Privacy Policy Knief&Co GmbH

 

The protection and security of your personal data (hereinafter referred to as the “Data”) is extremely important to Knief&Co GmbH. Am Hansastadion 2, 28277 Bremen, Germany. (hereinafter referred to as “Knief&Co”). When collecting, processing and utilising your Data, we naturally comply with the valid data protection law provisions, in particular the provisions of the German Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz) and the German Telemedia Act (Telemediengesetz).

These Data Protection Provisions serve to provide you with information on the collection and utilisation of your Data in connection with visits to our website at www.kniefco.com (hereinafter referred to as the “Website”) and the use of the other services offered by Knief&Co (hereinafter referred to as the “Services”) (in this respect, see section I.). They also provide you with information on how your Data is handled in the area of our Website that is reserved for business customers (in this respect, see also section II.)

We reserve the right to amend the content of the Data Protection Provisions, which is why we recommend that you consult the Data Protection Provisions again at regular intervals.

 

I. Data Processing and Utilisation in Connection with Website Visits

1. Personal Data

The term “personal data” refers to all Data containing information on the personal or material circumstances of an identified or identifiable individual. The term therefore includes all Data containing information on your personal or material circumstances and allowing you to be identified, e.g. your name, your address, your telephone number or your e-mail address.

2. Collection, Processing and Utilisation of Data

We only collect, process and utilise your Data to the extent that we are allowed to do so on the basis of a legal provision, in particular insofar as this is required in order to establish, define the content of, or amend a contractual relationship with you, in order to allow you to use our Website or to the extent that you have consented to your Data being utilised. The transmission of your Data to sales partners within the Knief&Co Group and to third parties is also subject to the requirements set out above at all times, unless court or official orders mean that we are obliged to forward your Data. You can access the names of our sales partners/branches under “Contacts”.

We collect, process and utilise your Data, for example the Data you have provided us with in connection with a request for information or when registering for our Services, for the following purposes and within the scope required in each case:

2.1 Contact/Feedback

In the feedback form, Knief&Co requires you to provide your name, e-mail address and your enquiry as mandatory information. This Data is used by Knief&Co solely for the purposes of processing your enquiry.

2.2 Ordering Brochures, Press Kits, etc.

Within the framework of orders for brochures, press kits, etc. (hereinafter referred to as the “Material”) placed by interested private individuals, Knief&Co only collects and saves the Data required to process the order and only forwards this Data to the companies that are responsible for logistics and delivering the Material. Mandatory information is marked with the “*” symbol in the corresponding order form. This information includes your title, first name and surname, postal address and telephone number. You can also opt to provide us with your e-mail address. If you are not ordering the Material from Germany, this Data is either passed on by us to our branch office/sales partners based there, which/who then transfer(s) it to a logistics specialist in the appropriate country so that the Material can be delivered to you, or the Material is delivered via us in line with the provisions set out above.

As far as orders for Material placed by companies are concerned, we can opt to collect the name of the contact person at the company. The statements set out above apply accordingly.

2.3 Quality assurance

In order to ensure the quality of our specialist retailers, we will make enquiries, by telephone and/or e-mail, as to your satisfaction with the services provided by our specialist retailers that you selected using the “Search for specialist retailer” function. Your Data may only be used in this manner with your prior consent.

2.4 Marketing Purposes

Insofar as you have consented to/have not objected to the use of your Data for this purpose, we will send you information on our products and services.

3. Cookies

Knief&Co uses cookies so that it can recognise you as a user when you visit the platform and within the framework of our Services, as well as to save technical data on your computer to ensure that individual services work properly. A cookie is a text file that is saved on your computer and allows us to analyse your use of the platform. We only use these cookies to save a random session number and random serial number for your visit.

If you do not want to allow the use of cookies, you can disable this option in your browser. If you do this, it cannot be ruled out that important parts of our platform and the services offered on the platform may no longer work properly.
etracker

The provider of this website uses the services of etracker GmbH, Hamburg, Germany (www.etracker.com) to analyse usage data. We do not use cookies for web analysis by default. If we use analysis and optimisation cookies, we will obtain your explicit consent separately in advance. If this is the case and you agree, cookies are used to enable a statistical range analysis of this website, a measurement of the success of our online marketing measures and test procedures, e.g. to test and optimise different versions of our online offer or its components. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the Internet browser on the user’s device. etracker cookies do not contain any information that could identify a user.

The data generated by etracker on behalf of the provider of this website is processed and stored by etracker solely in Germany by commission of the provider of this website and is thus subject to the strict German and European data protection laws and standards. In this regard, etracker was independently checked, certified and awarded with the ePrivacyseal data protection seal of approval.

The data processing is based on Art. 6 Section 1 lit f (legitimate interest) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Our legitimate interest is the optimisation of our online offer and our website. As the privacy of our visitors is very important to us, the data that may possibly allow a reference to an individual person, such as IP address, registration or device IDs, will be anonymised or pseudonymised as soon as possible. etracker does not use the data for any other purpose, combine it with other data or pass it on to third parties.

You can object to the outlined data processing at any time by clicking on the slider. The objection has no disadvantageous consequences. If no slider is displayed, the data collection is already prevented by other blocking means.

 

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

Newsletter dispatch via Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

We use the services of Brevo SAS, 7 rue de Madrid, 75008 Paris, France (hereinafter “Brevo”) to send our newsletters. Brevo is a platform for email marketing that enables us to send personalized newsletters to our subscribers. Data processing and purpose of use: When sending the newsletter, the following data is processed:
• Email address
• Name (if provided)
• Information about your use of the newsletter (e.g. opening rates, click behavior)
This data is processed exclusively to send you our newsletter, to inform you about current offers and news and to analyze user behavior in order to further improve our content. Legal basis: Your data is processed on the basis of your consent in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR. You have the right to revoke your consent at any time. You will find an unsubscribe link in every newsletter. Data transfer: Your personal data will be sent to Brevo solely for the purpose of sending the newsletter.
Brevo processes this data on behalf of Knief & Co. GmbH and is contractually obliged to treat your data in accordance with data protection regulations.
Storage period:
Your data will be stored for the duration of your newsletter subscription. After unsubscribing, your data will be deleted within 30 days, unless there are legal retention obligations.
Data transfer to third countries:
Brevo stores your data on servers within the European Union. No data will be transferred to third countries.
Your rights:
You have the right to information, correction, deletion, restriction of processing as well as the right to data portability and objection. You can contact us at any time to exercise these rights.

Friendly Captcha (bot and spam protection)

Our website uses the “Friendly Captcha” service from Friendly Captcha GmbH, Am Anger 3-5, 82237 Wörthsee, Germany (www.friendlycaptcha.com).
Friendly Captcha is a new, data protection-friendly protection solution to make it more difficult for automated programs and scripts (so-called “bots”) to use our website. Friendly Captcha thus protects our website from misuse. We have integrated a program code from Friendly Captcha in certain areas of our website (e.g. in a contact form). This causes the visitor’s device to establish a connection to the Friendly Captcha servers in connection with the protected area (e.g. sending a contact form).
The visitor’s browser receives a math problem from Friendly Captcha. The complexity of the math problem depends on various risk factors.
The visitor’s device solves the calculation problem, which requires certain system resources, and sends the calculation result to our web server. This makes contact with the Friendly Captcha server via an interface and receives a response as to whether the puzzle was solved correctly by the device. The visitor’s browser also transmits connection data, environmental data, interaction data and functional data to Friendly Captcha. Friendly Captcha evaluates this data and determines how likely it is that the user is a human or bot and sends us the result. Depending on this, we can treat access to our website or individual functions as human or potentially machine.
All of the data mentioned is used exclusively to detect and treat potential bots and risks as described above. The purpose of the processing is therefore to ensure the security and functionality of our website. We do not use the data to identify a natural person or for marketing purposes. Privacy notice text Friendly Captcha For more information on data protection when using Friendly Captcha and on information processed in the end device, please visit: https://friendlycaptcha.com/privacy/userprotection

for more information on our Cookie policy, visit our Cookie Policy page.

4. Facebook

Our Website uses social plugins (“Plugins”) of the social network facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (“Facebook”). You can view the list of Facebook social plugins and see what they look like here: http://www.developers.facebook.com/plugins

If you click on a page of our Website that contains this sort of Plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection with the Facebook servers. Facebook directly transfers the Plugin content to your browser which embeds the latter into the Website. We cannot influence the scope of Data that Facebook collects with the help of this Plugin, meaning that the information we provide is based on our current knowledge.

The embedding of the Plugin informs Facebook that you accessed the respective page of our Website. If you are logged into Facebook, Facebook can assign the visit to your Facebook account. If you interact with the Plugins, e.g. by clicking on the “Like” button or entering a comment, the corresponding information is transmitted from your browser directly to Facebook, where it will be saved. If you are not a member of Facebook, it is still possible for Facebook to identify and save your IP address.

For information on the purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and utilisation of the Data by Facebook, as well as your rights in this respect and the settings that you can adjust to protect your privacy, please consult Facebook’s data protection information: http://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

If you are a member of Facebook and want to prevent Facebook from collecting Data on you via our Website and linking this Data to your member data stored with Facebook, you must log out of Facebook before you visit our Website.

5. Vimeo

Our Website also features the Plugin of the Vimeo platform. This Plugin is distinguished by a logo of the cooperation partner and additional written information. If you click on a page of our Website that contains this sort of Plugin, your browser establishes a direct, brief connection with the Plugin’s servers. This primarily serves to display the content of the Plugin. In such cases, the cooperation partner learns of your IP address. In practice, it is not possible to readily identify you on the basis of this IP address. Under certain circumstances, the platform provider can save a cookie on your computer in the process. You decide whether you want to allow these cookies or not using the settings in your Internet browser.

For information on the purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and utilisation of the Data by Vimeo, as well as your rights in this respect and the settings that you can adjust to protect your privacy, please consult Vimeo’s data protection information: https://vimeo.com/privacy

6. YouTube

Our Website also features the Plugin of the YouTube platform. This Plugin is distinguished by a logo of the cooperation partner and additional written information. If you click on a page of our Website that contains this sort of Plugin, your browser establishes a direct, brief connection with the Plugin’s servers. This primarily serves to display the content of the Plugin. In such cases, the cooperation partner learns of your IP address. In practice, it is not possible to readily identify you on the basis of this IP address. Under certain circumstances, the platform provider can save a cookie on your computer in the process. You decide whether you want to allow these cookies or not using the settings in your Internet browser.

For information on the purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and utilisation of the Data by YouTube, as well as your rights in this respect and the settings that you can adjust to protect your privacy, please consult YouTube’s data protection information: http://www.youtube.com/t/privacy.

7. Consent/Right of Objection

If you want to grant us, or have granted us, your consent to the collection, processing or utilisation of your Data, we remind you that this consent can be revoked at any time without a given reason with effect for the future. The withdrawal of the consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on the consent before its withdrawal.

Furthermore, you can object to this use – insofar as we utilise your Data within the permitted statutory framework, e.g. for postal marketing activities.

In both cases, it is sufficient for you to send an e-mail to the following address: info@kniefco.com

8. Security

Personal data exchanged between you and us via our Website is transmitted using state-of-the-art encrypted connections as a general rule. We also take technical and organisational precautions to protect your personal data which is managed by us from accidental or wilful manipulation, loss, destruction or from access by unauthorised individuals. We improve our data processing and security measures on an ongoing basis in line with technological advancements. Please note, however, that we cannot ensure full data security when you use e-mail as your communication medium, which is why we recommend that you send us any confidential information by post.

Our employees are, of course, obliged to maintain data secrecy pursuant to § 5 of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).

9. Data Store

Your Data is stored for as long as this is necessary to provide the Services and/or for as long as we are obliged to store it in line with statutory or legal requirements. In the latter case, your Data is deleted when the storage requirement no longer applies.

10. Information, Amendment, Deletion

You have the right to obtain free information on the Data or if there are Data relating to you that we have saved at any time. If the Data we have saved on you is incorrect or was saved as a result of wrongdoing on our part or if you not agree with parts of the processing, we will be more than happy to amend, block, delete or restrict the processing of it. We would ask you to inform us in these cases without delay.

Please send any requests for information, questions, complaints or suggestions to the following address:

Knief&Co GmbH.
Am Hansastadion 2,
28277 Bremen,
Germany.
Phone: +49-421-1632300
Fax: +49-421-1632322
info@kniefco.com

 

II. Data Processing and Utilisation in Connection with the Use of the Services Offered on the Website Specifically for Business Customers

The following provisions only affect our business customers, who can make use of additional services after registering at “Professional”.

1. Customer account (“Professional Area”)

1.1 For each business customer who registers at “Professional Area”, we set up password-protected, direct access to his/her master data that has been saved with us (customer account). You can use this account to manage your Data and orders.

1.2 In order to complete the registration procedure, Knief&Co requires various pieces of Data relating to the company. The mandatory information marked with the “*” symbol includes the name of your company, street, postcode, town/city and country. In order to contact your company directly, we also require either your e-mail address, telephone or fax number. The company data is used as the delivery address for brochures, samples, proofs and other marketing material and, if this material is not dispatched by Knief&Co itself, the data is transmitted to the companies that are responsible for logistics and delivering the products. If the products are not ordered from Germany, the abovementioned Data is either passed on by us to our branch office/sales partners based there, which/who then transfer(s) it to a logistics specialist in the appropriate country so that the products can be delivered to you, or the products are delivered via us in line with the provisions set out above. Your telephone number is required so that we can contact you in the event of problems with the dispatch process, or for requested callbacks.

1.3 Knief&Co also collects Data on the nature of your company. Knief&Co uses this Data so that it can present information that is tailored to suit your needs and to verify whether you are given access to the “Professional Area” of the Website as a business customer. If you click on the “Other” target group and provide a description of your company type in the corresponding text field, a case-by-case assessment is performed to determine the extent to which you are granted access to the professional area.

1.4 Knief&Co also collects your Data in your capacity as the personal contact and, as a result, representative of the company via whom the agreement on the use of the professional area is concluded with Knief&Co. This Data constitutes the master data of the use agreement concluded. The e-mail address is used to send you your personal access data, as well as the newsletter if you have subscribed to it. You name is used for personal contact with the company by telephone, e-mail, newsletter and is required and used on the Website itself. Furthermore, the name is used in the delivery address for all orders to ensure that you actually receive the order.

1.5 Knief&Co also collects voluntary pieces of information, such as your title, department and position within the company and, for further contact, a mobile telephone or fax number. By entering this information, you consent to the collection, utilisation and processing of this Data. This Data will not be disseminated to third parties.

2. Contact

You can contact us for various reasons, e.g. to report complaints or to make enquiries regarding spare parts. Knief&Co requires you to provide the name of your company, your name, your e-mail address and your enquiry as mandatory information. This Data is used by Knief&Co solely for the purposes of processing your enquiry.

3. Newsletter Subscription

Once you have registered at the “Professional Area”, you have the opportunity to subscribe to our newsletter. By sending the form, you consent to the fact that your e-mail address will be saved electronically and used to dispatch the newsletter.

You are free to revoke this consent with future effect at any time without a given reason. Notice in text form (e.g. e-mail, fax, letter) shall be sufficient in this respect. You will, of course, also find an “unsubscribe” link in every newsletter.

4. Recommendations

When you recommend press releases, etc., i.e. when you want to “share” one of our Internet entries with others, the Data you enter is transmitted to the recipient and is not saved by us.

Revised May 2018