The Gesellschaft für Akademische Studienvorbereitung und Testentwicklung (g.a.s.t.), based in Bonn (Kennedyallee 50), operates the TestDaF Institute in Bochum (Universitätsstraße 134) and the Deutsch-Uni Online in Munich (Schönfeldstr. 13a). For g.a.s.t., responsible handling of personal data is a high priority. We use technical and organisational measures to secure our website and other systems against loss, destruction, access, modification or dissemination of your data by unauthorised persons. Your personal data is processed exclusively in accordance with the statutory provisions of European Union data protection law, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

With these data protection provisions, we would like to inform you which personal data we collect, process and store about you.

I. Name and address of the controller

The controller within the meaning of the General Data Protection Regulation and other national data protection laws of the member states as well as other data protection regulations is 

Gesellschaft für Akademische Studienvorbereitung und Testentwicklung (g.a.s.t.) 
c/o TestDaF-Institut
Universitätsstraße 134
44799 Bochum
Tel. Nr.: +49 (0) 234 36715 500
E-Mail: kontakt@gast.de

II. Data collection and processing

We collect and process your personal data only to the extent necessary to provide a functional website and our content and services. Your personal data is regularly processed only with your consent. An exception applies in cases where prior consent cannot be obtained for factual reasons and the processing of the data is permitted by law. Your personal data will be deleted or blocked as soon as the purpose of storage no longer applies or statutory retention obligations, for example for tax or accounting purposes, have been fulfilled.

III. Registration for workshops and seminars

Registration is required for our workshops and seminars and webinars. The data collected (name, address, email address, telephone number) is required to organise and run the respective event and, if necessary, to issue certificates of attendance. Your data is processed on the basis of Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR. The data will not be passed on to third parties. The data will be deleted in compliance with the statutory retention periods and, in relation to invoicing, after ten years.

IV. Contact form and e-mail contact

A contact form is available on our website that can be used to contact us electronically. If you use this option, the data entered in the input mask (e-mail address, surname, first name) will be transmitted to us and stored. Entering your address and telephone number is voluntary. The processing of the personal data from the input mask is based on your consent and serves solely to process the contact. The basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. Alternatively, you can contact us via the email address provided. In this case, your personal data transmitted with the e-mail will be stored on the basis of Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. The data will not be passed on to third parties. The data will be deleted as soon as the matter in question has been finally clarified. You have the option to object to the storage of your personal data at any time. In this case, we will not be able to continue processing your enquiry. All personal data stored in the course of contacting us will then be deleted.

V. Newsletter

You can subscribe to a free newsletter on our website. When registering for the newsletter, the data from the online form (e-mail address, surname, first name) is transmitted to us. For security reasons, we use the so-called double opt-in procedure: to subsribe to the newsletter you are requested to confirm the subscription with a confirmation link. The double opt-in procedure is carried out by retarus GmbH, Aschauer Straße 30, 81549 Munich, Germany. You can find the privacy policy of retarus GmbH at https://www.retarus.com/de/data-privacy-policy/ 

The data will be used on the basis of your consent and exclusively for sending the newsletter. The basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the link provided in the newsletter. Your data will only be stored for as long as the subscription to the newsletter is active.

VI. Use of cookies 

We use technically necessary cookies to make our website user-friendly and to enable certain functions. These are small text files that are stored on your end device and transmitted from it to our website. The user data collected by these cookies is not used to create user profiles. The cookies we use are so-called "session cookies", which are only required and stored for the duration of your website visit. These cookies are deleted or lose their validity as soon as you leave our website. As the user, you have full control over the use of cookies. You can deactivate or
restrict the transmission of cookies by changing the settings in your Internet browser. This can also be done automatically. If cookies are deactivated for our website, it may no longer be possible to use all functions of the website to their full extent. We process the data collected through the use of these cookies on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.

VII. Logfiles 

Each time our website is accessed, our web server automatically records certain log information in a file (log file). The data is stored for a limited period of time. Log files contain the following information in particular:

• called URL
• Transferred data volume
• Website from which you came to the requested page (so-called "referrer")
• http-status
• Information about the browser type and version used
• the IP address
• Date and time of access

We only analyse these data records for statistical purposes, to improve the website, for system security reasons (e.g. to prevent misuse) and to diagnose errors. No personalised analysis or profiling takes place. The data is deleted immediately after the purpose has ceased to exist. The legal basis for the temporary storage of data and log files is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. 

VIII. Social Media

We do not use social media plugins, but so-called social bookmarks. These are integrated as links to the corresponding services. After clicking on the embedded graphic, you will be redirected to the page of the respective provider.

IX. Google Analytics

Our website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA (Google), to analyse web pages. Google Analytics uses cookies, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyse how users use the site (see Use of cookies). 

The information generated by the cookies about your use of the website will generally be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. The activation of IP anonymisation on this website ensures that your IP address is truncated by Google within member states of the European Union or in other signatory states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases, e.g. if there are technical failures in Europe, will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and truncated there. Google will use this information on our behalf to analyse your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide us with other services relating to website activity and internet usage. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other Google data. The data collected in this context will be deleted after the end of the purpose and use of Google Analytics by us.

You can prevent the storage of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser software. You can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the website (including your IP address) and from processing this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de

The collection of data by Google Analytics is based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.

X. Google reCAPTCHA

We use the  reCaptcha service of Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA (Google) to protect our contact form against unwanted use.

This service makes it possible to distinguish whether the input is made by a human or abusively and automatically by a machine (spambot). For this purpose, your IP address and any other data required by Google for the reCaptcha service are transmitted to Google, whereby cookies are
used (see "Use of cookies"). Google's differing data protection provisions apply to this data. These can be found at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

The data is collected on the basis of Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

XI. Links to websites of other providers

Our website contains links to the websites of our co-operation partners and other providers. When you activate these links, you will be forwarded directly from our website to these websites. We have no influence on whether these providers comply with data protection regulations. Please
inform yourself about this directly on the respective websites. 

XII. Your rights and how to contact us

According to the EU General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights:

Right of access: You have the right to free information about the personal data we have stored about you, in particular about the categories of personal data, the purpose of processing, the planned storage period (Art. 15 GDPR).

Right to rectification: You have the right to rectification and/or completion of your personal data if it is incorrect or incomplete (Art. 16 GDPR).

Right to erasure or restriction of processing: If the legal requirements are met, you can request the erasure or restriction of the processing of your personal data (Art. 17, 18 GDPR). 

Right to data portability: If you have consented to data processing or if there is a contract for data processing using automated procedures, you may have a right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR).

Right of objection: You have the right to object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, at any time to processing of personal data concerning you which is based on point (e) or (f) of Article 6(1) GDPR (Article 21 GDPR). 

Right to withdraw consent: You have the right to revoke your declaration of consent under data protection law at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal. (Art. 7 para. 3 GDPR).

Right to complain: You can lodge a complaint with the supervisory authorities if you have the impression that the processing of your data violates applicable law. You can contact the data protection authority responsible for your place of residence or country or the data protection authority responsible for us. (Art. 77 GDPR).

Please contact our data protection officer if you have any questions about the collection, processing or use of your personal data, or if you wish to obtain information, correct, block or delete data or revoke any consent you may have given or object to a specific use of data:

Dr. Kai-Uwe Loser

g.a.s.t. e.V. c/o TestDaF-Institut
Universitätsstraße 134
44799 Bochum
datenschutz@gast.de