Privacy Policy
The Karl König Institute
1. General information
The owner and operator of this website www.karlkoeniginstitute.org and for the purposes of the European Union (EU)’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the data controller is:
Karl König Institute for Art, Science and Social Life e.V.
Elvirasteig 30
14129 Berlin
Germany
Karl König Institut
Main Office
Meiereifeld 35
14532 Kleinmachnow
Germany
office 'at' karlkoeniginstitute.org
The Karl König Institute (hereafter also referred to as “The Karl König Institute”, “the Institute”, or “we”) appreciate your interest and visit to our organisation’s website. This Privacy Policy is meant to help you understand what data is collected via this website, how it may be used, as well as your rights and technical abilities with regards to personal data protection.
In doing so, emphasising the importance we place on your privacy so you may feel comfortable in continuing to use this website and supporting our Institute. It also forms the basis for informing website visitors of their rights, as required under the EU’s GDPR.
For more information regarding terms of use, use/misuse of information on this website, please refer to our Website Disclaimer
For further information regarding this Privacy Policy or any other enquiry, please feel free to contact us directly at office 'at' karlkoeniginstitute.org
2. Personal data collected and privacy
We are committed to protecting and respecting all website visitor’s privacy in the collection and processing of any personal data. Any personal data collected through this website is provided voluntarily by you or collected as part of your use of the website and is processed only for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
The main areas where personal data may be collected via this website include:
- Via the website’s contact form or directly over email when a visitor makes an enquiry;
- When a visitor makes a purchase via the E-shop section of the website (available only on the German language version); and
- When a visitor provides an email to subscribe to the official Institute Newsletter.
Different categories of personal data are retained for different periods. Order and invoice data may be retained for the periods required under German commercial and tax legislation. Contact enquiries and newsletter subscriptions are retained only for as long as necessary, and requested (i.e. for the newsletter until a user unsubscribes) for their respective purposes, unless legal obligations require longer retention.
Some personal data may also be presented in the various publications/articles, as provided by the writer/editor/publisher, and as agreed to be released into the public domain by being posted on this website, the Institute’s newsletter or other third-party distributors, such as the book publishers/sellers.
When a website visitor provides data:
- Personal data collected is used solely by authorised personnel at The Karl König Institute;
- Does not collect any unnecessary personal data, nor distribute any information externally without the user’s knowledge or prior consent, nor collect any information without the user’s knowledge or consent; and
- Does not allow access to this personal data by external parties unless required by law under jurisdiction (for example, if the information is subject to a warrant or subpoena under local law), or to carry out a request or contractual obligation.
3. Legal basis for the data processing on this website
If you have consented to data processing, we process your personal data on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR or Art. 9 (2)(a) GDPR, if special categories of data are processed according to Art. 9 (1) GDPR. In the case of explicit consent to the transfer of personal data to third countries, the data processing is also based on Art. 49 (1)(a) GDPR.
If you have consented to the storage of cookies or to the access to personal data in your end device, the data processing is additionally based on § 25 (1) TDDDG. The consent can be revoked at any time.
If your data is required for the fulfilment of a contract or for the implementation of pre-contractual measures, such as a purchase via the E-shop, we process your data on the basis of Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. Furthermore, if your data is required for the fulfilment of a legal obligation, we process it on the basis of legitimate interest as per Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR.
In case you disagree with this after submission, please inform us directly in writing, and we shall proceed to take all appropriate action, as requested, and to the extent it is technically possible, such as to modify or delete any records accordingly. Keeping in mind, however, that for a purchase order to be properly processed and fulfilled via the E-shop, certain personal data is necessary, i.e. name and contact info of the buyer and recipient for the delivery.
In case needed, please write to us at office 'at' karlkoeniginstitute.org
4. Transferring of personal data
In the scope of our activities, and as needed, we cooperate with various external parties. In some cases, this also requires the transfer of personal data to these external parties. We only disclose personal data to external parties if this is required as part of the fulfilment of a contract, such as with purchases via the E-shop, if we are legally obligated to do so (e.g., disclosure of data to tax authorities), if we have a legitimate interest in the disclosure pursuant to Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR, or if another legal basis permits the disclosure of this data.
We use carefully selected third-party service providers for website hosting, email communications, E-shop payment processing, and website analytics. These providers process data only on our behalf where required and under appropriate contractual and technical safeguards in accordance with Article 28 GDPR.
When using third-party service providers/processors, we only disclose personal data of our customers on the basis of a valid contract on data processing and to the extent required to fulfil this. In the case of joint processing, a joint processing agreement is concluded.
As an international non-profit organisation with members, associates and collaborations in other countries around the world, we may transfer certain personal data that we collect via this website, or that you provide voluntarily to the Institute, on EU and non-EU data subjects to a country outside the EU, as needed to action the particular enquiry. For instance, enquiries that specifically relate to one of our members or affiliates in another country location.
Where enquiries relate to affiliated organisations outside the EU and European Economic Area (EEA), personal data may be transferred only where necessary to respond to your enquiry or process a request, and subject to appropriate safeguards under Chapter V GDPR.
You may also revoke this consent at any time. This shall be without prejudice to the lawfulness of any data processing that occurred prior to your revocation.
5. Online payment transactions; E-shop and donations to the Institute
Only the German version of this website has an E-shop component that accommodates online book purchasers and payments, with secure, encrypted transactions utilising the payment gateway Stipe. Delivery is only available throughout Germany.
E-Shop payment gateway
The payment gateway used for purchases via the E-shop is Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd, 1 Grand Canal Street Lower, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, Ireland (hereinafter referred to as “Stripe”).
Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, Stripe applies appropriate safeguards in accordance with Chapter V GDPR, including, where applicable, the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses and other recognised transfer mechanisms described in Stripe’s Privacy Policy: https://stripe.com/de/privacy and https://stripe.com/de/guides/general-data-protection-regulation
Transport/delivery – data transfer upon closing of contracts on the E-shop, and the shipment of merchandise
Whenever you order merchandise from The Karl König Institute’s E-shop, we will share your personal data with the transportation company entrusted with the delivery of the items, as well as the payment service commissioned to handle the payment transactions.
Only the data these respective service providers require to meet their obligations will be shared. The legal basis for this sharing is Art. 6 (1)(b) GDPR, which permits that data processing is lawful if it is necessary for the performance of a contract, fulfilment of contractual or pre-contractual obligations, to which the data subject is a party, or to take steps at the data subject’s request before entering into a contract.
If you give us your respective consent pursuant to Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR, we will share basic detail with the transportation company entrusted with the delivery so that they can carry out the delivery and notify you on the shipping status for your order via email. You have the option to revoke your consent at any time.
Purchases outside of The Karl König Institute E-shop
Other online transactions for the purchase of books/publications are done via authorised third-party distributors/book stores, to which books/publications on this website provide a direct link. Each of these platforms has their own Privacy Policy and terms of use, which you can view before making a purchase.
If a book/publication (or multiple books) is to be purchased directly from the Institute other than on the website’s E-shop or via third-party distributors/book stores, then this should be done so outside of the website, by contacting the Institute directly and following further correspondence and payment of an invoice, as agreed, such as with a cheque, or payment via bank transfer.
Donations to the The Karl König Institute
Donations to the Karl König Institute can be done either in writing directly to the relevant region’s payment details as outlined in the “Donations” page of this website, either by check or bank transfer, or the secure Stripe payment platform. If you select to donate, you will be re-directed to the relevant payment screen.
6. Security and safety when using this website and the Internet
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk, including measures designed to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to personal data.
For security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as purchase orders via the E-shop or enquiries via the website’s forms, an SSL or a TLS encryption is used. You can recognise an encrypted connection by checking whether the address line of the browser switches from “http://” to “https://” and also by the appearance of the lock icon in the browser line. If the SSL or TLS encryption is activated, data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.
This website includes many links to other third-party websites, social media or other internet sources. These sources are subject to scrutiny by the Institute and every effort is made to ensure they are working, trusted and credible sources. However, since the Institute cannot control these websites and external sources, it cannot be held responsible for the provision or display of information, and may not be held liable for the content, advertising, products, services, or any other material available on or from these websites or external sources, nor their processing of any data.
Indeed, each has their own Privacy Policy and Website/Legal Disclaimer, which the user is strongly encouraged to refer to and review.
7. Right to access, correct and delete data and to object to data processing
Website visitors who have submitted personal data via this website or E-shop have the right, subject to the applicable provisions of the GDPR, to request access to the personal data we hold about them, to request its correction (rectification) or deletion (erasure), to object to or request restriction of its processing, to request data portability where applicable, and to withdraw any consent previously given where processing is based on consent. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before such withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at office 'at' karlkoeniginstitute.org.
Right to data portability
Where applicable under Article 20 GDPR, you have the right to receive the personal data you have provided to us, and which we process based on your consent or for the performance of a contract, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. Where technically feasible, you also have the right to request that this data be transmitted directly to another controller.
If a user would like to unsubscribe from the official Institute’s Newsletter, they can do so automatically by visiting the “Newsletter” page and clicking the “unsubscribe” option and entering the email they wish to take off the list. If any user would in turn like to re-subscribe to this Newsletter, they can do so at any time by simply re-entering their email in this same page.
All newsletters are available to be downloaded and read as PDF directly from this website from the Newsletter page.
Right to demand processing restrictions
You have the right to demand the imposition of restrictions as far as the processing of your personal data is concerned. To do so, you may contact us at any time. The right to demand restriction of processing applies in the following cases:
- In the event that you should dispute the correctness of your data archived by us, we will usually need some time to verify this claim. During the time that this investigation is ongoing, you have the right to demand that we restrict the processing of your personal data.
- If the processing of your personal data was/is conducted in an unlawful manner, you have the option to demand the restriction of the processing of your data instead of demanding the eradication of this data.
- If we do not need your personal data any longer and you need it to exercise, defend or claim legal entitlements, you have the right to demand the restriction of the processing of your personal data instead of its eradication.
- If you have raised an objection pursuant to Art. 21(1) GDPR, your rights and our rights will have to be weighed against each other. As long as it has not been determined whose interests prevail, you have the right to demand a restriction of the processing of your personal data.
If you have restricted the processing of your personal data, these data – with the exception of their archiving – may be processed only subject to your consent or to claim, exercise or defend legal entitlements or to protect the rights of other natural persons or legal entities or for important public interest reasons cited by the EU or a member state.
8. Right to file complaints with regulatory authorities
If there has been a breach of data protection legislation, the person affected may file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities. The competent supervisory authority for the Karl König Institute is the data protection authority responsible for the German federal state in which the Institute is established.
A list of other country data protection officers and their contact details can be found at the following link: https://www.bfdi.bund.de
9. Compulsory disclosure of information
The Karl König Institute may be compelled to disclose a certain amount of personal data by applicable jurisdiction law, such as under local/regional jurisdiction orders or legal notices to produce documents under law.
10. Website analytics
In order to better understand user behaviour so to be able to better enhance the user experience on this website, The Karl König Institute collects general and basic statistical information on website activity and trends, only for a limited period. Website usage statistics are collected using Statcounter.
Where required by applicable law, analytics cookies are only activated after the user has provided consent through the website’s cookie consent banner. The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1)(a) GDPR together with §25 TDDDG where applicable.
Such information may include, for instance, number of website visitors, date and time of visits, number of pages viewed and location, entry page, exit page and links, type of browser, type of device, among other general web browsing statistical information. Processing of such data involves the use of cookies.
Processing of such data in website traffic analytics is standard and commonly practiced on websites throughout the Internet.
Data collected through our website is used only to generate aggregated statistical information about the use of this website, such as general visitor numbers, pages viewed and usage trends. Although analytics data may include online identifiers such as IP addresses or cookie identifiers during processing, we do not use this information to identify individual visitors as such. The information is used solely to monitor website performance and improve the content, functionality and overall user experience of the website.
Various data that may be observed through the website includes:
- Standard machine/device identity details (used to visit the website), as is normal and necessary when a user interacts with a website and its server; and
- ClickStream data on the nature of a user's visit to the site, including server address, user's upper domain category (e.g. .com, .org, .net, .de, .eu, .co.uk, etc.) and thereby origin location, date and time of the visit, path taken to the www.karlkoeniginstitute.org website (e.g. via a search engine and which one, social media driven traffic, or link from at another site), various pages accessed, route taken through the site, exit pages, exit links, sometimes searched words or terminology performed to find the website (as this may also be encrypted by search engines), and any documents downloaded.
11. Cookies policy
This website www.karlkoeniginstitute.org utilises cookies, essentially for keeping track/observing basic website visitor trends/statistics via a third-party service, as explained above, and for the E-shop section of the website (available only in the German language version) to enhance the user’s experience whilst browsing and shopping on the website.
Cookies might also be placed in your browser when visiting www.karlkoeniginstitute.org via third-party application plug-in or using third-party modules, especially utilised during social media interactions.
The E-shop section of this website (available only in the German language version) also utilises Necessary/Essential Cookies, as required for the site to function properly. These help for keeping items in the shopping cart as you navigate between pages, logging in, checkout/purchase process, and maintaining a secure session.
Meanwhile, functional Cookies on the E-shop help enhance site functionality and user experience, such as for some amount of personalisation, remembering certain available preferences, login details, store selections, and recently viewed products.
Where legally required, non-essential cookies are only placed after you have provided your consent via the cookie banner. You may withdraw or modify your consent at any time.
You may also set your browser’s privacy and cookies settings accordingly. Please note, if you disable cookies used, this may impact overall user experience on this or other websites, especially on the E-shop section.
Most internet browsers are initially set up to automatically accept cookies. You can change the settings to block cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent to your device, as well as delete them at any time. There are a number of ways to manage cookies. Please refer to your specific browser instructions or help screen to learn more about how to adjust or modify your cookies settings.
If you use different devices to view and access the website (e.g. PC, Smartphone, tablet) you will need to ensure that each browser on each device is adjusted to suit your cookie preferences.
For more information about Cookies, such as deleting, disabling or blocking cookies, please visit the external source AboutCookies.org
For more specific information on how to adjust cookie configurations, please refer to your browser. Below are some links and guides to the more common browsers:
12. Social media and third-party plugins
This website uses social media and third-party plugins, namely from YouTube, operated by Google, essentially embedding YouTube videos to particular web pages.
This is done to complement and enhance the user experience by providing more dynamic, relevant content, such as in the form of audio-visual. If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube video, and allow its viewing, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. If you’re logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behaviour directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account or adjusting your YouTube and browser privacy settings accordingly.
Further information about this can be found at the below links:
YouTube Privacy Guidelines
YouTube Policies and Safety, Community Guidelines
13. Privacy policy revision
Such is the nature of the fast-moving web, online and digital technology and regulations, as well as the dynamic operations and evolution of any organisation, The Karl König Institute reserves the right and may, in its sole discretion, modify, revise, or update this website's Privacy Policy at any time accordingly in order to be relevant with any updates, and in many instances is compelled to do so.
As the user, you should periodically review the most up-to-date version as they utilise this website, and agree to be bound by such modifications or revisions, and to its current relevancy, as presented on this website at any present given time.
The Karl König Institute
office 'at' karlkoeniginstitute.org