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Privacy statement

This privacy policy informs you as a visitor to our website about the processing of personal data that is processed within the central websites of Bielefeld University. With this data protection declaration, Bielefeld University fulfils its duty to provide information in accordance with Article 13 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU-DSGVO).

Internet pages that collect personal data via forms provide separate information there about the processing of the personal data collected there.

Responsible for the website is Bielefeld University, a public corporation with legal capacity supported by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is represented by the Rector Prof. Dr. Angelika Epple.

Contact details of the responsible person

Universität Bielefeld
Universitätsstraße 25
Germany

33615 Bielefeld

Tel.: 0521 / 106 - 00

Contact details of the data protection officers

You can contact the data protection officer of Bielefeld University by post at the address of the data controller given above or as follows:

Email: datenschutzbeauftragte@uni-bielefeld.de

Tel.: 0521 / 106 - 5225

Storage of browser data

Generally, when you visit a website, information that your browser transmits to us is automatically stored in server log files for technical reasons. These are:

  • IP address
  • File names
  • Access status (http status code)
  • Volume of data retrieved
  • Date and time of the server request
  • Referrer URL (the previously visited page is only stored in the log in the event of an error (Error 404))

This stored data is used exclusively for the purpose of identifying and tracking unauthorised access attempts and accesses to the web server and cannot be assigned to a specific person. It is not compared with other data or passed on to third parties. The data is stored for a maximum of seven days and deleted after an anonymous statistical evaluation. Data whose further storage is necessary for evidentiary purposes are exempt from deletion until the respective incident has been finally clarified.

Forms and web-based services

In some places, Bielefeld University's website offers the possibility of providing further personal data in the form of forms and the use of web-based services. For example, web forms can be used to request information and subscribe to newsletters. The use of these services by the user is expressly on a voluntary basis. Information on which data is collected and processed in detail is provided on the corresponding forms or web services. The use of these additional options and the associated entry of personal data are exclusively on a voluntary basis. The data is processed exclusively for the purpose stated there. If data is passed on to third parties, this is only done on the basis of legal permission or is explicitly legitimised by informed consent.

Cookies

Your browser also stores so-called cookies. Cookies are files that can be stored by the provider of a website in the directory of the browser programme on the user's computer. These files contain text information and can be read again by the provider when the page is called up again. The provider can use these cookies, for example, to always deliver pages in the language selected by the user.

The saving of cookies can be switched off in the settings of your browser or an expiry time can be set. However, by deactivating cookies, some functions that are controlled via cookies can then only be used to a limited extent or not at all.

The website of Bielefeld University uses cookies for the following purposes:

Recognition of a user during a session in order to be able to assign language selection and other personal settings, e.g. with a session cookie). Anonymous recognition of a user by the web analysis software Matomo (formerly: Piwik). The cookie used, "PIWIK_SESSID" or similar, has a lifespan of 1 week and is then deleted by your browser. When you visit the website again, the cookie is reset to 1 week. Storage of the objection to tracking by the web analysis software Matomo (formerly: Piwik) in the permanent cookie "matamo_ignore".

In addition, individual web applications linked via the websites (learning platform, forums, blogs, etc.) may set further cookies. These are described in the data protection declarations belonging to the respective services, insofar as they deviate from this data protection declaration.

Web analysis using Matomo (formerly Piwik)

Bielefeld University uses the web analytics software of the open source project Matomo to improve its website.

The web analysis software evaluates the following data about the visit of a website for the creation of statistics:

  • Web page/address accessed
  • anonymised IP address
  • Date and time of the page view
  • Volume of data retrieved
  • Website or search engine from which you accessed a page (referrer)
  • Browser type and version / operating system used

This data is stored anonymously (not personalised) and is only used to improve the website. The anonymisation is carried out by shortening the IP address so that it can no longer be assigned to any device or person.

You can object to the recording of tracking information. To do this, a so-called deactivation cookie is stored in your browser. If you delete the deactivation cookie from your browser, you must repeat the process.

You can decide below whether a unique web analysis cookie may be stored in your browser to enable the operator of the website to collect and analyse various statistical data.

If you wish to opt out, click the following link to place the Matomo opt-out cookie in your browser. Your visit to this website is currently collected by Matomo web analytics.

If you delete the opt-out cookie from your browser, you will need to repeat the process.

Use of social networks

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

The website of Bielefeld University does not directly integrate social media plugins (e.g. like buttons) of the social networks Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Thus, no data is transmitted to external social networks when you access the websites. Only when you click on icons/symbols/links of the social networks on the University's web pages and call up the pages linked via them do you leave the web pages that are the responsibility of Bielefeld University, and calls to external web pages are made in accordance with the conditions of the respective provider/social network.

YouTube

Bielefeld University uses the provider YouTube LLC , 901 Cherry Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA, represented by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, to embed videos. Normally, when you call up a page with embedded videos, your IP address is already sent to YouTube and cookies are installed on your computer. However, we have embedded our YouTube videos with the extended data protection mode (in this case, YouTube still contacts Google's Double Klick service, but according to Google's privacy policy, personal data is not evaluated). This means that YouTube no longer stores any information about visitors unless they watch the video. If you click on the video, your IP address is transmitted to YouTube and YouTube learns that you have watched the video. If you are logged in to YouTube, this information is also assigned to your user account (you can prevent this by logging out of YouTube before viewing the video).

Bielefeld University has neither knowledge nor influence over the possible collection and use of your data by YouTube. You can find more information in YouTube's privacy policy at www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/. For general information on how to handle and deactivate cookies, please refer to the Cookies section on this page.

Panopto

Videos from the video platform Panopto are also embedded on the University's pages. The video platform is offered and operated by the provider Panopto EMEA Limited, Highgate Studios, 53-79 Highgate Road, London NW5 1TL, UK. The data collected when a page with embedded Panopto videos is called up (IP address, content of the Panopto session cookie in your browser) cannot be viewed by Bielefeld University and can only be viewed by Panopto EMEA Limited with the express permission of Bielefeld University. Further general data protection information on Panopto is available at https://www.panopto.com/privacy/.

Bielefeld University collects and processes the above-mentioned data and log files required for technical operation in order to maintain the technical security of the systems, as well as the data within the scope of web analysis, in order to safeguard the legitimate interests of the University pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. EU-DSGVO. The data is required for the delivery of web pages, for the secure operation of the web servers as well as the improvement of the web offer and is only used for the purposes stated in each case.

The collection of further data in forms and web-based services is based on the consent of the data subjects pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a. EU-DSGVO or is necessary for the fulfilment of tasks of the university pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. e. EU-DSGVO in conjunction with the Higher Education Act of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (HG NRW).

As a matter of principle, we do not transfer personal data processed in the course of using the Bielefeld University website to third parties. In individual cases, this may be done on the basis of a legal permission, for example, a transfer to law enforcement agencies for the investigation of criminal offences within the framework of the regulations of the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO) or for the purpose of asserting claims for damages in the case of copyright infringements. If technical service providers are given access to personal data, this is done on the basis of a contract in accordance with Art. 28 DSGVO.

As a matter of principle, no personal data is transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area and associated countries (no third country transfer). If this should be necessary, we will inform you separately.

As a data subject, you may exercise the rights granted to you by the EU GDPR at any time, insofar as they apply to the processing:

  • the right to information as to whether and which of your data is being processed (Art. 15 DSGVO);
  • the right to request that the data concerning you be corrected or completed (Art. 16 DSGVO);
  • the right to erasure of the data concerning you in accordance with Art. 17 DSGVO
  • the right to request a restriction of the processing of the data in accordance with Art. 18 DSGVO;
  • the right to object to future processing of data concerning you in accordance with Art. 21 DSGVO.

The collection of data for the provision of the web offer and the storage of the data in log files is absolutely necessary for the operation of the websites. Consequently, the user has no right to object. Although IP addresses are considered personal data, they are not assigned to any person by the university, so they cannot be assigned to users who request information and therefore cannot be used for information purposes.

In addition to the aforementioned rights, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 DSGVO).

Validity of this privacy policy

We reserve the right to amend the privacy policy to reflect any changes in relevant laws or regulations or to better meet your needs.