Declaration on the collection and use of personal data

The Federal Foreign Office and its missions abroad take the protection of your personal data very seriously. Below you will find information on when we collect data on this website, what data we collect and how we use it. As we develop our website further, we may need to update this data protection declaration. We thus recommend that you read the following information again at regular intervals.

1. Tracking/logging

Each time a user accesses this website or calls up a file, data on this activity is temporarily stored and processed in a log file.
The tracking tool employed to analyse website use is configured to ensure that no personal data on the user is collected.
User IP addresses are also anonymised so that individual activity cannot be traced. The final octet of all IP addresses is replaced by zeros.
The tracking tool runs on our own servers in a secure network zone in Germany certified by the Federal Office for Information Security to ensure that no tracking data can be accessed by third parties.
If you do not want your activity on the website to be registered or analysed, you can activate the Do Not Track setting on your browser. A browser variable is transmitted which tells the website whether the user wishes their activity to be tracked or not.

The following data is collected by the Javascript tracking tool:

• Request (file name), date and time of the request
• Browser type and version (e.g. Internet Explorer 11)
• Browser language (e.g. German)
• Operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)
• Device type, model and make
• Screen resolution
• Plug-ins used (e.g. Flash, Java)
• Referrer URL (previous page accessed by the user)
• Anonymised IP address
• Country, region and city from which the request originated
• Downloads
• Clicks
• Number of forms sent (depending on the goals defined)

2. Use of cookies

Accessing individual pages generates transient cookies (also known as session cookies) to facilitate navigation. These session cookies use no personal data and are erased at the end of the session.
Technology such as Java applets and activeX controls, which allows user access behaviour to be monitored, is not used.

3. Use of data submitted voluntarily

Postal and email addresses which you supply us with in connection with enquiries or requests for information material are used solely for correspondence with you and for shipping.
In cases where you are able to enter personal data (email address, name and address) in online user interfaces on this website, these entries are entirely voluntary. No personal data will be collected without your knowledge and consent. We store your entries on highly protected servers in Germany. Only a few authorised individuals tasked with technical, administrative or editorial work on the servers have access to this data.

4. Forwarding of personal data to third parties

Data logged when you use this website or obtained by your voluntary entries is only forwarded to third parties if the Federal Foreign Office is obliged to do so by law or court order or if required for legal proceedings or criminal prosecution in cases of attacks on the Federal Foreign Office’s internet infrastructure.
When you order publications, we inform the shipping company of your address.
Your data will not be forwarded for other non-commercial or commercial purposes, and particularly not for advertising purposes.

5. Protection of Minors

People aged under 18 should not send us any personal data without the consent of their parents or guardians.

6. Links to third-party websites

Our website contains links to third-party websites. We cannot ensure that these providers of online contents protect data.

7. Data protection information for social media

The Federal Foreign Office takes the discussion on data protection in social networks very seriously and asks you to consider very carefully what personal information you supply to social networks by using our website.
We expressly point out that social networks store their users’ data (e.g. personal information, IP address etc.) in accordance with their own data-use guidelines and use this data for commercial purposes. This is also the case when you activate social media feeds by clicking them on this website. You can find out more about how social networks process data by clicking on the following links: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube (Google).
The Federal Foreign Office has no influence on whether or what data is collected by social networks and how this data is used. We are unable to identify how much, where and for how long data is stored, to what extent the networks adhere to requirements to delete data, how the data is evaluated and linked, and to whom the data is forwarded.
If you do not want social networks to receive your personal data via your communication on our website, you should contact us in another way, for example by using the contact form on this website.

8. Your Rights

At all times, you have the right to receive information free of charge on your personal data that we have stored. You also have the right to rectify incorrect data. Any permission you have granted for your personal data to be used can be revoked for the future at any time. You can also refuse to give permission for the use of your personal data at any time. You can revoke or refuse this use by email or in writing. As soon as personal data may no longer be stored, you have a right to its deletion.