Privacy policy

The entity responsible for the collection, processing and use of your personal data is

Materna Information & Communications SE
Robert-Schuman-Straße 20
44263 Dortmund

(hereinafter referred to as "Materna").

If you have any questions about data protection, please contact our external data protection officer:

Materna Information & Communications SE
Personally/confidentially to the data protection officer
Voßkuhle 37
44141 Dortmund
E-mail: [email protected]

Data processing when (purely) visiting the website

When using the website for informational purposes only, i.e., if you do not register or otherwise provide us with information (e.g., via a contact form), we collect the following technical information (log file data):

• Operating system of the device you use to visit our website
• Browser (type, version, and language settings)
• The amount of data retrieved
• The anonymized IP address of the device you use to visit our website
• Date and time of access
• The URL of the previously visited website (referrer)
• The URL of the (sub)page you access on the website

The collection of this data is technically necessary in order to display our website to you and to ensure stability and security. We and our service provider do not normally know who is behind an IP address. We do not combine the above data with other data. Your personal data will only be stored for as long as is necessary to fulfill the respective processing purposes, provided that there are no legal retention obligations to the contrary.

The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. Since the collection of data for the provision of the website and storage in log files is absolutely necessary for the operation of the website and to protect against misuse, our legitimate interest in data processing prevails in this case.

Data processing when contacting us

When you contact us by email or via a contact form, we store the data you provide (your email address, your name and telephone number, if applicable) in order to answer your questions and process your requests. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. If we request information via our contact form that is not required for establishing contact, we have always marked this as optional. This information helps us to specify your request and improve the processing of your concern. The provision of this information is expressly voluntary and with your consent, Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. Insofar as this involves information on communication channels (e.g., email address, telephone number), you also consent to us contacting you via this communication channel if necessary in order to respond to your request. You can, of course, revoke this consent at any time for the future.

Your data, which we have received in the course of contacting you, will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for the purpose for which it was collected, your request has been fully processed, and no further communication with you is necessary or desired by you.

Disclosure

Your data will not be disclosed to third parties unless we are legally obliged to do so, or the disclosure of data is necessary for the execution of the contractual relationship, or you have expressly consented to the disclosure of your data in advance.

External service providers and partner companies, such as online payment providers or shipping companies commissioned with delivery, will only receive your data to the extent necessary to process your order. In these cases, however, the scope of the data transmitted is limited to the minimum required. Insofar as our service providers come into contact with your personal data and process it on our behalf in accordance with our instructions, we ensure within the framework of order processing in accordance with Art. 28 GDPR that they comply with the provisions of data protection laws in the same way. Please also note the respective data protection information of the providers. The respective service provider is responsible for the content of third-party services, whereby we check the services for compliance with legal requirements within the scope of what is reasonable.

a) Description and scope of data processing

You have the option of subscribing to our newsletter on the website. When you register for the newsletter, the data requested from the input screen will be transmitted to Materna (first and last name, company/organisation, email address).

The following data is also collected during registration

• IP address of the subscriber's computer
• Date and time of registration

As part of the registration process, consent is obtained by means of a so-called double opt-in procedure. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the link provided in the newsletter or by sending us a corresponding message. After cancellation, your e-mail address will be deleted from our newsletter mailing list immediately.

Your personal data is protected against theft and misuse using state-of-the-art technical procedures. If you provide personal data, it will be transmitted in encrypted form (SSL). Under no circumstances do we pass on your data to third parties.

If you have purchased products from Materna and have entered your e-mail address, this may also be used to send you a newsletter. In such a case, only direct advertising for our own similar goods or services will be sent via the newsletter.

b) Legal basis for data processing

The legal basis for the processing of data after the user has registered for the newsletter is Art. 6 para. 1 a) GDPR if the user has given consent. The legal basis for sending the newsletter as a result of the sale of products is Section 7 (3) UWG.

c) Purpose of the data processing

The purpose of collecting the user's email address is to send the newsletter. The collection of other personal data as part of the registration process serves to prevent misuse of the services or the e-mail address used.

d) Duration of storage

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

e) Right of objection and cancellation

The subscription to the newsletter can be cancelled by the user concerned at any time. There is a corresponding link in every newsletter for this purpose.

f) Newsletter tracking

We would like to point out that we evaluate your user behaviour when sending the newsletter in order to determine whether and when the newsletter was opened. For this analysis, the emails sent contain so-called web beacons or tracking pixels, which are loaded when the newsletter is opened. Technical information such as browser type, time of opening and IP address are transmitted. We link the aforementioned data and the web beacons with your email address for the analyses. Links received in the newsletter also contain this ID and enable us to analyse your click behaviour.

The data is processed in pseudonymised form, i.e. the IDs are not directly linked to your other personal data, so that they cannot be directly linked to you personally. The legal basis for this data processing is your consent, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR.

You can withdraw your consent to tracking at any time with effect for the future. In this case, the cancellation includes the entire newsletter, as a separate cancellation of tracking is unfortunately not technically possible. To do so, simply click on the unsubscribe link provided in every e-mail.
Such tracking is also not possible if you have deactivated the display of images in your e-mail programme by default. In this case, the newsletter will not be displayed in full and you may not be able to use all the functions. If you display the images manually, the above-mentioned tracking will take place.

The information from the tracking is stored for as long as you are subscribed to the newsletter. After you unsubscribe, the data is anonymised and used purely for statistical purposes.

The data you provide us with for the purpose of subscribing to the newsletter will be stored by us until you unsubscribe from the newsletter and deleted after you unsubscribe from the newsletter. Data stored by us for other purposes remains unaffected by this.

When you register for one of our free webinars or events, we require your email address and, optionally, your name. By registering, you will receive access to the event and simultaneously subscribe to our newsletter. Through this newsletter, we will regularly inform you about current topics, offers, and future events.

We use the double opt-in procedure for newsletter registration. After registering, you will receive an email asking you to confirm that you actually want to subscribe to the newsletter. If no confirmation is received, your data will be automatically deleted within three days. Upon confirmation, we will store your email address for the purpose of sending you the newsletter and your name (if provided) so that we can address you personally. We store this data until you revoke your consent.

In addition, we store the IP address used during registration as well as the time of registration and confirmation. This data is stored for up to three years after registration in order to be able to prove your consent in the event of legal disputes. The legal basis for this logging is our legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR in conjunction with Art. 7 (1) GDPR. 

The processing of your data for the purpose of sending the newsletter and organizing the event is based on your consent in accordance with Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, you can revoke your consent at any time. To do so, simply click on the corresponding unsubscribe link in each newsletter email. After revocation, your data will be deleted for the purpose of sending the newsletter, provided that there are no legal retention obligations.

Please note that registration for our free webinars or events is not possible without consent to receive the newsletter. Further information on data processing can be found in our privacy policy.

For our website, we use services provided by CloudFlare Inc., 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107 USA. Cloudflare provides a so-called Content Delivery Network (CDN). This is a network of servers distributed worldwide that is capable of delivering optimized content to website users. This allows large media files in particular to be delivered via a network of locally distributed servers connected via the Internet. This serves to ensure the secure and efficient provision of our website and contributes to improving its performance and stability.

For this purpose, personal data may be processed in Cloudflare's server log files. Cloudflare also collects statistical data about visits to this website. The data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required for processing purposes. The data collected includes:

• Name of the website accessed
• File accessed
• Date and time of access
• Amount of data transferred
• Notification of successful access
• Browser type and version
• the user's operating system
• referrer URL
• IP address
• requesting provider

The legal basis for this data processing is our legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. Our legitimate interest here lies in the smooth and secure operation of our website.

Your data may be processed in the USA and transferred there, i.e. to a third country outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA). The legal basis for the data transfer is the adequacy decision with the USA pursuant to Art. 45 (1) GDPR based on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The provider has certified itself under the US-EU Data Privacy Framework and is therefore committed to complying with EU data protection standards.

Further information on data processing by Cloudflare, in particular on data protection and data security, can be found at: https://www.cloudflare.com/de-de/privacypolicy/ 

Materna Information & Communications SE uses HubSpot, a service of HubSpot Inc., on its websites for analysis purposes.

This uses so-called "web beacons" and also sets "cookies", which are stored on your computer and enable us to analyse your use of the website. HubSpot analyses the information collected (e.g. IP address, geographical location, type of browser, duration of the visit and pages accessed) on behalf of Materna Information & Communications SE in order to generate reports on the visit and the pages visited.

If email newsletters are subscribed to and other documents are obtained, we can also use HubSpot to link users' visits to websites with their personal details (in particular name/email address) on the basis of consent given and thus record them on a personal basis.

Data is only collected and stored with express consent in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 S. lit. a) GDPR. This can be revoked at any time with effect for the future.

If you generally do not want HubSpot to collect data, you can prevent the storage of cookies at any time by changing your browser settings accordingly.

Further information on how HubSpot works can be found in the HubSpot Inc. privacy policy, available here.

As part of processing via HubSpot, data is transferred to HubSpot Inc. systems. The location of these systems is Germany.

We use the “Meta Conversions API” on our website, a server-side tracking service provided by Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. The parent company is Meta Platforms, Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.

The Meta Conversions API is a server-side data interface through which we transmit data (so-called “events”) about the behavior of our website visitors to Meta for analysis, provided that the visitors have previously consented to this transmission. For this purpose, we define target audiences in the Meta Ads Manager based on certain characteristics (so-called Custom Audiences), who are then shown relevant advertisements within Meta technologies. Users are selected by Meta based on the profile information they have provided as well as other data made available through the use of Meta services.

If a user clicks on one of our advertisements and is subsequently redirected to our website, Meta receives information via our data interface (Conversions API) that the user has clicked on the advertisement. In this process, a cookie (so-called Meta Pixel) is set in your browser. This cookie collects information about your activities on our website (pages visited, interactions such as clicks, your IP address, and device and browser information). This enables us to display advertisements to our website visitors within Meta technologies that are tailored to their user behavior.

The following personal data may be processed and transmitted by us to Meta for the purpose of event tracking:

• Usage data (e.g., websites visited, interest in content, access times)
• Meta/communication data (e.g., device information, IP addresses)
• Approximate location data (information about the geographical position of a device or a person)

If you have a profile on Meta technologies (e.g., Facebook, Instagram), additional data may also be processed as part of event tracking, provided that this data is stored in your profile, such as your email address, phone number, gender, date of birth, first and last name, address, and user ID.

Processing is carried out exclusively on the basis of your explicit consent in accordance with Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and Section 25(1) TDDDG. You can revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future via the consent management system.

The data will be deleted after 180 days.

Meta Platforms, Inc. is a company headquartered in the USA. For the purpose of event tracking, your collected data may be transferred to the USA and processed there. Meta Platforms, Inc. (USA) is certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (DPF), so that an adequacy decision of the European Commission exists for transfers to the USA. In addition, EU standard contractual clauses have been concluded with the provider.

Further information on the purpose and scope of data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Meta can be found in Meta’s privacy policy. Logged-in users can also deactivate the “Facebook Custom Audiences” function at: https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads%23_%20

Our website uses the LinkedIn Insight Tag of LinkedIn Corporation, 1000 W. Maude Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94085, USA. The provider of this service in Europe is LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland.

The Insight Tag is a conversion tracking and retargeting service. It enables us to obtain information about our website visitors. The service allows us to display personalized advertisements to our website visitors on LinkedIn. In addition, we receive pseudonymized reports on the performance of our advertisements, demographic information about our website visitors (e.g., job title, employer, industry), as well as information about website interactions.

When you access our website, the LinkedIn Insight Tag establishes a connection to LinkedIn’s servers. If you visit our website, have given your consent via our cookie banner, and are logged into your LinkedIn account at the same time, your visit can be associated with your LinkedIn profile. If you wish to prevent this, you must log out of LinkedIn before visiting our website.

The following data is collected using the Insight Tag:

• IP address (shortened or hashed)
• Device and browser information
• Referrer URL
• Timestamp
• Pages visited and interactions
• Information about ad impressions and clicks

We only receive aggregated and pseudonymized reports from LinkedIn, which do not allow us to identify individual members. LinkedIn uses the data for its own advertising purposes. For more details, please refer to LinkedIn’s privacy policy at: www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

The use of the LinkedIn Insight Tag is based on your consent in accordance with Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and Section 25(1) TDDDG. You can withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by accessing the cookie settings and changing your selection.

The data will be deleted after 180 days. Direct identifiers of LinkedIn members are removed by LinkedIn after seven days.

LinkedIn stores the collected personal data, among other places, on its servers in the USA. LinkedIn Corp. (USA) is certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (DPF), meaning that an adequacy decision by the European Commission exists for data transfers to the USA. In addition, EU standard contractual clauses have been concluded with the provider.

If you are logged into LinkedIn, you can deactivate data collection at any time via the following link: www.linkedin.com/psettings/enhanced-advertising.

We use the Conversion API of the social network LinkedIn, a service provided by LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland.

The LinkedIn Conversion API enables us to measure the success of our advertisements within the LinkedIn network, to build target audiences, and to deliver and optimize interest-based advertising in a needs-based manner.

In the event of a form submission (so-called conversion) on our website, the contact data you provide (e.g., name, company details, email address) is transmitted to LinkedIn in pseudonymized form. Pseudonymization is carried out by applying a cryptographic hashing process (SHA-256) prior to transmission. LinkedIn may match this hashed data with existing LinkedIn user data in order to attribute conversion events, create audience groups (Customer Match), and provide statistical reports on campaign performance.

We are not able to directly identify you as an individual. We only receive aggregated statistical analyses from LinkedIn.

The transmission of data to LinkedIn is carried out exclusively on the basis of your explicit consent in accordance with Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future via our consent banner.

Where LinkedIn processes the data transmitted by us exclusively on our behalf, a data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR is in place. Where LinkedIn processes data for its own purposes (in particular in connection with existing LinkedIn memberships and its own advertising platform), this is carried out under LinkedIn’s own responsibility for data protection.

LinkedIn stores the transmitted data also outside the European Union (in particular in the USA and Canada). For data transfers to the USA, LinkedIn relies on certification under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, so that such transfers are based on an adequacy decision of the European Commission.

The data transmitted via the Conversion API is deleted after 180 days. This does not apply to aggregated conversion reports in the LinkedIn Campaign Manager.

LinkedIn members can manage their advertising settings and the use of their data at any time within their LinkedIn account. Further information on data processing by LinkedIn can be found in LinkedIn’s privacy policy at: https://de.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy

We use the etracker Tag Manager provided by etracker GmbH, Erste Brunnenstraße 1, 20459 Hamburg, Germany, for the technical integration and management of website tags and marketing scripts.

The etracker Tag Manager is used solely for the centralized management and delivery of scripts and tracking technologies on our website. The Tag Manager itself does not carry out any independent analysis of your user behavior and does not store any information on your device.

If services are integrated via the etracker Tag Manager that require consent, they are activated exclusively on the basis of your explicit consent via our consent banner. Detailed information on data processing can be found in the respective sections of this privacy policy.

The use of the etracker Tag Manager is based on our legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR in the efficient, technically stable, and data protection-compliant management of the services and scripts used on our website.

Further information on data protection at etracker can be found at: www.etracker.com/tag-manager/

Every data subject has the right of access under Art. 15 GDPR, the right to rectification under Art. 16 GDPR, the right to erasure under Art. 17 GDPR, the right to restriction of processing under Art. 18 GDPR, the right to object under Art. 21 GDPR and the right to data portability under Art. 20 GDPR. The restrictions under Sections 34 and 35 BDSG apply to the right of access and the right to erasure.

a) Right to lodge a complaint

In accordance with Art. 77 GDPR, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent data protection supervisory authority about the processing of your personal data by Materna. The supervisory authority responsible for Materna is

State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information North Rhine-Westphalia
Kavalleriestr. 2-4
40213 Düsseldorf
Phone: 0211/38424-0
Fax: 0211/38424-999
Email: [email protected]

b) Obligation to provide personal data

There is no obligation to provide your personal data. The provision of your personal data is voluntary.

c) Automated decision-making and profiling

There is no automated decision-making pursuant to Art. 22 GDPR, in particular an automated decision on your application, or profiling.

d) Withdrawal of consent

You can withdraw your consent to the processing of personal data from Materna at any time. This also applies to the revocation of declarations of consent given to Materna before the General Data Protection Regulation came into force, i.e. before 25 May 2018. Please note that the revocation is only effective for the future. Processing that took place before the revocation is not affected.

e) Right in the event of data processing for direct marketing purposes

Pursuant to Art. 21 (2) GDPR, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you. If you object to processing for the purposes of direct marketing, we will no longer process your personal data for these purposes. Please note that the objection will only take effect for the future. Processing that took place before the objection is not affected.

f) Information on the right to object when balancing interests

If we base the processing of your personal data on a balancing of interests, you can object to the processing. When exercising such an objection, we ask you to explain the reasons why we should not process your personal data as described by us. In the event of your justified objection, we will examine the situation and either discontinue or adapt the data processing or explain to you our compelling reasons worthy of protection.

We use services from YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave, 94066 San Bruno, CA, USA, a subsidiary of Google LLC, Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, on our website. For users who have their habitual residence in the European Economic Area or Switzerland, Google Ireland Limited ("Google"), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland is the controller responsible for your data. YouTube is an online platform where users can upload, watch, share and comment on videos. It offers a variety of content, including music videos, vlogs, tutorials and more.

When you access a page in which a YouTube video is embedded, a connection to the YouTube servers is only established when you click on the button to confirm. In this case, YouTube will set cookies and use your visit data for its own purposes. If you are logged in to YouTube at this time, the information about the videos you have viewed will be assigned to your YouTube member account. You can prevent this by logging out of your member account before visiting our website. If you have not given your consent as part of the Consent Manager, you have the option of giving it later as part of the so-called "2-click procedure".

Your data may be processed in the USA and transferred there, i.e. to a third country outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA). The legal basis for the data transfer is the adequacy decision with the USA pursuant to Art. 45 para. 1 GDPR based on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The provider has certified itself in accordance with the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and is therefore obliged to comply with the EU data protection level.

Further information on YouTube's data protection is provided by Google at the following link: www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

The legal basis for this data processing is your consent in accordance with § 25 para. 1 sentence 1 TTDSG, Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR. You can revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future by calling up the cookie settings in the footer and changing your selection there.

We reserve the right to amend or adapt this privacy policy at any time in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations.

The current status is 27/03/2026.