Privacy Notice
Introduction
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy attaches great importance to the responsible handling of personal data. We want users to know when their data is collected and how it is used.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy operates this website <a href="https://invest-in-germany.com">https://invest-in-germany.com</a>, on which it informs the public about its activities and provides information on investment opportunities in Germany.
We process personal data only to the extent necessary. Which data is required and processed, for what purpose and on what basis, depends largely on the type of service you use and the purpose for which the data is required.
We have implemented technical and organisational measures to ensure that data protection regulations are observed both by us and by our external service providers.
The processing of personal data at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is carried out in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).
1. General Information
1.1 Data controller and data protection officer
The controller responsible for the processing of personal data in connection with this website is the
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Department VB1 Foreign Trade and Investment Promotion (VB1) Unit Scharnhorststr. 34–37 10115 Berlin Postal address: 11019 Berlin Email: info@bmwe.bund.de Website: www.bundeswirtschaftsministerium.de Telephone: +49 (0)30 18615 0
If you have specific questions regarding the protection of your data at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, please contact the Data Protection Officer at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy:
Data Protection Officer at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Scharnhorststr. 34–37 10115 Berlin Email: datenschutzbeauftragte@bmwe.bund.de
If you use the "Stay connected" function on this website to register for the receipt of information and invitations from the stakeholders of Invest in Germany, the following entity is responsible for the collection and processing of the personal data collected in this context:
Germany Trade & Invest – Gesellschaft für Außenwirtschaft und Standortmarketing mbH (GTAI) Friedrichstraße 60 10117 Berlin T. +49 30 200 099 0 F. +49 30 200 099 812
Email: office@gtai.com Website: www.gtai.de
You can contact the Data Protection Officer at Germany Trade & Invest by post at the above address, marked for the attention of the "Data Protection Officer".
Once your registration is complete, your data will be passed on by GTAI to the other parties involved in Invest in Germany (the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and other federal entities), who will use it as independent data controllers for the purposes described in the consent form. Further information can be found under point 3.
1.2 Personal data
Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. A natural person is considered identifiable if they can be identified, directly or indirectly – in particular by association with an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data or an online identifier.
1.3 Legal basis for the processing of personal data
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy processes personal data in the course of carrying out its public-interest duties. The public duties of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy include, in particular, public relations work, which encompasses, amongst other things, the provision of information to the public via this website [URL]. The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1)(e) and (3)(b) of the GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).
Where we obtain the data subject's consent for the processing of personal data, Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR serves as the legal basis.
2. Data processing in connection with visits to this website
2.1 Data collection
Each time a user accesses our website and each time a file is retrieved, data relating to this process is temporarily processed in a log file. Specifically, the following data is stored for each access or retrieval:
- Date and time of the retrieval (timestamp), as well as the IP address of the accessing device or server;
- Request details and destination address (protocol version, HTTP method, referrer, user agent string);
- Name of the file retrieved and amount of data transferred (requested URL including query string, size in bytes);
- Indication of whether the retrieval was successful (HTTP status code).
Pursuant to Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR in conjunction with Section 5 of the BSI Act, we are obliged to store this data beyond the time of your visit in order to protect against attacks on the internet infrastructure of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the federal government's communications technology. This data is analysed and is required in the event of attacks on the communications technology to initiate legal and criminal proceedings. The data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for the fulfilment of these tasks.
Data logged during access to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy's website will only be disclosed to third parties where we are legally obliged to do so or where such disclosure is necessary for legal or criminal proceedings in the event of attacks on the federal government's communications technology. No disclosure takes place in other cases. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy does not combine this data with other data sources.
2.2 Cookies and consent management
This website uses temporary session cookies. These are technically necessary and therefore cannot be disabled. They serve solely to enable you to use the website and are a technical standard in internet usage.
Explanation: Session cookies are small pieces of information that a provider stores in the working memory of your computer or a comparable device for the duration of your visit to a website, in order to be able to deliver the requested website in a manner suited to your technical specifications. A randomly generated unique identification number, known as a session ID, is stored in a session cookie. In addition, such a cookie contains information about its origin and storage period. These cookies cannot store any other data.
The use of session cookies is technically necessary under Section 25(2)(2) of the TDDDG and does not require consent. Insofar as personal data is processed by technically necessary cookies (e.g. session ID), this is done for the purpose of fulfilling our public duties within the framework of public relations work to provide needs-based information on the tasks assigned to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy on the basis of Article 6(1)(e) and (3)(b) of the GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).
To manage any consent you may have provided for the additional services described below in section 2.3, we use the Usercentrics Consent Management Platform, which employs a technically necessary cookie. When you visit this website, a corresponding banner will be displayed, allowing you to grant or withhold your consent to the use of individual additional services. Your selection is stored in a cookie so that it can be taken into account during future visits to the site. This cookie is technically necessary to document the status of your consent and to control the additional services accordingly.
This is carried out on the basis of Article 6(1)(e) of the GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) as part of public relations work for the needs-based provision of information on the tasks assigned to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
All session cookies used on invest-in-germany.com are deleted when you end the session.
In addition to these temporary cookies, persistent cookies are also frequently used on the internet to recognise visitors even after a long period of time. However, we do not use such cookies on our website.
You can use any web browser to view which cookies are set and what they contain. Most browsers are set by default to accept cookies automatically. However, you usually have the option to disable the storage of cookies, or to instruct your browser to store cookies only for the duration of the current session and then delete them. Detailed information on this is available on the websites of the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information and the Federal Office for Information Security.
2.3 Web analytics
You can decide at any time whether to allow us to collect statistical information about your usage behaviour using the etracker service. The aggregated analyses provided by this software help us to improve this website. If you wish to withdraw your consent for the future, please open the consent management section via the link at the bottom of the page, uncheck the box next to "Statistics" and click on "Confirm selection". Conversely, you can also activate statistical analysis by ticking the box and clicking "Confirm selection" if you have previously declined it.
How does etracker work? Provided you have given your consent, a script on our website automatically forwards your IP address and browser data (the so-called user agent) to etracker GmbH. Here, your IP address is immediately and automatically truncated so that it cannot be traced. The software then pseudonymises the transmitted data, solely to identify multiple uses during the session. After 7 days, any association with the session is deleted, and your statistical data is completely anonymised. etracker is a German company and processes your usage data exclusively on our behalf on secure servers. It is not passed on to any other third parties.
The legal basis for this is your consent pursuant to Section 25(1) of the Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG) in conjunction with Article 6(1)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
3. Data processing in connection with the "Stay connected" function
If you use the "Stay connected" function on this website to register to receive information, newsletters and invitations to events organised by Invest in Germany stakeholders, the following data will be stored on a server by Germany Trade & Invest – Gesellschaft für Außenwirtschaft und Standortmarketing mbH (hereinafter "GTAI"):
Mandatory information:
- First name
- Surname
- Email address
- Country
Optional information:
- Title (Mr/Mrs)
- Academic title
- Industry (sector)
- Company
- Position
In addition, the date and time of registration are recorded automatically.
The mandatory fields are required for registration. We cannot send you information without your email address. Your first name and surname are required so that we can address you personally and clearly identify your registration. Providing your country is necessary so that we can send you information tailored to your situation. The optional details – in particular your sector, your company and your role – enable us to tailor the information sent to you more specifically to you and the company you represent, and are not required for registration. The processing of your data is based on your consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) and Article 7 of the GDPR, which you express by completing the registration form. By giving your consent, you agree that the Invest in Germany stakeholders (GTAI, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and other departments of the German Federal Government) may send you tailored information, such as newsletters or invitations to digital and in-person events, in the context of Invest in Germany.
GTAI collects and stores your data for the purpose of registration and, following successful confirmation, passes this on to the other Invest in Germany stakeholders, who use your data as independent data controllers for the aforementioned purposes. Your data will not be disclosed to any third parties other than those acting exclusively for these purposes.
The registration system, which includes an additional confirmation message containing a link to the final registration (double opt-in), ensures that you have explicitly requested the registration.
Upon registration, your data is stored on a GTAI server and a confirmation message containing a link to the final registration is generated and sent to the email address provided. Unless you confirm your registration via the link in this email, the data will be deleted after 48 hours.
Only once you have confirmed the link in the email will your data be stored for the duration of your use of the "Stay connected" feature.
If you no longer consent to the storage of your data for this purpose and therefore no longer wish to use the service, you may unsubscribe at any time. To do so, you will find a link to your personal account in every piece of correspondence sent to you, or at [URL], via which you can manage and cancel your registrations. This is done by withdrawing your consent in accordance with Article 7(3) of the GDPR, at any time and without giving reasons. The lawfulness of the processing carried out prior to the withdrawal remains unaffected.
Please do not forward the messages sent to you, in order to prevent unauthorised access to your personal account. The data you have provided will be deleted when you cancel your registration, unless there is a legal obligation to retain it for a longer period.
4. Your rights
You have the following rights vis-à-vis the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy regarding your personal data:
Right of access, Article 15 GDPR The right of access gives the data subject comprehensive insight into the data concerning them and certain other important criteria, such as the purposes of processing or the duration of storage. The exceptions to this right set out in Section 34 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) apply.
Right to rectification, Article 16 GDPR The right to rectification gives the data subject the opportunity to have inaccurate personal data concerning them corrected.
Right to erasure, Article 17 GDPR The right to erasure gives the data subject the option to have data deleted by the controller. However, this is only possible if the personal data concerning them is no longer necessary, is being processed unlawfully, or consent for such processing has been withdrawn. The exceptions to this right set out in Section 35 of the BDSG apply.
Right to restriction of processing, Article 18 GDPR The right to restriction of processing includes the possibility for the data subject to prevent further processing of personal data concerning them for the time being. A restriction applies in particular during the assessment phase of other rights exercised by the data subject.
Right to object, Article 21 GDPR The right to object includes the possibility for data subjects, on grounds relating to their particular situation, to object to the further processing of their personal data, insofar as this is justified by the performance of public tasks or by public and private interests. The exceptions to this right set out in Section 36 of the BDSG apply.
Right to data portability, Article 20 GDPR The right to data portability gives the data subject the option to receive the personal data concerning them from the controller in a commonly used, machine-readable format, so that it can be forwarded to another controller if necessary. However, pursuant to Article 20(3), second sentence, of the GDPR, this right does not apply where the processing of data serves the performance of a public task.
You may exercise the aforementioned rights in writing using the contact details provided in section 1.1.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, in accordance with Article 77 of the GDPR.
You may also contact the Data Protection Officer at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, as specified in section 1.1, with any questions or complaints.
Insofar as your personal data is processed by Germany Trade & Invest – Gesellschaft für Außenwirtschaft und Standortmarketing mbH (GTAI) in connection with the "Stay connected" function, you may exercise the aforementioned rights by contacting GTAI using the contact details provided in section 1.1. In addition to the right to lodge a complaint with the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information regarding processing by GTAI.