Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting our website. Below we would like to inform you about the handling of your data in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Responsible for data processing
The organisation named in the imprint is responsible for the data collection and processing described below.

Storage of the IP address
We store the IP address transmitted by your web browser for a strictly earmarked period of seven days in the interest of recognising, limiting and eliminating attacks on our websites. After this period has expired, we delete or anonymise the IP address. The legal basis is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

Data on usage
When you visit our websites, so-called usage data is temporarily stored on our web server as a log for statistical purposes in order to improve the quality of our websites. This data record consists of

  • the page from which the file was requested
  • the name of the file
  • the date and time of the request
  • the amount of data transferred
  • the access status (file transferred, file not found),
  • the description of the type of web browser used,
  • the IP address of the requesting computer, which is shortened so that a personal reference can no longer be established.

The aforementioned log data is only stored in anonymised form.

Data security
We take technical and organisational measures to protect your data from unauthorised access as comprehensively as possible. We use an encryption process on our website. Your data is transmitted from your computer to our server and vice versa via the Internet using TLS encryption. You can recognise this by the fact that the lock symbol in the status bar of your browser is closed and the address line begins with https://.

Data transmission to third parties
We transfer your data to service providers who support us in the operation of our websites and newsletter dispatch as well as the associated processes as part of order processing in accordance with Art. 28 GDPR. Our service providers are strictly bound by our instructions and are contractually bound accordingly.

Cookies

We use cookies on our websites. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your end device and can be read. A distinction is made between session cookies, which are deleted as soon as you close your browser, and permanent cookies, which are stored beyond the individual session. Cookies can contain data that makes it possible to recognise the device used. In some cases, however, cookies only contain information on certain settings that are not personally identifiable.

We use session cookies and permanent cookies on our websites. The processing is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR and in the interest of optimising or enabling user guidance and adapting the presentation of our website.

You can set your browser to inform you about the placement of cookies. This makes the use of cookies transparent for you. You can also delete cookies at any time via the corresponding browser setting and prevent the setting of new cookies. Please note that our websites may then not be displayed optimally and some functions may no longer be technically available.

Consent banner (Consentmanager.net)
We use a consent management platform (consent or cookie banner) from Consentmanager.net on our websites. The processing in connection with the use of the consent management platform and the logging of the settings you have made is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR, in our legitimate interest to display our content according to your preferences and to be able to prove your consent(s). The settings you have made, the consent you have given and parts of your usage data are stored in a cookie. This means that it is retained for subsequent page requests and your consent can still be tracked. You can find further information on this under the heading "Essential functions".

The provider of the consent management platform works for us as a strictly instruction-bound service provider (processor). An order processing contract in accordance with Art. 28 GDPR has been agreed.

etracker
The Volkswagen Foundation uses the web analysis tool "etracker" from etracker GmbH in Hamburg, Germany (www.etracker.com) to customise the design of our websites. This tool creates user profiles based on the following data:

  • Information on the end device, operating system and browser used;
  • Geo-information up to a maximum of city level;
  • the URL called up with the associated page title and optional information on the page content
  • the website from which the accessed individual page was accessed
  • the subsequent pages that were accessed from the accessed website within a single website in the session
  • the time spent on the website;
  • other interactions (clicks) on the website, such as search terms entered,
  • downloaded files, videos viewed, registrations, enquiries, items ordered, etc
  • the frequency of visits to the website.

No cookies are set. It is not possible to identify unique visitors, the frequency distribution of sessions per visitor over time or the linking of visits to customer journeys or conversion paths that extend over periods longer than 24 hours.

Processing is carried out on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR (consent). You can object to the processing at any time. Please use the consent management tool integrated into the page (see "Data protection settings" icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the page) and make the appropriate settings.

Further information on data protection at etracker can be found here.

Adobe Fonts
The Volkswagen Foundation uses Typekit web fonts from Adobe Fonts for the visual design of the website. Adobe Fonts is a service provided by Adobe Systems Software Ireland Companies (4-6 Riverwalk, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, Republic of Ireland; hereinafter "Adobe"), which grants us access to a font library.
To integrate the fonts we use, your browser must establish a connection to an Adobe server in the USA and download the font required for our website. Adobe collects the following data:

  • Your IP address,
  • The time required by the web browser to download the fonts,
  • The time from downloading the fonts with the web browser until the fonts are used,
  • Whether an ad blocker is installed to determine whether the ad blocker interferes with the correct tracking of page views,
  • Operating system and browser version.

Data processing is based on your consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR), provided that you have given your consent via our banner. You can revoke your consent at any time. To do so, please click on the fingerprint at the bottom left and make the appropriate settings via our banner.
If your browser does not support web fonts or you do not give your consent, a standard font will be used by your computer.
For transfers to the USA, an adequate level of data protection is guaranteed due to the provider's certification under the adequacy decision (EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework).
Further information about Adobe Fonts can be found in the Adobe Fonts privacy policy, which you can access here: https://www.adobe.com/de/privacy/policies/adobe-fonts.html

Your rights as a user

When processing your personal data, the GDPR grants you certain rights as a website user:

  1. Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR):

    You have the right to request confirmation as to whether personal data concerning you is being processed; if this is the case, you have a right to information about this personal data and to the information listed in detail in Art. 15 GDPR.
  2. Right to rectification and erasure (Art. 16 and 17 GDPR):

    You have the right to obtain without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you and, where applicable, the completion of incomplete personal data.

    You also have the right to demand that personal data concerning you be deleted immediately if one of the reasons listed in Art. 17 GDPR applies, e.g. if the data is no longer required for the purposes pursued.
  3. Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR):

    You have the right to request the restriction of processing if one of the conditions listed in Art. 18 GDPR applies, e.g. if you have objected to processing, for the duration of any review.
  4. Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR):

    In certain cases, which are listed in detail in Art. 20 GDPR, you have the right to receive the personal data concerning you in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to request the transmission of this data to a third party.
  5. Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR):

    If data is collected on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f (data processing to safeguard legitimate interests), you have the right to object to the processing at any time for reasons arising from your particular situation. We will then no longer process the personal data unless there are demonstrably compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interests, rights and freedoms of the data subject, or the processing serves the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
  6. Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
    In accordance with Art. 77 GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe that the processing of data concerning you violates data protection regulations. The right to lodge a complaint can be exercised in particular with a supervisory authority in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement.
  7. Contact details of the data protection officer

    Our company data protection officer will be happy to provide you with information or suggestions on the subject of data protection:
    datenschutz nord GmbH
    Konsul-Smidt-Straße 88
    28217 Bremen
    Web: www.datenschutz-nord-gruppe.de

    E-mail: office(a)datenschutz-nord.de

Social media plugins

For data protection reasons, we do not integrate any social plugins directly into our website. Therefore, when you visit our website, no data is transmitted to social media services such as Facebook, Twitter, XING or Google+. Profiling by third parties is therefore excluded.

Newsletter

We offer you the option of subscribing to our newsletter on our website. If you have given us your separate consent to inform you by email about news relating to the Volkswagen Foundation, this data will be processed on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR.

Your consent can be revoked at any time without affecting the legality of the processing carried out so far, e.g. via the link to unsubscribe from the newsletter, which you will find in every newsletter e-mail, or directly via www.volkswagenstiftung.de/newsletter-abmeldung. If consent is revoked, your data will be deleted within 1 month, provided that the deletion does not conflict with any statutory retention requirements.

To send the newsletter, the Volkswagen Foundation uses "CleverReach", a marketing platform of the German provider CleverReach GmbH & Co. KG, Mühlenstr. 43, 26180 Rastede, Germany.

The email addresses of our newsletter recipients are stored on CleverReach's servers in Europe. CleverReach uses this information to send and analyse the newsletter on our behalf. Furthermore, CleverReach may, according to its own information, use this data to optimise or improve its own services, e.g. to technically optimise the sending and presentation of the newsletter.

The Volkswagen Foundation has concluded an "Agreement on commissioned data processing" with CleverReach. CleverReach thus undertakes to protect subscribers' data, to process it in accordance with data protection regulations and, in particular, not to pass it on to third parties. Further information on data security at CleverReach can be found at https://www.cleverreach.com/de/datensicherheit/

Copyright
All texts, images, graphics, sound, video and animation files and their arrangement on the Volkswagen Foundation website are subject to copyright and other laws for the protection of intellectual property. They may not be copied for commercial purposes or for distribution, nor may they be modified and used on other websites. This does not apply to the text and image material expressly offered for redistribution under headings such as "Press". We would like to point out that some pages of the Volkswagen Foundation website also contain images that are subject to the copyright of those who have made them available.

Liability
All information on this website has been carefully checked. We endeavour to continually expand and update this information. However, we cannot guarantee that it is complete, correct or up to date. The Volkswagen Foundation provides this information without any warranty or guarantee of any kind, whether express or implied. The Volkswagen Foundation excludes all liability for damages arising directly or indirectly from the use of this website, except in cases of wilful misconduct or gross negligence on the part of the Volkswagen Foundation.

References and links
In the case of direct or indirect references to external websites ("links") which lie outside the area of responsibility of the Volkswagen Foundation, a liability obligation would only come into force if the Volkswagen Foundation had knowledge of the content and it was technically possible and reasonable for it to prevent use in the case of illegal content. The Volkswagen Foundation hereby expressly declares that no illegal content was recognisable on the linked pages at the time the links were created. The Volkswagen Foundation has no influence whatsoever on the current and future design, content or authorship of the linked pages. Therefore, it hereby expressly distances itself from all content of all linked pages that were changed after the link was created.

This statement applies to all links and references within the Volkswagen Foundation's own website as well as to third-party entries in guest books, discussion forums and mailing lists set up by the Volkswagen Foundation. Liability for illegal, incorrect or incomplete content and in particular for damages resulting from the use or non-use of such information lies solely with the provider of the linked page and not with the person who merely refers to the respective publication via links.

Video - YouTube
We use YouTube videos on our website to provide videos about our activities and events. As it is not possible to host the videos locally on our server, we use the services of YouTube, a third-party provider. If you have given your consent via our consent management tool (see the "Privacy settings" fingerprint icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the page, where you can revoke your consent at any time), the YouTube server is called up by the integration of YouTube videos. Data from your browser or end device is transmitted to the YouTube server. It is also transmitted which of our websites you have visited. If you are logged in to YouTube as a member, YouTube assigns this information to your personal user account. You can prevent this assignment by logging out of your YouTube user account and other user accounts of YouTube LLC and Google Inc. before using our website and deleting the corresponding cookies of the companies.

For the use of data from your browser or end device associated with playing a video, please refer to the provider's privacy policy. Further information on data processing and notes on data protection by YouTube (Google) can be found at www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

Video - Vimeo
We use videos from Vimeo on our website to provide videos about our activities and events. As it is not possible to host the videos locally on our server, we use the services of Vimeo, a third-party provider. If you have given your consent via our consent management tool (see the "Privacy settings" fingerprint icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the page, where you can revoke your consent at any time), the Vimeo server is called up by the integration of Vimeo videos. Data from your browser or end device is transmitted to the Vimeo server. It is also transmitted which of our websites you have visited.

For the use of data from your browser or device in connection with playing a video, please refer to the provider's privacy policy. Further information on data processing and notes on data protection by Vimeo can be found at https://vimeo.com/privacy.

External content (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo)

In order to protect your personal data, we have blocked the automatic loading of external content from US service providers such as YouTube or Vimeo, as there is no adequate level of data protection in the USA. This harbours the risk of unnoticed access by authorities, the lack of data subject rights, the lack of legal remedies and the loss of control over your data. If you have given your consent via our consent management tool (see the "Privacy settings" fingerprint icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the page, where you can revoke your consent at any time), this content will be displayed and you expose yourself to this risk.

Licence
The Volkswagen Foundation would like to present itself to you with an innovative and informative website. The intellectual property contained therein, such as patents, trademarks and copyrights, is protected. This website does not grant a licence to use the intellectual property of the Volkswagen Foundation or third parties.

Choice of law
All information or data, the use of the Volkswagen Foundation website and all actions, tolerations or omissions in connection with the Volkswagen Foundation website are subject exclusively to German law. The place of fulfilment and exclusive place of jurisdiction is Hanover.