Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO

Data Protection

Data Protection Information - Fraunhofer IAO -

The following pertains to the use of this website. As the party responsible for the data processing (controller), we process the personal data collected via our website and store them for the period, which is required to achieve the specified purpose and to comply with the statutory requirements. The following text informs you of the data we collect and the way we process the collected data. We also inform you about on data privacy rights as they pertain to the use of our website.

Pursuant to Article 4 No. 1 GDPR, personal data are all data referring to a specific or identifiable natural person.

  1. Name and contact information of the person who signs responsible for the data processing (controller) and of the society’s data protection officer
  2. Processing of Personal Data and Purposes of the Data Processing

  3. Transfer of Personal Data to Third Parties
  4. Cookies
  5. Web analysis/Tracking

  6. YouTube
  7. Your Rights as Affected Person
  8. Information on your right to object pursuant to Article 21 GDPR
  9. Data Security
  10. Timeliness of the Data and Amendments to this Data Protection Information
  11. Severability

1. Name and contact information of the person who signs responsible for the data processing (controller) and of the society’s data protection officer

This data protection information shall apply to the processing of data on our institute’s website www.iao.fraunhofer.de by the controller, the:

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
Hansastraße 27 c
80686 München (Munich, Germany)

On behalf of your Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
(in the following referred to as „Fraunhofer IAO“)

You can reach the data protection representative of the Fraunhofer Institute at the above address c/o Data Protection Officer or at datenschutz@zv.fraunhofer.de .

Please feel free to contact the data protection officer directly at any time with your questions concerning your data protection rights and/or your rights as affected person.

2. Processing of Personal Data and Purposes of the Data Processing

a) During your Website Visit
Wenn Sie unsere Webseiten besuchen, speichern die Webserver unserer Webseite temporär jeden Zugriff Ihres Endgerätes in einer Protokolldatei. Folgende Daten werden erfasst und bis zur automatisierten Löschung gespeichert:

  • The IP address of the requesting device
  • Access date and time
  • Name and URL of the accessed data
  • The transmitted data volume
  • The message whether the access was successful
  • The used browser and operating system
  • Name of the Internet Provider (ISP)
  • The referring website (referring URL)

The server processes these data for the following purposes:

  1. To enable the use of the website (link connection [forward setup])
  2. Administration of the network infrastructure
  3. Appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure IT systems and data security commensurate with the available state of the art technology
  4. To offer user-friendly service
  5. To optimize the Internet offering

Legal foundations for the above processing purposes:

  • Processing in response to a website visitor according to numbers 1-2 Article 6 para. 1, page1, lit. b (Requirement for compliance with provisions of the website user contract)
  • Processing pursuant to numbers 3, Article 6 para. 1, page 1, lit. c GDPR (legal obligation to implement technical and organisational measures to ensure secure data processing according to Article 32 GDPR and Article 6 para. 1, page 1, lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests in data processing for the network and information security) as well as
  • Data processing pursuant to numbers 4 – 5, Article 6 para. 1, page1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) - our legitimate interests in the processing of data are based in our desire to offer user-friendly optimised web pages.

After the specified period of 30 days, our web server automatically deletes the above-mentioned data. To the extent that data are processed longer for purposes according to numbers 2 – 5, we will anonymise or delete the data as soon as their storage no longer serves the respective purpose(s).

Furthermore, we place cookies on the devices of our website visitors and use analytical services. For more information on the use of cookies and analytical services, please see Sections 4 and 5 of this Data Protection Statement.

b) Visitor Registration for Events

On a regular basis, we invite web visitors to different kinds of events. Our website visitors are able to register online.

In order to register online, our website visitors have to provide required data. These data include

  • First and last name
  • Address
  • E-Mail-Adresse
  • Phone

Should we request additional required data, we will specifically identify them (using an * for example). In addition, our website users often have the opportunity to volunteer additional information.

We process the required data mostly to identify you as event participant and to reserve a place for you. In addition, we agree with you on the type of event, provide you with information for and after the event and overall ensure that you enjoy your participation and the event proceeds smoothly. The volunteered data help us to plan and organise our events in tune with your interests and age.

We collect the data in response to the enquiries of interested parties. According to Article 6 para. 1, page 1, lit. b GDPR, the data collection is necessary for the mentioned purposes, to perform according to the participation contract and to meet the conditions precedent to entering into the participation contract.

We store data, which we collect in context with registrations to events, for six (6) months providing you did not agree to a longer storage period as outlined in Article 6 para. 1, page 1, lit. a GDPR.

c) Subscriptions to our Newsletter

We will send our newsletter to your email address on a regular basis providing you agree explicitly to our use of your email address as recipient address for our newsletter according to Article 6 para. 1, page 1 lit. a GDPR. The newsletters inform you about our institute and other facilities and events of the Fraunhofer Society (Fraunhofer e.V.) To receive our newsletter, we ask you to provide us with the following required data:

  • Email address,
  • Title,
  • First name,
  • Last name

We need your name and title to address you personally in our newsletter.

You may volunteer to provide us with additional information about you (such as company, street, zip code, town, country, sector, areas of interest). We use these data to contact you by mail or telephone (e.g. to invite you) and personalize content.

Upon receiving your subscription, we will email you a subscription notice. Please confirm the receipt of this notice. We need this confirmation to send our newsletter to you. This process is known as double opt-in procedure. Your response shows us that you are indeed the person who requested our newsletter.

You may unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time. You find an ‘unsubscribe’ link at the end of every one of our newsletters. Alternatively, you may also unsubscribe by email kundendaten@iao.fraunhofer.de.

Upon receiving your unsubscribe notice, we will delete your email address immediately.

d) The Use of Contact Forms

We offer website visitors the opportunity to contact us via a form on our website. To enable you to communicate with us via this form, we request the following data:

  • Title
  • First and last name
  • Email address

We need these required data to learn who contacted us and to process the user request.

We process the requested data in response to your enquiry. Our purpose is to answer your query in pursuit of our legitimate interests pursuant to Article 6 para. 1, page 1 lit. f GDPR.

Once we have satisfied the enquiry via contact form, we will immediately delete the collected personal data.

e) The Use of the Commentary Capability

Our website gives visitors the opportunity to leave comments on our web content. Your comments will appear with your name underneath the contribution, which triggered your comment.

If you want to use the commenting capability on our website, we ask you to provide the following required data:

  • Name and
  • Email address

Instead of your name, you may also use a pseudonym/alias. The process requires your email address to send your comment. However, we do not publish your email address together with your comment. We use your email address only to inform you of a reaction to your comment.

In addition, we also save your IP address when you leave a comment on our website. Your IP adress will be deleted in case you delete your comment. This storage period is required so that we can defend ourselves in liability cases against accusations of publishing unlawful content.

The website visitors use of the commenting plug-in triggers the data processing. Therefore, the data processing in the course of publishing online comments and user reactions is justified because it is within the website owner’s legitimate interests to partake in an opinion and information exchange according to Article 6 para. 1, page 1 lit. f GDPR.

f) The Use of Online Shops

We offer an online shop on our website. In this shop, visitors may buy publications by scientists associated with the Fraunhofer institutes. As part of the sales process, we collect the following required data:

  • Title
  • First and last name
  • Address
  • Email address

The collecting and processing of these data have the following purposes:

  • To identify you as our contract partner
  • To check the provided data for plausibility
  • To complete the sales and payment processes

In addition, site visitors may volunteer more data (such as the company name, another invoice address and contact data).

The data processing is triggered by your request. It is required to process your order and transact the processes preceding the contractual relationship according to Article 6, para. 1, page 1 lit. b GDPR. In the process, we use your email address to send you an order confirmation. We use all collected contact data exclusively to handle possibly required inquiries in context with your order.

We store the personal data collected in context with your order until the end of the statutory warranty period (2 years, § 438 para. 1 No. 3 BGB [German Civil Code]). At that time, the data are automatically deleted unless fiscal safekeeping and documentation laws require a longer storage time according to Article 6 para. 1 page 1 lit. c GDPR and in particular according to § 147 AO [German Fiscal Code]). For this storage period (ordinarily ten (10) years after entering into the sales contract), we will process the data solely for audits by the fiscal authorities. All other data processing is prohibited.

3. Transfer of Personal Data to Third Parties

With exception of the above-mentioned cases of data processing by service providers on our behalf (see event registrations, newspaper subscription, …), we give your personal data only to third parties (i.e. to natural and legal persons other than you, the affected person), the controller or the service provider or his/her vicarious agents under the following circumstances:

  • You consented explicitly to the data transfer to a third party according to Article 6 para. 1, page 1 lit. a GDPR
  • The data transfer is required for the contractual performance of the contract with you according to Article 6 para. 1 page 1, lit. b GDPR
    • Data transmission to the mail order firm which will deliver the goods you ordered
    • Payment data transmission to payment service providers and credit institutes for payment transactions
  • We are legally obligated to surrender the data to financial or judicial authorities according to Article 6 para. 1, page 1 lit. c GDPR
  • Giving your data to third parties is required to exercise, enforce or defend legal claims, and there is no reason to assume that you as affected person could have an overriding interest worth protecting in the non-transfer of your personal data according to Article 6 para. 1 S. 1 lit. f GDPR. Such a data transfer to government and/or law enforcement authorities may occur in cases of attacks on our IT systems.

Third parties may use the transferred data only for the above-mentioned purposes.

If you have registered for an event, it may be necessary in the course of the contractual performance that your personal data are transmitted to an external organiser [Company, Location]. The confirmation of your event registration will name the event organiser and tell you whether he/she is an external organiser. This event organiser will not only organise and manage the event but also process the registration data.

According to Article 28 GDPR, our service providers host our websites on servers located in Germany exclusively.

The transfer/transmission of personal data to countries outside the EU or an international organisation shall be excluded.

4. Cookies

We use server-side cookies. Cookies are small files, which are automatically created by the browser of the user device and stored in your device (PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone or similar device) when you visit our website. Cookies do not harm your computer, and they do not contain viruses, Trojans or other malware. Cookies contain information pertaining to the specific device, which accessed our website. However, this does not give us direct knowledge of your identity.

One reason for us to use cookies is making the use of our website more convenient for you. We use session cookies to allow session controls such as controls for inserting data into forms or saving shopping carts. At the latest, session cookies are deleted when you close your browser.

We also use temporary cookies to optimise the user-friendliness of our website. Your device stores these cookies temporarily for a specific time. The next time you visit our website, our server will recognise your device as prior visitor and remembers your settings and preferences. You will not have to enter these parameters again.

We also use cookies to gather data for our website statistics. This helps us to evaluate and optimise our web offerings (see Section 5). These cookies allow us to recognise repeat visits from your device. These cookies will be deleted automatically after a specific time.

The data obtained with the help of cookies serve us to pursue our legitimate interests as website owners and serve the legitimate interests of third parties according to Article 6 para. 1, page 1 lit. f GDPR.

Most browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you are able to configure your browser in such a way that the application does not store cookies on your computer or always shows an alert before storing new cookies. The complete deactivation of cookies may prevent you from using all functions on our website.

5. Web analysis/Tracking

a) LeadLab (wiredminds GmbH)

For our website, we use the Leadlab service of the service provider Wiredminds GmbH and the company’s pixel counting technology to analyse the habits of our website users. The analysis helps us to optimise our website. The service allows us to recognise, which companies visit our website. The data do not enable us to identify users directly.

In context with the Leadlab web services, we use cookies and tag pixels (also known as web or tracking bugs). These cookies and tag pixels allow our service to analyse how our website visitors use our website.The cookie stores information including personal data on the behaviour of website visitors and transmits this information directly to Wiredminds if Wiredminds does not collect it directly. Wiredminds uses pseudonyms and anonymises the data whenever possible before processing and analysing the data and creating a user profile.

Without your specifically given explicit consent, neither Wiredminds nor we use the so collected data to identify you personally, and your personal data are never comingled with data under a pseudonym associated with you.

To the extent that the web analysts collect IP addresses, these addresses are stripped of their last control number block upon collection to anonymise the addresses instantly.

You find the data protection statement of Wiredminds on the Wiredminds website.

The provider processes the statistical data based on our legitimate interests in the optimisation of our online offerings and our web presence according to Article 6 para.1 lit. f GDPR. Wiredminds processes the data on our behalf, and we have entered into an order processing agreement with Wiredminds. Wiredminds agrees to process the data on our behalf and in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Wiredminds also agrees to protect the rights of the affected persons.

In case you reject the collection of data and the analysis of your user activities, please use our opt-out cookie to prevent the installation of our cookies. This will prevent the future collection of data when you use our website. The opt-out cookie in your device works only in the used browser and applies only to our website. If you delete the cookies in the computer’s cookie folder, you have to install the opt-out cookie again.

Click here to opt-out the webtracking with Wiredminds

b) Matomo

On our website, we use the open source service Matomo by InnoCraft Ltd in New Zealand to analyse the activities of our website users and to optimise our website and its content based on this analysis. In the process, we do not receive any information, which identifies our users.

In context with using the Matomo service, we use cookies, which enable the service to analyse the activities of our website users. The cookie contains information, including personal information, which characterises your visit on our website. Under a pseudonym, Matomo creates your user profile for analytical purposes. Since we host the Matomo services on our own server, the analysis does not require the processing of data by third parties.

Without your specific permission, we do not use the collected data to identify you personally and will not combine the data with personal data about you under a pseudonym associated with you.

To the extent that we collect IP addresses in our analysis, these addresses are stripped of their last control number block upon collection to anonymise the IP addresses instantly. We delete further personal data stored in the cookie after 365 days.

We process the statistical data based on our legitimate interests in the optimisation of our online offerings and our web presence according to Article 6 para.1 lit. f GDPR.

6. YouTube

Based on the agreement according to Article 6 Para. 1, page 1 lit. f GDPR, we use components (videos) of YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Avenue, 94066 San Bruno, CA (USA) (in the following referred to as ‘YouTube’), a company of Google Inc., Amphitheatre Parkway, 94043 Mountain View (USA), (in the following referred to as ‘Google’).

In the process, we use the ‘extended data protection mode’ option provided by YouTube.

Upon requesting an Internet page with embedded video, our website connects to the YouTube servers and renders the content on the Internet page using your browser.

According to the information provided by YouTube, in the ‘extended data protection mode’, your data will be transmitted to the US YouTube servers only while you watch the video. The transmitted data include the Internet page you just viewed and device-specific data including your IP address. By clicking ‘run’ on the video you agree to this mode of transmission.

Should you be logged into your YouTube account at the same time, YouTube will associate these collected data with your member account. You are able to prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

Google complies with the data protection regulation of US Privacy Shield and is registered with the US Privacy Shield Program of the US Department of Trade.

You find further information on the data protection in context with YouTube in the Google Data Protection Regulations.

7. Your Rights as Affected Person

You have the following rights:

  • According to Article 7 para. 3 GDPR, you have the right to revoke any consent declaration at any time, which you may have given to us before. This has the consequence that we are no longer privileged to continue the respective activity.
  • According to Article 15 GDPR, you have the right to demand information on your personal data, which we have processed. In particular, you have the right to information on the following: Purposes of the data processing, The categories of personal data, The categories of recipients to which we transmitted/disclosed or will transmit your data, The planned storage periods of data, The existence of the right to correction, deletion, restriction of processing and objection, The right to appeal, The right to know the origin of data in the event that we did not collect these data, The right to meaningful and detailed information on the existence on automated decision-making including profiling
  • According to Article 16 GDPR, you have the right to the correction of incorrect and/or the completion of incomplete personal data in storage at the Fraunhofer Society
  • According to Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to the deletion of your personal data providing the deletion does not interfere with the execution of the right to the free expression of opinions and with the compliance with legal obligations, providing the deletion is not against public interest and providing the deletion does not hamper the enforcement, execution or defence of legal claims
  • According to Article 18 GDPR, you have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data if you contest or challenge the accuracy of these data, the processing of the data is illegal but you reject the deletion of these data and we no longer need the data while you still need the data to enforce, execute or defend legal claims or you have raised an objection against the data processing according to Article 21 GDPR
  • According to Article 20 GDPR, you have the right to receive the personal data you provided to us in a structured, well-established and machine-readable format or to demand the transmission to another authority and
  • According to Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to complain to a superior authority. As a rule, you may find such authority at your place of residence, your workplace or our company domicile.

8. Information on your right to object pursuant to Article 21 GDPR


You have the right to object at any time against the processing of your personal data, based on Article 6 para. 1, lit. f GDPR (data processing in the public interest) and Article 6, para. 1, lit. e GDPR (data processing based on fair balancing) for reasons, which arise from your specific situation. This shall also apply to the profiling as prescribed by Article 4 No. 4 GDPR, which is supported by this provision.
Once you file an objection, we will no longer process your personal data unless we can establish compelling evidence, which is worthy of protection and outweighs your interests, rights and privileges, or unless the processing serves the enforcement, exercise or defence of legal claims.
To the extent that your objection addresses the processing of data for direct advertising, we will stop the processing immediately. In this case, citing a special situation is not required. This shall also apply to profiling in as far as it does not relate to such direct advertising.
If you like to claim your right to object, an email to datenschutz@zv.fraunhofer.de will suffice.


9. Data Security

We transmit all your personal data using the generally used and secure encryption standard TLS (Transport Layer Security). The TLS protocol is a proven and secure standard. Bankers use the standard for online banking transactions. You recognise a secure TLS connection by the s following the http (https://...) in your browser URL or by the lock symbol in the lower section of your browser.

By the way, we use suitable technical and organisational safety procedures to protect your data against inadvertent or wilful manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction or against the unauthorised access by third parties. We constantly improve these security measures as the technology advances.

10. Timeliness of the Data and Amendments to this Data Protection Information

This data protection information as amended on May 2018 is currently applicable.

Due to improvements of our website and website offers or based on statutory or government standard, it may become necessary to amend this data protection information. You find the latest applicable data protection information by clicking the link on this website: https://www.iao.fraunhofer.de/data-protection. You may read or print this updated and amended version at any time.

11. Severability

Should individual provisions of this data protection declaration be or become invalid either in part or in its entirety or prove infeasible at any time, this shall not affect the remaining provisions of this data protection declaration. This shall apply accordingly to gaps in this declaration.