Data Protection Notice

in accordance with EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

for the website of OpenTalk GmbH

 

We at OpenTalk GmbH take data protection very seriously. Since 1992 we have specialized in secure data exchange and the protection of your private sphere. Data protection is not an annoying evil for us, but a political conviction, task and mission. Nevertheless, we also must collect and store certain data to ensure the smooth operation of the servers and thus the security of your data. Furthermore, we also need to be able to answer your questions to prove that our systems are working properly and that we have delivered our services to you. In the following, we will fully explain to you where, how long and for what we process data.

The processing of personal data, such as name, address, email address or phone number of a Data Subject, is always carried out in conformity with the General Data Protection Regulation and in accordance with the German data protection provisions applicable to OpenTalk GmbH. By issuing this data protection notice, we would like to inform you about the type, scope and purpose of the personal data collected, used and processed by us. Furthermore, we inform you about your rights in this data protection notice.

OpenTalk GmbH, as the data processing controller, has implemented numerous technical and organizational measures to ensure the most complete possible protection of the processed personal data. Nevertheless, internet-based data transmissions can have security gaps so that absolute protection cannot be guaranteed. For this reason, every Data Subject is free to transmit personal data to us by alternative means, for example by phone.

 

1. Definitions

OpenTalk GmbH’s data protection nitice is based on the terms used by the issuers of the European directives and regulations in the adopted General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our data protection notice should be easy to read and understand both for the public and for our customers and business partners. To ensure this, we would like to explain the terms used in advance.

We use the following terms, among others, in this data protection notice:

Personal data

This includes all information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter: “Data Subject”). A natural person is viewed as identifiable if he or she can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by assignment to an identifier such as a name, ID number, location data, online ID or one or more particular characteristics that express the physical, physiological, genetic, psychological, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

Data Subject

A Data Subject is any identified or identifiable natural person whose personal data is processed by the data processing controller.

Processing

This means any operation carried out, with or without the aid of automated procedures, or any such series of operations in connection with personal data such as the collection, recording, organization, arrangement, storage, adaptation or modification, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or any other form of provision, comparison or linking, restriction, erasure or destruction.

Restriction of processing

Restriction of processing is the marking of the stored personal data with the aim of restricting its future processing.

Profiling

Profiling is any form of automated processing of personal data consisting in the use of such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyze or predict aspects relating to the performance of work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location or change in location of this natural person.

Pseudonymization

This means the processing of personal data in a manner in which the personal data can no longer be assigned to a specific Data Subject without the use of additional information, provided that this additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organizational measures ensuring that the personal data is not assigned to an identified or identifiable natural person.

Controller or controller for processing

This is the natural person or legal entity, body, institution or other agency that alone or together with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data. Where the purposes and means of such processing are laid down by European Union law or by the law of the Member States, the controller or the specific criteria for his or her appointment may be laid down in accordance with European Union law or the law of the Member States.

Processor

The processor is a natural person or legal entity, authority, institution or other body that processes personal data on behalf of the controller.

Recipient

The recipient is a natural person or legal entity, authority, institution or other body to which personal data is disclosed, regardless of whether or not it is a third party. However, authorities that may receive personal data under European Union law or the law of the Member States within the framework of a particular investigation mandate shall not be regarded as recipients.

Third party

A third party is a natural person or legal entity, authority, institution or other body that processes personal data and is not the Data Subject, the controller, the processor or persons authorized to process the personal data under the direct responsibility of the controller or the processor.

Consent

Consent shall be any informed and unequivocal expression of will voluntarily given by the Data Subject in the particular case in the form of a declaration or other clear affirmative act by which the Data Subject indicates his or her consent to the processing of personal data concerning him or her.

 

2. Name and address of the body responsible for processing under the GDPR:

OpenTalk GmbH

Schwedter Straße 9a

10119 Berlin

Germany

E-Mail: mail@opentalk.eu

Website: https://opentalk.eu

 

3. Collection of general data and information

Our web servers collect various kinds of general data and information each time you visit our website. This general data and information is stored in the log files of the server. The web servers may record (1) the browser types and versions used, (2) the operating system used by the accessing system, (3) the website from which an accessing system reaches our website (so-called referrer), (4) the sub-websites which are accessed via an accessing system on our website, (5) the date and time of access of the website, (6) an internet protocol address (IP address), (7) the internet service provider of the accessing system, and (8) other similar data and information used for security purposes in the event of attacks on our information technology systems.

When using this general data and information, OpenTalk GmbH does not draw any conclusions about the Data Subject. Rather, this information is required to (1) correctly deliver the contents of our website, (2) optimise the contents of our website, (3) ensure the long-term functionality of our information technology systems and the technology of our website and (4) provide law enforcement authorities with the information necessary for criminal prosecution in the event of a cyber attack. The anonymously collected data and information is therefore evaluated by us statistically and also with the aim of increasing data protection and data security in our company in order to ultimately ensure an optimum level of protection for the personal data processed by us. The anonymous data of the server log files is stored separately from all personal data provided by a Data Subject.

 

4. Registration on our website

You have the option of registering on our website by providing personal data. Which personal data is transmitted to us results from the respective input mask used for registration. The personal data you enter will be collected and stored for internal use only and for our own purposes.

By registering on our website, the IP address assigned by your Internet service provider (ISP), the date and time of registration are also saved. This data is stored to prevent misuse of our services and, if necessary, to enable criminal offenses that have been committed to be investigated. In this respect, the storage of this data is necessary to protect the person responsible for processing. This data will not be passed on to third parties unless there is a legal obligation to pass it on or the passing on is for criminal prosecution.



Your registration with the voluntary provision of personal data enables us to offer you content or services that can only be offered to registered users. Registered users are free to change the personal data provided during registration at any time or to have it completely deleted from the database.

On request, we will provide you with information about what personal data we have stored about you at any time. Furthermore, we correct or delete personal data at the request or notice of the person. Our customer support staff are available to you.

 

5. Cookies and website analytics with Matomo

On the website https://opentalk.eu, we use “Matomo”, an open source software for statistical evaluation of visitor access. We operate our own Matomo system because we expressly want to do without the otherwise common analysis by Google Analytics. We use Matomo to analyze where visitors to our website come from, what content is relevant to you and where there may be problems with our website. We do not conduct any specific observations of our users as identifiable persons. All data including the IP address is stored exclusively anonymously. Matomo is operated by us without cookies.

When using our services (after the customer logs in), only technical cookies are used. These are absolutely necessary for the function of the systems.

 

6. Other services and trackers

In some places we link to our films, which we let Vimeo and YouTube host. Links are integrated in the extended data protection mode. This means that as less data as possible is transferred to the external host. When the video start, the external host set cookies on your device. You can find the data protection notices oft the external providers here: Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/privacy) and here: YouTube (https://policies.google.com/privacy).

The Vimeo video player triggers an alarm on some anti-tracking systems because it can send video quality statistics to the manufacturer Conviva (Conviva’s data protection notice). Unfortunately, we do not know any way to get around this.

 

7. Contact options via the websites

Due to legal regulations, the websites of OpenTalk GmbH contain information that enables rapid electronic contact with our company and direct communication with us, which also includes a general address for so-called electronic mail (email address). If you contact us by email or via a contact form, the personal data transmitted by you will be stored automatically. Such personal data transmitted by you to us on a voluntary basis will be stored for the purposes of processing or contacting you.

Your inquiries will be processed by us or our sales partners. We have carefully selected our sales partners and concluded an order GDPR processing contract with them to ensure data protection.

 

8. Routine erasure and lock-up of personal data

We process and store personal data only for the period necessary to achieve the storage purpose or to the extent that such has been laid out by European issuers of directives and regulations or any other legislator in laws or requirements to which the data processing controller is subject to. The criterion for the duration of the storage of personal data is the respective legal retention period. After the expiry of this period, the corresponding data will be routinely erased, provided that it is no longer necessary for the fulfil or initiation of the contract.

If the storage purpose ceases to apply or if a storage period prescribed by European issuers of directives and regulations or any other responsible legislator expires, the personal data is routinely locked-up or erased in accordance with the statutory provisions. Specifically, you will find our respective erasure periods for the various data categories here:

 

Type: web server / web portal / administration interface

• Stored data: IP address, session IDs, browser-transmitted identifiers such as browser version, screen size, etc.
• Purpose: protection against misuse and unauthorised access, troubleshooting of technical problems, improvement of our offers and products
• Erasure period: after 4 days, anonymised counting data: after 2 years
• Access by: system administration, support/help desk, programmers, anonymous counting data: marketing

 

Type: Video conferencing system OpenTalk / OTaaS

• Stored data: IP addresses, browser and session IDs, login time, other data passed by the browser, all inputs made by the customer, chat, audio and video data
• Purpose: provision of services under the contract
• Data will be deleted: as soon as the video conference room is deleted by the customer
• Accessed by: system administration, support/helpdesk

 

Type: mail server SMTP, spam and virus filters

• Stored data: sender, recipient, message ID and size of a sent or received email. Parts of the content or subject of an email are not stored in this context
• Purpose: to verify that the emails entrusted to us have been correctly delivered/received if users complain about the loss of an email, and to protect against misuse.
• Erasure period: after 7 days.
• Access by: system administration, support/help desk

 

Type: mail server POP3/IMAP

• Stored data: what account has logged in when from what IP address. If emails are erased, the message ID and size of the erased email are stored. When an email is moved to another IMAP folder, the message ID and size of the email and where it was moved from and to are saved. No contents of the email are logged in this context.
• Purpose: to verify whether unauthorised access to a mailbox has taken place or why and how an email has been erased if users complain about the loss of an email and protection against misuse. 

  If the user grants direct debit authorisation or if external payment services are used, bank data or transfer IDs are stored.

• Erasure period: after 4 days.
• Access by: system administration, support/help desk

 

Type: Customer support

• Stored data: emails including content and, if applicable, attachment in ticket system
• Optional data: if specified by you, including street/building number, postal code/city or town, country, optional callback phone number, alternative email address, list oft desired newsletters.
• Purpose: provision of service in customer support, traceability, verifiability and documentation of contracts and agreements
• 2 years after the end of the calendar year (statutory expiry claims)
• Access by: system administration, support/help desk, programmer

 

Typ: Matomo webanalysis

• Stored data: IP-Addresses (anonymized), other date your Browser submitted
• Purpose: Counting and displaying access to, as well as analyzing and improving our websites.
• Erasure period: 2 years
• Access by: system administrators, marketing staff

 

Type: Mastodon instance

• Stored data: Time of access, IP address, session IDs, identifiers transmitted by the browser such as browser version, screen size, etc.
• Purpose: Protection against misuse and unauthorized access, troubleshooting of technical problems, improvement of our offers and products.
• Erasure peroid: 4 days, anonymized count data: 2 years.
• Access by: System administration, support/helpdesk, programmers, anonymized count data: Marketing

Cookies are used for the functionality of our Mastodon instance. These are purely technical cookies that are used to recognize users, or for registered users to navigate to different sub-pages of the instance without having to log in again each time. None of the cookies used serve to analyze and/or track the usage behavior of the persons concerned. All cookies used are exclusively so-called session cookies.

• If you use your own Mastodon account and follow an account on our Mastodon instance, it is necessary for the functionality of Mastodon to process and store this information. Mastodon displays this information on the respective profile page. When you interact with an account on that Mastodon instance, it is necessary to process and store or cache this information. This data includes your own information such as the account name and your profile picture as well as the type of interaction, e.g. your comment.
• The data you enter on Mastodon, in particular your profile name and the content published under your account, will be processed by us to the extent that we may retoot or reply to your Toots or even post Toots from us that link to your account. The data published and disseminated by you on Mastodon is thus included by us in our offer and made available to our followers.
• Other Mastodon instances submit information to us such as about comments and other interactions. We process this information and store it temporarily. The other Mastodon instances also transmit to us when they have deleted a comment, for example. Our Mastodon instance then also deletes it automatically.
• The recipient of postings is the public, potentially everyone. When you share or recommend a post on Mastodon, this is visible to everyone who follows you. If you reply to ours, you can set yourself (as with your own posts) who this is visible to.

 

9. Overview of your rights

Right to confirmation

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data has the right to receive a confirmation from us as to whether personal data concerning him or her is processed. This data protection notice transparently discloses all the processing reasons and locations. If you still want to exercise your right to confirmation, please contact our customer support. The processing of these inquiries causes considerable effort. Please refrain from fun requests.

 

Right to information

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data has the right to receive free information about the personal data stored in regard to his or her person and a copy of this information at any time. This information includes:

• the purposes of processing
• the categories of personal data to be processed
• the recipients or categories of recipients to whom the personal data has been or is still being disclosed, in particular recipients in third countries or international organisations, if possible
• the planned duration for which the personal data will be stored or, if this is not possible, the criteria for determining this duration
• the existence of a right to have your personal data concerning you rectified or erased or to have its processing restricted by the controller or to object to this processing
• the existence of a right of appeal to a supervisory authority
• if the personal data is not collected from the Data Subject: all available information about the origin of the data
• the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling in accordance with Article 22 (1) and (4) GDPR and – at least in these cases – meaningful information on the logic involved and the scope and intended effects of such processing for the Data Subject
• the Data Subject also has a right to know whether personal data has been transferred to a third country or to an international organisation. If this is the case, the Data Subject also has the right to obtain information about the appropriate guarantees in connection with the transfer.

We are already providing a large part of this information in this data protection notice. In the settings areas of our providers, you will find a data protection information portal that summarises your additional data stored by us.

 

Right to rectification

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data has the right to request the immediate rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning him or her. Furthermore, the Data Subject has the right to request the completion of incomplete personal data, including by means of a supplementary declaration, with consideration given to the purpose of the processing.

If you would like to make use of this right to rectification, please contact our customer support.

 

Right to erasure (right to be forgotten)

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data shall have the right to require the controller to erase the personal data concerning him or her immediately, provided that one of the following reasons applies and insofar as the processing is not necessary:

• The personal data has been collected or otherwise processed for purposes for which it is no longer necessary.
• The Data Subject revokes his or her consent on which the processing was based in accordance with Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR or Article 9 (2) (a) GDPR, and there is no other legal basis for the processing.
• The Data Subject objects to the processing in accordance with Article 21 (1) GDPR and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for processing, or the Data Subject objects to processing in accordance with Article 21 (2) GDPR.
• The personal data has been processed unlawfully.
• The erasure of personal data is necessary to fulfil a legal obligation under European Union law or the law of the Member State to which the controller is subject.
• The personal data was collected in relation to the offered services of the information company in accordance with Article 8 (1) GDPR.

If one of the above-mentioned reasons applies and you wish to have personal data stored at OpenTalk GmbH erased, please contact our customer support.

If the personal data has been made public by OpenTalk GmbH and our company is obliged to erase the personal data as the controller in accordance with Article 17 (1) GDPR, OpenTalk GmbH shall take into account the available technology and the implementation costs and adopt appropriate measures, including technical measures, to inform other data processing controllers – where they process the published personal data – that the Data Subject has requested that all links to this personal data or copies or duplicates of this personal data be erased by these other data processing controllers if processing is not necessary. Our customer support will arrange for the necessary action in the individual case.

 

Right to restriction of processing

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data shall have the right to require the restriction of the processing by the controller if one of the following conditions is met:

• The accuracy of the personal data is disputed by the Data Subject for a period that enables the controller to verify the accuracy of the personal data.
• The processing is unlawful; the Data Subject refuses to erase the personal data and instead requests a restriction on the use of the personal data.
• The controller no longer needs the personal data for the purposes of the processing, but the Data Subject needs it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
• The Data Subject has lodged an objection to the processing in accordance with Article 21 (1) GDPR, and it has not yet been determined whether the legitimate reasons of the controller outweigh those of the Data Subject.

If one of the above-mentioned reasons applies and you wish to have personal data stored at OpenTalk GmbH restricted, please contact our customer support.

 

Right to data portability

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data has the right to receive in a structured, commonly-used and machine-readable format the personal data concerning him or her, if the Data Subject provided the controller with personal data. The Data Subject also has the right to transfer such data to another controller without hindrance by the controller to whom the personal data has been provided, if the processing is based on the consent laid out in Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR or Article 9 (2) (a) GDPR or on a contract in accordance with Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR, and the processing is carried out using automated procedures, unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task in the public interest or in the exercise of public authority conferred on the controller.

Furthermore, in exercising his or her right to data portability in accordance with Article 20 (1) GDPR, the Data Subject has the right to effect that the personal data be transferred directly by a controller to another controller, if such is technically feasible and the rights and freedoms of other persons are not affected thereby.

The data stored on you by us can be retrieved via standard protocols (*DAV, POP3/IMAP, etc.) and can be transferred to third parties in this way. The remaining data can be accessed via the data protection information portal.

 

Right to object

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data has the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning him or her on the basis of Article 6 (1) (e) or (f) GDPR on grounds arising from his or her particular situation. OpenTalk GmbH will no longer process personal data in the event of an objection, unless we can prove compelling reasons worthy of protection for the processing, which outweigh the interests, rights and freedoms of the Data Subject, or the processing is intended to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

If OpenTalk GmbH processes personal data in order to carry out direct marketing, the Data Subject has the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data for the purpose of such marketing. This also applies to profiling insofar as it is connected with such direct marketing. If the Data Subject objects to OpenTalk GmbH processing for direct marketing purposes, OpenTalk GmbH will no longer process the personal data for these purposes. However, OpenTalk GmbH does not process any personal data for these purposes.

Furthermore, the Data Subject has the right to object to the processing of personal data concerning him or her where such is carried out at OpenTalk GmbH for scientific or historical research purposes or for statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89 (1) GDPR on grounds arising from his or her particular situation, unless such processing is necessary to fulfil a task in the public interest. However, OpenTalk GmbH does not process any personal data for these purposes.

To exercise your right to object, please contact our customer support.

 

Automated decisions in individual cases including profiling

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data has the right not to be subject to a decision based exclusively on automated processing, including profiling, where such a decision has a legal effect with respect to him or her or significantly affects him or her in a similar manner, unless the decision (1) is necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract between the Data Subject and the controller, or (2) is admissible under European Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject and that law contains appropriate measures to protect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the Data Subject, or (3) with the express consent of the Data Subject.

If the decision (1) is necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract between the Data Subject and the controller or (2) is made with the express consent of the Data Subject, OpenTalk GmbH shall take appropriate measures to protect the rights and freedoms as well as the legitimate interests of the Data Subject, including at least the right to effect the intervention of a person on the side of the controller, to state his or her own position and to challenge the decision.

However, OpenTalk GmbH does not process any personal data for these purposes.

 

Right to revoke consent under data protection law

Every Data Subject affected by the processing of personal data has the right to revoke consent to the processing of personal data at any time. If you would like to exercise your right to revoke your consent, please contact our customer support. Please note that a revocation of your data protection consent may make it impossible for us to continue your contract.

 

10. Data protection in the case of applications and in the application procedure

OpenTalk GmbH collects and processes the personal data of applicants for the purpose of executing the application procedure. Processing may also be carried out electronically. This is particularly the case if an applicant submits corresponding application documents to us by electronic means, for example by email or via a web form on the website. If we conclude an employment contract with an applicant, the data transferred will be stored for the purposes of processing the employment relationship in compliance with the statutory provisions. If we do not conclude an employment contract with the applicant, the application documents will be automatically erased two months after notification of the rejection decision, provided that no other legitimate interests of the data processing controller stand in the way of erasure.

 

11. Marketing, market research

We use the e-mail and postal addresses and phone numbers of our prospective and existing customers for advice and for self-promotion of our products and services. For this we use subcontractors with whom we have concluded Data Processing Agreements. The legal basis for this is the legitimate interest according to Art. 6, (1 f) DS-GVO. You can object to this processing at any time. In the case of telephone advertising, consent is obtained beforehand. To object, send an e-mail to privacy@opentalk.eu.

 

12. Legal basis of processing

• Article 6 (I) (a) GDPR is the legal basis for the processing operations at our company when we obtain consent for a certain processing purpose. If the processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the Data Subject is a contractual party, as is the case, for example, with processing operations necessary for the delivery of goods or the provision of other services or a consideration, the processing is based on Article 6 (I) (b) GDPR. The same applies to those processing operations that are necessary to carry out pre-contractual measures, for example in cases of enquiries about our products or services. If our company is subject to a legal obligation that requires the processing of personal data, for example to fulfil tax obligations, the processing is based on Article 6 (I) (c) GDPR. In rare cases, the processing of personal data may become necessary to protect the vital interests of the Data Subject or another natural person. This would be the case, for example, if a visitor were injured at our company, and his or her name, age, health insurance data or other vital information had to be passed on to a doctor, a hospital or other third parties. The processing would then be based on Article 6 (I) (d) GDPR. Ultimately, processing operations could be based on Article 6 (I) (f) GDPR. Processing operations that are not covered by any of the aforementioned legal bases are based on this legal basis if processing is necessary to protect a legitimate interest of our company or a third party, provided that the interests, fundamental rights and freedoms of the Data Subject do not outweigh our own. We are permitted to undertake such processing operations because they have been specifically mentioned by European legislation. In this respect, legislation adopts the position that a legitimate interest could be assumed if the Data Subject is a customer of the controller (Recital 47 (2) GDPR).
• Legitimate interests in the processing pursued by the Controller or a third party
• If the processing of the personal data is based on Article 6 (I) (f) GDPR, it is in our legitimate interest to conduct our business for the well-being of all our employees and stakeholders.
• Legal or contractual provisions on providing personal data; necessity for the conclusion of the contract; obligation of the Data Subject to provide the personal data; possible consequences of failure to provide it
• We inform you that the provision of personal data is partly required by law (e.g. tax regulations) or may also result from contractual regulations (e.g. information on contractual partner). In some cases, it may be necessary for the conclusion of a contract that a Data Subject provides us with personal data that must subsequently be processed by us. For example, the Data Subject is obliged to provide us with personal data if our company concludes a contract with the Data Subject. Failure to provide personal data would mean that the contract with the Data Subject could not be concluded. Prior to the provision of personal data by the Data Subject, the Data Subject must contact one of our employees. Our employee will inform the Data Subject on a case-by-case basis whether the provision of personal data is required by law or contract or required for the conclusion of the contract, whether there is an obligation to provide the personal data and what consequences the failure to provide the personal data would have.
• As a responsible company, we refrain from automatic decision-making or profiling.

 

13. Our data protection officer

A company data protection officer has been appointed for our company. You can reach our data protection officer at:

privacy@opentalk.eu

 

As of: 26 Jun. 2023