Privacy policy for our social media presence

General information

This privacy policy applies to our social media presence at:
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Xing
YouTube

Explanation of terms

GDPR

EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU Regulation 2016/679)

Priority data protection law at European level with direct legal effect in all EU member states

BDSG

Federal Data Protection Act, national data protection law.

TDDDG

Act on Data Protection and the Protection of Privacy in Telecommunications and Digital Services (Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act)

Act implementing EU Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector.

Personal data

Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. (Art. 4 No. 1 GDPR)

Person responsible

The natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data. (Art. 4 No. 7 GDPR)

Consent (of the data subject)

Any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her. (Art. 4 No. 11 GDPR)

Data processing through social networks (social media)

We maintain publicly accessible profiles on social networks. The individual social networks we use are listed below.

Social networks such as Facebook etc. can generally analyze your user behavior comprehensively when you visit their website or a website with integrated social media content such as Like buttons or advertising banners. Visiting our social media presences triggers numerous data protection-relevant processing operations.

In detail:

If you are logged into your social media account and visit our social media presence, the operator of the social media portal can assign this visit to your user account. However, your personal data may also be collected if you are not logged in or do not have an account with the respective social media portal. In this case, this data is collected, for example, via cookies that are stored on your device or by recording your IP address.

With the help of the data collected in this way, the operators of the social media portals can create user profiles in which your preferences and interests are stored. In this way, interest-based advertising can be displayed to you inside and outside the respective social media presence. If you have an account with the respective social network, the interest-based advertising can be displayed on all devices on which you are logged in or have been logged in.

Please also note that we cannot track all processing operations on the social media portals. Depending on the provider, further processing operations may therefore be carried out by the operators of the social media portals. For details, please refer to the terms of use and data protection provisions of the respective social media portals.

Legal basis

Our social media presences are intended to ensure the widest possible presence on the Internet. This is a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR. The analysis processes initiated by the social networks may be based on different legal bases, which must be specified by the operators of the social networks (e.g. consent within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR).

Controller and assertion of rights

The controller within the meaning of data protection law is the Werner & Mertz Group company named in the legal notice of the respective social media presence ("We").

If you visit one of our social media sites (e.g. Facebook), we are jointly responsible with the operator of the social media platform for the data processing operations triggered during this visit. You can assert your rights (information, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and complaint) both against us and against the operator of the respective social media portal (e.g. Facebook).

Please note that, despite the joint responsibility with the social media portal operators, we do not have full influence on the data processing procedures of the social media portals. Our options are largely determined by the corporate policy of the respective provider.

The responsible party in terms of data protection law is the Werner & Mertz Group company named in the legal notice of the respective social media presence.

Data Protection Officer pursuant to Art. 37 - 39 GDPR

We have appointed a data protection officer:

Boris Koppenhöfer
c/o Koppenhöfer & Werner Beratungsgesellschaft mbH
Nikolausstrasse 11
65343 Eltville on the Rhine
Phone: +49(6123)9213-61
E-mail: datenschutz@werner-mertz.com

Storage duration

The data collected directly by us via the social media presence will be deleted from our systems as soon as you ask us to delete it, revoke your consent to storage or the purpose for data storage no longer applies. Stored cookies remain on your end device until you delete them. Mandatory statutory provisions, in particular retention periods, remain unaffected.

We have no influence on the storage period of your data that is stored by the operators of the social networks for their own purposes. For details, please contact the operators of the social networks directly at (e.g. in their privacy policy, see below).

Your rights as a data subject

Information, deletion and correction

You have the right to information about your stored personal data, its origin and recipients and the purpose of the data processing and, if necessary, a right to rectification or erasure of this data at any time within the framework of the applicable legal provisions. You can contact us at any time at the address given in the legal notice if you have further questions about personal data.

Right to object to data processing in special cases and to direct marketing (Art. 21 GDPR)

IF THE DATA PROCESSING IS BASED ON ART. 6 ABS. 1 LIT. E OR F GDPR, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBJECT TO THE PROCESSING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA AT ANY TIME ON GROUNDS RELATING TO YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION; THIS ALSO APPLIES TO PROFILING BASED ON THESE PROVISIONS. THE RESPECTIVE LEGAL BASIS ON WHICH PROCESSING IS BASED CAN BE FOUND IN THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU OBJECT, WE WILL NO LONGER PROCESS YOUR PERSONAL DATA CONCERNED UNLESS WE CAN DEMONSTRATE COMPELLING LEGITIMATE GROUNDS FOR THE PROCESSING WHICH OVERRIDE YOUR INTERESTS, RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OR THE PROCESSING SERVES THE ESTABLISHMENT, EXERCISE OR DEFENSE OF LEGAL CLAIMS (OBJECTION PURSUANT TO ART. 21 PARA. 1 GDPR).

IF YOUR PERSONAL DATA ARE PROCESSED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DIRECT MARKETING, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OBJECT AT ANY TIME TO THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA CONCERNING YOU FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUCH MARKETING; THIS ALSO APPLIES TO PROFILING TO THE EXTENT THAT IT IS RELATED TO SUCH DIRECT MARKETING. IF YOU OBJECT, YOUR PERSONAL DATA WILL SUBSEQUENTLY NO LONGER BE USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF DIRECT MARKETING (OBJECTION PURSUANT TO ART. 21 PARA. 2 GDPR).

Right to data portability

You have the right to have data that we process automatically on the basis of your consent or in fulfillment of a contract handed over to you or to a third party in a common, machine-readable format. If you request the direct transfer of the data to another controller, this will only take place if it is technically feasible.

Right to restriction of processing

You have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data. To do so, you can contact us at any time at the address given in the legal notice. The right to restriction of processing exists in the following cases:

If you dispute the accuracy of your personal data stored by us, we generally need time to check this. You have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data for the duration of the review.
If the processing of your personal data was/is carried out unlawfully, you can request the restriction of data processing instead of erasure.
If we no longer need your personal data, but you need it for the exercise, defense or assertion of legal claims, you have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data instead of deletion.
If you have lodged an objection pursuant to Art. 21 (1) GDPR, a balance must be struck between your interests and ours. As long as it has not yet been determined whose interests prevail, you have the right to request the restriction of the processing of your personal data.

If you have restricted the processing of your personal data, this data - apart from its storage - may only be processed with your consent or for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person or for reasons of important public interest of the European Union or of a Member State.

Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

In the event of violations of the GDPR or other data protection regulations, data subjects have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of their habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged violation. The right to lodge a complaint is without prejudice to other administrative or judicial remedies.

Social networks in detail

Facebook

We have profiles on Facebook. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Merrion Road, Dublin 4, D04 X2K5, Ireland (hereinafter referred to as Meta). According to Meta, the data collected is also transferred to the USA and other third countries.

We have entered into a joint processing agreement (Controller Addendum) with Meta. This agreement specifies which data processing operations we or Meta are responsible for when you visit our Facebook page. You can view this agreement at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum.

You can adjust your advertising settings yourself in your user account. To do this, click on the following link and log in: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads.

Data transfer to the USA is based on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/legal/EU_data_transfer_addendum and https://de-de.facebook.com/help/566994660333381.

Details can be found in Facebook's privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

The company is certified in accordance with the "EU-US Data Privacy Framework" (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the USA that is intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards for data processing in the USA. Every company certified under the DPF undertakes to comply with these data protection standards. Further information on this can be obtained from the provider at the following link: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/participant/4452

Instagram

We have a profile on Instagram. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Merrion Road, Dublin 4, D04 X2K5, Ireland.

Details on how they handle your personal data can be found in Instagram's privacy policy: https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy/.

The company is certified in accordance with the "EU-US Data Privacy Framework" (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the USA, which is intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards for data processing in the USA. Every company certified under the DPF undertakes to comply with these data protection standards. Further information on this can be obtained from the provider at the following link: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/participant/4452

LinkedIn

We have a profile on LinkedIn. The provider is LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland. LinkedIn uses advertising cookies.

If you wish to deactivate LinkedIn advertising cookies, please use the following link: https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/guest-controls/retargeting-opt-out.

Data transfer to the USA is based on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/dpa and https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/eu-sccs.

Details on how they handle your personal data can be found in LinkedIn's privacy policy: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Pinterest

We have a profile on Pinterest. The operator is Pinterest Europe Ltd, Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Details on how they handle your personal data can be found in Pinterest's privacy policy: https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy.

XING

We have a profile on XING. The provider is New Work SE, Am Strandkai 1, 20457 Hamburg, Germany. Details on how they handle your personal data can be found in XING's privacy policy: https://privacy.xing.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung.

YouTube

We have a profile on YouTube. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Details on how they handle your personal data can be found in YouTube's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Up-to-dateness and amendment of this privacy policy

Changes and further developments to this website or other websites and services operated by us, as well as changes to legal or regulatory requirements, may necessitate changes to this privacy policy.

The current declaration can be found on the respective social media presence under the heading "Data protection" or "Privacy policy".

Status: April 2025.