Privacy Policy

General information on data protection at Pattern Recognition Company GmbH. This is a non-binding translation for your convenience; the German version is legally authoritative.

1. Name and Contact Details of the Data Controller

The following privacy information applies to the processing of data by:

Controller:

2. Our Collection and Storage of Personal Data, and the Nature and Purpose of Its Use

Personal data means individual details about the personal or material circumstances of a specific or identifiable natural person.

Below we inform you whether, and when, data and personal data are collected from you:

a) When visiting our website

When you access our website, the browser used on your device automatically sends information to our website's server. This information is temporarily stored in a so-called log file.

The following information is collected without any action on your part and stored until it is automatically deleted:

• Date and time of access,
• Name and URL of the file accessed,
• Website from which access occurred (referrer URL),
• Browser used and, where applicable, the operating system of your device as well as the name of your access provider,

We process the data listed above for the following purposes:

• Ensuring a smooth connection to the website,
• Ensuring a comfortable use of our website,
• Evaluating system security and stability, and
• Other administrative purposes.

The legal basis for our data processing is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest follows from the purposes of data collection listed above.

Under no circumstances do we use the collected data for the purpose of drawing conclusions about your identity.

In addition, we use cookies and analytics services when you visit our website. Further explanations can be found under sections 4 and 5 of this privacy policy.

b) When contacting us via email/phone

When you contact us by email, by the phone number provided for this purpose, or by post, we store the data you provide in order to respond to your inquiry. Any data you provide to us as part of your inquiries or requests is provided voluntarily.

The processing of this data for the purpose of contacting us is carried out pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, based on your voluntarily given consent.

We delete the data collected in this context once storage is no longer necessary, or restrict its processing if statutory retention obligations apply.

c) When using our contact form

For any type of inquiry, we offer you the option of contacting us via a form provided on the website. A valid email address and your name are required so that we know who the inquiry is from and are able to respond to it. Providing any further personal data is optional.

The processing of this data for the purpose of contacting us is carried out pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, based on your voluntarily given consent.

The personal data collected for use of the contact form is automatically deleted once your inquiry has been dealt with, unless you have given explicit consent to further processing.

d) When using our web shop

If you wish to place an order in our shop, it is necessary for the conclusion of the contract that you provide the personal data we need to process your order. Mandatory information required for processing the contract is marked separately; any further information is voluntary.

We process the data you provide in order to process your order. For this purpose, we may pass your payment data on to our house bank. The legal basis for this is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

We may also process the data you provide in order to inform you about other products from our portfolio that may be of interest, or to send you emails containing technical information.

Due to commercial and tax law requirements, we are obliged to store your address, payment, and order data for a period of ten years. However, after two years we restrict processing, meaning your data will only be used to comply with statutory obligations.

To prevent unauthorized third-party access to your personal data, in particular financial data, the ordering process is encrypted using TLS/SSL technology.

e) Use of our forum

Our forum can be read without registration being required. However, if you wish to actively participate in the forum, you must register by providing your email address, a password of your choosing, and a freely chosen username.

There is no requirement to use your real name; pseudonymous use is possible. We use a so-called double opt-in procedure for registration, meaning your registration is only complete once you have confirmed it by clicking the link contained in a confirmation email sent to you for this purpose. If you do not confirm within [24 hours], your registration is automatically deleted from our database.

If you register a forum account, we store, until you deregister, your registration data as well as everything you post in the forum — public posts, entries, private messages, etc. — in order to operate the forum. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

If you delete your account, your public statements, in particular forum posts, will remain visible to all readers; however, your account will no longer be retrievable and will be marked accordingly in the forum. All other data will be deleted. If you would also like your public posts to be deleted, please contact the controller using the contact details given above.

f) Use of our newsletter

We use the services of MailChimp to send our newsletter. MailChimp is a newsletter distribution platform provided by the US company The Rocket Science Group, LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE #5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA, with servers located in the USA.

MailChimp receives your email address, your subscriber status, and the timestamps of your registration from us. This information is required to send and evaluate the newsletter. This allows us, for example, to send newsletters only to the target groups for whom the content is relevant, while other users do not receive notifications that are not of interest to them. According to its own statements, MailChimp may analyze the data itself in order to improve its service. However, MailChimp does not use your data to contact you directly and does not pass this data on to third parties.

In addition to the data we transmit to MailChimp, data is also collected within the service itself. It is recorded whether a newsletter was opened, whether a link within the newsletter was clicked, which device was used to open the newsletter, and from which location it was opened. If you unsubscribe from the newsletter, this is also recorded in MailChimp so that no further newsletters are sent to your address.

MailChimp is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield framework and undertakes to comply with the European Union's data protection requirements. You can read MailChimp's privacy policy at the following link: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy

Your consent is obtained during the registration process for the processing of this data. In connection with the data processing for sending newsletters, no data is passed on to third parties. The data is used exclusively for sending the newsletter.

Where the user has given consent, the legal basis for processing the data after registering for the newsletter is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR.

The data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required to achieve the purpose for which it was collected. The user's email address is therefore stored for as long as the newsletter subscription remains active.

We use a double opt-in procedure for newsletter registration. This means that we send a confirmation email to the address provided and ask you to verify your registration by clicking the confirmation link again. Once you confirm the link, you become a subscriber to our newsletter. Otherwise, you are recorded by us as a prospective subscriber and your data is deleted within 30 days.

You may cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. To do so, simply send us an email to have the unsubscription processed. This also allows you to revoke your consent to the storage of the personal data collected during the registration process.

3. Disclosure of Data

Your personal data is not transferred to third parties for purposes other than those listed below.

We only pass your personal data on to third parties if:

• you have given your explicit consent to do so pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR,
• disclosure is necessary pursuant to Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR for the assertion, exercise, or defense of legal claims, and there is no reason to assume that you have an overriding interest worthy of protection in your data not being disclosed,
• there is a legal obligation to disclose the data pursuant to Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR, or
• this is legally permissible and required pursuant to Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR for the performance of contractual relationships with you.

4. Cookies

We use cookies on our website. These are small files that your browser automatically creates and that are stored on your device (laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) when you visit our site. Cookies do not cause any damage to your device and do not contain viruses, trojans, or other malicious software.

Information is stored in the cookie that arises in connection with the specific device used. This does not mean, however, that we thereby gain direct knowledge of your identity. The use of cookies serves, on the one hand, to make using our offering more pleasant for you. For example, we use so-called session cookies to recognize that you have already visited individual pages of our website. These are automatically deleted when you leave our site.

In addition, to optimize user-friendliness, we also use temporary cookies that are stored on your device for a specific, defined period of time. If you visit our site again to use our services, it is automatically recognized that you have already visited us before, and which entries and settings you made, so that you do not have to enter them again.

We also use cookies to statistically record the use of our website and to evaluate it for the purpose of optimizing our offering for you (see section 5). These cookies enable us to automatically recognize, on a repeat visit to our site, that you have already been a visitor. These cookies are automatically deleted after a defined period of time.

The data processed via cookies is necessary for the aforementioned purposes of protecting our legitimate interests and those of third parties pursuant to Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Most browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can configure your browser so that no cookies are stored on your computer, or so that a notice always appears before a new cookie is created. Completely disabling cookies may, however, mean that you are unable to use all the functions of our website.

5. Analytics Tools

The tracking measures listed below and used by us are carried out on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. With the tracking measures used, we aim to ensure the needs-based design and ongoing optimization of our website.

We also use tracking measures to statistically record the use of our website and to evaluate it for the purpose of optimizing our offering for you. These interests are considered legitimate within the meaning of the aforementioned provision.

The respective data processing purposes and data categories can be found in the corresponding tracking tools.

Use of Google Analytics (with anonymization)

We use Google Analytics on our site, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, hereinafter "Google".

Google Analytics uses so-called "cookies", text files that are stored on your computer and that enable an analysis of your use of the website. The information generated by these cookies, such as the time, place, and frequency of your visits to the website, including your IP address, is transmitted to Google in the USA and stored there.

We use Google Analytics on our website with an IP anonymization function. In this case, your IP address is shortened by Google within member states of the European Union or in other signatory states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and thereby anonymized, before being transmitted further.

Google will use this information to evaluate your use of our website, to compile reports on website activity for us, and to provide us with further services related to website and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where third parties process this data on Google's behalf.

According to its own statements, Google will under no circumstances associate your IP address with other data held by Google. You can prevent the installation of cookies by adjusting your browser software accordingly; however, please note that in this case you may not be able to use all functions of our website to their full extent.

Google also offers a deactivation option for the most common browsers, giving you more control over which data is collected and processed by Google. If you activate this option, no information about your website visit will be transmitted to Google Analytics. Activating this option does not, however, prevent information from being transmitted to us or to any other web analytics services we may use.

Further information on the deactivation option provided by Google, and on activating it, is available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de

We have entered into a data processing agreement with Google.

6. Rights of Data Subjects

You have the right:

• pursuant to Art. 15 GDPR, to request information about your personal data processed by us. In particular, you may request information on the purposes of processing, the category of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data has been or will be disclosed, the planned storage period, the existence of a right to rectification, erasure, restriction of processing or objection, the existence of a right to lodge a complaint, the origin of your data if it was not collected by us, and the existence of automated decision-making including profiling and, where applicable, meaningful information about its details;
• pursuant to Art. 16 GDPR, to request the immediate correction of inaccurate or the completion of your personal data stored by us;
• pursuant to Art. 17 GDPR, to request the erasure of your personal data stored by us, unless processing is necessary for the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest, or for the assertion, exercise, or defense of legal claims;
• pursuant to Art. 18 GDPR, to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data, insofar as the accuracy of the data is disputed by you, the processing is unlawful but you refuse its erasure, we no longer need the data but you require it for the assertion, exercise, or defense of legal claims, or you have objected to the processing pursuant to Art. 21 GDPR;
• pursuant to Art. 20 GDPR, to receive the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, or to request that it be transmitted to another controller;
• pursuant to Art. 7(3) GDPR, to revoke consent you have given to us at any time. This means that we may no longer continue the data processing based on this consent for the future; and
• pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR, to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. As a rule, you may contact the supervisory authority of your usual place of residence or workplace, or the authority responsible for our company headquarters.

7. Right to Object

If your personal data is processed on the basis of legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, you have the right, pursuant to Art. 21 GDPR, to object to the processing of your personal data, provided there are grounds arising from your particular situation, or the objection is directed against direct marketing. In the latter case, you have a general right of objection, which we will implement without requiring you to state a particular situation.

If you would like to exercise your right of revocation or objection, an email to the email address given above is sufficient.

8. Data Security

When you visit our website, we use the common SSL (Secure Socket Layer) procedure in combination with the highest level of encryption supported by your browser. This is generally 256-bit encryption. If your browser does not support 256-bit encryption, we use 128-bit v3 technology instead. Whether an individual page of our website is transmitted in encrypted form can be seen from the closed display of the key or padlock symbol in the lower status bar of your browser.

We also employ suitable technical and organizational security measures to protect your data against accidental or intentional manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction, or unauthorized access by third parties.

We have implemented security standards to protect the personal information you provide to us using industry-standard technologies and practices. We regularly review our systems for potential vulnerabilities and attacks, and use an access-protected data center at the system level to protect the data you store on our servers.

However, as the internet is not a completely secure environment, we cannot guarantee or accept liability for the security of data you transmit to us over the internet.

There is no guarantee that information will not be accessed, or that information will not be disclosed, altered, or destroyed as a result of a breach of our physical, technical, and organizational security safeguards.

9. Deletion of Data

We would like to point out that the data we process is deleted or its processing restricted in accordance with Art. 17 and 18 GDPR (see further details under "Rights of Data Subjects"). Unless expressly stated otherwise in this privacy policy, data stored by us is deleted as soon as it is no longer required for its intended purpose and no statutory retention obligations preclude its deletion. Where data is not deleted because it is required for other, legally permissible purposes, its processing is restricted. This means the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be retained for commercial or tax law reasons. Under statutory requirements, retention periods are in particular 6 years pursuant to § 257(1) HGB (German Commercial Code — commercial books, inventories, opening balance sheets, annual financial statements, business letters, accounting documents, etc.) and 10 years pursuant to § 147(1) AO (German Fiscal Code — books, records, management reports, accounting documents, business and commercial letters, documents relevant for taxation, etc.).