after the last newsletter was sent to you or your declaration of revocation. The individual newsletter emails are only temporarily stored while they are being sent. No longer storage takes place.

2.3 Customer Portal

If you click on the “Customer Portal” link, you will be redirected to https://portal.aconium.eu/share/page.

For further information on data protection, please see the data protection declaration linked there.

2.4 Loose-leaf collection

You have the opportunity to purchase the loose-leaf collection via our online shop. The order data (first name, last name, email address, delivery address, billing address, company) is stored for the purpose of processing the purchase contract. The processing of the purchase contract requires the delivery data (name, delivery address, company) to be passed on to the shipping company. It will not be passed on to other third parties. The legal basis for the processing of your order data is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter b GDPR. If you act as a representative for your organization, we base the processing of personal data associated with the ordering process on our legitimate interest in contract processing in accordance with Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter f of the GDPR.

You can cancel the update service as a subscription via our online shop. For this purpose, the data required to carry out the cancellation process (name, email address, company) is stored. It will not be passed on to third parties. The legal basis for the processing of your data is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter b GDPR. If you act as a representative for your organization, we process your personal data for the purpose of enforcing termination and providing evidence and base the processing of personal data associated with the termination process on our legitimate interest in accordance with Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter f GDPR in the processing of the cancellation process.

The data you provide will be deleted after the two-year warranty period has expired, unless statutory retention requirements require longer storage.

2.5 aconium Quickcheck

We offer you the aconium Quickcheck on our website. This allows you to obtain an initial assessment from our funding advisors on the eligibility of your project. In order to be able to carry out the quick check, you must provide information about your project as well as the following information about yourself:

• experience with funding advice
• maximum possible deductible
• salutation
• title
• first name
• last name
• email address*
• telephone
• website
• type of organization*
• prefered contact method*

The mandatory information is marked with an asterisk (*).

The purpose of processing your information is to create an initial assessment of your project with regard to its eligibility for funding as well as to communicate the results to you and to further exchange information with you about the examined project.

The legal basis for the processing of your personal data is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence Letter b 2nd Alt. GDPR. Processing is necessary to carry out pre-contractual measures and will only take place upon your request. The information you provide is required either to determine eligibility for funding or to communicate the results to you or to further discuss the project’s eligibility for funding with you. If you decide to conclude a consulting contract with us, we will base the subsequent processing of your personal data on Article. 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence Letter b 1st Alt. GDPR, as this is necessary to fulfill the contract.

If you act as a representative for a company or other institution, we process your personal data on the basis of Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter f of the GDPR. It is our legitimate interest to carry out the funding check you submitted to us based on the information you provided and to transmit the results to you.

2.6 digital basic check

If you click on the “Digital basic check” link https://poll.aconium.eu/index.php/353541?lang=en , you will be redirected to https://ruraldigital.eu/check-your-digital-maturity-2/. For further information on data protection, please see the data protection declaration linked there.

3. Cookies

We have embedded YouTube videos on our website to give you the best user experience. In order for you to be able to watch the videos on our website, you must consent to the setting of cookies by Google (YouTube). Unless you give your consent, you will not be able to watch the videos embedded on our website. However, the remaining functions of our website are available to you.

Detailed information about cookies and the processing of your personal data associated with the setting of cookies can be found in the following sections 3.1-3.3. In section 3.4 we provide information regarding data processing triggered by the use of the cookie consent manager.

3.1 what are Cookies?

Cookies are data that are stored on your computer by a website you visit and enable your browser to be reassigned. Cookies provide information to the entity that uses the cookie. Cookies can store various information, such as your language setting, the length of your visit to our website or the entries you make there. This avoids, for example, having to re-enter required form data each time you use it. The information stored in cookies can also be used to recognize preferences and target content according to areas of interest.

There are different types of cookies: Session cookies are amounts of data that are only temporarily stored in memory and deleted when you close your browser. Permanent or persistent cookies are automatically deleted after a specified period of time, which may differ depending on the cookie. With this type of cookie, the information can also be stored in text files on your computer. However, you can also delete these cookies at any time using your browser settings.

First-party cookies are set by the website you are currently visiting. Only this website is allowed to read information from these cookies. Third-party cookies are set by organizations that do not operate the website you are visiting. These cookies are used, for example, by marketing companies.

Cookies cannot run programs or transmit viruses to your computer.

3.2 managing cookies on our website

Using a cookie consent manager that appears when you visit our website for the first time, you can indicate your preferences for the setting of cookies, unless they are cookies that are necessary for the operation of the website within the meaning of Section 25 TTDSG .

The information banner shown to you contains information about the use of cookies. These are divided into different categories (Required, Settings, Statistics, Marketing).

“Required cookies” cannot generally be deselected. They help make a website usable by enabling basic functions such as page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.

“Preference cookies” allow a website to store information that changes the way the website behaves or appears, such as your preferred language or the region in which you are located. However, we currently do not use cookies that fall into this category.

“Statistics cookies” can help website owners understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously. However, we currently do not use cookies that fall into this category.

“Marketing cookies” are used to track visitors across websites. The aim is to display ads that are relevant and appealing to the individual user and are therefore more important to publishers and third-party providers. This also includes cookies that are set by social media providers.

Within the different categories you can view the individual cookies with their functions and the associated providers as well as the storage period. If you click on the provider, you will also receive information from the provider about how your personal data is processed by the respective provider.

As a website visitor, you can consent to the setting of cookies, e.g. for the personalization of services and for marketing measures. You can revoke your consent once given at any time with effect for the future or give consent that was not given by clicking on “Edit cookies” in the footer of the website.

Our cookie consent manager remembers your consent for twelve months. The banner will then automatically appear again the first time you visit our website. If necessary, changes to the use of cookies on our website may require us to ask for your consent again.

You can also generally prevent the storage of cookies by changing your browser settings to prevent cookies from being accepted via this website. If you do not accept cookies, this can lead to significant functional restrictions on our website in individual cases.

The details of the processing of your personal data associated with the use of the cookie consent manager can be found in Section 3.4.

3.3 Use of cookies on our website and the associated data processing

Cookies required for the operation of our website

Cookies are set on our website based on the settings you have made in the cookie consent manager. So-called opt-in cookies, which store cookie consent, are necessary for the operation of the website so that the “cookie banner” does not appear each time the website is accessed. The legal basis is Section 25 Paragraph 1 in conjunction with Paragraph 2 TTDSG (Telekommunikation-Telemedien-Datenschutz-Gesetz).

Cookies that are only set with consent

You can watch YouTube videos on our website if you have consented to the setting of cookies. We are thus expanding our range of information for you. The individual cookies and their functions are listed in the table for cookies requiring consent. Basically, these are marketing cookies from the video platform YouTube, which are used, among other things, to enable advertising tailored to the website visitor. The legal basis for storing cookies on your device (PC, mobile phone, etc.) is your consent in accordance with Section 25 Paragraph 1 TTDSG. The table below gives you an overview of the individual purposes of the cookies set. In the section following the table with the title “Further information on data processing based on the cookies set”, you will find information compiled by us regarding the processing of your personal data by Google Ireland Limited (“Google”) with regard to the data collected by using the cookies.

Further information on data processing in connection with the cookies set

The data processing associated with the setting of the cookies required for the operation of the website is carried out on the basis of our overriding legitimate interests in accordance with Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter f GDPR. When using cookies that are not necessary for the operation of the website, an option to consent or refuse must be provided. Details about data processing via our cookie consent management system can be found in Section 3.4.

The data processing associated with the setting of cookies by the provider of YouTube is based on your informed consent in accordance with Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter a GDPR.

The provider of the YouTube platform is YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., 94066 San Bruno, CA, USA, a subsidiary of Google LLC, based at 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. For users who have their habitual residence in the European Economic Area or Switzerland, Google Ireland Limited (hereinafter “Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, is responsible for processing your personal data. Further information can be found in Google’s data protection declaration under the keyword “data controller”.

Google collects various personal data about you (e.g. IP address, user entries and video history) and uses this data to improve its services, develop new services and to personalize its services. This includes, for example, personalized content and search results or recommendations (e.g. for videos or apps) and personalized advertising. You can find an overview of this in the Google privacy policy in the section “Why Google collects data”. For details on the purposes, see “European Requirements”.

If you are logged in to Google at the time the data is collected, the information about the videos you watch will be assigned to your Google member account. You can prevent this by logging out of your member account before visiting our website. Even if you are not logged into a Google account, Google stores the data collected from you with unique identifiers that are linked to the browser, app or device you use. This makes it possible for Google to retain your settings across browser sessions and show you more relevant search results or advertising based on your activities.

Google also makes the data collected from you available to its affiliated companies (legal entities that are part of the Google group of companies) and other companies or individuals who process it on behalf of Google. Further information on this can be found in Google’s data protection declaration in the “Sharing your information” section.

Google also shares the information with affiliated companies in the USA, such as Google LLC. The European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the USA on July 10, 2023. Google LLC is certified according to the EU-US Privacy Framework.

Since Google operates servers all over the world, your data may also be processed outside the EU or the European Economic Area. To the extent that data is processed in countries outside the EU/European Economic Area for which the European Commission has not issued an adequacy decision, Google says it uses standard contractual clauses. Standard contractual clauses are contract templates approved by the European Commission. With the standard contractual clauses, European data protection standards are contractually agreed between data exporters in the EU/European Economic Area and data importers in third countries. Google provides further information on the framework conditions for data transfers at the following link: https://policies.google.com/privacy/frameworks?hl=en.

The promotional use of your personal data is a priority for Google. We, aconium GmbH, use the statistics function provided to YouTube channel owners to evaluate which sources (e.g. this website) users use to access our videos or to find out more about the people who watch our videos. In this context, however, we only receive anonymized data. This means we are unable to draw conclusions about individual people.

Reloading the YouTube content also causes Google Fonts to load. Google emphasizes in a statement that the data collected is only limited to what is necessary for the smooth provision of fonts and the creation of user statistics and that the data is neither used to create end user profiles nor for advertising.

Google provides further information on the processing of your personal data in its privacy policy.

3.4 Cookie consent manager and associated data processing processes

As a cookie consent manager, we use the consent management service Cookiebot, provided by Usercentrics A/S, Havnegade 39, 1058 Copenhagen, Denmark. Website visitors can therefore give their consent to the setting of cookies that are useful for the operation of the website but are not necessary within the meaning of Section 25 TTDSG. For this purpose, the following data is processed using cookies:

• Consent data:
  • Consent ID (a unique identifier is required so that the website visitor can use it to request proof of consent from aconium GmbH)
  • Consent status:
    1. confirmed consent categories (required to block scripts or unblock tracking elements on the website, depending on the website visitor’s selection);
    2. version (required to keep track of which version of consent the website visitor has agreed to, so that aconium GmbH can ask website visitors to renew their consent if this has been updated)
• URL visited (required to document what the website visitor has consented to)
• User language (required for choosing the language in which the consent banner is displayed)
• User Agent (browser manufacturer and version, operating system; required to distinguish real website visitors from bots etc.)
• Your IP address (required to enable routing of messages over the Internet, to perform geolocation and to distinguish real website visitors from bots, etc.)

Geographic location (required to display the consent banner appropriate to the geographic location and jurisdiction).

The consent data is stored in the browser for 12 months using the cookie “CookieConsent”. This will preserve your cookie preference for subsequent page requests.

Usercentrics is the recipient of your personal data and acts as a processor for us.

Your personal data will be continuously deleted after 12 months or immediately after termination of the contract between us and Usercentrics.

Please note our general information about cookies and their use on our website and how you can manage them under 3.1-3.3.

4. Links to other websites and online offers

This website may link to the websites and online offerings of other providers who are not affiliated with us. If you click on these links, we naturally no longer have any influence on which data is collected by the respective providers and which data is collected by them. You can find detailed information on data collection and use in the data protection declaration of the respective provider. Since data collection and processing by third parties is beyond our control, we cannot accept any responsibility for this.

5. Functions of social networks

Social plugins are integrated using the Shariff solution, which means that if you access an article or subpage on our website that contains these social plugins, information is not automatically forwarded to the relevant social media services. Only when the desired plugin is clicked will a new window from the plugin provider open. Only then will your personal data (e.g. IP address and websites visited) be transmitted to the social media service. If the use of corresponding social media websites involves the processing of your personal data, the data protection information of the respective provider must be observed. You can find further information about the Shariff solution here.

Social plugins from the following social networks are integrated on our website:

• Facebook (Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour Dublin 2, Irland), privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy und opt-out: ad aettings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads; additional information on data protection: Agreement on joint processing of personal data on Facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum;
• LinkedIn (LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Irland), privacy policy: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy; Opt-Out: https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/guest-controls/retargeting-opt-out;
• X (Twitter International Unlimited Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07 Ireland), privacy policy: https://twitter.com/de/privacy, settings: https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fsettings%2Fprivacy_and_safety;
• Instagram (Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour Dublin 2, Irland), privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy und opt-out: ad setting: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads;
• YouTube (Google LLC, mit Sitz in 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA); For users who are habitually resident in the European Economic Area or Switzerland, Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland is the person responsible for processing their personal data, privacy policy: https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy, opt-out: https://safety.google/privacy/privacy-controls/;
• Flickr: SmugMug Inc., 67 E Evelyn Ave, Ste 200, Mountain View, CA 94041, USA, privacy policy: https://www.smugmug.com/about/privacy/;
• XING: New Work SE, Am Strandkai 1, 20457 Hamburg, privacy policy: https://privacy.xing.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung, opt-out: https://privacy.xing.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung/welche-rechte-koennen-sie-geltend-machen/widerspruchsrecht

6. Use of service providers

Some of the data processing described in this data protection declaration may be carried out by our service providers. In addition to the service providers mentioned in this data protection declaration, this may include, in particular, data centers that store our website and databases, IT service providers that maintain our systems, and consulting companies. If we pass on data to our service providers, they may only use the data to fulfill their tasks. The service providers were carefully selected and commissioned by us. They are contractually bound to our instructions, have appropriate technical and organizational measures in place to protect the rights of the data subjects, ensure an appropriate level of data protection and are carefully monitored by us.

7. Contact form or inquiries via email

We offer you the option of sending us messages directly via a contact form. You will be required to provide an email address at which we can reach you. We also ask for your name so that we can address you and your company/organization. The mandatory fields are marked as such. We process the data you provide in the contact form to answer your query. We use a captcha (solving a calculation problem) to protect ourselves from spam. Alternatively, you can also contact us by email. To do this, we process your email address and, if necessary, other personal data you provided in the email.

The legal basis for the data processing described is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter f of the GDPR, as it is our legitimate interest to answer your request. If you send us a question about the Gigabit federal funding program, we will base the associated processing of personal data on Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 Letter e, Paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR in conjunction with. V. m. § 3 BDSG in conjunction with §§ 44, 23 BHO in conjunction with the Federal Gigabit Framework and Gigabit Directive.

8. Duration of processing

Unless an storage period is explicitely stated in this privacy policy, we will only process your personal data until the purpose or legal basis for storage no longer applies.

9. Your rights

You can assert your rights as a data subject with regard to your processed personal data at any time using the contact details provided in section 1. As a data subject, you have the right:

• in accordance with Article 15 GDPR, to request information about your data processed by us. When providing information, we will explain the data processing to you and provide you with an overview of the data stored about you;
• in accordance with Article 16 of the GDPR, to immediately request the reporting of incorrect data or the completion of your data stored by us;
• in accordance with Article 17 GDPR, to request the deletion of your data stored by us, unless the processing is carried out to exercise the right to freedom of expression and information, to fulfill a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
• in accordance with Article 18 GDPR, to request the restriction of the processing of your data if you dispute the accuracy of the data or the processing is unlawful;
• in accordance with Article 20 GDPR, your data that you have provided to us will be received in a structured, common and machine-readable format or requested to be transmitted to another person responsible (“data portability”).

Right of withdrawal

In accordance with Article 7 Paragraph 3 GDPR, you have the right to revoke your consent to us at any time. This means that we will no longer continue the data processing that was based on this consent in the future. The revocation of consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out based on the consent before its revocation. If you would like to exercise your right of withdrawal, all you need to do is send an informal message to the contact details listed in section 1 above.

In accordance with Article 77 of the GDPR, you have the right to complain to the competent data protection supervisory authority. You can assert this right, for example, with a supervisory authority in the Member State of your residence or the place of the alleged infringement. In Berlin the responsible supervisory authority is: Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit, Alt-Moabit 59-61, 10555 Berlin, entrance: Alt-Moabit 60.