Privacy Policy

Data processing when (simply) visiting the website

When you use the website purely for information purposes – that is, 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):

• The operating system of the device you are using to visit our website
• Browser (type, version and language settings)
• The amount of data accessed
• The anonymised IP address of the device you are using to visit our website
• Date and time of access
• The URL of the previously visited website (referrer)
• the URL of the (sub)page you are accessing on the website

The collection of this data is technically necessary to display our website to you and to ensure its stability and security. We and our service provider are generally unaware of the identity of the person behind an IP address. We do not combine the data listed above with any other data. Your personal data will only be stored for as long as is necessary to fulfil the respective processing purposes, provided that there are no statutory retention obligations to the contrary.

The legal basis is Article 6(1), first sentence, point (f) of the GDPR. As the collection of data for the provision of the website and its storage in log files are strictly necessary for the operation of the website and to protect against misuse, our legitimate interest in data processing prevails in this instance.

Data processing when you contact us

When you contact us by email or via a contact form, we store the data you provide (your email address, and where applicable, your name and telephone number) in order to answer your questions and deal with your enquiries. The legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. Where we request information via our contact form that is not necessary for establishing contact, we have always marked this as optional. We use this information to clarify your enquiry and to handle your request more effectively. The provision of this information is expressly on a voluntary basis and with your consent, in accordance with Article 6(1), first sentence, point (a) of the GDPR. Where this involves details relating to communication channels (for example, email address, telephone number), you also consent to us contacting you via this communication channel, if necessary, in order to respond to your enquiry. You may, of course, withdraw this consent at any time with future effect.

Your data, which we have received as part of the contact process, will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, your enquiry has been fully processed, and no further communication with you is required or desired by you.

Disclosure

As a general rule, your data will not be disclosed to third parties unless we are legally obliged to do so, or the disclosure is necessary for the performance of the contractual relationship, or you have previously given your express consent to the disclosure of your data.

External service providers and partner companies, such as online payment providers or delivery companies commissioned to handle deliveries, will only receive your data to the extent necessary to process your order. In such cases, however, the scope of the data transferred is limited to the minimum necessary. Where 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 data processing on behalf of a controller pursuant to Article 28 of the GDPR, that they comply with the provisions of data protection legislation in the same manner. Please also refer to the respective privacy policies of the service providers. The respective service provider is responsible for the content of third-party services, although we will, to the extent reasonably practicable, verify that these services comply with legal requirements.

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

a) Right to lodge a complaint

You also have the right, in accordance with Article 77 of the GDPR, to lodge a complaint with the competent data protection supervisory authority regarding 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
Telephone: 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

No automated decision-making within the meaning of Article 22 of the GDPR, in particular no automated decision regarding your application, or profiling takes place.

d) Withdrawal of consent

You may withdraw any consent you have given to the processing of personal data at any time by notifying Materna. This also applies to the withdrawal of declarations of consent given to Materna prior to the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation, i.e. before 25 May 2018. Please note that the withdrawal only takes effect for the future. Processing carried out prior to the withdrawal is not affected.

e) Right to object in the case of data processing for the purposes of direct marketing

In accordance with Article 21(2) of the GDPR, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of your personal data. Should 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 takes effect only for the future. Any processing carried out prior to the objection is not affected.

f) Information on the right to object in the context of a balancing of interests

Where we base the processing of your personal data on a balancing of interests, you may object to such processing. If you exercise 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 a justified objection, we will review the circumstances and either cease or adjust the data processing, or explain to you our compelling legitimate grounds.

a) Description and scope of data processing

You have the option of subscribing to our newsletter on the website. When you sign up for the newsletter, the data requested in the input form is transmitted to Materna (first name and surname, company/organisation, email address).

In addition, the following data is collected upon registration:

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

As part of the registration process, consent is obtained via a so-called double opt-in procedure. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time via the link provided for this purpose in the newsletter or by sending us a message to that effect. Once you have unsubscribed, your email 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 measures. Where personal data is provided, it is 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 provided your email address in the process, this may subsequently also be used to send you a newsletter. In such cases, the newsletter will be used exclusively to send direct marketing for our own similar goods or services.

b) Legal basis for data processing

The legal basis for processing data following a user’s subscription to the newsletter is Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR, provided the user has given their consent. The legal basis for sending the newsletter following the sale of products is Section 7(3) of the UWG.

c) Purpose of data processing

The collection of the user’s email address serves to deliver the newsletter. The collection of other personal data as part of the registration process serves to prevent misuse of the services or of the email address used.

d) Duration of storage

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

e) Right to object and right to erasure

The user concerned may cancel their newsletter subscription at any time. A link for this purpose is included in every newsletter.

f) Newsletter tracking

Please note that when we send out the newsletter, we analyse your user behaviour 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. This transmits technical information such as browser type, time of opening and IP address. For the purposes of analysis, we link the aforementioned data and the web beacons to your email address. Links contained in the newsletter also contain this ID and enable us to analyse your clicking behaviour.

The data is processed in a pseudonymised manner; the IDs are therefore not directly linked to your other personal data, and direct personal identification is ruled out. The legal basis for this data processing is your consent, Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR.

You may withdraw your consent to tracking at any time with effect for the future. In this case, the withdrawal applies to the entire newsletter, as it is unfortunately not technically possible to withdraw consent for tracking separately. To do so, simply click the unsubscribe link provided in every email.
Furthermore, such tracking is not possible if you have disabled the display of images by default in your email programme. In this case, the newsletter will not be displayed in full and you may not be able to use all its features. If you choose to display the images manually, the tracking described above will take place.

The information obtained through tracking is stored for as long as you remain subscribed to the newsletter. Once you have unsubscribed, the data is anonymised and used for purely statistical purposes.

The data you have provided to us for the purpose of receiving the newsletter will be stored by us until you unsubscribe from the newsletter and will be deleted once you have unsubscribed. Data stored by us for other purposes remains unaffected by this.

If you register for one of our free webinars or events, we will need your email address and, optionally, your name. By registering, you will gain access to the event and, at the same time, subscribe to our newsletter. Through this newsletter, we will keep you regularly informed about current topics, offers and future events.

We use the ‘double opt-in’ procedure for subscribing to our newsletter. After signing up, you will receive an email asking you to confirm that you do indeed wish 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, as well as your name (if provided), so that we can address you personally. We will retain this data until you withdraw your consent.

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

The processing of your data for the purpose of sending the newsletter and organising the event is based on your consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, you may withdraw your consent at any time. To do so, simply click on the relevant unsubscribe link in each newsletter email. Following withdrawal of consent, your data will be deleted for the purposes of sending the newsletter, provided there are no statutory retention obligations.

Please note that it is not possible to register for our free webinars or events without consenting 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 what is known as a Content Delivery Network (CDN). This is a network of servers distributed worldwide, capable of delivering optimised content to website users. This enables large media files, in particular, to be delivered via a network of locally distributed servers connected via the internet. This ensures the secure and efficient provision of our website and helps to improve its performance and stability.

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

• File accessed
• Name of the web page accessed
• Date and time of access
• Amount of data transferred
• Confirmation of successful retrieval
• 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 Article 6(1)(f) of the 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 Article 45(1) of the GDPR, based on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The provider has obtained certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and has thereby undertaken to comply with EU data protection standards.

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

Materna Information & Communications SE uses HubSpot, a service provided by HubSpot Inc., on its websites for analytical purposes.

This involves the use of so-called ‘web beacons’ and the setting of ‘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, browser type, duration of visit and pages viewed) on behalf of Materna Information & Communications SE in order to generate reports on visits and the pages visited.

When users subscribe to email newsletters or download other documents, we may use HubSpot to link users’ visits to web pages with their personal details (primarily name and email address) on the basis of consent given, and thus process this data on a personal basis.

Data is collected and stored only with express consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR. This consent may be withdrawn at any time with future effect.

If you do not wish HubSpot to collect data in general, you can prevent the storage of cookies at any time by adjusting your browser settings accordingly.

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

As part of the processing via HubSpot, data is transferred to systems operated by HubSpot Inc. These systems are located in Germany.

On our website, we use the ‘Meta Conversions API’, 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 (known as ‘events’) regarding the behaviour of our website visitors to Meta for analysis, provided that the visitors have given their prior consent to this transmission. To this end, we define user target groups in Meta Ads Manager based on specific characteristics (so-called ‘Custom Audiences’), who are shown relevant adverts within Meta’s technologies. Users are selected by Meta on the basis of the profile information they have provided, as well as other data made available through their use of Meta’s services. If a user clicks on one of our adverts and is subsequently redirected to our website, Meta receives information via our data interface (Conversions API) that the user has clicked on the advert banner. In doing so, a cookie (known as a 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’s technologies that are tailored to their user behaviour. 

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

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

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

Processing takes place exclusively on the basis of your explicit consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR and Section 25(1) of the TDDDG. You may withdraw this consent at any time with future effect 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 purposes of event tracking, your collected data may be transferred to the USA and analysed there. Meta Platforms, Inc. (USA) is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF), meaning that an adequacy decision by the European Commission is in place for data transfers to the USA. In addition, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses have been concluded with the provider.

Further information on the purpose and scope of data collection, as well as the further processing and use of the data by Meta, can be found in Meta’s privacy policy. Logged-in users can also disable the ‘Facebook Custom Audiences’ feature at https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads#.

Our website uses the Insight Tag from LinkedIn Corporation, 1000 W. Maude Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94085, USA. The provider of this service for 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 personalised advertisements to our website visitors on LinkedIn. We also receive pseudonymised reports on the performance of the adverts, the demographic information of our website visitors (e.g. job title, employer, industry), as well as information on website interaction. 

The LinkedIn Insight Tag establishes a connection to the LinkedIn server when our website is accessed. If you visit our website, have consented to the service via our cookie banner and are logged into your LinkedIn account at the same time, your visit may be linked to your LinkedIn profile. If you wish to prevent this, you must log out of LinkedIn before accessing the website. 

The following data is collected via the Insight Tag:

• IP address (truncated or hashed),
• device and browser information,
• referrer URL,
• timestamp,
• Pages visited and interactions,
• Information on ad impressions and clicks.

We receive only aggregated and pseudonymised reports from LinkedIn, which do not allow us to identify members. LinkedIn uses the data as part of its own advertising activities. For further 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, Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR, Section 25(1) of the TDDDG. You may withdraw your consent at any time with future effect by accessing the cookie settings here and changing your selection there. 

The data is deleted after 180 days. LinkedIn members’ unique identifiers are removed by LinkedIn after seven days.

LinkedIn stores the personal data collected on its servers in the USA, amongst other locations. LinkedIn Corp. (USA) is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF), meaning that an adequacy decision by the European Commission is in place for data transfers to the USA. In addition, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses have been concluded with the provider.

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

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

The LinkedIn Conversion API enables us to measure the success of our adverts on the LinkedIn network, create target audiences, and display and optimise interest-based adverts in line with user needs.

When you submit a form (known as a ‘conversion’) on our website, the contact details you provide (e.g. name, company details, email address) are transmitted to LinkedIn in pseudonymised form. Pseudonymisation is carried out by applying a cryptographic hash function (SHA-256) prior to transmission. LinkedIn may compare this hashed data with existing LinkedIn user data in order to attribute conversion events, create ad groups (Customer Match) and provide statistical reports on campaign performance.

We do not directly identify you personally in this process. We receive only aggregated, statistical analyses from LinkedIn.

The transfer of data to LinkedIn takes place solely on the basis of your explicit consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR. You may withdraw this consent at any time with future effect via our consent banner. 

Insofar as LinkedIn processes the data we transmit solely on our behalf, a data processing agreement exists in accordance with Article 28 of the GDPR. Where LinkedIn processes data for its own purposes in addition to this (in particular in the context of existing LinkedIn memberships and its own advertising platform), it does so under its own responsibility for data protection.

LinkedIn also stores the data transmitted outside the EU (in particular in the USA and Canada). For data transfers to the USA, LinkedIn relies on certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, meaning that transfers take place on the basis of the European Commission’s adequacy decision.

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

LinkedIn members can manage their ad settings and the use of their data at any time via 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

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

The etracker Tag Manager is used exclusively for the centralised control and deployment of scripts and tracking technologies on our website. The Tag Manager itself does not carry out any independent analysis of your usage behaviour, nor does it store any information on your device. 

Where services requiring consent are integrated via the etracker Tag Manager, these are activated solely on the basis of your explicit consent via our consent banner. You can find the relevant information on data processing in the corresponding sections of this privacy policy. 

The use of the etracker Tag Manager is based on our legitimate interest, in accordance with Article 6(1)(f) of the 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/

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

When you visit a page on which a YouTube video is embedded, a connection to the YouTube servers is only established once you click the confirmation button. In this case, YouTube will set cookies and use your visit data for its own purposes. If you are logged in to YouTube at that time, the information about the videos you have watched will be associated with your YouTube account. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account before visiting our website. If you have not given your consent via the Consent Manager, you have the option to do so retrospectively using the so-called ‘two-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 Article 45(1) of the GDPR, based on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The provider has obtained certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and has thereby undertaken to comply with EU data protection standards.

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

The legal basis for this data processing is your consent in accordance with Section 25(1), first sentence, of the German Telemedia Act (TTDSG) and Article 6(1), first sentence, point (a) of the GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time with future effect by accessing the cookie settings in the footer and changing your selection there.

We use Google Ads, a service provided by Google LLC. The data controller for users in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland is Google Ireland Limited, Google Building Gordon House, 4 Barrow St, Dublin, D04 E5W5, Ireland (‘Google’). If you access our website via a Google advert, a so-called Google Click ID (GCLID) may be appended to the destination URL. This identifier makes it possible to track whether a specific Google advert has led to a defined action on our website. For this purpose, we process the GCLID using our tag management system, etracker. According to our current settings, no cookies are set for advertising purposes in this context. The GCLID is not stored in our CRM system. If a conversion action defined by us is triggered on our website, the associated GCLID may be transmitted to Google together with details of the conversion, in particular the type of conversion and the time of the conversion. A conversion may, for example, be the submission of a contact form, the download of a white paper or any other interaction on the website defined by us. The processing is carried out to measure and optimise our Google Ads campaigns. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in the analysis and optimisation of our advertising measures. According to our current settings, no information is stored on or read from your device for advertising purposes as part of this conversion tracking. We delete the data processed in this context as soon as it is no longer required for the aforementioned purposes and there are no statutory retention obligations to the contrary, but no later than after 90 days. Google LLC (USA) is certified under the EU-US Privacy Framework, which means that an adequacy decision by the European Commission is in place for data transfers to the USA. As Google’s servers are distributed worldwide and a transfer to third countries (for example, to Singapore) cannot be entirely ruled out, we have also entered into the EU Standard Contractual Clauses with the provider.

We use Google reCAPTCHA v2, a service provided by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, in our HubSpot forms. The data controller for users in the EU/EEA is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Google reCAPTCHA is a service designed to detect abusive automated submissions to web forms and thereby protect technical systems. In particular, this is intended to prevent spam and abusive form submissions by bots.

When using a form protected by reCAPTCHA, information regarding the use of the form and technical details about the device and browser used are transmitted to Google and processed by Google. Based on this information, reCAPTCHA assesses whether the form submission is likely to have been made by a human. If a usage event is classified as suspicious, reCAPTCHA may display an additional security query (CAPTCHA challenge).

The legal basis for the processing is Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. Our legitimate interest lies in protecting our forms from automated submissions, spam and misuse, and in ensuring the security and functionality of our online services.

We process your data only for as long as is necessary to provide, maintain and secure the service, and to detect and prevent misuse of our forms.

Insofar as personal data is transferred to Google LLC in the USA in connection with the use of reCAPTCHA, Google has obtained certification under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Furthermore, we have entered into standard contractual clauses with Google. 

Further information on the processing of personal data by Google can be found in Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.

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

The current version is dated 10 September 2026.