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Privacy Policy

We take the protection of your personal information very seriously and handle your personal data confidentially and in accordance with the statutory Data Protection Regulations as well as this privacy policy.

The following information provides an overview of how we process your personal data and your rights under the Data Protection Law.

1. Who is responsible for data processing and who can I contact?

The responsible party is:

Democracy Reporting International gGmbH
Elbestraße 28/29
12045 Berlin, Germany
+49 (030) 27877300
+49 (030) 27877300-10
info@democracy-reporting.org

You may contact our external data protection officer at:

Democracy Reporting International gGmbH
Datenschutzbeauftragter
Elbestraße 28/29
12045 Berlin, Germany
privacy@democracy-reporting.org

2. To whom does this privacy policy apply?

This privacy policy applies to visitors to our website, including those seeking employment opportunities.

 3. Which data do we use and is it necessary to provide data?

When you send us an email or make use of our contact form, your message and email address will only be used to conduct correspondence with you. By responding to our job postings, it is necessary to process your personal data. This includes your contact information and the content of your application.

An email address must be provided to subscribe to the DRI newsletter or receive email updates. Additional data will be requested to verify the ownership of the email address as well as permission to receive the newsletter or updates. Further data will not be collected or only voluntarily. Any data provided is used exclusively for the delivery of requested information and will not be passed on to third parties.

Processing of data submitted through the newsletter registration form is based solely on your consent. Consent to the storage of any contact information used to send the newsletter or updates may be withdrawn at any time. Cancellation can be done via the link “unsubscribe” in the newsletter or on the website. Information submitted to us to obtain the newsletter will be stored by us until a cancellation request is made and deleted upon removal from the mailing list.

MailChimp

This website uses the services of Mailchimp to send out its newsletters. The provider is the Rocket Science Group LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Suite 5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA. 

Among other things, Mailchimp is a service that can be deployed to organise and analyse the sending of newsletters. Whenever you enter data for the purpose of subscribing to a newsletter (e.g. your e-mail address), the information is stored on Mailchimp servers in the United States. 

With the assistance of the Mailchimp tool, we can analyse the performance of our newsletter campaigns. If you open an e-mail that has been sent through the Mailchimp tool, a file that has been integrated into the e-mail (a so-called web beacon) connects to Mailchimp’s servers in the United States. As a result, it can be determined whether a newsletter message has been opened and which links the recipient possibly clicked on. Technical information is also recorded at that time (e.g. the time of access, the IP address, the type of browser and the operating system). This information cannot be allocated to the respective newsletter recipient. 

Their sole purpose is the performance of statistical analyses of newsletter campaigns. The results of such analyses can be used to tailor future newsletters to the interests of their recipients more effectively. 

If you do not want to permit an analysis by Mailchimp, you must unsubscribe from the newsletter. We provide a link for you to do this in every newsletter message. 

The data is processed based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You may revoke any consent you have given at any time by unsubscribing from the newsletter. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data processing transactions that have taken place prior to your revocation. 

The data deposited with us for the purpose of subscribing will be stored until you unsubscribe from the newsletter or the newsletter service provider, deleting yourself from our distribution list. Data stored for other purposes remain unaffected. 

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://mailchimp.com/eu-us-data-transfer-statement and https://mailchimp.com/legal/data-processing-addendum/#Annex_C_-_Standard_Contractual_Clauses. 

After you unsubscribe from the newsletter distribution list, your e-mail address may be stored by us or the newsletter service provider in a blacklist if such action is necessary to prevent future mailings. The data from the blacklist is used only for this purpose and not merged with other data. This serves both your interest and our interest in complying with the legal requirements when sending newsletters (legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The storage in the blacklist is indefinite. You may object to the storage if your interests outweigh our legitimate interests. 

For more details, please consult the Data Privacy Policies of Mailchimp at: https://mailchimp.com/legal/terms/.

Data processing

We have concluded a data processing agreement (DPA) for the use of the above-mentioned service. This is a contract mandated by data privacy laws that guarantees that they process personal data of our website visitors only based on our instructions and in compliance with the GDPR. 

Job Applicants

Democracy Reporting International gGmbH processes the personal data of job applicants in order to carry out the application and selection procedure in accordance with the employment standards of § 26 BDSG. Application documents will only be submitted to the employees of Democracy Reporting International gGmbH involved in the application process for the purpose of selecting a candidate.

If Democracy Reporting International gGmbH does not create an employment contract with the applicant, all application documents will be deleted after six months following the notification of rejection. Documents are not deleted immediately after notification due to legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 f EU GDPR for the storage of documents.

Beyond the aforementioned six months, we only keep the documents longer if explicitly agreed upon with the applicant. In order to be considered for the recruiting process, an applicant necessarily shares their data.

4. For what purposes and on what legal basis do we use your information?

We process your personal data in accordance with the provisions of the General Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the German Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (BDSG). Please take note of information about the right to object under Article 21 EU GDPR.

 a) For the fulfilment of contractual obligations (Art. 6 para. 1b EU GDPR)

The processing of personal data takes place in order to carry out pre-contractual measures, which are carried out at your request.

b) In the context of the balance of interests (Art. 6 para. 1f EU GDPR)

If necessary, we process your information beyond the actual fulfilment of the contract for the protection of legitimate interests of us or third parties. Examples:

  • Asserting legal claims and defence in the event of legal disputes
  • Ensuring IT security

c) On the basis of your consent (Art. 6 para. 1a EU GDPR)

Insofar as you have consented to the processing of your personal data for specific purposes (e.g. subscribing to the newsletter), the legality of this process is based on your consent. Granted consent may be withdrawn at any time. Please note that the revocation only applies after the fact. Processing that occurred before the revocation is not affected.

d) To establish an employment relationship (§ 26 BDSG)

Your application information is used to decide upon an offer of employment.

5. Who accesses my data?

Only those within Democracy Reporting International who need to access your information to fulfil our contractual and legal obligations may do so. Our service providers may also process information for the same reasons so long as they maintain confidentiality and adhere to our data protection instructions.

6. Is data transmitted to a third country?

A transfer of data to countries outside the EU or the EEA, in so-called third countries, does not take place unless the transmission is necessary for the establishment or execution of a contract.

7. How long is my data saved?

We process and save your personal data as long as necessary for the fulfilment of our contractual and legal obligations. Data that is no longer necessary for the fulfilment of contractual or legal obligations are routinely deleted. An exception is when temporary, further processing is required in accordance with commercial and tax retention periods, such as the Commercial Code and the Tax Code. The time frame for storage and documentation specified therein is six to ten years.

8. What are my data protection rights?

You have the right to information under Article 15 EU GDPR, the right to rectification under Article 16 EU GDPR, the right to cancellation under Article 17 EU GDPR, the right to restriction of processing under Article 18 EU GDPR, the right to object under Article 21 EU GDPR and the right to data portability under Article 20 EU GDPR. Additionally, there is the right of appeal to a data protection supervisory authority (Article 77 GDPR; § 19 BDSG).

A list of supervisory authorities and their contact details can be found at the following link: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html

You may withdraw your consent to the processing of personal data at any time. Please note that the revocation only applies after the fact. Processing that occurred before the revocation is not affected. You can find more information about the right to object under Article 21 EU GDPR.

To exercise your rights, please use the contact for our data protection officer mentioned above.

9. Is it necessary to provide data?

Upon entering into a business partnership or providing a service, personal data necessary to conduct said business partnership or service and fulfil any related contractual obligations, or that we are required to collect by law, must be provided. Without this data, a contract or order will be rejected. In the case of an existing contract, it can no longer proceed and must be terminated.

10. Is there automated decision-making, including profiling?

In principle, we do not use fully-automated decision-making, including profiling, in accordance with Article 22 EU GDPR.

11. Information about your right to object under Article 21 EU GDPR

a) Case-specific right to object

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for reasons that may arise from your special circumstances. The prerequisite for this is that the data processing takes place in the public interest or on the basis of a balance of interests. This also applies to profiling. In the event of an objection, we will no longer process your personal data, unless we can provide compelling legitimate grounds for processing the data that outweigh your interests, rights and freedoms. Or if your personal data serves the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims.

b) Against the processing of your data for direct mail 

In individual cases, we may use your personal data for our direct mail. You have the right to object to this at any time. This also applies to profiling when it comes to direct mail. In the event of an objection, we will no longer process your personal data for these purposes. The objection can be made form-free or through our objection form and should be directed to the above-mentioned data protection officer.   

12. What data is processed when using the website?

a) Usage-related information

We receive data through the use of our website. This includes information such as screen resolution, browser version, internet access, operating system, language, plugins used, country/region of origin and search engines used. The stored data will only be evaluated for statistical purposes. A transfer to third parties and a user-related evaluation does not take place.

b) Use of cookies

Cookies are text files stored on your computer that allow us to facilitate navigation when accessing different pages on the website. Cookies expire at the end of the session and do not contain any personal information, meaning the contents of cookies are not used to evaluate users. You can set your browser so that you only allow cookies on a case-by-case basis or not at all.

Cookies that are required to carry out the electronic communication process or to provide certain functions (e.g. registration, payment processing) are processed according to Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f EU GDPR. In this case, cookies are stored to improve the usability of our website. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

13. How secure is my data?

In order to protect the personal data of website users, we use a secure online transmission method called “Secure Socket Layer” (SSL) transmission. All information transmitted using this secure method is encrypted before being sent. Your personal data will be processed exclusively on security technologies using industry standards (e.g. firewalls, password protection, access control, etc.) data centres and computers.

14. Which plugins and tools are used on the website?

Google Analytics 

This website uses functions of the web analysis service Google Analytics. The provider of this service is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. 

Google Analytics enables the website operator to analyse the behaviour patterns of website visitors. To that end, the website operator receives a variety of user data, such as pages accessed, time spent on the page, the utilised operating system and the user’s origin. This data is summarised in a user ID and assigned to the respective end device of the website visitor. Furthermore, Google Analytics allows us to record your mouse and scroll movements and clicks, among other things. Google Analytics uses various modelling approaches to augment the collected data sets and uses machine learning technologies in data analysis. 

Google Analytics uses technologies that make the recognition of the user for the purpose of analysing user behaviour patterns (e.g., cookies or device fingerprinting). The information collected on our website and recorded by Google is transferred and stored on a Google server in the United States.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time. Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/controllerterms/mccs/. 

IP anonymisation 

On this website, we have activated the IP anonymisation function. As a result, your IP address will be abbreviated by Google within the member states of the European Union or in other states that have ratified the Convention on the European Economic Area prior to its transmission to the United States. The full IP address will be transmitted to one of Google’s servers in the United States and abbreviated there only in exceptional cases. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google shall use this information to analyse your use of this website to generate reports on website activities and to render other services to the operator of this website and the Internet. The IP address transmitted in conjunction with Google Analytics from your browser shall not be merged with other data in Google’s possession. 

Browser plug-in 

You can prevent the recording and processing of your data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. For more information about the handling of user data by Google Analytics, please consult Google’s Data Privacy Declaration at: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en. 

Google Signals 

We use Google Signals. Whenever you visit our website, Google Analytics records, among other things, your location, the progression of your search and YouTube progression, as well as demographic data (site visitor data). This data may be used for customised advertising with the assistance of Google Signal. If you have a Google account, your site visitor information will be linked to your Google account by Google Signal and used to send you customised promotional messages. The data is also used to compile anonymised statistics of our users’ online patterns. 

Demographic parameters provided by Google Analytics 

This website uses the “demographic characteristics” function of Google Analytics to be able to display the website visitor-compatible ads within the Google advertising network. This allows reports to be created that contain information about the age, gender, and interests of the website visitors. The sources of this information are interest-related advertising by Google as well as visitor data obtained from third-party providers. This data cannot be allocated to a specific individual. You have the option to deactivate this function at any time by making pertinent settings changes for advertising in your Google account, or you can generally prohibit the recording of your data by Google Analytics as explained in the section “Objection to the recording of data”. 

Contract data processing 

We have executed a contract data processing agreement with Google and are implementing the stringent provisions of the German data protection agencies to the fullest when using Google Analytics. 

Google Analytics E-Commerce-Tracking 

This website uses the “E-Commerce Tracking” function of Google Analytics. With the assistance of E-Commerce Tracking, the website operator is in a position to analyse the purchasing patterns of website visitors with the aim of improving the operator’s online marketing campaigns. In this context, information, such as the orders placed, the average order values, shipping costs and the time from viewing the product to making the purchasing decision, are tracked. These data may be consolidated by Google under a transaction ID, which is allocated to the respective user or the user’s device.

Google Tag Manager 

We use Google Tag Manager. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. 

The Google Tag Manager is a tool that allows us to integrate tracking or statistical tools and other technologies on our website. The Google Tag Manager itself does not create any user profiles, does not store cookies, and does not carry out any independent analyses. It only manages and runs the tools integrated via it. However, the Google Tag Manager does collect your IP address, which may also be transferred to Google’s parent company in the United States. 

The Google Tag Manager is used on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the quick and uncomplicated integration and administration of various tools on his website. If appropriate consent has been obtained, the processing is carried out exclusively on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TTDSG, insofar the consent includes the storage of cookies or the access to information in the user’s end device (e.g., device fingerprinting) within the meaning of the TTDSG. This consent can be revoked at any time.