Privacy Policy
§1 Information about the collection of personal data
(1) This document is to inform you about the collection of personal data when using our website. Personal data is all data pertaining to an individual, such as name, address, e-mail addresses, or user behavior.
(2) The controller, pursuant to Art. 4 Clause 7 EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is The Tea Company GmbH & Co. KG, Werner-von-Siemens-Str. 14, 21629 Neu Wulmstorf, Germany; Email: info@the-tea-company.de
(3) When contacting us via e-mail or via a contact form, the data you communicate (your e-mail address and, if applicable, your name) will be stored by us so as to enable us to answer your questions. Further information is provided on a voluntary basis and merely serves to facilitate our contact to answer your query. All data collected in this context will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required. If legal archiving duties apply, we will restrict processing.
(4) Any circumstances under which we commission processors to execute individual functions of our offer or might wish to use your data for commercial purposes are described in detail below. We will also indicate the stipulated archiving periods
§2 Your rights
(1) With regard to your personal data, you have the following rights
- right of information
- right of rectification or erasure
- right of restricted processing
- right of objection against processing
- right of data portability
(2) In addition, you are entitled to file a complaint with a data protection authority concerning our processing of your personal data.
§3 Collection of personal data for inquiries regarding membership or sponsoring membership
(1) For inquiries about membership or sponsoring membership, we process the following categories of personal data: contact information, in particular first and last name, possibly title, address, telephone number, email address, information about the company or institution for which you work.
(2) We use your contact details (name, address, email address) exclusively for processing this request.
(3) The legal basis is Art. 6 Clause 1 Sent. 1 lit. b) and f) GDPR based on the implementation of the pre-contractual measure, namely the establishment of membership or sponsoring membership and our legitimate interest in processing this request.
(4) With regard to further information and your rights, please note in particular § 1, § 2 of this data protection as well as the abstract below concerning the objection to or revocation of consent to the processing of your data.
§4 Collection of personal data when visiting our website
(1) If you visit our website for information purposes only, i.e., if you don’t register or otherwise submit information to us, we will only collect the personal data your browser transfers to our server. If you wish to view our website, we collect the data detailed below. This is technically required for you to be able to view our website and to safeguard its stability and security (legal basis: Art. 6 Clause 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR):
- IP address
- date and time of your request
- time zone difference to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
- content of query (page)
- status of access / HTTP status code
- transferred data volume
- website issuing the request
- browser
- operating system and surface
- language and version of browser software
(2) In addition to the aforementioned data, cookies will be stored on your computer when using our website. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your hard disk and allocated to your browser. They transfer certain information to the originator of the cookie (in this case, us). Cookies cannot execute programs or place viruses on your computer. Their purpose is to render our Internet service more user-friendly and more effective.
(3) Use of cookies
a) This website uses the following types of cookies, whose scope and functions are explained below:
- transient cookies (cf. b)
- persistent cookies (cf. c)
b) Transient cookies will be automatically deleted when you close your browser. These include session cookies. Session cookies store the session ID, which serves to allocate various requests your browser issues during a session. They enable recognition of your computer upon your next visit to our website. Session cookies will be deleted as soon as you log off or close the browser.
c) Persistent cookies will be automatically deleted after a given time period, which may vary, depending on the cookie. You can delete cookies at any time via your browser’s security settings.
d) You can configure your browser settings according to your preferences. For example, you can reject all or third-party cookies. Please note that, in this event, you may not be able to access all functions of this website.
e) Real Cookie Banner – we use cookies and similar technologies on our website and process your personal data (e.g. IP address), for example, to personalize content and ads, to integrate media from third-party providers or to analyze traffic on our website. Data processing may also happen as a result of cookies being set. We share this data with third parties that we name in the privacy settings.
The data processing may take place with your consent or on the basis of a legitimate interest, which you can object to in the privacy settings. You have the right not to consent and to change or revoke your consent at a later time.
Below you will find an overview of all services used by this website. You can view detailed information about each service and agree to them individually or exercise your right to object.
§5 Other website functions and offers
(1) In addition to providing you with information, our website offers various services. To use these services, you will, generally, have to enter additional personal data as required for us to provide the respective services. This data is also subject to the aforementioned data processing principles.
(2) We sometimes use third-party service providers to process your data. We carefully select such providers, they are bound to our instructions, and they are monitored on a regular basis.
(3) We may also transfer your personal data to third parties if promotional activities, prize competitions, contract conclusions, or other services are offered jointly with our partners. You will receive detailed information upon entering your personal data or in the description of the respective offers below.
(4) If our service providers or partners are headquartered outside the EEA (European Economic Area), you will be informed of the consequences in the description of the respective offers.
§6 Social media plug-ins
(1) We are currently using the following social media plug-ins: Instagram. They are operated via a double-click system. When you visit our website, no personal data will be transferred to the plug-in providers to begin with. The plug-in provider can be identified via its initials or its logo on the label in the respective box. We provide you with the possibility to communicate directly with the plug-in provider via a dedicated button. Only by clicking on the respective field and, thus, activating it, will the plug-in provider be informed that you have opened the respective website via our online offer. Only the data listed in § 3 of this Statement will be transferred. Facebook and Xing state that the IP address will be anonymized immediately. Activation of the plug-in will trigger the transfer of your personal data to the respective plug-in provider, where it will be saved (for providers located in the USA, the data will be saved in the USA). Plug-in providers usually collect data via cookies. We, therefore, recommend that you delete all cookies via your browser’s security settings before clicking on the gray boxes.
(2) We have no control of the data collection and data processing procedures, nor are we aware of the full scope of data collection, data processing purposes, or storage periods. We have no information regarding the deletion of the collected data by the plug-in provider.
(3) The plug-in provider will save your personal data as user profiles and use it for advertising or market research purposes and/or the user friendly design of its website. Such data use is, in particular, intended (also for users that are not currently logged in) for the selection of tailored advertising and to inform other social network users about your activities on our website. You may object to such user profiles being created. Please file your objection with the respective plug-in provider. Via plug-ins, we provide you with the opportunity to interact with social networks and other users so as to help us to improve our offer and make it more attractive to you, as a user. Plug-ins are used on the legal basis of Art. 6 Clause 1 Sent. 1 lit. f GDPR.
(4) The transmission of data is not dependent on whether you have an account with the plug-in provider or whether you are currently logged in on their websites. If you are logged in the plug-in provider’s website, the data we collect will immediately be allocated to your account with the respective plug-in provider. By clicking on the activated button, e.g., to create a link to the website, the plug-in provider will also save such information under your user account and publish it to your contacts. We recommend that you always log off after using a social network, in particular, prior to activating the button. This way, you can prevent the allocation to your profile with the respective plug-in provider.
(5) Please refer to the privacy statements of the respective plug-in providers, which are referenced below, for details concerning the purpose and scope of data collection and processing by the plug-in providers. You will also find further information concerning your rights and setting configurations to protect your privacy.
(6) Please find below the contact details of Instagram, including their URL and data protection policies:
Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menko Park, CA, 94103, USA; http://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/.
Rights of data subject
- pursuant to Article 15 of the GDPR, to obtain information about the personal data concerning you being processed by us. More specifically, you may obtain information regarding the purposes of processing, the category of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data were or will be disclosed, the intended duration of storage, the existence of the right to rectification, erasure, restriction of processing or objection, the existence of the right to lodge a complaint, the origin of your data provided that we did not collect these, and also regarding the existence of an automated decision-making including profiling and where that is the case, meaningful information about their details;
- pursuant to Article 16 of the GDPR, to obtain without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you stored by us or to have incomplete personal data completed;
- pursuant to Article 17 of the GDPR, to obtain the erasure of personal data concerning you stored by us unless the processing is necessary to exercise the right of freedom of expression and information, for the compliance with a legal obligation, on grounds of public interest or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
- pursuant to Article 18 of the GDPR, to obtain restriction of processing of personal data concerning you in cases where you contest the accuracy of the data, where the processing is unlawful but you oppose the erasure and where we no longer need the data but you still require them to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or where you have objected to processing pursuant to Article 21 of the GDPR;
- pursuant to Article 20 of the GDPR, to receive the personal data concerning you which you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to request that they be transmitted to another data controller (data portability);
- pursuant to Article 7(3) of the GDPR, to withdraw your consent given to us at any time. As a result of this, we will no longer be able to carry out the data processing that was based on this consent in the future; and
- pursuant to Article 77 of the GDPR, to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Generally, you may contact the supervisory authority of your habitual residence, place of work or the registered office of our company in this regard.
Objection to or revocation of consent to the processing of your data
(1) You are free to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time. Such revocation will impact the reliability of the processing of your personal data once it has been issued to us.
(2) To the extent that the processing of your personal data is based on the balancing of interests, you may object to the processing. This is the case if the processing is not required to execute a contract we may have with you. Please refer to the descriptions of the respective functions below for details. Should you object to the processing of your personal data, please indicate the reasons why you do not wish for your personal data to be processed as commonly practiced by us. In the event of your justified objections, we will examine the situation and will either discontinue/adapt the processing of your personal data or explain our compelling and justified reasons why we will continue to process your personal data.
(3) As a matter of course, you may object to the processing of your personal data for advertising and data analysis purposes at any time. To object to the processing of your personal data for advertising purposes, please contact us at The Tea Company GmbH & Co. KG, Werner-von-Siemens-Str. 14, 21629 Neu Wulmstorf, Germany; E-Mail: info@the-tea-company.de; Tel: +49(0)4076899130.
Information on the Transfer of Data to USA
Amongst other things, tools from companies based in USA are integrated with our website. When these tools are active, your personal data may be transferred to the US-based servers of the respective companies. Please note that the USA does not qualify as a safe third country within the meaning of EU data protection laws. US companies are required to surrender personal data to security authorities without you – the data subject – having any right to take legal steps against this. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that US authorities (e.g., intelligence agencies) process, evaluate and lastingly store your personal data held on US servers for surveillance purposes. We have no control over this processing activity.
Consent for data processing in unsecure third countries
Most countries outside of the EU are considered as a insecure third countries for data protection law purposes and no personal data of your visitors can be transferred to or processed in these countries. According to Art. 49 (1) lit. a GDPR it is possible to obtain consent from website visitors for one-time and multiple processing of personal data.
Google Fonts
This website uses Google Fonts of Google Inc. Google Fonts is used to display text and fonts provided by Google. In order for these fonts to be available for a variety of pages, Google makes them available on their servers when the page is accessed. When using Google Fonts, the user’s IP address is transmitted to the Google servers when the page is accessed and the information on the fonts used is transmitted. This may result in the transfer of data to Google’s servers in the US. Font-related information is cached in the browser.
We integrate Google Fonts in order to make our website more appealing and visually uniform. The legal basis of the data collection is Art. 6 Clause 1 Sent. 1 lit. f GDPR. Google is registered under the EU-US Privacy Shield, https://www.privacyshield.gov/EU-US-Framework. For further information about how Google processes date, please refer to the Google privacy statement https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de and the Google Web Fonts FAQ (in English) https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq.
Disclaimer
(1) Content
The author reserves the right not to be responsible for the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the information provided. Liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any kind of information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected.
All offers are not-binding and without obligation. Parts of the pages or the complete publication including all offers and information might be extended, changed or partly or completely deleted by the author without separate announcement.
(2) Referrals and links
The author is not responsible for any contents linked or referred to from his pages – unless he has full knowledge of illegal contents and would be able to prevent the visitors of his site from viewing those pages. If any damage occurs by the use of information presented there, only the author of the respective pages might be liable, not the one who has linked to these pages. Furthermore the author is not liable for any postings or messages published by users of discussion boards, guest books or mailing lists provided on his page.
(3) Copyright
The author intended not to use any copyrighted material for the publication or, if not possible, to indicate the copyright of the respective object.
The copyright for any material created by the author is reserved. Any duplication or use of objects such as images, diagrams, sounds or texts in other electronic or printed publications is not permitted without the author’s agreement.
(4) Legal validity of this disclaimer
This disclaimer is to be regarded as part of the internet publication which you were referred from. If sections or individual terms of this statement are not legal or correct, the content or validity of the other parts remain uninfluenced by this fact.
External Hosting
This website is hosted by a third-party service provider (Alfahosting). Personal data collected on this website are stored on the servers of the web hosting service. This may include in particular IP addresses, contact requests, meta data and communications data, contractual data, contact details, names, website access and other information generated by a webpage.
The web hosting service is used for the purpose of the performance of the contract in relation to potential and existing clients/ data subjects (Article 6(1) lit. b GDPR) and in the interest of the secure, fast, and efficient provision of our online offer by a professional provider (Article 6(1) lit. f GDPR).
Our web hosting service will process your data only insofar as this is necessary for the fulfilment of their performance obligations and, in this regard, will comply with our instructions issued for these data.
Our web hosting service is:
Alfahosting GmbH
Ankerstraße 3b
06108 Halle (Saale)
Germany
Conclusion of an Agreement for Commissioned Processing
To warrant data protection-compliant processing, we have signed an agreement for commissioned processing with our web hosting service.
Update and Amendment of this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy is currently applicable and dates from May 2018.
We may be required to amend this Privacy Policy as we further develop our website and offerings on it or if statutory or regulatory requirements change.
