Protection of your personal data is a matter of priority for the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Therefore, we process personal data only to the extent necessary. The type of data that is required and processed, the purpose of processing and the basis on which it is processed depends on the type of service you use or depends on the task for which we require it.
Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. A natural person shall be considered identifiable if he or she can be identified directly or indirectly, in particular, by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data or an on-line identifier.
Further information on the types of data collected, the purpose of collection, the basis on which it is collected, how you can contact the responsible body and the data protection officer, and your rights relating to the processing of personal data, can be found in this Privacy Policy.
The party responsible for processing personal data is the
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
D-53170 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)228 9957-0
Fax: +49 (0)228 99578-3601
Email: bmbf[at]bmbf.bund.de
DE-Mail: poststelle[at]bmbf-bund.de-mail.de
If you have specific questions about the protection of your data, please contact the BMBF's data protection officer:
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
"Data Protection Officer"
D-53170 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)228/9957-3369
Fax: +49 (0)228/9957-8-3369
Email: datenschutz[at]bmbf.bund.de
The following Policy gives you an overview of how the BMBF guarantees the protection of your data, and informs you about the type of data collected, the basis on which it is collected and the purpose of collection.
Each time you visit a website, data required to provide the offered service is collected and exchanged. This includes:
This data is in log files on an external server at our service provider "DLR Projektträger" beyond the time of the visit.
We are obliged to store the data beyond the time of your visit pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 items c and e of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in conjunction with Section 5 of the Act on the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI-Gesetz) in order to protect against attacks on the Internet infrastructure as well as to detect, limit or eliminate malfunctions or errors in the communications technology of the Federal Government/BMBF. This data is analysed and is required for the purpose of initiating legal and criminal prosecution in the event of attacks on the communications technology.
Data that is recorded during access to the BMBF's website will only be transmitted to third parties to the extent that we are legally obliged to do so or if the transmission is necessary for legal or criminal prosecution in the event of attacks on the communications technology of the Federal Government. Data will not be transmitted in any other case. The BMBF does not merge this data with other data sources.
The BMBF, together with its service provider contracted for support and development “DLR Projektträger”, analyse information on your use of our website for statistical purposes on the basis of your consent in accordance with Article 6 (1) (a) of the GDPR as part of public relations work and for the purpose of providing information on tasks within the BMBF’s remit as needed. It does so using the Matomo web analytics service.
The following data is stored when individual pages of our website are accessed:
The software is configured so that IP addresses are stored incomplete with 2 bytes concealed (e.g. 192.168.xxx.xxx). This makes it impossible for the shortened IP address to be linked to the retrieving computer, meaning that you remain anonymous as the user.
The relevant software runs only on the web servers of our service provider "DLR Projektträger" on behalf of the BMBF. These are the only servers where user information is stored. No data is disclosed to third parties.
If you want to modify your decision regarding web analytics – i. e. give your consent or withdraw it again - you can do this by checking or unchecking the box below.
Your selection is stored in a so-called consent cookie on your hard drive. The consent cookie is automatically deleted after 24 hours.
Check your data
You can use any Internet browser to see whether cookies are set and what they contain. Detailed information can be found on the website of the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information and that of the Federal Office for Information Security.
Depending on the manner in which contact is established, different types of personal data are collected and processed. You can contact us via the contact form, e-mail or telephone.
Establishing contact via the contact form
Your e-mail address is required if you use the contact form for communication. Your request will not be processed without your e-mail address. Entering your last name, first name as well as a reason for contact (subject) is optional.
Please note that the processing of the data transmitted with the contact form and the content (which may also contain personal data transmitted by you) is based on your consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 item a) GDPR.
You can revoke your consent at any time. The legality of the processing based on your consent remains unaffected until the receipt of your revocation.
Your request, which you have communicated to us via the contact form, will be processed by the staff of the service provider "DLR Projektträger" commissioned by the BMBF.
Establishing contact via e-mail
In addition to the personalised official e-mail addresses of the employees, contact can also be established by e-mail via the following central e-mail or contact form:
GSW[at]dlr.de
If you use one of the above-mentioned modes of contact, the data transmitted by you (e.g.: last name, first name, address), or at least the e-mail address, as well as the information contained in the e-mail (which may include personal data transmitted by you) will be stored for the purpose of establishing contact and processing your request.
Please note that the data is processed pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 item e GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 BDSG [Federal Data Protection Act] within the scope of the BMBF's performance of its tasks. The personal data transmitted by you must be processed for the purpose of processing your request.
Your request, which you have communicated to us via the e-mail address gsw@dlr.de, will be processed by the staff of the service provider "DLR Projektträger" commissioned by the BMBF.
Telephone
If you contact an employee by telephone, your personal data will be processed to the extent necessary to process your request.
If you contact the organisation team of the framework programme for humanities and social sciences, your request will be processed by an employee of the service provider "DLR Projektträger" commissioned by the BMBF. Your data (e.g.: last name, first name, address, e-mail address, telephone number) will be stored there for the purpose of processing your request and in accordance with the statutory and contractual requirements, as far as this storage is necessary to process your request.
Please note that the data is processed for this purpose pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 item e GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 BDSG within the scope of the BMBF's performance of its tasks.
When you contact us, your personal data will be collected and processed by the service provider "DLR Projektträger" commissioned by us to process your request. Your data will only be stored for the purpose of processing your request and in accordance with the statutory and contractual requirements. If your request cannot be processed by the service provider's employees, it will be forwarded to the BMBF.
The employees of the BMBF will process the transmitted data only in connection with the processing of your request. In such cases, the transmitted data is stored in accordance with the time limits for the storage of written records laid down in the Registry Directive (Registraturrichtlinie), which supplements the Joint Rules of Procedure of the Federal Ministries (Gemeinsame Geschäftsordnung der Bundesministerien, GGO).
If the matter concerns a service provider of the BMBF or can only be answered by this service provider, your request and the personal data required for processing will be forwarded to the responsible service provider. The service provider will process your data only for the purpose of processing your request and in accordance with the statutory and contractual requirements.
In these above-mentioned cases, the data will be forwarded on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 item e GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 BDSG within the scope of the BMBF's performance of its tasks.
In addition, within the scope of exercising professional and legal supervision, it may be necessary to transfer your available personal data in connection with your request to the authorities under our supervision. In these cases, the transfer is based on Section 25 para. 1 BDSG in conjunction with Section 23 para. 1 no. 6 BDSG.
According to Section 1 of the Law on the Powers of the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag, the BMBF may be obliged to transmit your personal data to the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag in order to prepare decisions on complaints pursuant to Article 17 of the Basic Constitutional Law.
If you participate in the "Foto-Highlights" photo competition of the framework programme for humanities and social sciences, your data will be stored on the servers of the service provider "DLR Projektträger" commissioned by the BMBF. In order to participate, the Conditions for Participation and Image Rights Form should be signed and submitted along with the photo(s).
The following data will be collected:
The data will be used to conduct the photo competition. In particular, it will be used to check and transfer the rights of use to the submitted images.
The additional data that you provide voluntarily (short description of the image, name to be displayed in case of publication) will also be displayed on the website in the event of publication.
By participating, you agree to the use of the image, without restrictions in time and space, in an unchanged or modified form (e.g., electronic image processing) for all press and public relations activities within the scope of the application for the photo competition "Foto-Highlights" as well as for further press and public relations activities (in particular, on websites, in newsletters and on social media platforms as well as in print products) of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and of the DLR Projektträger.
Please note that the processing of the data transmitted within the framework of the photo competition and the content (which may also contain personal data transmitted by you) is based on your consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 item a) GDPR.
You can revoke your consent at any time. The legality of the processing based on your consent remains unaffected until the receipt of your revocation.
Data for dispatching newsletter
If you register on our website for topic-specific newsletters, your e-mail address and the newsletter list(s) you have selected will be stored by us on the servers of the service provider "DLR Projektträger" which has been commissioned to provide support and development services.
The data will be processed on the basis of your consent in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 item a GDPR. You can revoke your consent at any time by unsubscribing from the newsletter. The legality of the processing based on your consent remains unaffected until the receipt of your revocation.
Your data will only be used for sending the newsletter and for statistical analysis to analyse system performance. During the statistical analysis of system performance, the size of the mailing list and the usage of the corresponding technology will be used for analysis. In the event of individual problems with regard to delivery, your data will be used by the commissioned service provider DLR Projektträger only to resolve the problem. We do not pass on your data to third parties and do not use it for any other purposes of our own.
When you register, your data will be stored on the servers of the service provider DLR Projektträger, which is commissioned for providing support and development services, and a confirmation message with a link for the final registration will be generated and sent to the specified e-mail address. If you do not confirm the registration via the link in this e-mail, the data will be deleted after 24 hours.
Only after confirmation of the link given in the e-mail will your data be stored in order to dispatch the newsletter during the period in which you use our newsletter service.
The registration system with an additional confirmation message containing a link for final registration (double opt-in) ensures that the newsletter is explicitly requested by you.
Unsubscribing from the newsletter/Viewing newsletter data
You can unsubscribe from our newsletters at any time if you no longer agree to the storage of your data for this purpose and therefore no longer wish to use our offered service. The data provided by you will then be deleted. Please follow this link in order to unsubscribe. To do this, you will need the e-mail address with which you registered.
As part of its public relations activities, the BMBF maintains an online presence in social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) in order to provide information about the BMBF to users who are active in these networks. The links are identified on our website by the Facebook, Instagram or Twitter logo, among other things. No social plugins are used.
Please note that the terms of use of the said services and their operators are not subject to the control of the BMBF. These services store and process personal data of their users (e.g. personal information, IP address etc.) according to their guidelines. The BMBF has no influence on the data collection and its further use by the social networks. We therefore have no knowledge of the extent to which or where and for how long the data will be stored, to what extent the networks comply with existing deletion obligations, the type of analysis and associations made with the data and to whom the data will be transmitted. The rights and setting options to protect your privacy are given in the respective data privacy statements of these providers.
The features assigned to the Facebook, Instagram or Twitter links, and in particular, the transmission of information and user data, are not activated as soon as you visit our website, but only when you click on the corresponding links.
If you click on the links during your visit to our website and are logged in to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter via your personal user account, the information that you have visited our website will be forwarded to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Facebook, Instagram or Twitter can assign your visit to the website to your account. This information is sent to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and stored there. To prevent this, you must log out of your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account before clicking on the link.
If you have a user account on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and contact the BMBF via a non-public direct message – via the direct message feature provided by Facebook Messenger, Instagram or Twitter –, the data transmitted in this way will be processed pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 item e GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 BDSG, within the scope of the BMBF's performance of its tasks in order to reply to your enquiry.
The data is stored in the user profile of the BMBF and on a local server of the BMBF for the period during which your enquiry is being processed. The enquiry (direct message via Facebook Messenger or via the direct message feature of Instagram or Twitter) including the transmitted data will be deleted from the BMBF server and from the BMBF's Messenger mailbox in Facebook, Instagram or Twitter after a period of 2 years from the end of the calendar year in which processing is completed. We cannot make a statement as to whether the enquiry has been saved by Facebook, Instagram or Twitter despite being deleted by the BMBF. The BMBF no longer has access to the enquiry and data in Facebook, Instagram or Twitter from the time of its deletion.
This website offers the opportunity to share content via the social networks Facebook and Twitter. During this process it is ensured that no data is sent to the social network until the user has clicked on the Share feature.
The website of the framework programme for humanities and social sciences has a comments feature for some articles. Users can use the feature to publicly comment on content on the website.
If you use the comments feature, you must enter the following data:
At the time the message is sent, the following data will also be stored:
Without this data, your comment transmitted via the comment feature cannot be processed.
Your consent needs to be obtained to process the data as part of the posting process.
After posting, you will receive an e-mail with your sent data as well as a link to disable your comment. The comment will be released by the editorial department after editorial review. On release, the name/nickname and the content of the comment will be published. Your e-mail address will not be published. You will be informed of this by e-mail upon release and publication.
There is no claim to publication of the comment or justification for non-publication. Comments can be deleted by the editorial department at any time without justification. Comments with content that is unlawful, pornographic, extremist, racist, damaging to reputation or business or which incite a criminal offence or contain spam will not be published.
A comment that has already been published can be deleted. To do this, use the "disable link" in the e-mail sent to you or send an e-mail to gsw@dlr.de.
Please note that the processing of the data transmitted with the comments feature and the content (which may also contain personal data transmitted by you) is based on your consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 item a) GDPR.
You can revoke your consent at any time. The legality of the processing based on your consent remains unaffected until the receipt of your revocation.
Your request, which you have communicated to us via the contact form, will be processed by the staff of the service provider "DLR Projektträger" commissioned by the BMBF.
You have the following rights vis-à-vis the controller with regard to your personal data:
You can assert the above-mentioned rights at bmbf[at]bmbf.bund.de or poststelle[at]bmbf-bund.de-mail.de.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority (Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information).
You can also address questions and complaints to the data protection officer of the BMBF datenschutz[at]bmbf.bund.de .