PRIVACY POLICY

Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting our website. Protecting your privacy is of the utmost importance to us; therefore, we collect, process, and use your personal data collected during your visit to our website only to the extent that you have consented to such processing or where there is a corresponding legal basis. We will neither publish your data nor unlawfully disclose it to third parties. This Privacy Policy applies to all data collection and other data processing by MEKRA Lang GmbH & Co. KG in connection with the operation of the company website.

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time with future effect. The current version of the Privacy Policy can be accessed, saved, and printed from our website at any time. Below, we provide detailed information about what data is collected during your visit to our website, to what extent and for what purposes it is used, and we inform you of the rights to which you are entitled as a data subject.

Contact Information of the Data Controller

The data controller is:

MEKRA Lang GmbH & Co. KG

Buchheimer Str. 4

91465 Ergersheim

Management: Susanne Lang, Bernd Dehner, Thomas Kolodziej

Contact:

Phone: +49 9847 989-0

Fax: +49 9847 989 8160

Email: info@mekra.de 

Data Protection Contact:

Email: datenschutz@mekra.de

Purposes and Legal Basis for Data Processing

When processing your personal data, we comply with the provisions of the EU GDPR and all other applicable data protection regulations. The legal bases for data processing are derived in particular from Article 6 of the EU GDPR.

We use your data to initiate business relationships, to fulfill contractual and legal obligations, to execute the contractual relationship, to offer products and services, and to strengthen customer relationships, which may also include analyses for marketing purposes and direct marketing.

Your consent to data processing may also constitute a legal basis under data protection law. Before you grant your consent, we will inform you of the purpose of the data processing and your right to withdraw consent.

If the consent also relates to the processing of special categories of personal data, we will expressly point this out to you in the consent form. Processing of special categories of personal data pursuant to Art. 9 of the EU GDPR will only take place if this is required by legal provisions and there is no reason to assume that your legitimate interest in excluding such processing outweighs this requirement.

Disclosure to Third Parties

We will only disclose your data to third parties within the scope of legal provisions or with your consent. Otherwise, no disclosure to third parties will take place, unless we are required to do so by mandatory legal provisions (disclosure to external bodies such as supervisory authorities or law enforcement agencies).

Recipients of the data / Categories of recipients

Within our company, we ensure that only those individuals who need your data to fulfill contractual and legal obligations receive it.

In certain cases, service providers assist our departments in fulfilling their tasks. The necessary data protection agreements have been concluded with all service providers. 

Transfer to third countries / Intention to transfer to third countries

Data transfers to third countries (outside the European Union or the European Economic Area) only take place to the extent that this is necessary for the performance of the contractual relationship, required by law, or you have given us your consent.

Data Retention Period

We store your data for as long as it is needed for the respective processing purpose. Please note that numerous retention periods require that data continue to be stored. This applies in particular to retention obligations under commercial or tax law (e.g., the German Commercial Code, the German Fiscal Code, etc.). Unless further retention obligations exist, the data will be routinely deleted once the purpose has been fulfilled.

In addition, we may retain data if you have given us your consent to do so or if legal disputes arise and we use evidence within the scope of statutory limitation periods, which can be up to thirty years; the standard limitation period is three years.

Obligation to Provide Data

Various personal data are necessary for the establishment, performance, and termination of the contractual relationship and the fulfillment of the associated contractual and legal obligations. The same applies to the use of our website and the various functions it provides.

We have summarized the details for you in the section above. In certain cases, data must also be collected or provided due to legal requirements. Please note that processing your request or fulfilling the underlying contractual relationship is not possible without the provision of this data.

Categories, Sources, and Origin of Data

The specific context determines which data we process: This depends on whether, for example, you place an order online or submit an inquiry via our contact form, whether you send us a job application or file a complaint.

Please note that we may also provide information for specific processing situations separately in the appropriate place, e.g., when uploading application documents or submitting a contact request.

Storage of access data

You can visit our website without providing any personal information. We only automatically store access data in so-called server log files each time you access our website. The following data is collected and stored at the time of access:

• IP address
• Browser type and browser version
• Date and time of the request
• Name of the requested file
• Name of the file from which the file was requested
• Amount of data transferred and access status
• A description of the web browser and operating system used
• as well as the name of your Internet service provider.

This data is collected exclusively to ensure the smooth operation of the website and to improve our services. Analysis is conducted solely for statistical purposes and does not allow us to identify you personally. The temporary storage of the IP address is necessary to enable the website to be delivered to your device.

The legal basis for the temporary storage of access data is Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. This data is analyzed exclusively to ensure the continuous and uninterrupted operation of the website, to improve the content of our website, and to be transmitted to law enforcement authorities in the event of a cyberattack; it does not allow us to identify you personally. The anonymous data from the server log files is stored separately from any other personal data you may have provided. These purposes also constitute our legitimate interest in data processing pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR. We analyze this anonymously collected data and information statistically with the aim of enhancing our data protection and data security.

Cookies

Our website uses so-called cookies. They serve to make our website more user-friendly, effective, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device and saved by your browser (locally). Cookies contain only pseudonymous data. Some cookies remain active for the duration of a browser session (so-called session cookies), while others are stored for a longer period (so-called persistent cookies, e.g., consent settings). The latter are automatically deleted after the specified time (usually 6 months). In addition to our own cookies, we also use cookies controlled by third-party providers. These providers use the information contained in the cookies to, for example, display content to you or track the pages you visit.

Based on our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) EU GDPR), we use technically necessary cookies that are essential for the operation of the website and ensuring its functionality. Furthermore, we use cookies without your consent to the extent that their sole purpose is to store or access information stored on the end device for the transmission of messages, or if they are absolutely necessary to provide the service you have expressly requested, § 25(2) TTDSG.

Subject to your consent, additional cookies are used that enable us or third parties, for example, to analyze how our services are used. This allows us to tailor content to user needs. In addition, cookies allow us to measure the effectiveness of a specific advertisement and to place it, for example, based on the user’s thematic interests. The legal basis for this is your explicit consent (Art. 6(1)(a) EU GDPR, § 25(1) TTDSG).

You can revoke your consent at any time via our consent banner with future effect and change your cookie settings. Please note that changes must be made separately for each device.

If you maintain accounts with the third-party providers we use and are logged in there, your data may be linked to the respective account. You can prevent such a link by not granting or by revoking your consent to the relevant cookies, or by logging out of the respective third-party providers beforehand.

Most browsers accept cookies automatically. You can also manually disable, restrict, or delete cookies on your device via your browser settings or using software. If you disable cookies, full use of our website will not be possible or will be limited.

Matomo

To analyze our website, we use—subject to your consent—the open-source web analytics service Matomo (formerly PIWIK). The legal basis for the processing of personal data is Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR.

Matomo uses methods that enable an analysis of your use of our website, in particular which website you came from (so-called referrer), which subpage you access, and how often and for how long you view a subpage. Matomo uses cookies for this purpose (see above regarding cookies). The information generated by the cookie regarding the use of this website is stored on our server. The IP address is anonymized before storage.

Processing this personal data enables us to analyze our users’ browsing behavior. By evaluating this data, we are able to continuously improve our website and its user-friendliness. Anonymizing the IP address sufficiently addresses users’ interest in the protection of their personal data.

When individual pages of our website are accessed, the following data is stored:

1. Two bytes of the IP address of the user’s accessing system
2. The webpage accessed
3. The website from which the user accessed the visited webpage (referrer)
4. The subpages accessed from the visited webpage
5. The duration of the visit to the webpage
6. The frequency of visits to the website

The software runs exclusively on our website’s servers. Users’ personal data is stored only there. The data is not shared with third parties.

You can revoke your previously given consent to data collection by Matomo at the end of this privacy policy.

Google Maps

On our website, we use Google Maps (API) from Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (“Google”). To ensure data protection, Google Maps is disabled when you first visit this website. A direct connection to Google’s servers is only established once you manually activate Google Maps (consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You may revoke your consent at any time at the end of this privacy policy. This prevents your data from being transmitted to Google the first time you visit the site. After activation, Google Maps will store your IP address. This is then typically transmitted to a Google server in the United States and stored there.

This involves a transfer to a third country, so in this case there is a risk that your data may be processed by U.S. authorities for control and surveillance purposes without you potentially having any legal recourse. However, we take the measures that are possible and necessary under data protection law in accordance with Art. 44 et seq. of the EU GDPR to ensure an adequate level of data protection in the third country.

For more information on the handling of user data, please refer to Google’s Privacy Policy: https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

YouTube Platform (Embeds)

On our website, we use so-called embeds or embedded content. These embeds may originate, for example, from the YouTube platform. A classic embed is, for example, a video on the YouTube platform. In this process, data is always transferred to the server of the respective platform. These processing operations are based on your consent, which you may revoke at any time at the end of this privacy policy.

Embedding on YouTube is achieved through the technical process known as “framing.” With framing, simply inserting an HTML link provided by YouTube into a website’s code creates a playback frame on the third-party site, thereby enabling the video stored on YouTube servers to be played.

We use the framing codes generated by YouTube in what is known as “enhanced privacy mode.” According to the information provided by the YouTube platform, cookie activity and the resulting data collection are only linked to the actual use of the video’s playback function. Against this background, data collection through the mere use of the website with framed content is prevented.

To play YouTube content, we require your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) EU GDPR). To protect your data, we use a so-called two-click solution. All YouTube content is disabled by default and is only loaded and displayed from YouTube servers after you click the “Enable Content” button. By clicking this button, you consent to your IP address being transmitted to YouTube (YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA) and to the provider setting cookies in your browser. For your convenience, we store your consent for 30 days via a so-called local storage object that we save in your browser. Once given, consent may be revoked at any time. 

Social Media Links

On our website, you will find links to the social media services of YouTube and Instagram. You can recognize links to the websites of these social media services by the respective company name. If you follow these links, you will be directed to the MEKRA Lang GmbH & Co. KG profile on the respective social media service. When you click a link to a social media service, a connection is established with the servers of that social media service. This transmits to the social media service’s servers that you have visited our website. Additionally, further data is transmitted to the provider of the social media service. This includes, for example:

• The address of the webpage on which the activated link is located
• Date and time of the website visit or activation of the link
• Information about the browser and operating system used
• IP address

If you are already logged in to the respective social media service at the time the link is activated, the provider of the social media service may be able to determine your username and, in some cases, even your real name from the transmitted data and associate this information with your personal user account on the social media service. You can prevent this association with your personal user account by logging out of your account beforehand.

The servers of the social media services are located in the United States and other countries outside the European Union. The data may therefore also be processed by the social media service provider in countries outside the European Union. Please note that companies in these countries are subject to data protection laws that generally do not protect personal data to the same extent as is the case in the member states of the European Union.

Please note that we have no influence over the scope, nature, and purpose of data processing by the social media service provider. For more information on how your data is used by the social media services integrated into our website, please refer to the privacy policy of the respective social media service

SSL Encryption

We use SSL encryption for security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as the requests you send to us as the website operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection by the fact that the address bar of the browser changes from "http://" to "https://" and by the lock icon in your browser bar.

When SSL encryption is enabled, the data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

Data Security

We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational safeguards to protect your data from unauthorized access, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, and alteration, as well as loss and destruction. Your personal data is stored and processed exclusively within the European Union. We only make personal data available to those employees who need it to provide our websites and deliver the requested services and information.

However, you should also take precautions to protect your personal data, in particular by keeping your login information confidential and monitoring and controlling access to your computer.

Contact Form / Contact via Email (Art. 6(1)(a), (b) EU GDPR)

Our website features a contact form that can be used to contact us electronically. When you write to us via the contact form, we process the data you provide in the contact form to contact you and respond to your questions and requests.

In doing so, we adhere to the principles of data minimization and data avoidance, meaning you only need to provide the data that is strictly necessary for us to contact you.

In the context of a contact request, we process the following data:

Required information:

• Title
• Last name
• First name
• Email address
• Subject

Optional information:

• Department
• Phone
• Company
• Country

In addition, your IP address is processed for technical reasons and to ensure legal compliance. All other data fields are optional and may be provided at your discretion (e.g., to receive a more personalized response to your questions).

To best protect the security and confidentiality of your data, we implement appropriate security measures. Your inquiry is transmitted to us in encrypted form.

If you contact us via email, we will process the personal data provided in the email solely for the purpose of handling your inquiry. If you do not use the contact forms provided, no further data will be collected.

Job Applicant Portal (Art. 6(1)(a), (b) EU GDPR)

Job Applicant Portal (Art. 6(1)(a), (b) EU GDPR)

We appreciate your interest in working at MEKRA Lang GmbH & Co. KG. We are aware of the importance of your data and process the personal data you provide in the application form solely for the purpose of effectively and correctly handling the application process and for contacting you during the application process. Your data will not be disclosed to third parties without your consent.

In the application form, you will be asked to provide personal data. In doing so, we adhere to the principles of data minimization and data avoidance, meaning you are only required to provide the data we need to fully review your application documents—such as your resume, certificates, and similar documents—or data that we are legally obligated to collect. These required fields are marked with an * (asterisk). For technical reasons and to ensure legal compliance, your IP address is also processed.

For online applications, we collect and process the following data:

Required information:

• First name
• Last name
• Street, house number, ZIP code, city
• Country
• Email address
• Resume, etc.

Optional information:

• Title
• Academic title
• Phone number
• Salary expectations
• Availability
• Additional information, if relevant

Unfortunately, without this information, we cannot review your application materials; therefore, our application system will not allow you to upload your application materials in this case. Of course, you have the option to provide additional information in the application form.

To ensure the best possible protection of the security and confidentiality of your data, we implement appropriate security measures. Your application documents are transmitted to us in encrypted form via our application system.

We store your data for the purpose mentioned above until the application process is complete and any related deadlines have expired—no later than six months after receiving a decision.

Social Media Presence

We are active on various social media platforms to communicate with registered customers, interested parties, and users and to inform them about our offerings.

Please note that you use this platform and its features at your own risk. This applies in particular to the use of interactive features (e.g., commenting, sharing, rating).

We also wish to inform you that your data may be processed outside the European Union in this context.

In addition, your data may be processed for market research and advertising purposes. For example, usage profiles may be created based on your usage behavior and the resulting interests. This allows, for example, advertisements to be displayed within and outside the platforms that are presumed to be of interest to you. Cookies are typically stored on your computer for this purpose. Regardless of this, usage profiles may also store data that is not collected directly from your devices (especially if you are a YouTube member and logged in).

As the provider of this information service, we do not collect or process any other data from your use of our service.

The processing of users’ personal data is based on our legitimate interests in effectively informing users and communicating with them in accordance with Art. 6(1)(f) of the EU GDPR. If you are asked by the respective providers to consent to data processing (i.e., to give your consent, e.g., by checking a box or clicking a button), the legal basis for the processing is Article 6(1)(a) and Article 7 of the EU GDPR.

Right to Object

If you are a member of a social network and do not want the network to collect data about you via our website and link it to your stored member data on the respective network, you must

• log out of the respective network before visiting our website,
• delete the cookies stored on your device, and
• close and restart your browser.

However, once you log in again, you will once more be recognizable to the network as a specific user.

For a detailed description of the respective processing activities and opt-out options, please refer to the information provided by the providers via the links below.

We also note that requests for information and the exercise of user rights are most effectively handled directly with the providers. Only the providers have access to user data and can take appropriate measures and provide information directly. If you still need assistance, please contact us.

• Google / YouTube (Google Ireland Limited, Gordons House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland)

Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Opt-out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated

• Instagram (Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA) 

Privacy Policy / Opt-Out: http://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/

• LinkedIn (LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland)

Privacy Policy: https://de.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy

• Facebook (Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Merrion Road, Dublin 4, DO4X2K5, Ireland)

Privacy Policy: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/?_rdr  

Right to access, erasure, restriction, and withdrawal

If your personal data is processed, you are a data subject within the meaning of the GDPR and you have data subject rights vis-à-vis the controller (=website operator). You have the right at any time, upon request and free of charge, to inquire about the data collected regarding you, its origin and recipients, and the purposes and planned duration of storage, and to have this data corrected, restricted, or erased in accordance with legal provisions. Furthermore, you have the right to be informed whether personal data has been transferred to a third country or to an international organization. If this is the case, you are also entitled to receive information about the appropriate safeguards in connection with the transfer. In such cases, it is sufficient to send an email specifying your request for information, correction, deletion, or blocking to datenschutz@atarax.de.

If you have consented to the use of your personal data, you may revoke your consent at any time without providing a reason by sending an email to datenschutz@atarax.de, effective for the future. The revocation of consent does not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent prior to the revocation.

Right to Object

If we process your personal data for the purpose of direct marketing, you have the right to object to this data processing at any time without providing reasons. This also applies to profiling, insofar as it is related to direct marketing.

If you object to processing for direct marketing purposes, we will no longer process your personal data for these purposes. The objection is free of charge and may be submitted in any form.

In the event that we process your data to safeguard legitimate interests, you may object to this processing at any time for reasons arising from your particular situation; this also applies to profiling based on these provisions.

We will then no longer process your personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or the processing serves to assert, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Complaints Regarding Data Protection Violations to Supervisory Authorities

If you believe that data protection regulations have been violated during the collection, processing, or use of your personal data and that your rights have been infringed, you may contact the relevant data protection authority. The authority will investigate the complaint and inform you of the outcome. For Bavaria, this is the

Bavarian State Office for Data Protection Supervision

Promenade 27 (Schloss)

91522 Ansbach

Phone: +49 (0) 981 53 1300

Fax: +49 (0) 981 53 98 1300

Email: poststelle@lda.bayern.de

Automated individual decision-making

We do not use fully automated processing to make decisions.

Online Services for Children

Persons under the age of 16 may not submit any personal data to us or provide a declaration of consent without the consent of their legal guardians. We encourage parents and legal guardians to actively participate in their children’s online activities and interests.

Links to Other Providers

Our website also contains—clearly identifiable—links to the websites of other companies. Where links to websites of other providers are present, we have no influence over their content. Therefore, we cannot assume any liability or guarantee for this content. The respective provider or operator of the pages is always responsible for the content of these pages.

The linked pages were checked for possible legal violations and recognizable infringements at the time the links were created. No illegal content was identifiable at the time the links were created. However, continuous monitoring of the content of the linked pages is not reasonable without concrete evidence of a legal violation. If legal violations become known, such links will be removed immediately.

Other Information

Please note that complete confidentiality and data security cannot be guaranteed when communicating via the Internet (e.g., via email). We therefore recommend sending confidential information by mail.

I would like to revoke my consent to tracking by Matomo. You will be asked again the next time you visit this page.

Revoke

I would like to revoke my consent to the use of Google Maps.