Data protection information

The Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e.V. (MPG) takes the protection of your personal data very seriously. We process personal data gathered when visiting our websites in compliance with the applicable data protection legislation and, as a matter of principle, only to the extent that this is necessary to provide a functioning website and our content and services. We neither publish your data nor transmit them to third parties on an unauthorized basis. In the following sections, we explain which data we record when you visit one of our websites, and how exactly they are utilized:

A. Provision of the website

1. Visiting the website

a. Type of data

Each time you visit our website, our service and applications automatically record data and information from the system of the visiting device.

The following data are gathered temporarily:

• Your IP address
• Date and time of your access to the website
• Address of the page visited
• Address of the previously visited website (referrer)
• Name and version of your browser/operating system (if transmitted)

These data are stored in our systems' log files. There is no storage of these data together with other personal data relating to the user.

b. Legal basis

The legal basis for the temporary saving of data and log files is Article 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. Storage occurs in log files in order to ensure the website's functionality. The data also serve to optimize the websites, eliminate malfunctions and ensure our IT system security. Our justified interest in data processing pursuant to Article 6 (1) lit. f GDPR also lies in such purposes.
The recording of data for the provision of the website and the storage of data in log files are essential to operate the website. It is therefore not possible for the user to object.

c. Data deletion

The data are deleted as soon as they are no longer required in order to fulfil the purpose of their collection. If data are gathered for the provision of the website, this is the case if the respective visit is ended. In the event that data are stored in log files, this is the case after seven days at the latest. Storage above and beyond this period is possible. In this case, the users' IP addresses are deleted or removed so they can no longer be allocated to the visiting device.

2. User-friendly website design

a. Type of data

Our website uses cookies. Cookies are text files which are saved in or by the internet browser on the users’ systems. If a user accesses a website, a cookie can be saved on the user's system. These cookies contain a characteristic string of characters which enables definitive identification of the browser the next time the website is accessed.

We use cookies in order to make our website more user-friendly. It is a technical requirement of certain elements of our website that the accessing browser can also be identified after a page change. In the process, the following data are saved and transmitted in the cookies:

• Language settings (localization) of the browser, also when changing pages (functionality of the language switch): Sessioncookie i18next
• Session data (click path, pages visited, current language, remembering form data (terms used in the internal site search, entries in the contact form) as well as error messages for forms, if applicable): Sessioncookie mpg_session_r

Cookies are saved on your device and transmitted by the latter to our website. For this reason, you as the user also have full control over the use of cookies. By changing the settings in your internet browser, you can deactivate or limit the transmission of cookies. This can also happen on an automated basis. If cookies are deactivated for our website, the full range of functions of the website may not be entirely available for use.

b. Legal basis

The legal basis for the processing of personal data by means of cookies is Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR as well as § 25, para. 2, no. 2 of the German Act an Data Protection and Protection of Privacy in Telecommunications and Digital Services [TDDDG]. Some of the functions of our website cannot be offered without the use of cookies. For these, it is absolutely necessary that the browser is recognized even after a page change.

c. Data deletion

The cookies are deleted after closing the session.

B. Web analysis

1. Type of data

We use the web analytics programme Matomo for statistical data collection in relation to utilization behaviour; this programme uses cookies and JavaScript to collect various information on your computer and transmit this automatically to us. Every time our website is accessed, our system logs the following data and information from the computer system of the accessing device:

• IP address, anonymized by means of abbreviation
• Two cookies to distinguish between different visitors: pk_id and pk_sess
• Previously visited URL (referrer) if communicated by the browser
• Name and version of the operating system
• Name, version and language setting of the browser.

The following data are collected additionally if JavaScript is activated:

• URLs visited on this website
• Times of page visits
• Type of HTML requests
• Screen resolution and colour depth
• Technologies and formats supported by the browser (e.g. cookies, Java, Flash, PDF, WindowsMedia, QuickTime, Realplayer, Director, SilverLight, Google Gears).

The saving and analysis of data is carried out solely on a central server operated by the MPG.

It goes without saying that you have the opportunity to object to your data being collected. The following independent methods are available to you if you wish to object to data collection by the central server:

1. In your browser, activate the Do-Not-Track setting. As long as this setting is active, our central server will not save any of your data. Important: Do-Not-Track generally only applies to the one device and browser on which the setting is activated. If you use several devices/browsers, you must activate Do-Not-Track separately on each one.
2. Use our opt-out function. Click on the check mark in the following selection box under https://www.mpg.de/datenschutzhinweis/datenerhebung-deaktivieren in order to stop or reactivate data collection. As long as the selection box is deactivated, our central server will not save any of your data. Important: For the opt-out, we have to store a special recognition cookie in your browser. If you delete this or use a different PC/browser, you have to object to data collection once again on this page.

There is no storage of these data together with other personal data relating to the users.

2. Legal basis

The legal basis for the processing of personal data by means of cookies is Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR as well as § 25 para. 2 no. 2 TDDDG. The processing of the users' personal data enables us to analyze the usage behaviour of our users. By evaluating the data obtained, we are able to compile information on the use of the individual components of our websites. This helps us improve our websites and their user-friendliness on an ongoing basis. These purposes also constitute our legitimate interest in data processing according to Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR as well as § 25, para. 2, no. 2 TDDDG. By anonymizing the IP address, the users' interest in the protection of their personal data is sufficiently taken into account.

3. Data deletion

The data are deleted after the final annual totals have been arrived at for access statistics.

C. Newsletter

1. Type of data

Our website offers users the opportunity to sign up for a free newsletter. When users sign up for the newsletter, the data from the input screen are transmitted to us. This generally consists of your email address, last name and first name. We inform you about the concrete processing of your data in the course of the sign-up process and obtain your consent accordingly. There is also a reference to this Data Privacy Statement. The data is solely used for sending out the newsletter.

We use tracking to adapt contents to the interests of the users and to measure our information activity. When registering, each user can activate tracking themselves (activated by default). Subsequently, each user can independently activate/deactivate tracking at any time in the profile editing.

The following data are collected as part of tracking:

• Successful delivery of the newsletter
• Opening of the newsletter yes/no via tracking pixels (mini graphic in the newsletter)
  • Type of browser, type of operating system
  • Mobile terminal or normal terminal
  • User Agent (e-mail client used)
  • IP address
  • Date and time of the opening of the newsletter
• Links clicked in the newsletter

2. Legal basis

The legal basis for processing the data after a user signs up for the newsletter is the user's consent according to Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR. The purpose of collecting data is to deliver the newsletter.

The legal basis for voluntary tracking is Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR as well as § 25, para.1 TDDDG.

3. Data deletion

The user's email address is therefore only saved for as long as the newsletter subscription is active. The newsletter subscription can be cancelled by the user in question at any time.
Link to unsubscribe from the newsletter

If a user consents to the tracking, this data will be stored as long as the subscription to the newsletter is active or the user revokes their consent to tracking via their personal profile. 

D. Contact form

1. Type of data

On our website, there is a contact form which can be used to make contact electronically. If you make use of this option, the details entered in the input screen are transmitted to us and saved. This generally consists of your email address, last name and first name. We inform you about the concrete processing of your data in the course of the operation and obtain your consent accordingly. There is also a reference to this Data Privacy Statement. The data are used solely for processing the dialogue.

2. Legal basis

The legal basis for processing data in connection with use of the contact form is your consent according to Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR. Processing of personal data from the input screen serves the sole purpose of processing the contact request. You have the option to withdraw your consent to the processing of personal data at any time vis-à-vis the listed contact persons.

3. Data deletion

The data are deleted as soon as they are no longer required in order to fulfil the purpose of their collection. This is the case when the relevant dialogue with the user is finished or the processing of the user's request has been finalized. The dialogue is finished when circumstances indicate that the matter in question has been conclusively clarified.

E. Measures for the secure use of forms

1. Prevention of the misuse of forms

a. Type of data

To prevent any misuse of forms, the Friendly Captcha function is used. Friendly Captcha serves to exclude mass machine use of the forms offered:

• Newsletter sign-up,
• Contact form,
• Registration for subscription management.

When a form containing Friendly Captcha widget is called up, a puzzle request will be automatically sent from the user´s device. In the course of this process, the following log data is collected by Friendly Captcha:

•  The request headers User-Agent, Origin and Referer.
• The puzzle itself, which contains information about the account and site key it is related to.
•  The version of the widget.
• A timestamp

Friendly Captcha stores an anonymized counter per IP address for dynamic puzzle difficulty on the edge network to detect malicious users and minimize blocking legitimate users. This data is stored entirely separately from the rest of the data and cannot be correlated to specific websites or anything else. We anonymize IP addresses using a one-way hash of certain values so they cannot be personally identified.

Within the use of Friendly Captcha, no other information or personal data, such as your name, email address and online profiles, will be asked for.

b. Legal basis

The legal basis for the processing of personal data by means of Friendly Captcha is Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR as well as § 25, para. 2, no. 2 TDDDG. Friendly Captcha is used to ensure the functional capability of the forms and prevent their misuse. These purposes also constitute our legitimate interest in data processing according to Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. The use of Friendly Captcha is absolutely necessary in order to operate the mentioned forms. It is therefore not possible for the user to object.

c.Data deletion

The data collected when using Friendly Captcha is anonymized.

2. Securing communication through forms

a. Type of data

To protect the integrity of the data entered into a form while the form is being transmitted, a digital token is retrieved from the MPG servers and transmitted back when the completed form is submitted. The token is not stored on the users’ devices.

The token csrf_token is used to secure the communication through the following forms:

• Newsletter sign-up,
• Contact form,
• Registration for subscription management

b. Legal basis

The legal basis for the data processing is Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR as well as § 25, para. 2, no. 2 TDDDG . The token is used to ensure the security of communication through forms and prevent misuse. These purposes also constitute our legitimate interest in data processing according to Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. The use of the token is absolutely necessary in order to operate the mentioned forms. It is therefore not possible for the users to object.

c. Data deletion

The MPG does not store any data when using the token.

F. Data transmission

The management and storage of your personal details is carried out by selected services

• Newsletter (Section C)
• Contact form (Section D)

within the scope of commissioned data processing on systems of our service providers.

Your personal data are only transmitted to public institutions and authorities if legally required or for the purpose of criminal prosecution due to attacks on our network infrastructure. The data are not shared with third parties for any other purposes.

G. YouTube

On some pages, our website uses external links to videos on the YouTube platform that are not directly embedded in the pages. The external links are provided with a preview image generated via an API service provided by YouTube.

All YouTube content displayed on this website is subject to YouTube's terms of use. By accessing this content, users of this website accept these terms of use.

YouTube's terms of use can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/t/terms

The data protection declaration (Google PrivacyPolicy) can be accessed at the following link:
https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

H. General details

1. Contact details of the controller

The controller within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation and other national data protection acts as well as other data protection legislation is the

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e.V. (MPG)
Hofgartenstrasse 8
D-80539 Munich, Germany
Telephone: +49 (89) 2108-0
Contact form: https://www.mpg.de/kontakt/anfragen
Internet: https://www.mpg.de

2. Data Protection Officer's contact details

The controller’s Data Protection Officer can be reached as follows:

Data Protection Officer of the MPG
Hofgartenstrasse 8
D-80539 Munich, Germany
Telephone: +49 (89) 2108-1554
datenschutz@mpg.de

I. Rights of the data subjects

As a data subject whose personal data are collected in the context of the above-mentioned services, you generally have the following rights unless legal exceptions apply in individual cases:

• Information (Article 15 GDPR)
• Correction (Article 16 GDPR)
• Deletion (Article 17 (1) GDPR)
• Restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR)
• Data transmission (Article 20 GDPR)
• Revocation of processing (Article 21 GDPR)
• Revocation of consent (Article 7 (3) GDPR)
• Right to complain to the regulator (Article 77 GDPR). For the MPG, this is the Bavarian Data Protection Authority (BayLDA), Postfach 1349, 91504 Ansbach, Germany.

J. Integration of external services

The integration of external services, such as OpenStreetMap for location descriptions, is always carefully considered with the aim of making your visit to our website as pleasant as possible.
However, we must point out that in this way your IP address and possibly other personal data are transmitted to the respective service provider and may be stored and evaluated.

1. GoogleMaps
We use the Google Maps map service. The provider is Google Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. The integration takes place exclusively via a link to Google. Via this programming interface, data is only transferred to Google when you click on the button "Switch to Google Maps". When using the functions of Google, Google processes your IP address and possibly other personal data (e.g. information on the use of this website or sub-pages or the data specified in Google Maps). Google thereby receives, among other things, information about the fact that you have called up our website or the corresponding subpage. This information is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Your personal data will only be collected and transmitted by Google via our website when you click on the "Continue to Google Maps" button yourself. We ourselves do not transmit any of your data to Google, this only happens when you click on the link. The use of Google Maps is not mandatory for the receipt of information via our website and is therefore voluntary for you. However, the integration of Google Maps into our Internet pages is performed in the interest of an appealing presentation of our Internet offer and in order to ensure that the locations we indicate on our Internet pages can be found quickly and easily. This represents a legitimate interest in the sense of Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR.

You can find more information on the handling of usage data in Google's terms of use at

•     http://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/terms/regional.html   
•     or from Google Maps at https://www.google.com/intl/de_US/help/terms_maps.html
•     You can find Google's privacy policy at https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy
•     and from Google Maps at https://www.google.com/intl/de_de/help/terms_maps.html

 
2. Open StreeMap
We incorporate an illustration of the map of the "OpenStreetMap" service (https://www.openstreetmap.org), which is offered on the basis of the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) (OSMF Privacy Policy), in order to show you the route to our organization or our events and to make it easier for you to plan your journey. You can find information on data protection on the OpenStreetMap data protection page: https://www.fossgis.de/datenschutzerkl%C3%A4rung/ . No data will be passed on to OpenStreetMap, as it is only a screenshot of the map.

OpenStreetMap is provided by the Openstreetmap Foundation:
OpenStreetMap Foundation
St John's Innovation Centre
Cowley Road
Cambridge
CB4 0WS
United Kingdom

We base the use of the aforementioned tools on Art. 6 (1) lit. f) GDPR: data processing is carried out to improve the user-friendliness of our website and is therefore in our legitimate interest.
 

K. Praise and complaint management

When calling up the links Klinikbewertungen.de or on Weisse-Liste.de, no data is transmitted or data is only transmitted (e.g. IP address) when you click on the links and as soon as you arrive at the external page of the provider. The provider is liable for his own web content.

You can send us your praise or constructive criticism by e-mail to anregung@psych.mpg.de. Please note that when you send us your e-mail, your personal data, such as e-mail address and any other information that you may include in your e-mail, will be transmitted to us and processed.
 

L. Clinical studies

We conduct proband searches and recruitment through our website. If you would like to receive information about the studies, you can access an e-mail address on the page of the corresponding studies and submit an information request. With the e-mail request, your e-mail address (and, if applicable, other information you provide in your e-mail) will be transmitted to us and processed.

It is possible that an anonymous and SSL-encrypted survey or test is required beforehand for subject recruitment (e.g. Survalyzer). No identifiable data will be processed or transmitted to third parties during the survey or test. You will voluntarily have the option, based on consent, to submit your email address to us at the end of the test if you wish to receive further information or be contacted by us.

For other study content on the website, you can register directly for a study by providing your email address in the SSL-encrypted web form. Third parties will not receive your data. We obtain your consent for the registration (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). The consent can be revoked at any time with effect for the future.