Data Protection Guidelines

Date: September 9, 2014


With the following data protection statement, the association Publixphere e.V., Fidicinstr. 30, 10965 Berlin, email: info@publixphere.de (in the following: „Publixphere“) wants to inform you about the manner, scope, and purpose of the collection and usage of personal data on the website “publixphere.net” and its associated subpages and subdomains (in the following all referred to as “Publixphere.net”). Please find further information about the provider of Publixphere.net and its associated subpages and subdomains in the imprint section.

Publixphere acts in compliance with the German Federal Data Protection Act, which fulfills European data protection standards, and treats all personal data of its users with care and restraint. We will only collect and use your personal data when and to the extent to which it is necessary to provide you with the usage of Publixphere.net.


1. Anonymous usage

When you visit Publixphere.net, we do not collect or save any personal data related to your visit. You can therefore use Publixphere.net anonymously. We only collect and save personal data if you register in order to take part in the discussion forums.


2. Logfiles

When using Publixphere.net, so-called logfiles are created on our server-side. This means that specific data is being collected that is being created during usage (so-called user data).

These logfiles deliver limited statistical data about the usage of Publixphere.net. The logfiles are used for the analysis and improvement of security of Publixphere.net as well as for the detection, analysis and defense of attacks.

The following data are being recorded in the logfiles:

·       Your IP-address at time of the visit,

·       Beginning and end of your visit,

·       Amount of data submitted

·       Referrer (the Internet address of the website from which the user reached the current page by clicking on a link)

·       The type and version of your Browser (i.e. “Internet Explorer”)

·       HTTP-method

·       The accessed file

·       The status code (i.e. “OK”)

As long as you are not registered and logged into Publixphere.net, we cannot allocate this data to you.


3. Cookies

The website Publixphere.net uses cookies. Cookies are small text files that are stored in your web browser to let the website that set the cookie know certain information. Cookies cannot execute programs or transmit viruses to your computer. Their purpose is to make the Internet offer more user-friendly and effective.

Publixphere.net uses cookies in order to be able to identify you for future visits in case you possess an account on Publixphere.net. Otherwise you would have to log in on every visit. Publixphere.net also uses cookies to run the software “Piwik” (see figure 7).

In case you want to disable the use of cookies, your browser allows you to prevent the acceptance and saving of new cookies. The majority of web browsers accept cookies automatically; you may however change your browser settings to preferably decline cookies.


Publixphere.net uses the following cookies:

a) adhocracy_state

This cookie allows for the saving of a few technical parameters that are necessary for the functioning of the application. The cookie is deleted at the end of the browser-session.

b) adhocracy_login

This is an authentication cookie. This cookie saves which user is logged in. This cookie is also deleted at the end of the browser session.

c) ui-tabs-1

This cookie records in how far you used our offer last, so that we are able to provide you with the same offering again the next time you visit the site. The cookie is valid for 30 days (counting from your last visit to Publixphere.net) and is deleted automatically once this period of time is over.


4. Registration and Login

In order to take part in discussions on Publixphere.net, you must register. We offer different possibilities for registering. You can either create a user account with us directly, or you can log in via an already existing account with another provider, i.e. Facebook, Google, OpenID or Yahoo.

When you log in as a registered user, the following attributes are saved – only for the duration of your visit – and connected to your user account:

·    Current time stamp

·    Your current IP address.

This is for your own security as the IP address ensures that no-one else can hack into your session (so-called “session-hijacking”). You agree to the usage of your data as laid out in this data protection statement when registering for Publixphere.  


a) Registration directly through Publixphere

You can create an account directly with Publixphere.net. If you choose this method for registering in order to take part in our discussion forums, we save the data submitted during registration (user name, email address, password), in order to be able to offer you our service. The email address is saved so we can get in touch with you in order to provide you with a new password in case you have forgotten yours, for instance. Moreover, you have the option of leaving your first and last name and creating a short “about me” text, in which you can introduce yourself. The functioning of Publixphere.net does not depend on you filling out these fields.

Once you have registered on Publixphere.net, you can also use all other discussion forums that are offered under this domain, i.e. the Network of Centers discussion forum (noc.publixphere.net) and vice-versa.

 

b) Single-Sign-On-Services

You may register for Publixphere.net using a single-sign-on-account (“SSO”). Such SSO-accounts allow you to register for different services and platforms with a single account. Such services are provided for instance by Facebook, Google, Yahoo and OpenID. Publixphere allows you to register for the usage of Publixphere-services that require registration also using SSO-services. At the moment this is possible using the services of Facebook, Google, Yahoo and OpenID.

Facebook is a social network of Fcebook Ireland Limited (Hanover Reach, 5-7 Hanover Quay, Dublin 2 Ireland). The data protection statement and terms of use of the social network Facebook, which you may access here and here, apply for the registration on and the usage of Facebook.

The SSO-service of Google is provided by Google Inc. (“Google”), Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Google’s data protection statement and terms of use, which you may access here and here, apply for the registration on and the usage of Google.

The SSO-service of Yahoo in Europe is being provided by the Yahoo! EMEA Limited, Pinnacle 1 East Point Business Park, Alfie Byrne Road, Dublin 3, Ireland (“Yahoo”). The terms of service and data protection statement that apply to the usage of Yahoo’s services may be accessed here.

OpenID is a decentralized SSO-system that is being provided by different providers. The usage of OpenID is determined by the terms of service and data protection guidelines provided by the respective OpenID-provider.

At the beginning of the registration process for Publixphere.net we point you to the option of registering with an SSO-account. Doing so requires that you are already registered with one of the SSO-providers named above or that you create such an account during the process of registration, provided that this possibility is being offered by the respective provider. Please note that the data protection statement and terms of use of the respective provider apply for the registration to and usage of SSO-services.

 

aa) Login at the SSO-provider

Should you decide to register with your SSO-account, you will as a first step be forwarded directly to the SSO-provider. There, you will be asked by the SSO-provider to provide your access data and to login or register with the SSO-service. In case you are already logged into the SSO-service, this step will be skipped. Your access data relating to the SSO-service will not be shared with us and remain with your SSO-provider.

 

bb) Connection to the SSO-service

In a second step you connect your SSO-provider profile with Publixphere.net. During this step you will learn which of your details from your SSO-profile may be retrieved by Publixphere.net. In the case of Facebook, for instance, this includes your so-called “public information” and such that you have chosen to make publically accessible. This usually includes your name, your profile- and title-photos, your gender, your user name and your user-ID number (i.e. your Facebook-ID). Finally, in order for you to register with Publixphere.net we need the email address that is saved in your SSO-profile. This serves the purpose of allowing you to continue to use your Publixphere.net profile even if you should decide to cap the connection between your SSO-profile and your Publixphere.net profile in the future. When you agree that Publixphere is allowed to use your data mentioned above, you establish the connection between your SSO-profile and Publixphere.net in your SSO-service. You will then be forwarded again to the Publixphere.net registration.

Publixphere.net will then, using the data provided during the registration process, take this data and use it to create a Publixphere.net profile for you. You may now always log into Publixphere.net using the respective Login-button for your SSO-provider (i.e. “login using Facebook” for the case of Facebook).

 

cc) Collection and saving of data through Publixphere

In connection with your SSO-login we receive access to a limited amount of data. We only use this possibility with regard to email, name and profile picture, however, which we need to create your Publixphere.net profile for you.

 

dd) Collection and saving of data through the SSO-provider

When you want to register on Publixphere.net using your SSO access data, the SSO-provider receives knowledge of your intention to register on Publixphere.net through your clicking the button of the SSO-provider that is marked by its respective logo.

The SSO-provider usually also sets a cookie into your browser when you click the button marked with the SSO-provider’s logo. By way of this text file the SSO-provider can retrieve further information about you and your surfing habits. This information, created through the cookie, are transmitted to the server of the SSO-provider. It is possible that these are located outside of Germany, i.e. in the US. They will be stored ther and possibly connected with other profile information that the SSO-provider has saved about you. It is possible that user profiles may be created on the side of your SSO-provider that transcend the information that you have chosen to share yourself.

You may learn more about the kind of data collected by your SSO-provider, as well as to what purposes this data is collected and used, in the data protection statement of your respective provider. There you will also find further information about your rights related to the collection and processing of your data.

 

ee) Further notices

Once you have completed this form of registration, Publixphere.net will save the information that you have registered on Publixphere.net using your SSO-provider. This information is saved in the form of a key. Your access data to your respective SSO-provider are never saved by us.

In case you would like to change the details in your SSO-service profile that were transmitted to Publixphere.net during registration, you must apply these changes also to the Publixpere.net profile. Publixphere does not automatically receive your updated data from your SSO-account and does not send any information to your SSO-provider, unless you agree to this.


ff) Cancellation of Connection

If you want to use Publixphere.net independently from your SSO-account, this is possible. In this case, please ask Publixphere.net for a new password using the function “forgot password”.

If you want to cancel the connection between Publixphere and your SSO-account, please log in with your SSO-provider and commit the necessary changes to your profile there, provided that this is possible with the respective SSO-provider. This way you can revoke Publixphere.net’s authorization to use details from your SSO-profile. You may in this case only continue using your Publixphere.net account if you request an own Publixphere-password using the function “forgot password”.

You may also delete the connection to any respective SSO-service by going to “Profil bearbeiten” > “Login” > “SSO-services”. After the disconnection the SSO-service will no longer receive knowledge of when you use Publixphere – it could however be that the SSO-service still knows that you established the connection to Publixphere previously.   

 

5. Links to other websites

We may link to websites of other providers who are not connected with us (third parties). When you click on these links, we no longer have influence over which data these providers collect and use. Since the collection and processing of data through third parties is naturally not under our control, we cannot take responsibility for this.

 

6. User support

If you contact our community management via email (community[at]publixphere.de), we save and use your email address in order to provide you with the service you require, meaning to answer to your service requests.

 

7. Piwik

Publixphere.net uses Piwik, an open source software for the statistical analysis of user accesses. Piwik uses “cookies” (see above figure 3). The information that is generated via this cookie regarding the usage of our service are saved on Publixphere.net’s server. The IP-address is anonymized immediately after it has been processed, and before any information is saved. Users can prevent the installation of cookies through applying respective server settings. We would like to point out that this may mean that you cannot use all functions of this website to their true extent. You can deactivate Piwik here.

 

8. Social Plugins

Publixphere.net sometimes uses so-called “social plugins”. These are small push-buttons of the respective social network that you can click in order to inform others that you like certain content on Publixphere.net. These push-buttons are provided by their respective social network.

On Publixphere.net, these push-buttons are deactivated at first. They can be activated by clicking on the slider (so-called “two-click-solution”). Only after this click is a connection between your computer and the provider of the social network established. The other way around, you can deactivate deactivate the button and cut the connection to the respective social network by clicking on the slider again. You may find out more about the two-click-solution used by Publixphere.net here (link in German). Publixphere.net uses the “social plugins” of the following social networks:

 

(a) Facebook

Facebook is a social network of Facebook Ireland Limited (Hanover Reach, 5-7 Hanover Quay, Dublin 2 Ireland). Publixphere.net provides the “like”- and “share”-functions of Facebook. You may identify these buttons via the respective Facebook logo.

Using the like-button you may recommend content on Publixphere.net to your Facebook friends. You can remove these individual entries anytime from your Facebook chronology. Whenever a Facebook-button shows on a Publixphere.net page, a direct connection is established between your browser or application and the Facebook-servers and the button loaded from there. In doing so, the information is transmitted that you have opened the respective website.

When you actively use a Facebook-function, i.e. by clicking on the like-button, it is possible that Facebook processes further data. Facebook can for instance set a cookie that allows Facebook to see whether you have already clicked another like-button on another website that also provides a Facebook-button. If you are also logged into Facebook as a Facebook user, Facebook can moreover tell which pages of Publixphere.net you have visited. If you click a Facbook-button on Publixphere.net and log into Facebook afterwards (or if you are already logged in), the information you “liked” or “shared” may be posted on your profile or your timeline in abbreviated form. Facebook may thus collect and store further user data. This may lead to Facebook user profiles that exceed that which you have shared on Facebook itself.

At no point in time does Publixphere learn which Facebook buttons you have used. Instead, Publixphere receives from Facebook solely a summarized, non-user-specific statistic about the usage of the Publixphere-fanpage on Facebook as well as a summarized statistic about the usage of the Facebook-buttons on Publixphere.net.

You may learn about which data Facebook collects for its own purposes in Facebook’s own data protection statement. There, you will also find further information regarding data collection and usage through Facebook and your related rights. The Facebook data protection statement may be accessed here, the information of Facebook relating to so-called “social plugins” may be accessed here.  

 

b) Twitter

Twitter is a microblogging service of the American company Twitter, Inc. (795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107). When you call up a site on Publixphere.net that contains a Twitter button, a direct connection will be established from your browser to Twitter’s servers and the button loaded from there. In doing so, the information will be transmitted to Twitter that the respective site was accessed by you on Publixphere.de. Twitter may therefore be able to collect and store usage-related data even when you are not logged in.

When you click a Twitter-button on Publixphere.net, thus “twittering” information via the Twitter-window that is opened, you transmit the twittered information to Twitter. This information will then be published in your Twitter user profile. Further information relating to data acquisition, analysis and processing of your data through Twitter as well as your related rights may be found in Twitter’s data protection statement.

 

c) Google+

Publixphere.net furthermore uses the “+1”-Button of the social networking site “Google+”. This social network is being operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. The Google+ button is marked by the sign “+1”.

When you access a site on Publixphere.net that contains a Google+ button, a direct connection is established from your browser to Google’s servers and the button loaded from there. In doing so, the information is transmitted to Google that you have accessed the respective site.

The content of the “+1”-button is transmitted from Google directly to your browser and embedded into the site by the browser. We therefore have no influence over the extent of data collected by Google via the button. According to Google, no personal data is collected before the button is clicked. Only of those users who are logged into the social network Google+ is data, including the IP-address, collected and processed.

If you are Google+-member and do not want Google to collect data about you via Publixphere.net, you must log out of Google+ before visiting our site.

We do not learn at any time whether and when you have used the Google+ button. Instead, we receive only a summarized, non-user-specific statistic about the usage of the Google+-button on our site.

You may find out more about specifically what kind of data Google collects, as well as further information about the further processing and usage of the data in the data protection statement of Google.

 

9. Submission of data to third parties

In principle, we do not transfer inventory, usage or content data to third parties. Exceptions apply,

·    when and in so far as it is necessary for enforcing our rightful claims,

·    when we are required to do so by law or by way of judicial order,

·    in case of requests of public authorities, in particular law enforcement agencies and regulatory agencies, if and in so far as this is necessary for the aversion of danger for public security and order as well as for the prosecution of criminal acts.

 

10. Disclosure/Information, correction, deletion, suspension

Upon written demand, or a demand communicated in text form, we will inform you at any time which personal data is saved by us in connection to Publixphere.net. Furthermore, you have the possibility of having your personal data corrected or deleted by us any time. Please contact us using the above named contact address.

Exempted from deletion is exclusively the data we need to complete outstanding duties or to enforce rights and claims, as well as data that we are required to store by law. Such data will however be locked.

 

11. Security

We apply technical and organizational security measures to protect our users’ personal data from loss, unrightful changes or unrightful access by third parties. From our side, only authorized persons have access to your personal data, and this only in so far as it is necessary in scope of the intended purpose. During transmission, collected data is always encrypted.

 

12. Further advice regarding data protection

Please keep in mind that whenever you share private information online voluntarily (i.e. in our discussion forums), this information can be collected and used by others. You could thus receive unwanted messages from others, if you make personal information available in online areas with public access. Please always act in a careful and responsible manner and take precautions about not revealing your password and/or other personal information.

 

13. Changing of the data protection statement

We reserve the right to update this data protection statement. In case of changes we will inform our registered users in advance with due notice.