Data protection principles

Skip to Content

Article: Data protection principles

It is possible for you to use our website without providing your personal data. If you wish to use certain special services that we offer via our website, however, it may be necessary for us to process your personal data.

If it becomes necessary to process personal data and there is no legal basis for this processing (e.g. a contractual agreement), we will ask for your consent. This privacy statement tells you which data we collect from you, how we use it and how to withdraw your consent to the use of your data.

1. Who is responsible for collecting and processing data?

Railway Approvals Germany GmbH processes your data as the controller. Ms Dr. Marein Müller is the designated privacy officer. If you have any questions, comments and/or criticism regarding www.railwayapprovals.com, please contact:

  • Railway Approvals Germany GmbH
    Pioniertrasse 10
    32423 Minden, Germany

Please direct any questions and suggestions regarding data privacy to this e-mail address:

  • info@railwayapprovals.com

Version dated: November 2022

2. Type, scope, purposes and legal basis of data processing

All data is collected and processed for specific purposes. These purposes may relate to technical requirements, contractual obligations or specific user requests.

For technical reasons,

when you visit www.railwayapprovals.com (date and duration of your visit, the web pages you used, the identification data of the browser and operating system used and the website via which you visited us).  If this data can be used to determine the number of visitors and use of our website, this is done completely anonymously.

In specific cases, we additionally require personal data from you in order to provide services.  We use the data which you provide, without obtaining your specific consent, exclusively to perform the following services.

Specifically, the following data is collected and used:

If you send us enquiries by email, your data, including the contact details which you provide, will be stored and processed solely in order to process the enquiry and deal with any follow-up questions. Subsequently, your data will either be deleted or first blocked until the expiry of any retention periods stipulated by tax and commercial law and then deleted, unless you expressly consent to the further use of your data.

Legal basis for data processing:

If we obtain your consent to perform processing operations on your personal data, this consent serves as the legal basis required under Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR. If we process personal data that is required in order to perform a contract that we have concluded with you, then the contract is the legal basis in accordance with point (b) of Article 6(1) of the GDPR. Point (b) of Article 6(1) of the GDPR also applies to processing operations that are required in order for us to take steps before a contract is entered into; for example, in the event of enquiries relating to our products or services.
If our company is subject to a legal obligation that requires us to process personal data – such as a tax obligation – then the legal basis for processing is point (c) of Article 6(1) of the GDPR.

We store and analyse user data obtained from online sources pseudonymously so that we can continually improve our offering. The legal basis for the foregoing is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

Version dated: November 2022

3. Is data shared with other parties?

The external service providers that we hire to process data are carefully selected and subject to strict contractual obligations. The service providers follow our instructions, and this is guaranteed by strict contractual regulations, technical and organisational measures, as well as supplementary checks and controls.
Furthermore, transmission of your data only takes place where you have given your express consent or on the basis of a statutory requirement.

Data will not be transferred to third countries outside the EU/EEA or to an international organisation unless appropriate guarantees have been provided. These include the EU standard contractual clauses and an adequacy decision from the EU Commission.

Version dated: November 2022

4. When are cookies used?

Cookies are small text files for storing personal data. When a page is accessed, cookies can be transferred to it, making it possible to identify the user. Cookies help to make web pages easier for users to use.

We distinguish between cookies that are essential for the website's technical functions and cookies that are not essential for the website's technical functions.

We want to give you the opportunity to make an informed decision for or against the use of cookies that are not essential for the webpage's technical functions.

For more information on the data processing by Deutsche Bahn AG related to website analytics, click “Manage analytics” in the footer of this page.

Version dated: November 2022

5. Web analysis service

Use of Matomo (formerly Piwik)

  • We use the analysis service Matomo (formerly Piwik) on our website which allows us to analyse how our website is used and to improve it regularly. The statistics we gain from this allow us to improve our offering and make it more interesting for users. Small text files (cookies) store information about how you use our website, including your IP address. This data is anonymised and stored on our servers. The legal basis for the use of Matomo is point Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

Your deactivation options: If you object to the analysis of your user behaviour, you can change your browser settings at any time to prevent analysis cookies from being set.  You can also decide whether to allow a unique web analysis cookie to be stored on your browser, allowing the operator of the website to record and analyse different statistical data. To opt out of this, click on the following link in order to install the Piwik deactivation cookie on your browser:

https://dbwas.service.deutschebahn.com/piwik/index.php?module=CoreAdminHome&action=optOut&language=en

Version dated: November 2022

6. Embedded Content/You Tube

Offer of embedded Content

  • Our website www.railwayapprovals.com contains embedded YouTube videos. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

    When you visit  www.railwayapprovals.com, you will find a link that ensures that we submit no data to Google, the operator of YouTube.  Google only requests the information from our web server regarding how often the video was clicked.

    When you click the link to play the video, you leave our website and are transferred to YouTube. At this point, Google, the operator of YouTube, will set cookies and pixel tags to personalise the adverts and search results. Google, as the operator of YouTube, is solely responsible for this data processing. We do not know, nor can we influence which data is processed when this happens.

Further information can be found here:
https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/

Version dated: November 2022

7. How long do we store your data?

We store your data only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which the data was collected (as part of a contractual relationship, for example) and/or to comply with legal requirements.

Version dated: November 2022

8. What rights do you have as user of www.railwayapprovals.com

  • You can request information as to what data is stored about you.
  • You can demand the rectification or erasure of your personal data, or demand that processing of your personal data be restricted (blocked), provided this is permissible by law and possible within the framework of an existing contractual relationship.
  • You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority responsible for Railway Approvals Germany GmbH is:
    Landesbeauftragte:r für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen, Kavalleriestr. 2-4 in 40213 Düsseldorf
    www.ldi.nrw.de
  • You have the right to the portability of data that you have made available to us on the basis of consent or a contract (data portability).
  • If you have given us consent to process your data, you can withdraw this consent at any time, using the same method you used to give your consent. Any processing of your personal data that takes place from the time at which you granted your consent until the time at which you withdrew it will be considered to have been lawful.
  • You can opt out of targeted advertising at any time. This takes effect for the future (advertising opt-out). You can exercise your rights simply by way of a letter sent by post to Railway Approvals Germany GmbH, Pionierstrasse 10, 32423 Minden or by email to info@railwayapprovals.com.

Version dated: November 2022

9. New Functionalities

Wir passen den Datenschutzhinweis an veränderte Funktionalitäten an. Daher empfehlen wir, den Datenschutzhinweis bei Aufruf einer neuen Version von www.railwayapprovals.com zu lesen.

Version dated: November 2022

10. How we handle links to external websites

If you click on a link to an external website, you leave the www.railwayapprovals.com website.

Railway Approvals Germany is not therefore responsible for the content, services or products offered on the linked website, nor is it responsible for privacy or technical security on the linked website.