Statement of Data Protection Conditions for the Internet
Status: February 1, 2008

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) takes the protection of your personal data very seriously. When we process the personal data that is collected during your visits to our Web site, we always observe the rules laid down in the applicable data protection laws. Your data will not be disclosed publicly by us, nor transferred to any third parties without your consent.

In the following sections, we explain what types of data we record when you visit our Web site, and precisely how they are used:

1. Recording and processing of data in connection with access over the Internet
2. Use and transfer of personal data
3. Consent to use data in other contexts
   Newsletters and press distribution
   Visitors' books and forums
   Orders
4. Security
5. Cookies
6. Links to Web sites operated by other providers
7. Right to information and contact data
8. Acceptance, validity and modification of data protection conditions

1. Recording and processing of data in connection with access over the Internet

When you visit our Web site, our Web server makes a temporary record of each access and stores it in a log file. The following data are recorded, and stored until an automatic deletion date:

• IP address of the requesting processor
• Date and time of access
• Name and URL of the downloaded file
• Volume of data transmitted
• Indication whether download was successful
• Data identifying the browser software and operating system
• Web site from which our site was accessed
• Name of your Internet service provider

The purpose of recording these data is to allow use of the Web site (connection setup), for system security, for technical administration of the network infrastructure and in order to optimize our Internet service. The IP address is only evaluated in the event of fraudulent access to the network infrastructure of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

We do not compile personal profiles of users. The German Teleservices Act (Telemediengesetz TMG) § 15 Abs. 3 states that user profiles are permissible under the condition that pseudonyms are used, and on condition that the user does not withhold consent. If we intend to make use of this option anywhere on our Internet site, a notice informing you of your right to withdraw consent will be posted on the corresponding page.

Apart from the special cases cited above, we do not process personal data without first obtaining your explicit consent to do so.

2. Use and transfer of personal data

All use of your personal data is confined to the purposes stated above, and is only undertaken to the extent necessary for these purposes.

Personal data will not be transferred to government bodies or public authorities except in order to comply with mandatory national legislation or if the transfer of such data should be necessary in order to take legal action in cases of fraudulent access to our network infrastructure. Personal data will not be transferred to third parties for any other purpose.

3. Consent to use data in other contexts

The use of certain services on our Web site, such as newsletters or discussion forums, requires prior registration and involves more substantial processing of personal data, such as longer-term storage of e-mail addresses, user IDs and passwords. We only use such data insofar as they have been sent to us by you in person and you have given us your prior consent for this use.

Newsletters and press distribution

In order to register for a newsletter service provided by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, we need at least your e-mail address so that we know where to send the newsletter. All other information you supply is on a voluntary basis, and will be used in order to contact you directly or clear up questions concerning your e-mail address. If you request delivery by post, we need your postal address. If you ask to be included on a press distribution list, we need to know which publication you work for, to allow us to check whether specific publications are actually receiving our press material.

As a general rule, we employ the double opt-in method when sending out newsletters. In other words, after you have registered for the service and informed us of your e-mail address, you will receive an e-mail in return from us, containing a link that you must use to confirm your registration. The newsletter will not be sent until this has been done. This procedure is used to ensure that only you yourself can register with the newsletter service under the specified e-mail address. You must confirm your registration as soon as possible after receiving our e-mail, otherwise your registration and e-mail address will be erased from our database. Until we receive your confirmation, our newsletter service will refuse to accept any other registration requests using this e-mail address.

You can cancel subscriptions to our newsletters at any time. To do so, either send us an e-mail or follow the link at the end of the newsletter.

Visitors' books and forums

If you wish to sign up for an Internet forum run by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, we need at least a user ID, a password, and your e-mail address. For your own protection, the registration procedure for this type of service, like that for the newsletters, involves confirming your request using the link contained in the e-mail we send you.

You can cancel your registration for this type of service at any time, by sending us an e-mail via the Web page offering the service.

As a general rule, the content of visitors’ books and forums is not subject to any form of monitoring by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Nevertheless, we reserve the right to delete posted contributions and to prohibit users from further use of the service at our own discretion, especially in cases where posted content contravenes the law or is deemed incompatible with the objectives of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Orders

When you order information material, the address data you supply is used exclusively to process the order. We do not transfer such data to third parties.

4. Security

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft implements technical and organizational security measures to safeguard stored personal data against inadvertent or deliberate manipulation, loss or destruction and against access by unauthorized persons. Our security measures are continuously improved in line with technological progress.

5. Cookies

We don’t normally use cookies on our Web site, but in certain exceptional cases we may use cookies which place technical session-control data in your browser’s memory. These data contain no references of a personal nature, and are automatically erased when you close your browser.

If, exceptionally, one of our applications requires the storage of personal data in a cookie, for instance a user ID, you will be asked to give your consent beforehand.

Of course, it is perfectly possible to consult our Web site without the use of cookies. Please note, however, that most browsers are programmed to accept cookies in their default configuration. You can prevent this by changing the appropriate setting in the browser options. If you set the browser to refuse all cookies, this may restrict your use of certain functions on our Web site.

6. Links to Web sites operated by other providers

Our Web pages may contain links to other providers’ Web pages. We would like to point out that this statement of data protection conditions applies exclusively to the Web pages managed by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. We have no way of influencing the practices of other providers with respect to data protection, nor do we carry out any checks to ensure that they conform with the relevant legislation.

7. Right to information and contact data

You have a legal right to inspect any stored data concerning your person, and also the right to demand their correction or deletion, and to withdraw your consent for their further use.

In some cases, if you are a registered user of certain services provided by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, we offer you the possibility of inspecting these data online, and even of deleting or modifying the data yourself.

If you wish to obtain information on your personal data, or want us to correct or erase such data, or if you have any other questions concerning the use of personal data held by us, please contact:

Dr. Niklas Speer
Zentrale der Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Hansastraße 27C
80686 München
Phone +49 89 1205-2015

If you communicate with us by e-mail, please take note that the content of unencrypted e-mails can be intercepted and openly read by unintended parties. For this reason, we recommend that confidential information should be transmitted in encrypted form or sent by post in the traditional way.

8. Acceptance, validity and modification of data protection conditions

By using our Web site, you implicitly agree to accept the use of your personal data as specified above. This present statement of data protection conditions came into effect on February 1, 2008.

As our Web site evolves, and new technologies come into use, it may become necessary to amend the statement of data protection conditions. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft reserves the right to modify its data protection conditions at any time, with effect as of a future date. We recommend that you re-read the latest version from time to time.