Privacy Policy

The Bertelsmann Foundation (North America), Inc. (BFNA) and its employees take the protection of your privacy and your personal data very seriously. We collect, store and use your personal data only in accordance with the contents of this data protection declaration and the applicable data protection regulations, including the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

With this data protection declaration, we would like to inform you to what extent and for what purpose personal data is used in connection with visits to our website and for the specific purpose of receiving emails, invitations, and updates on the work of BFNA.

Personal Data

Personal data is information about an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes all information about personal identity, such as your name, job title, affiliation, e-mail address, postal address, and telephone numbers. Information that cannot be associated with your identity (such as statistical information, the number of users and visits to our website, or associated general demographic information) is not considered personal information.

You can access our online offerings without disclosing your identity or personal data. BFNA will then only collect general information about your visit to our website. However, for some of the services offered, personal data is collected from you. This data will only be used by BFNA for the purposes of completing an associated action, such as the provision of information or the request for a service. When collecting personal data, only the information that is absolutely necessary need be provided.

Disclosure of personal data to third parties

BFNA only uses your personal information to provide the services you have requested. Insofar as external service providers are used by us within the scope of the provision of these requested services, their access to the data takes place exclusively for the purpose of the provision of requested services. Through technical and organizational measures, we ensure compliance with data protection regulations and oblige our external service providers to do so.

Furthermore, we will not pass the data on to third parties without your express consent. Your personal data will only be passed on if you yourself have consented to the data being passed on or if we are entitled or obliged to do so on the basis of legal regulations and/or official or court orders. This may involve providing information for law enforcement, security purposes, or the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Data deletion and storage time

We always delete your personal data if and when the purpose of storage ceases to apply. However, data may be stored if legal requirements to which we are subject provide for data storage, for example with regard to statutory storage and documentation obligations. In such cases, we will delete your personal data at the end of the corresponding specifications.

Use of cookies – use of our online services

Cookies are used for our website. Cookies are small text files which are stored on your computer and which store certain settings and data for exchange with the online offerings from us via your browser. A cookie usually contains the name of the domain from which the cookie file was sent, information about the age of the cookie and an alphanumeric identifier.

Cookies enable the BFNA website to recognize your computer and to make any settings available immediately. Cookies help us to improve our online offerings and to offer you a better and even more customized service.

The cookies we use are so-called session cookies, which are automatically deleted after the end of the browser session. Occasionally, cookies with a longer storage period can also be used so that your preferences and preferences can still be taken into account the next time you visit our website.

Most browsers are set to automatically accept cookies. However, you can deactivate the storage of cookies or set your browser so that it informs you as soon as cookies are sent. It is also possible to manually delete cookies that have already been saved using the browser settings. Please note that you may only be able to use our online offer to a limited extent or not at all if you refuse the storage of cookies or delete necessary cookies.

Your rights and contact information

You have extensive rights regarding the processing of your personal data. First of all, you have a comprehensive right to information, and can request the correction and/or deletion or blocking of your personal data if necessary. You may also request a limitation of the processing and have a right of objection. You also have a right to data transferability with regard to the personal data you have provided to us.

BFNA attaches great importance to the transparent explanation of processing your personal data and informing you of your rights. If you require further information or wish to exercise the rights to which you are entitled, you can contact us at any time so that we can take process your request.

If you wish to assert one of your rights and/or receive more detailed information about this, please contact: info@bfna.org

Revocation of consent and correction of your data

Once you have given your consent, it can be freely revoked at any time with immediate effect. The revocation of consent shall not affect the legality of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent until revocation.

If you wish to revoke your consent, please contact us using the information below.

You can also revoke your consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us.