General Privacy Notice

As the data controller we have prepared this privacy notice to inform you in accordance with the requirements of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) about the nature, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data in relation to the services we offer on our website.

I. Definitions

'Controller' means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law;

'Personal data' means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ('data subject'); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

'Processing' means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;

'Recipient' means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or another body, to which the personal data are disclosed, whether a third party or not. However, public authorities which may receive personal data in the framework of a particular inquiry in accordance with Union or Member State law shall not be regarded as recipients; the processing of those data by those public authorities shall be in compliance with the applicable data protection rules according to the purposes of the processing;

'Union', 'EU' or 'Member State' means the European Union or a member state of the Union.

II. General Information

1. The data controller

Mauer Unternehmensberatung GmbH
Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft Steuerberatungsgesellschaft
Borsigstraße 6
72760 Reutlingen
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 (0) 7121/909020
Telefax: +49 (0) 7121/9090229
E-Mail: kontakt@mauer-gruppe.com

2. Contact details of the Data Protection Officer

OBSECOM GmbH
Königstr. 40
70173 Stuttgart
Germany
Telephone: +49 711 46 05 025-40
Telefax: +49 711 46 05 025-49
E-Mail: mauergmbh@obsecom.eu
Webseite: https://www.obecom.eu 

3. Legal bases

We process personal data based on at least one of the following legal bases:

• The data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes (Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR);
• Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR);
• Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject (Art. 6 (1)(c) GDPR);
• Processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person (Art. 6 (1)(d) GDPR);
• Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party (Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR)

In this privacy policy we refer to the respective legal basis of the individual data processing operations.

4. Onward transfer of personal data

We forward personal data to recipients (data processors or other third parties) only to the extent required and only if one of the subsequent conditions are met:

• the data subject has consented to the data transfer;
• the onward transfer is required to fulfil a contractual obligation or pre-contractual measure on the request of the data subject;
• we are obliged by law to make such a transfer;
• The onward transfer is made on the basis of our legitimate interest or those of a third party.

5. Third countries

The transfer of personal data to a third country or an international organisation outside the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA) is subject to legal or contractual permission only in accordance with the provisions under Art. 44 et seq. GDPR. Pursuant to Art. 45 GDPR an adequacy decision of the EU commission must be present for the respective country, or appropriate safeguards for data privacy under Art. 46 GDPR, or Binding Corporate Rules under Art. 47 GDPR must exist. In individual cases, a data transfer may be permitted on the basis of an exception under Art. 49 GDPR.

We may use on our website external services provided by organisations based in the USA. If these services are active, personal data is collected in connection with the provision of the relevant service and may be transferred to and stored on servers in the USA. The European Court of Justice considers the USA to have an inadequate level of data protection. When data is transferred to the US, there is a fundamental risk that the US authorities may access and use the data for surveillance and monitoring purposes without notification and without the possibility of a legal remedy.

6. Rights of data subjects

As a data subject you have the following right:

• Pursuant to Art. 15 GDPR to request information about your personal data processed by us. You may also request information regarding the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned, the recipients or categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored or the criteria used to determine that period, the data source (where personal data is not collected from you), the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, and meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing; the existence of the right to request rectification or erasure of data concerning you, the right to restrict processing or to object to such processing, the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Finally, you have a right to know whether personal data has been transferred to a third country or to an international organisation, and, if so, the appropriate safeguards relating to this transfer;
• Pursuant to Art. 16 GDPR to demand the immediate rectification of inaccurate personal data and to have incomplete personal data which is stored by us completed;
• Pursuant to Art. 17 GDPR to demand the erasure of your personal data stored by us, unless the processing is necessary for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim.
• Pursuant to Art. 18 GDPR to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data if the accuracy of the personal data is contested by you; the processing is unlawful but you oppose the erasure of the personal data and request the restriction of their use instead; we no longer need the personal data for the purposes of the processing but they are required by you for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; you have objected to processing pursuant to Art. 21 (1) GDPR pending the verification whether our legitimate grounds override your interests;
• Pursuant to Art. 20 GDPR to receive your personal data, which you have provided for us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit this data to another controller;
• Pursuant to Art. 21 GDPR to object to the processing of your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, or if you object to processing for direct marketing purposes and the legal basis for processing is our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR;
• Pursuant to Art. 7 (3) GDPR to withdraw your consent given to us at any time. As a result, we are no longer allowed to continue to process the data that was based on this consent in the future;
• Pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement. A list of contact details of the data protection officers and supervisory authorities can be found on this website: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html.

If you wish to assert the data subject rights mentioned above, you can contact us or our data protection officer at any time using the contact details above.

7. Erasure and restriction of personal data

Unless otherwise provided for in this privacy notice, personal data will be deleted, if this data is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed and the deletion does not conflict with statutory retention requirements. In addition, we will erase the personal data processed by us in accordance with Art. 17 GDPR on your request, if the conditions provided therein are met. If personal data are required for other lawful purposes, they will not be erased, but their processing will be restricted in accordance with Art. 18 GDPR.

In case of restriction, the data will not be processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to personal data that must be retained by us for commercial or tax law reasons. For example, data must be kept for 6 years pursuant to Section 257 (1) Nos. 2 and 3 German Commercial Code (HGB) and Section 147 (1) Nos. 2, 3, 5 German Tax Code (AO); data must be kept for 10 years pursuant to Section 257 (1) Nos. 1 and 4 HGB and Section 147 (1) No. 1, 4, 4a AO.

8. Cookies

Our website uses cookies. Cookies are small text files that your browser automatically creates and stores on your device (laptop, tablet, smartphone, PC, etc.) when you visit our website. Cookies do no harm to your device, nor do they contain any viruses or other malicious software. The cookie stores information which is created in relation to the specific device you are using. However, this does not mean that we become immediately aware of your identity. Cookies are mainly used to make the website more user-friendly, effective and secure.

We use the following cookies on our web site:

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Most browsers accept cookies automatically. However, if you do not wish to accept cookies, you can configure your browser so that no cookies are stored on your device or a message is displayed before new cookies are created. Information on how to remove cookies in Internet Explorer / Edge, please refer to: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/17442/windows-internet-explorer-delete-manage-cookies. Information on the removal of cookies in Firefox, please refer to: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/clear-cookies-and-site-data-firefox?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=delete-cookies-remove-info-websites-stored. Learn how to remove cookies in Safari here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/safari/sfri11471/mac.

A general objection to the use of cookies used for online marketing purposes can be made for a variety of services, as explained at http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ or the opt-out page of the Network Advertising Initiative http://optout.networkadvertising.org. However, disabling cookies may mean that you may not be able to use all the features of our website.

This website uses the FreePrivacyPolicy.com cookie consent banner. In order to load the cookie opt-in banner, a connection to the FreePrivacyPolicy.com servers is established. Your IP address and possibly other data needed to deliver the banner (for example, browser version used, screen resolution,...) will be transmitted. The information generated about your use of this site may be stored on servers in the United States. The cookie consent banner uses technically necessary cookies (cookie_consent_level) to store your cookie consent. The cookie consent banner itself does not process any personal data.

You can set your cookie preferences using this link:

The personal data processed by essential/necessary cookies are processed in our legitimate interest under Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR in connection with § 25 (2) no. 2 TTDSG for the purposes mentioned above to safeguard our legitimate interests and those of third parties in the provision and operation of our website. The legal basis for the use of cookies for advertising, market research and the integration of external media is your voluntarily given consent under Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR.

III. Individual processing operations

1. Access data and log files

By visiting our website or its individual pages, your device's internet browser automatically sends information to the server of our website. This information is stored in so-called log files by us or our hosting provider and will be deleted after 7 Days at the latest.

The following information is stored:

• IP address of the requesting computer;
• Date and time of access;
• Name and URL of the requested file;
• Website from which our site was accessed (Referrer-URL);
• The browser used and your computer's operating system;
• Status codes and the transferred amount of data;
• Name of your access providers.

This data will be used for the following purposes:

• The provision of our website, including all of its features and contents;
• To ensure a smooth connection to our website;
• To ensure a more user-friendly experience on our website;
• To ensure system security and stability;
• For anonymised statistical evaluation of website access;
• To optimise our website;
• For disclosure to law enforcement authorities in the event of unlawful interference / attacks on our systems;
• For further administrative purposes.

The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest relates to the data collection purposes mentioned above. Under no circumstances will we use the personal data collected for the purpose of drawing conclusions about a person.

2. General means of contact

If you contact us using the contact details published on our website (for example, by e-mail) and in this context provide us with personal data, we will use this data to process your request on the basis of Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR, if your request is related to the performance of a contract or is required to perform pre-contractual action. In all other cases, processing is based on your consent in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR and / or our legitimate interest in the effective processing of requests addressed to us pursuant to Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR. We will store your personal data until you ask us for deletion, revoke your consent to the storage, or the data are no longer necessary for the purpose for which they were collected (for example, after completion of your request). Mandatory statutory provisions - especially retention periods - remain thereof unaffected.

3. Contact form

If you use the contact form, you will be asked to provide your e-mail address, Name and any other contact details, so that we can get in touch with you. Further information can be provided voluntarily. The data processing for the purpose of contacting us and answering your request takes place in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR based on your voluntary consent. All personal data collected in connection with the contact form will be deleted after your request has been processed, unless further storage is required for the documentation of other transactions (for example, subsequent conclusion of a contract).

4. Newsletter

If you would like to receive our newsletter we require your e-mail address, name, and other optional contact details. The data processing for the purpose of sending the newsletter takes place in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR based on your voluntary consent by means of the so-called double-opt-in procedure. The e-mail address will be used and stored for this purpose until you withdraw your consent or unsubscribe from receiving the newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time, for example by using the link at the bottom of each newsletter. You can also send your withdrawal/unsubscribe request at any time to the e-mail address given under Clause II.

We embed a so-called counting pixel into our newsletters. A counting pixel is a miniature graphic embedded in the HTML format of the newsletter to allow us an analysis of the reader's reading behaviour. In this context, we gather information on whether, and at what time, a newsletter was opened by you and which of the links contained in the newsletter were accessed by you. We use this data to generate statistical evaluations of the success or failure of a marketing campaign to optimize the distribution of our newsletters and to better tailor the content of future newsletters to your interests. The collected data will not be passed on to third parties and will be deleted after the statistical evaluation.

5. Inxmail

We use Inxmail for newsletter registration and delivery. The provider is Inxmail GmbH, Wentzingerstr. 17, 79106 Freiburg, Germany (hereinafter 'Inxmail'). Inxmail is used to send our newsletter and to analyse its reach. For this purpose, your e-mail address and other data required by Inxmail to send the newsletter are processed on our behalf. Inxmail enables us to evaluate the behaviour of newsletter recipients. For this purpose, we embed a so-called tracking pixel in our newsletters to enable an analysis of reader behaviour. This includes recording how many recipients have opened the newsletter, how often readers have clicked on certain links in the newsletter and whether the reader has carried out a predefined action after clicking on a link. We use this information to generate statistics about the success or failure of a marketing campaign, to optimise the newsletter mailing and to better tailor the content of future newsletters to your interests. The personal data collected will be deleted after statistical analysis. If you do not agree with the analysis of your reading behaviour, you must unsubscribe from the newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time by following the link at the end of each newsletter, by using the unsubscribe form on our website or by sending an email to the address given in Section II. The personal data required for sending the newsletter will be deleted from both our servers and Inxmail's servers after you unsubscribe from the newsletter.

The legal basis for transferring the data to Inxmail is our legitimate interest under Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR in using a user-friendly and secure newsletter system and in optimising our website.

For further information on how Inxmail handles your personal data please refer to the privacy policy at: https://www.inxmail.de/datenschutz. For more information on data analysis in Inxmail newsletters please refer to: https://www.inxmail.de/ressourcen/knowledge-base/tracking-und-reporting

6. Job applications

If you would like to apply for a job with us, please provide your name, contact details and application documents so that we can review your application and contact you personally. The data processing for the purpose of processing your application is carried out in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR based on your voluntary consent. Taking into account the limitation periods of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), application documents will be kept for a period of 6 months after completion of the application process and then deleted, unless storage is required for the documentation of other operations (for example, subsequent recruitment).

7. Contractual data

If you are our direct contractual partner, we will process your contact data within the framework of our consultancy activities, insofar as this is necessary for the implementation of pre-contractual measures or for the fulfilment of a contract concluded at your request. The legal basis for the processing of personal data is Art. 6 (1)(b GDPR. If you are a contact person of our clients, we process your professional contact data for the purpose of establishing contact and customer communication. The legal basis for the processing of personal data is our legitimate interest under Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR in maintaining the business relationship.

We collect, store and, where necessary, disclose personal data to the extent necessary to perform our obligations under our contractual relationship with you. In order to provide our services, it may be necessary to process personal data that we have received from other companies, authorities or other third parties for the purpose in question. The legal basis for the processing of personal data in connection with the establishment and performance of a contractual relationship is Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR.

8. Cloudflare

We use Cloudflare to protect our website and to establish a secure, confidential, fast and reliable internet connection with any user device. The provider is Cloudflare, Inc, 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA (hereinafter 'Cloudflare'). To detect attacks against our web server and to analyse internet threats, Cloudflare collects information on the data exchange between web servers and website visitors. Among other things, Cloudflare uses cookies to collect data on the websites accessed, the browser type used, the operating system, the referrer URL, the IP address, and the requesting provider. The information collected by Cloudflare may be transferred to servers in the USA and stored there. The personal data required for processing the newsletter is stored on servers in the United States. The data transfer to Cloudflare is legitimised according to Art. 46 (2)(c) GDPR based on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. A copy of the clauses can be found at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021D0914&from=EN. The legal basis for the use of cookies and the associated data collection is your voluntarily given consent under Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR. The legal basis for the transfer of data to the USA is also your voluntarily given consent according to Art. 49. (1)(a) GDPR. For more information on how Cloudflare handles personal data, please refer to Cloudflare's privacy policy at: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/.

IV. Google Services

Provider of the services below is Google Ireland Limited (Register No: 368047), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (hereinafter 'Google').

The information collected by Google in connection with the provision of the respective services may be transferred to and processed by Google servers in the USA and stored there. Please also note our information above on data transfer to third countries.

For more information about how Google handles personal data, please refer to Google's Privacy Policy: https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/. For information on the use of data for advertising purposes by Google, settings and your right to object please refer to: https://www.google.de/policies/privacy/partners/, https://www.google.de/policies/technologies/ads/, https://adssettings.google.de/

1. Google services for which your consent is required

The legal basis for the use of the following services is your voluntarily given consent according to Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR. The legal basis for data transfer to the USA is also your voluntarily given consent in accordance with Art. 49 (1)(a) GDPR.

1.1 Google Analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics. Google Analytics uses cookies. Google Analytics collects information about the visits of website users and analyses their behaviour. This data serves the purpose of developing a user-friendly website design, the continuous optimisation of our services and offers, to measure the success of marketing activities and to create statistical analysis. In this context, pseudonymised user profiles are created and cookies are used. Google Analytics collects information such as browser type / version, operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), host name of the accessing computer (IP address) and time of server request. The information generated is transferred to the US and stored on servers owned by Google. The collected user data and event data will be deleted after 2 months. Information may also be transferred to third parties if required by law or if third parties process this data on behalf of us or Google. Under no circumstances will your IP address be merged with any other data that is kept by Google. The IP address will be anonymised so that assignment is impossible. You can prevent the local storage of cookies by configuring your browser software accordingly. However, be advised that in this case you may not be able to use all the features of this website to the full extent possible. Additionally, in order to prevent Google from collecting and processing the data generated in relation to your use of the website you may download and install the browser plug-in available under the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. You can prevent Google from gathering your data by clicking on this link

which sets an opt-out cookie on your computer. This cookie ensures that Google Analytics will not collect and store any user data from your browser when visiting this website. Attention: If you delete your cookie cache, this will result in the opt-out cookie being deleted as well. Then you must re-activate the opt-out cookie again.

1.2 Google Ads Remarketing

This website uses Google Ads Remarketing. Ads Remarketing is used to deliver personalized ads to users who have already interacted with our website when they visit another Google website or a website in the Google advertising network. Google uses cookies to identify a web browser on a specific device and to analyse website usage (e.g. which offers a user is interested in) in order to display interest-related advertising to users on other pages after they have visited our website. For more information about what other criteria Google uses to personalise advertisements, please refer to: https://support.google.com/ads/answer/1634057?visit_id=637292785957338239-1447476022&rd=1. This service collects your IP address, which of our websites you have visited and any other data required by Google for the provision of Ads Remarketing. The information collected about your use of this website is stored on a server in the USA. This information may also be transferred to third parties if required by law or if third parties process this data on behalf of us or Google.

If you use a Google account that is logged in, Google may link your web and app browsing history to your account and uses this information to personalize ads, depending on the settings in your Google account. If you don't want to have your browsing history linked to your account, you'll need to sign out before you access our website.

You can also prevent the local storage of cookies by configuring your browser software settings accordingly; however, be advised that in this case you may not be able to use all the features of this website to their full extent. If you do not wish to see personalised ads displayed by Google, you can deactivate this function at http://www.google.com/settings/ads and manage the use of device IDs for the personalisation of advertising via the device settings, see: https://support.google.com/ads/answer/1660762#mob

2. Other Google services

The legal basis for the use of the following services are our legitimate interests according to Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interests are listed below for each service individually.

2.1 reCAPTCHA

Our website uses Google reCAPTCHA to ensure that the forms provided on our website are used by an actual person and are not abused by bots or automated procedures. We use this service in our legitimate interest in the security of our website and the detection of bot activity. This service collects your IP address and any additional data required by Google for providing the reCAPTCHA service. The collected information about your use of this website is stored on servers in the USA. This information may also be transferred to third parties if required by law or if third parties process this data on behalf of us or Google.

2.2 Google Tag Manager

Our website uses Google Tag Manager to manage the website through a single tag management interface. Google Tool Manager only implements tags. This means no cookies are used and no personal data is collected. Google Tag Manager triggers other tags, which may collect data. However, Google Tag Manager does not access this data. If deactivated at the domain or cookie level, it will remain effective for all tracking tags as far as they are implemented with the Google Tag Manager. Our legitimate interests in the use of Google Tag Manager are the efficient maintenance of our website and the central administration of HTML elements.

V. Links to social media profiles

On our website we refer with hyperlinks to social media profiles in social networks. When you actively click on a link to such a profile, your browser establishes a direct connection with servers of the respective social media network, whereby the provider obtains knowledge of your visit. If you are simultaneously logged in to the respective social network, the provider can assign the visit to the profile to your user account. In this context, personal data may be processed in the USA. For more information on the processing of personal data, please refer to the privacy policy of the respective social media network. The purpose of linking our website to social media profiles is to increase the visibility of our website. Clicking on a social media link takes place on the basis of your voluntary decision in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR. The legal basis for any data transfer to the USA is also your voluntarily given consent according to Art. 49. (1)(a) GDPR.

VI. Media content

Our website partially uses third party content loaded directly from servers of the content providers, as named below. The purpose of integrating this content is to make our website more attractive. The legal basis for the use of the following media content is our legitimate interests according to Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest in using third-party content is to improve the reach of our website through attractive web content. Further legitimate interests are listed individually below.

1. Dynamic content from content delivery networks 

This website loads dynamic web content from the content delivery networks assets-global.website-files.com (Webflow, Inc.), jsdelivr.net, tools.refokus.com and unpkg.com. These services log your IP address, which of our web pages you have visited, and any other data necessary to deliver the content. The information generated about your use of this website may be stored on servers in the USA. Our legitimate interests in using these services are the provision, maintenance and secure operation of our website.

2. Amazon CloudFront CDN

This website uses the Amazon CloudFront Content Delivery Network (CDN). The provider is Amazon Web Services, Inc, 410 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109-5210, USA (hereinafter 'AWS'). The purpose of the data processing is the provision of static and dynamic web content such as HTML, CSS,.js and image files on our website. In this context, your IP address is recorded, which of our web pages you have visited, and possibly other data that Amazon can determine in connection with the connection. The legal basis of the data processing is our legitimate interests according to Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interests are the provision, maintenance and secure operation of our website. The information collected by Amazon in connection with the provision of the CloudFront CDN may be transferred to servers in the USA and stored there. The data transfer to Amazon is legitimised according to Art. 46 (2)(c) GDPR on the basis of the EU standard contractual clauses. A copy of the standard contractual clauses can be accessed at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021D0914&from=DE. For further information on how Amazon handles your personal data, please refer to the privacy policy at: https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/?nc1=f_pr.

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