We are happy to welcome you to our website at URL https://www.vhs-bonn.de (hereinafter referred to as the “website”). This Privacy Statement explains in detail how we handle your data if you decide to use our services.
The controller of this website for the purposes of data protection law is Volkshochschule der Bundesstadt, Bonn, legally represented by Dr. Ingrid Schöll – Mülheimer Platz 1, 53111 Bonn, telephone 0228 773690, vhs@bonn.de (hereinafter referred to as “we”).
Whenever you access our website, access data is stored in a log file on our provider’s server.
This data set includes the:
The collection of this data is necessary for technical reasons. It is not possible for us to derive information about your identity from this data. Access data will be deleted after six months.
We store cookies in the cache of your device in order to make your visit to our website more pleasant and to enable you to use certain website functions. This allows us to improve our marketing and thus constitutes a legitimate interest.
Cookies are small text files which are sent by our provider’s server to your device’s browser and stored on your device. After you have successfully logged into your user account, we require the cookies, for example, to be able to identify you and to establish your authorization for the entire duration of your visit. We use cookies to spare you, while registering for a course, the effort of reentering the same data that you gave us when you created your user account. These cookies are erased from your device’s cache when you close your browser (session cookies).
Most devices’ browsers are set to accept the creation and storage of cookies automatically. You may configure your browser so that it always blocks the storage and use of cookies or does so in specific cases.
However, if you do this, some of the functions of our website may not be available.
Our website uses Matomo (formerly Piwik), a web analytics service, to collect and store data for marketing and optimization purposes. This use is based on our legitimate interest in the statistical analysis of user behavior (Art. 6(1)(f) of the GDPR). This data enables us to create and analyses usage profiles under a pseudonym for the same purpose. Cookies may be used for this purpose. Cookies are small text files which are stored locally in an intermediate memory (cache) of the Internet browser used when you visit a website. Among other things, the cookies enable your browser to be recognized the next time that you visit our website. The data collected using Matomo technology (including your pseudonymized IP address) are processed on our provider’s servers.
The information generated by the cookie in the pseudonymized user profile is not used to personally identify website visitors and is not combined with the personal data of the person to whom the pseudonym refers.
If you do not agree to the storage and analysis of this data from your visit, you may, at any time, click on the following checkbox to object to its storage and use. This will place an opt-out cookie in your browser that will prevent Matomo from collecting any data from your Internet session. Please note that if you delete all of your cookies, your opt-out cookie will also be deleted and will have to be reactivated by you.
You may decide here whether you wish to allow a web analysis cookie to be stored in your browser to enable the website operator to collect and analyze various statistical data.
If you wish to opt out, click on the following link to save the Matomo deactivation cookie in your browser.
Matomo web analysis is currently capturing data regarding your visit to this website.
Click the checkbox below to end the collection of data regarding your visit.
Our website uses plug-ins for the German market of the following social networks: Facebook (operator: Facebook Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland), Twitter (operator: Twitter International Company One Cumberland Place Fenian Street Dublin 2 D02 AX07, Ireland) and Google (operator: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). The plug-ins are recognizable by their respective logos.
To protect your data, we use the double-click method. That means that, when you visit our website, none of your personal data are initially shared with Facebook, Twitter or Google (hereinafter referred to as “plug-in providers”). Personal data are only sent to the plug-in provider if you click on that provider’s plug-in.
To protect your data, we use a shariff wrapper. This enables you to visit our website without your surfing behavior being visible at the same time to the plug-in provider.
A connection to the plug-in provider is first established when you actively click on its plug-in. Only once you have done this are your personal data transmitted to the USA and stored there.
Through your activation of the respective plug-in, the plug-in provider receives the information that your browser has called up the website even if you do not have an account with the plug-in provider or are not logged in with it at this time. This information (including your IP address) is transferred directly by your browser to a server of the respective plug-in provider in the USA and stored there.
If you are logged into the respective plug-in provider, it can directly link your visit to our website to your account with it. If you click on the button of the respective plug-in provider or leave a comment, that information will also be transferred directly to a server of the plug-in provider and stored there. In addition, the information will be published on the plug-in provider’s webpages and displayed to your friends.
If you do not want the respective plug-in provider to link data collected via our website to your account with it, you will need to log off from the respective plug-in provider before visiting our website.
Plug-in providers may use the collected data for marketing, market analysis and as an aid in improving their respective webpages. For these purposes, the respective plug-in providers create user, interests and relationship profiles, for example, to analyze your use of our website in terms of the advertisements that are displayed to you by the respective plug-in provider, to inform other users of the plug-in provider’s platform about your activities on our website and to provide further services related to the use of the respective plug-in provider’s platform. If you do not agree to the creation of a profile for you, you may object to this. However, to exercise your right of objection, you need to contact the respective plug-in provider directly.
We have no control over the data collected or the plug-in provider’s data processing activities. Nor are we aware of the extent to which data are collected, the purpose of such collection or how long the data are stored.
To obtain details of your rights and the settings available to protect your data, please view the privacy policies of the plug-in providers by clicking on the links listed below:
http://www.facebook.com/policy.php
http://www.google.com/intl/de/+/policy/+1button.html.
The data that must be provided when registering for a course are used to take steps prior to entering into a contract with you and for the purposes of the performance of such a contract. A distinction is made here between data that are required (identified by asterisks) and information that is optional.
No contract will be concluded if the required data (data sets) are not provided. We ask for your year of birth in order to be certain that you are an adult or so that we can take appropriate measures in the case of minors. In the case of certain courses, for example, on infant care, it may be mandatory for registrants to provide their date of birth.
We request your cell phone or landline number since we have a legitimate interest in being able to contact you directly in the case of changes in connection with courses. If you do not provide such information, we may not be able to reach you in time. The other optional information is also used for the purposes of performance of a contract.
By providing us with the IBAN, last name and first name of an account holder, you can give us a direct debit mandate. The optional information is also used to carry out the direct debit process. If you do not make the required bank data available, it will not be possible for us to debit your account and you will have to pay the course fee in some other way.
All data that you provide will be stored electronically. We may have the resulting databases and applications processed by external IT service providers. Should you fail to provide optional data, this will not entail any adverse consequences for you.
You may create a user account for our website.
When creating your user account, you will be requested to supply data sets. The fields identified by an asterisk are mandatory and completing them is necessary for the establishment and implementation of the use agreement. The provision of the other information is voluntary.
You define your access data using your e-mail address and your choice of a password. Without this information we cannot authenticate you or offer you a secure user account. Unless you state your year of birth, we cannot check whether we need the consent of your parents in order to set up a user account for you. Should you fail to provide optional data, this will not entail any adverse consequences for you.
You are under no obligation to set up a user account. You can register for a course at any time without setting up an account (“guest booking”).
After setting up a user account, you can view the account to see your personal data and to modify them. Moreover, you will receive an overview of the courses that you have booked. Please remember to log out of your user account before leaving our website. To do this click on the “log out” button on our website. The purpose of this is to protect your data against unauthorized access by third parties.
You may terminate your user account with us at any time. We reserve the right to terminate your account with 4 weeks’ notice if you have not used your account for over 3 years.
You can give us permission to use your e-mail address to send marketing information about our offerings to you. We will not use your e-mail address for this purpose without your consent. You may withdraw your consent for the future at any time. You can notify us of the withdrawal of your consent by using any communication channel you wish (e.g., postal mail, e-mail, link in the newsletter).
By registering for our newsletter, you have issued the following consent declaration:
I consent to the Federal City of Bonn contacting me via e-mail with information about courses or individual events (no more than) twice a month. I may, at any time, revoke my consent with future effect.
When you open our newsletter or click on a link in it, this will be logged by our web server (date, time and your e-mail address). This information is stored for internal statistical purposes. These data will not be used to create personal usage profiles.
In certain selected cases, we will offer you the possibility of early registration for a continuation course (exclusively in the languages area). We may also notify you of continuation courses and events that are similar to those that you have already taken or attended. You can also request, at any time, that such offers not be sent to you.
You will be asked to provide information when you use our contact form, which can be called up by clicking on “link”. The fields identified by an asterisk are for mandatory information and are necessary for processing your message. These data are used, if you are a potential course participant, to take steps prior to entering into a contract and to fulfill a contract if you are an existing course participant. The provision of the other information is voluntary.
Unless you provide the mandatory information, we will be unable to respond to you.
Should you fail to provide optional data, this will not entail any adverse consequences for you.
You are not required, either by law or contract, to provide your data or to use our contact form.
Your data will be erased after processing unless legal retention periods require otherwise. Where the law so requires, such data may be retained for up to 10 years. Your data will then be blocked from any other use except for postal advertising in those cases where postal advertising is permissible.
Bank data that we receive will be erased upon cancellation of the direct debit authorization, payment in full of the course fee or if the corresponding account has not been debited for a period of 36 months.
The data that you provide in relation to your user account will continue to be stored until either you or we terminate your user account.
The data that you make available to us by using our contact form will be erased as soon as our exchange of communication is terminated or we have completely processed your query unless the data were also collected for contractual purposes. Communications relevant for legal claims will be stored until the limitation period for bringing claims has expired.
We will only disclose your data to a third party if we are entitled or obliged to do so by applicable law. The same applies where we receive your data from a third party. We are also entitled to transfer your data where the processing of the data is carried out by a third party on our behalf. In those cases where we do not perform our business activities ourselves, but instead subcontract them to other organizations and this involves the processing of your data, we first bind such organizations contractually to only use the data for the purposes that we are permitted to use them. Examples of these kinds of activities include operation of the website, changes to offerings, support for course participants, creation and distribution of advertising material, data analysis and, where necessary, data correction and payment processing. We are authorized to monitor the work of these organizations.
We will make your name, e-mail address and – if you have provided it – your telephone number available to the instructor of the respective course for the purposes of allowing him or her to plan and conduct the course. This will also include contacting you in the case of changes. In the case of certified tests and completion certificates (e.g., Cambridge or Telc language tests, ICC tests, Xpert, financial bookkeeping, school leaving certificates), we will forward the necessary data to the testing organizations. Such transfers of data will be made for the purposes of the performance of a contract between us. In the case of attendance of integration courses, we must forward your name and the required contact details to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge – BAMF). In addition, it may also be necessary to forward information to public authorities in the case of courses subsidized by the state government or the Federal Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit). This information is transferred on the basis of a legal obligation to do so.
If you should fail to make a payment on time, we reserve the right to forward your data (name, address, year of birth) to the City Treasury of the Federal City of Bonn for the purposes of collection of the outstanding amount. We have a legitimate interest in transferring personal data for such purposes.
We take all necessary technical and organizational measures to ensure the security of your data and to protect it against loss or abuse. Therefore, your data is stored in a secure operational environment that is not accessible to the public.
The data that you provide when you register for a course are transferred in an encrypted form. We use, in particular, SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption technology for this. You can only access your user account by entering your personal password. You should keep your access information confidential and close your browser window when
you have finished communicating with us, in particular if you share your device with others. Please note that we do all that we can to make our website safe and reliable for users, but that there is no 100% guarantee that a third party will not be able to access it.
Please also remember that communication by e-mail does not always guarantee total confidentiality and data security. We therefore recommend that you use postal mail for confidential information.
You are entitled, at any time, to receive, free of charge, information about the personal data we have stored about you and the purpose for which they are stored. You can also object to having your data processed or transferred by us to third parties. In addition, you are entitled to have incorrect data rectified, blocked or erased free of charge at any time where storage is impermissible or no longer necessary. In addition, you may, at any time, revoke your consent with effect for the future. You can direct queries to us by using the contact details provided in point 1.
In addition to the rights mentioned above, you have, in principle, the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.
The contact details of our Data Protection Officer are:
Wolfgang Schell, datenschutzbeauftragter@bonn.de
Tel. 0228/773465
