Fraunhofer USA
Fraunhofer USA

Data Protection

Fraunhofer USA, Inc.

Data Protection Policy

 

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy statement describes the types of information we collect on the www.fraunhofer.org website (the “Site”), how we use it, and the circumstances under which we may disclose it.

By accessing the Site on any computer, mobile phone, tablet, or other device, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Site.  

We may modify this Privacy Policy at any time and will post the current version on the Site. We encourage you to periodically review our Privacy Policy to stay informed about how we are using the information we collect.  

Personal Data Defined

For purposes of this Policy, ‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’).  An identifiable natural person is a human being who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

Location of Web Site Host

The web server on which the Site is hosted is owned and managed by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and is located in Germany.  Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft operates the Site in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation adopted by the European Union (“GDPR”).  See the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Data Protection Policy at www.fraunhofer.de/en/data-protection-policy.html for details regarding matters specific to GDPR compliance.  We have written and will administer this policy so as to comply with US law.  US law will apply to the rights of users of the Site who are located in the USA.  We cannot represent that the Site complies with the laws of jurisdictions other than the USA and with the GDPR.

Information We Collect and How We Collect It

Information You Provide

If you choose to provide us with personal data, we may use that information for the purpose for which you provided it.  In some jurisdictions, individuals may have the right to withdraw consent to certain uses. If you reside in such jurisdictions, you may have additional rights which are detailed in the section entitled “How to Access, Update and Manage Your Information.”

Information We Collect Automatically

  • When you visit the Site, we may automatically collect and store certain data that cannot identify you personally. Such data may include:
  • Internet Protocol (IP) address;
  • Type of browser and operating system accessing our Website;
  • Date and time you accessed the website;
  • Pages on the website you access;
  • The address of a referring website (if linked from a third party);
  • Cookies; and
  • Web beacons.

In addition, we may collect information about your browsing behavior, such as the date and time you visit the Site, the areas or pages of the Site that you visit, the amount of time you spend viewing the Site, the number of times you return to the Site and other clickstream data. We may also use anonymized or aggregated information for statistical analysis, research, and other purposes.

How We Use the Information We Collect

We primarily use the information that we collect to provide you with information, products, and services.  Specifically, we may use the information we collect from, and about, you (including your personal data) for any of the following purposes:

  • To fulfill your requests for our products and services;
  • To respond to your inquiries;
  • To operate, improve and optimize the Site, our business or our services;
  • To review Site usage and operations;
  • To address problems with the Site, our business or our services;
  • To protect the security or integrity of the Site and our business;
  • To monitor the Site for compliance with our terms and conditions and the law;
  • To send newsletters, brochures and other informational and promotional materials regarding our company and offered services, or regarding opportunities for employment or internships that we believe may be of interest to you;
  • To comply with our legal obligations, resolve any disputes we may have with you or others, and to enforce our agreements with third parties; and
  • To conduct research.

With Whom We Share Your Information

With Your Consent

We may disclose information collected from, and about, you (including your personal data) with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Fraunhofer USA, with your express consent. We may share aggregated, anonymized data about Site users with third parties.  

For External Processing

We may disclose information collected from, and about, you (including your personal data) with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Fraunhofer USA to process it for us, based on our instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.  Such disclosures may be made

  • To Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and service providers, to perform a business, professional or technical support function for us; and
  • To our marketing partners.

For Legal Reasons

We may share information collected from, and about you (including your personal data) with companies, organizations or individuals outside of Fraunhofer USA if we have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:

  • Meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request;
  • Respond to legal process (such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order);
  • Enforce our terms of service, including investigation of potential violations;
  • Detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; or
  • Protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Fraunhofer and its personnel, third parties, our customers, or the public as required or permitted by law.

We may disclose your personal data to another entity to:

  • Outsource a legitimate business function;
  • Confirm or update information you provided;
  • Notify you of events, and information about our services;
  • For other purposes, if disclosed at or before we collected the information; and
  • To comply with a legal obligation.

How Long We Keep Your Information

How long we retain your information depends on why we collected it and how we use it. We will not retain your personal data for longer than is necessary for our business purposes or for legal requirements (unless otherwise provided in agreements between you and us).

How to Access, Update and Manage Your Information

Access, Correction, and Deletion

We respect your right to access and correct your personal data. You may exercise your rights, subject to applicable laws, to request that we delete or restrict access to your personal data. We may need to retain certain records, for example those relating to inquiries or customer service matters, for legal and accounting purposes and this will be explained to you if necessary.

If you need assistance correcting or updating your personal data, please contact us using the contact information detailed in the “Contact Us” section below.  

Cookie Tracking

Like many commercial websites, we analyze how visitors use our Site through what is known as "cookie" technology. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your computer when you access the Site and allows us to recognize you each time you visit the Site. We may use cookies to:

  • Monitor Site usage;
  • Manage the Site; and
  • Improve the Site and our services.

If you choose, you can set your browser to reject cookies or you can manually delete individual or all of the cookies on your computer by following your browser’s help file directions. However, if your browser is set to reject cookies or you manually delete cookies, you may have some trouble accessing and using some of the pages and features that are currently on our Site, or that we may put on our Site in the future. Note that browser-management tools for cookies are outside of our control and we cannot guarantee their effectiveness.

You can set your web browser to warn you about attempts to place cookies on your computer or limit the type of cookies you allow.

If you disable cookies, you may lose some of the features and functionality of the Site because Fraunhofer cookies are necessary to track and enhance the Site and our services.

Website Performance

We use cookies to create aggregated statistics on visitors to our websites and their browsing behavior. We use this information to understand what portions of our website are relevant to visitors and to make improvements.

Web analysis through Leadlab
This Website uses web analytics service LeadLab provided by Wiredminds GmbH and its tracking pixel technology to analyze user behavior and optimize our site based on it. The service particularly allows us to identify which companies have visited our site. In doing so we do not obtain any information that may identify you directly.

In connection with the use of Leadlab, cookies and tracking pixels are used which allow statistical analysis of the use of this website through your visits. Information, including personal information about your visiting behavior, is stored in the cookie and sent to Wiredminds or is directly obtained by Wiredminds. The information is processed by Wiredminds, who use a pseudonym in a usage profile for the purpose of analysis. The data is anonymized to the extent possible.

The data thus collected is not used to identify you except with your express consent, nor is the data merged with your personal data as a bearer of the pseudonym.

If IP addresses are collected, they are immediately anonymized after collection by deleting the last number block.

For more information about data protection at Wiredminds, please visit their website.

Your data is processed based on our legitimate interest, pursuant to point (f) of Article 6(1) GDPR, to optimize our online offers and our web presence. Wiredminds processes the data on our behalf and we have entered into an order processing agreement with Wiredminds. It ensures that the data processing on our behalf takes place in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and that the rights of the data subjects are protected.

If you do not wish that your usage behavior is recorded and analyzed, you may object by means of opt-out cookies. An opt-out cookie is set which prevents future capturing of your data when visiting this website. The opt-out cookie is only applicable to the browser used on the device on which you access the Site and only for our website and is stored on your device. If you delete the cookies in that browser, you need to reset the opt-out cookie.

Advertising

Online behavioral advertising describes a broad set of activities companies engage in to collect information about your online activity (like webpages you visit) and use it to show you content they believe to be relevant to you. Our service providers use cookies and digital markers to assist us with our service deliveries. If you prefer not to receive these communications, please email us at info@fraunhofer.org. 

Security of Your Information

We have adopted and maintain measures designed to handle information we collect in a secure manner. We have taken certain physical, electronic, and administrative steps to safeguard and secure the information we collect from Site visitors. Even though we follow reasonable procedures to try to protect the information in our possession, no security system is perfect and we cannot promise, and you should not expect, that your information will be secure in all circumstances.

Our Policies Concerning Children

We do not intentionally gather Personal Data about Users who are under the age of 13.  If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from a child under the age of 13, we will make reasonable efforts to delete such data from our records.

Third Party Websites

The Site contains links to third-party websites, such as social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. which may have privacy policies that differ from our own. We are not responsible for the activities and practices that take place on those websites. Accordingly, we recommend that you review the privacy statement posted on any external site you access before disclosing any personal data. Please contact those websites directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.

a) Facebook: share on Facebook

Information is partly transferred to the parent company Facebook Inc., headquartered in the USA. It respects the data protection regulations of the US Privacy Shield and is registered with the US Privacy Shield program of the US Department of Commerce.
For the purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook as well as your related rights and configuration options for protecting your private space, please refer to the Facebook privacy notice.

b) Twitter International Company: share on Twitter

Information is partly transferred to the parent company Twitter Inc., headquartered in the USA. It respects the data protection regulations of the US Privacy Shield and is registered with the US Privacy Shield program of the US Department of Commerce.

For more information on data protection with Twitter, please refer to the Twitter privacy statement.

c) Google LLC: share on Google+

Google respects the data protection regulations of the US Privacy Shield and is registered with the US Privacy Shield program of the US Department of Commerce.

For more information on data protection with Google, please refer to the Google privacy statement.

d) XING SE: share on Xing

For more information on data protection with XING, please refer to the XING privacy statement.

e) LinkedIn: share on LinkedIn

Information is partly transferred to the parent company LinkedIn Corporation, headquartered in the USA. It respects the data protection regulations of the US Privacy Shield and is registered with the US Privacy Shield program of the US Department of Commerce.

For more information on data protection with LinkedIn, please refer to the LinkedIn privacy statement.

Visitors from Outside the United States—Cross-Border Transfer

If you are visiting the Site from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, stored and processed in the United States or other countries in accordance with this Privacy Policy.  The data protection and other applicable laws of the United States or other countries may not be as comprehensive as those laws or regulations in your country or may otherwise differ from the data protection or consumer protection laws in your country. Your information may be available to government authorities under lawful orders and law applicable in such jurisdictions.  See the Location of Web Site Host section above, for more information about the administration of the Site. By using the Site and/or providing personal data to us, you consent to transfer of your information to our facilities as described in this Privacy Statement.

Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we collect and use the information of Site visitors, please contact us at info(at)fraunhofer.org. Our mailing address is:

Privacy Officer

Fraunhofer USA, Inc.

44792 Helm

Plymouth, MI  48170

If we need, or are required, to contact you concerning any event that involves your information, we may do so by email, telephone, or mail.

Revised November 2018