Data Privacy Policy
Data collection and logging
Each time one of the websites of DW.COM and the data on it is accessed, a log file is created and saved with the following information:
- name of the file or data accessed
- date and time of access
- the amount of data transferred
- confirmation on whether the data was accessed successfully
- IP-address (unique address for internet-ready devices)
- referrer (name of the website accessed immediately before)
- browser name (including version)
- Operating system used
We log the traffic on DW.COM for data security reasons and to ensure the stability and reliability of our system while also protecting DW.COM against possible external attacks. In addition to this, we evaluate the data using statistical analysis. The data kept in the log file are not directly linked to users and their identities, and are for internal purposes only. They are not passed on to third parties. The data is not be used to personally identify visitors to our websites. The data is not collated or merged with any other data. The administration of our websites using information technology as well as anonymous statistical surveys based on data usage allow for a better overall evaluation of the data accessed on DW.COM in order to optimize our online offerings (see below).
Personal data
You can obviously use the content on DW.COM without disclosing any personal data. Personally data means information that could be used to disclose your identity such as your name, your email address and country.
In certain individual cases (for example competitions, newsletters, blogs or communities), we do, however, need to use personal data. In such cases we will expressly draw your attention to this and will, on principle, kindly ask for your consent to collect and process your personal data. See also our terms of use /dw/en/conditions-of-participation/a-16372765
for further information. When we collect, process and use such personal data, we always do so only for the stated purpose. The data will be treated confidentially, stored on secure servers and will not be forwarded to third parties or used for other purposes.
You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time with immediate effect. If you have any questions, please contact the Data Protection Officer of Deutsche Welle (see below for contact).
Your rights (relating to revocation, correction and deletion of information)
Your data will only be used for the stated purposes and will not be sold to anyone. You have the right to revoke your consent at any time. You can direct such requests to us using the contact details on this website. Please note that if you should choose to revoke you consent to access your data, personalized services on DW.COM may, however, no longer be available.
You have the right, as stipulated in EU legislation, to demand information about what personal data (such as your name and address) is stored on DW.COM. Please submit such requests in writing to the Data Protection Officer at Deutsche Welle and state what subject your data disclosure request is in reference to.
In accordance with the statutory provisions, you also have the right to have your personal data corrected and deleted. Please submit such requests to us using the contact details on this website.
Contact forms and confidentiality of emails
We offer contact forms in many places on DW.COM. We will use your data shared on such contact forms for the specified purposes. Should other purposes also be applicable we would explicitly point this out and ask for your consent in such cases. Please also note the following if you send us any emails: we cannot guarantee the confidential treatment of your correspondence on its way to us if you choose to use an unencrypted email service provider.
Use of cookies
What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are temporarily stored on the hard disk of your device. DW.COM uses cookies for technical reasons without pointing this out in detail on each occasion. We save your IP address during the use of cookies.
Cookies do not store any personal data, and are used to collect anonymous data and statistics on the use of the website by visitors. Cookies help us measure how well our websites are performing. This data helps us to improve and customize our content so you get more out of your visit to DW.COM.
Which cookies does DW use?
Session cookies
These cookies only last for the duration of a session. They will disappear from your computer when you close the browser or turn your computer off. If you have chosen to identify yourself on DW.COM, we will also use session cookies that contain encrypted information to identify you.
Persistent cookies
These cookies remain on your computer even after you close the browser or turn off the device. They are activated each time a user visits the website that created that particular cookie. To this end, you are assigned a unique identifier. This unique identifier is part of a persistent cookie that we leave on your browser. This serves various purposes such as, for example, saving your preferred DW language.
If you do not want us to remember your computer, you can disable the storage of cookies in the browser that you are using or turn on notification for when cookies are sent.
DW.COM can also be used without cookies.
Cookies remain active for 365 days. Post-click cookies (which are necessary to track data after the initial click) is set to 20 days by default.
Measurement and analysis tools (in development)
We employ usage data for statistical purposes and analyses to help us to constantly improve and develop our online content. We do not aggregate the collected data with other data sources. The data is used for internal purposes only and not disclosed to third parties.
The apps that are currently distributed by Deutsche Welle are designed to serve the purpose of data economy. For statistical evaluation purposes, we collect information on when and how often the apps are started, used, closed and updated. This information is analyzed as individual pieces of data and not linked to any other data. No personal data is used during the data analysis process. For evaluation purposes, the IP addresses of devices that use DW-Apps will be logged; however, this happens anonymously.
This anonymization process is outsourced to a specialized service provider. On principle, DW does not collect any data on location or device identification number (UDID). If personal data is to be collected and used within the framework of an app by Deutsche Welle, this app will contains a separate declaration and information on data protection.
Deutsche Welle, however, has no influence on which data is collected and stored by network providers and operating system manufacturers when using its apps and how such data used.
Which tools we use and how they work:
Adjust
We use the analysis tool provided by Adjust GmbH (Saarbrücker Str. 37a, 10405 Berlin, Germany) to measure whether our advertisements actually result in our app being downloaded and to optimize campaigns.
Adjust does not store IP addresses indefinitely as they only remain in temporary storage for less than 30 days (GDPR compliant).
Adjust's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.adjust.com/privacy-policy/.
Chartbeat
User data is collected by means of cookies in cooperation with Chartbeat Inc. (826 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10003, USA) for real-time evaluation and optimization of our content. This service evaluates and processes data and IP addresses only on an anonymous basis.
Anonymized IP addresses are used solely for the purpose of geolocation (at city level) and for detecting when a session is in progress. After data is processed by Chartbeat, DW only receives statistical, aggregated data.
You can learn more about Chartbeat at https://chartbeat.com/about/. Chartbeat's Privacy Policy can be found at https://www.chartbeat.com/privacy/.
Cookies sent by Chartbeat can be stopped at any time by changing the settings in your browser.
Fabric
We use Fabric as an analysis tool to improve our online content. Using Fabric, we collect data on the number of page views, visits, user behavior, and user retention time.
In order to collect this information, Firebase stores certain personal data. We do not aggregate the collected data with other data sources.
This excludes the Crashlytics service provided by Fabric, which we use to locate and fix errors, as this service does not store full IP addresses.
For more information, please read the privacy policy of Fabric here: https://fabric.io/terms
Facebook Pixel
We use Facebook pixel to target people who visit DW's website more directly. As is common in this industry, we use Facebook Pixel to improve our advertisements and to provide people with more relevant ads.
Facebook pixel is a short piece of JavaScript code that is inserted into the HTML code of a web page. When a web page is loaded, Facebook pixel sends general information about the browser session to Facebook. If possible, a secure HTTP connection is used here. No personal data about the visitor to the website is transmitted.
Google Analytics, Firebase Analytics and Google DFP
DW uses the web analytics service provider Google Analytics as well as the app analytics service Firebase Analytics to improve and further develop its content and services in addition to Google DFP which embeds relevant advertising.
These are services provided by Google Inc. (Google). Google uses cookies and text files that are stored on your computer to analyze your usage of this website. The information generated by cookies about your usage of this website (including your IP address) is transmitted to and stored on Google servers in the United States.
Your IP address is anonymized while you use this website. Google normally truncates IP addresses within member states of the European Union as well as the European Economic Area before they are communicated to their servers. Only in exceptional cases will your full IP address be sent to a Google server in the US and shortened there.
Google uses this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity for the operators of the site and to provide other services related to website activity and internet usage. Google will also transfer this information to third parties if this is required by law or if third parties are used to process this data on behalf of Google. Third parties, including Google, place ads on websites on the Internet, using stored cookies to provide relevant ads based on previous visits by a user to this site.
Google won't associate your IP address with other any data. You can prevent the storage of cookies by a changing the settings on your browser. We would like to point out, however, that in this case you may not be able to fully use all features of this website. You can also prevent Google from collecting and processing data generated by cookies related to your use of the website (including your IP address) by downloading and installing a browser plug-in available using the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. For more information about disabling Google ads, please visit the Disable Google Ads page or refer to the Disable Network Ad Initiative page.
You can withdraw your consent to data collection and retention at any time with future effect. For more information about Google's terms, see below.
Google Analytics Opt-Out:
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de
Basic description of how Google uses cookies to deliver personalized ads and how users can disable this on mobile devices:
https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads?hl=de
General external tool for users to disable personalized ads based on online tracking:
https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1#!/
Personalized ads can also be disabled via the following Google link:
https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous?hl=en
AT Internet
This service is used on all DW products as an analysis tool to improve our online content. Using AT Internet, we collect data on the number of page views and visits, on user behavior and the length of time users spend on our online content. This data is gathered anonymously so no personal data is collected. We do not aggregate the collected data with other data sources.
For further information, please read the privacy policy of the service provider AT Internet: https://www.atinternet.com/en/company/data-protection/
If you do not agree to the tracking of your visit and want to prevent the collection of data by AT Internet, you can switch this off by referring to the opt-out procedure of the service provider: https://www.xiti.com/en/optout.aspx
Internet services and social media integration (currently in development)
Deutsche Welle continues to constantly test new services to support internet-friendly ways of content distribution, including curating services such as ScribbleLive and Storify. We embed our content within social networks such as Facebook, Google Plus, Soundcloud, Twitter and YouTube.
For example, we embed content from providers such as YouTube, which is stored on their servers, on our websites. If you open a link to such a website that features outside content, this provider will receive the IP address of the device you use to go online. This external provider cannot draw any conclusions about your personal data from this IP address alone, but can infer, for example, where you are located geographically. Furthermore, this provider can program cookies on your device, with which they can log your online behavior.
Other examples are the embedded social network recommendation buttons (also called "social plugins") in our content.
Disqus
Deutsche Welle uses the Disqus commentary function. This service is provided by DISQUS, Inc., 301 Howard St, Floor 3 San Francisco, California-94105, USA. You can find Disqus' data protection information here: https://help.disqus.com/customer/portal/articles/466259-privacy-policy
Disqus offers various login options. You can either access Disqus using your own Disqus account or via existing social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
If you log in to Disqus using a social media account, the applicable social media service providers will also be able collect and process information about your use of Disqus' features. For more information, please see the privacy policy of the respective service provider.
It is possible to comment on DW.COM as a guest without logging on to Disqus. However, this means that some features may not be available. By signing up with Disqus, you can comment on any website that also offers the Disqus comment feature.
For any commentary made using Disqus, Deutsche Welle will receive the following information about the user: the email address you provided and the IP address assigned to you by your provider at the time of your comment. Deutsche Welle only uses these email addresses when it needs to contact you in case of queries regarding your comments. There is no other use of the email addresses, nor will they be publicized of shared with third parties in any way. The IP addresses are only transmitted to prevent any misuse of the comment function. Users that misuse the comment function can be blocked using the IP-address.
ScribbleLive
For content featuring live blogs or a live ticker (for example, Life Links, football tickers and so on) DW.COM uses the ScribbleLive service provided by Scribble Inc. (Canada), 200-488 Wellington St., West Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5V 1E3.
We embed ScribbleLive, which uses Scribble Inc. servers, on our websites and blogs.
When you visit a page with a live blog or live ticker, your browser establishes a direct connection to the server of this service provider. Your IP address and other device-related information will be transmitted to Scribble Inc. This service provider and its potential subcontractors are expressly committed to comply with European data protection laws. https://www.scribblelive.com/legal/privacy-policy/
The live blog / live ticker page uses temporary cookies stored on your hard drive to allow you to access the interactive features of the live blog / live ticker.
DW.COM does not employ any tracking cookies when embedding ScribbleLive content.
SmartFocus
Deutsche Welle uses SmartFocus to send newsletters.
SmartFocus has his own tracking system. By adding some parameters to the URLs of the links used in messages, we know when a member clicks. And by placing a 1x1 pixel at the end of each message, we know if a member opened the message.
Modifications
The information in this guide is intended to contribute to a better understanding of EU data protection rules. The guidelines will be updated regularly, content may be subject to modifications without notice.
You can contact DW's data protection officer and data protection supervision at
Deutsche Welle
Kurt-Schumacher-Strasse 3
53113 Bonn
T. +49.228.429-0