SBN FORUM BRICS 2025

Privacy policy

We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this privacy policy (“Policy”). This Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide (“Personal Information”) on the sbn-forum.com website (“Website”), sbn-forum.com mobile application (“Mobile Application”), and any of their related products and services (collectively, “Services”), and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that Personal Information. It also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your Personal Information and how you can access and update it.

This Policy is a legally binding agreement between you (“User”, “you” or “your”) and sbn-forum.com (doing business as sbn-forum.com, “we”, “us” or “our”). If you are entering into this Policy on behalf of a business or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind such entity to this Policy, in which case the terms “User”, “you” or “your” shall refer to such entity. If you do not have such authority, or if you do not agree with the terms of this Policy, you must not accept this Policy and may not access and use the Services. By accessing and using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by the terms of this Policy. This Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, or to individuals that we do not employ or manage.

Automatic collection of information

When you open the Website or use the Mobile Application, our servers automatically record information that your browser or device sends. This data may include information such as your device’s IP address and location, browser and device name and version, operating system type and version, language preferences, the webpage you were visiting before you came to the Services, pages of the Services that you visit, the time spent on those pages, the information you search for on the Services, access times and dates, and other statistics.

Information collected automatically is used only to identify potential cases of abuse and establish statistical information regarding the usage and traffic of the Services. This statistical information is not otherwise aggregated in such a way that would identify any particular User of the system.

Collection of personal information

You can access and use the Services without telling us who you are or revealing any information by which someone could identify you as a specific, identifiable individual. If, however, you wish to use some of the features offered on the Services, you may be asked to provide certain Personal Information (for example, your name and e-mail address).

We receive and store any information you knowingly provide to us when you create an account, publish content, make a purchase, or fill any forms on the Services. When required, this information may include the following:

  • Account details (such as user name, unique user ID, password, etc)
  • Contact information (such as email address, phone number, etc)
  • Basic personal information (such as name, country of residence, etc)
  • Payment information (such as credit card details, bank details, etc)
  • Geolocation data of your device (such as latitude and longitude)
  • Certain features on the mobile device (such as contacts, calendar, gallery, etc)
  • Any other materials you willingly submit to us (such as articles, images, feedback, etc)

Some of the information we collect is directly from you via the Services. However, we may also collect Personal Information about you from other sources such as social media platforms, public databases, third-party data providers, and our joint partners. Personal Information we collect from other sources may include demographic information, such as age and gender, device information, such as IP addresses, location, such as city and state, and online behavioral data, such as information about your use of social media websites, page view information and search results and links.

You can choose not to provide us with your Personal Information, but then you may not be able to take advantage of some of the features on the Services. Users who are uncertain about what information is mandatory are welcome to contact us.

Privacy of children

We do not knowingly collect any Personal Information from children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, please do not submit any Personal Information through the Services. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 has provided Personal Information to us through the Services, please contact us to request that we delete that child’s Personal Information from our Services.

We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce this Policy by instructing their children never to provide Personal Information through the Services without their permission. We also ask that all parents and legal guardians overseeing the care of children take the necessary precautions to ensure that their children are instructed to never give out Personal Information when online without their permission.

Use and processing of collected information

We act as a data controller and a data processor in terms of the GDPR when handling Personal Information, unless we have entered into a data processing agreement with you in which case you would be the data controller and we would be the data processor.

Our role may also differ depending on the specific situation involving Personal Information. We act in the capacity of a data controller when we ask you to submit your Personal Information that is necessary to ensure your access and use of the Services. In such instances, we are a data controller because we determine the purposes and means of the processing of Personal Information and we comply with data controllers’ obligations set forth in the GDPR.

We act in the capacity of a data processor in situations when you submit Personal Information through the Services. We do not own, control, or make decisions about the submitted Personal Information, and such Personal Information is processed only in accordance with your instructions. In such instances, the User providing Personal Information acts as a data controller in terms of the GDPR.

In order to make the Services available to you, or to meet a legal obligation, we may need to collect and use certain Personal Information. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide you with the requested products or services. Any of the information we collect from you may be used for the following purposes:

  • Create and manage user accounts
  • Fulfill and manage orders
  • Deliver products or services
  • Improve products and services
  • Send administrative information
  • Send marketing and promotional communications
  • Send product and service updates
  • Respond to inquiries and offer support
  • Request user feedback
  • Improve user experience
  • Post customer testimonials
  • Deliver targeted advertising
  • Administer prize draws and competitions
  • Enforce terms and conditions and policies
  • Protect from abuse and malicious users
  • Respond to legal requests and prevent harm
  • Run and operate the Services

Processing your Personal Information depends on how you interact with the Services, where you are located in the world and if one of the following applies: (i) you have given your consent for one or more specific purposes; this, however, does not apply, whenever the processing of Personal Information is subject to California Consumer Privacy Act or European data protection law; (ii) provision of information is necessary for the performance of this Policy with you and/or for any pre-contractual obligations thereof; (iii) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which you are subject; (iv) processing is related to a task that is carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in us; (v) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party. We may also combine or aggregate some of your Personal Information in order to better serve you and to improve and update our Services.

We rely on user’s consent and personal information is already publicly available as legal bases as defined in the GDPR upon which we collect and process your Personal Information.

Note that under some legislations we may be allowed to process information until you object to such processing by opting out, without having to rely on consent or any other of the legal bases above. In any case, we will be happy to clarify the specific legal basis that applies to the processing, and in particular whether the provision of Personal Information is a statutory or contractual requirement, or a requirement necessary to enter into a contract.

Payment processing

In case of Services requiring payment, you may need to provide your credit card details or other payment account information, which will be used solely for processing payments. We use third-party payment processors (“Payment Processors”) to assist us in processing your payment information securely.

Payment Processors adhere to the latest security standards as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Sensitive and private data exchange happens over a SSL secured communication channel and is encrypted and protected with digital signatures, and the Services are also in compliance with strict vulnerability standards in order to create as secure of an environment as possible for Users. We will share payment data with the Payment Processors only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing your payments, refunding such payments, and dealing with complaints and queries related to such payments and refunds.

Please note that the Payment Processors may collect some Personal Information from you, which allows them to process your payments (e.g., your email address, address, credit card details, and bank account number) and handle all the steps in the payment process through their systems, including data collection and data processing. Where necessary for processing future or recurring payments and subject to your prior consent, your financial information will be stored in encrypted form on secure servers of our Payment Processors. The Payment Processors’ use of your Personal Information is governed by their respective privacy policies which may or may not contain privacy protections as protective as this Policy. We suggest that you review their respective privacy policies.

Managing information

You are able to delete certain Personal Information we have about you. The Personal Information you can delete may change as the Services change. When you delete Personal Information, however, we may maintain a copy of the unrevised Personal Information in our records for the duration necessary to comply with our obligations to our affiliates and partners, and for the purposes described below. If you would like to delete your Personal Information or permanently delete your account, you can do so on the settings page of your account on the Services.

Disclosure of information

Depending on the requested Services or as necessary to complete any transaction or provide any Service you have requested, we may share your information with our trusted subsidiaries and joint venture partners, affiliates, contracted companies, and service providers (collectively, “Service Providers”) we rely upon to assist in the operation of the Services available to you and whose privacy policies are consistent with ours or who agree to abide by our policies with respect to Personal Information. We will not share any information with unaffiliated third parties.

Service Providers are not authorized to use or disclose your information except as necessary to perform services on our behalf or comply with legal requirements. Service Providers are given the information they need only in order to perform their designated functions, and we do not authorize them to use or disclose any of the provided information for their own marketing or other purposes. We will share and disclose your information only with the following categories of Service Providers:

  • Advertising networks
  • Affiliate programs
  • Cloud computing services
  • Communication and collaboration services
  • Data analytics services
  • Data storage services
  • Financial services
  • Government agencies
  • Order fulfillment services
  • Payment processors
  • Performance monitoring services
  • Product engineering and design services
  • Sales and marketing services
  • Social networks
  • User authentication services
  • Website hosting service providers

We may also disclose any Personal Information we collect, use or receive if required or permitted by law, such as to comply with a subpoena or similar legal process, and when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, protect your safety or the safety of others, investigate fraud, or respond to a government request.

In the event we go through a business transition, such as a merger or acquisition by another company, or sale of all or a portion of its assets, your user account, and your Personal Information will likely be among the assets transferred.

Retention of information

We will retain and use your Personal Information for the period necessary to comply with our legal obligations, to enforce our Policy, resolve disputes, and unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law up to a maximum of 12 months.

We may use any aggregated data derived from or incorporating your Personal Information after you update or delete it, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. Once the retention period expires, Personal Information shall be deleted. Therefore, the right to access, the right to erasure, the right to rectification, and the right to data portability cannot be enforced after the expiration of the retention period.

Transfer of information

Depending on your location, data transfers may involve transferring and storing your information in a country other than your own, including Bangalore, India. The transfer of your Personal Information to countries outside the European Union will be made only if you have explicitly consented to it or in the cases provided for by the GDPR and will be processed in your interest.

You are entitled to learn about the legal basis of information transfers to a country outside the European Union or to any international organization governed by public international law or set up by two or more countries, such as the UN, and about the security measures taken by us to safeguard your information. If any such transfer takes place, you can find out more by checking the relevant sections of this Policy or inquire with us using the information provided in the contact section.

Data protection rights under the GDPR

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (“EEA”), you have certain data protection rights and we aim to take reasonable steps to allow you to correct, amend, delete, or limit the use of your Personal Information. If you wish to be informed what Personal Information we hold about you and if you want it to be removed from our systems, please contact us. In certain circumstances, you have the following data protection rights:

(i) You have the right to withdraw consent where you have previously given your consent to the processing of your Personal Information. To the extent that the legal basis for our processing of your Personal Information is consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.

(ii) You have the right to learn if your Personal Information is being processed by us, obtain disclosure regarding certain aspects of the processing, and obtain a copy of your Personal Information undergoing processing.

(iii) You have the right to verify the accuracy of your information and ask for it to be updated or corrected. You also have the right to request us to complete the Personal Information you believe is incomplete.

(iv) You have the right to object to the processing of your information if the processing is carried out on a legal basis other than consent. Where Personal Information is processed for the public interest, in the exercise of an official authority vested in us, or for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by us, you may object to such processing by providing a ground related to your particular situation to justify the objection. You must know that, however, should your Personal Information be processed for direct marketing purposes, you can object to that processing at any time without providing any justification. To learn whether we are processing Personal Information for direct marketing purposes, you may refer to the relevant sections of this Policy.

(v) You have the right, under certain circumstances, to restrict the processing of your Personal Information. These circumstances include: the accuracy of your Personal Information is contested by you and we must verify its accuracy; the processing is unlawful, but you oppose the erasure of your Personal Information and request the restriction of its use instead; we no longer need your Personal Information for the purposes of processing, but you require it to establish, exercise or defend your legal claims; you have objected to processing pending the verification of whether our legitimate grounds override your legitimate grounds. Where processing has been restricted, such Personal Information will be marked accordingly and, with the exception of storage, will be processed only with your consent or for the establishment, to exercise or defense of legal claims, for the protection of the rights of another natural, or legal person or for reasons of important public interest.

(vi) You have the right, under certain circumstances, to obtain the erasure of your Personal Information from us. These circumstances include: the Personal Information is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which it was collected or otherwise processed; you withdraw consent to consent-based processing; you object to the processing under certain rules of applicable data protection law; the processing is for direct marketing purposes; and the personal data have been unlawfully processed. However, there are exclusions of the right to erasure such as where processing is necessary: for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation; or for the establishment, to exercise or defense of legal claims.

(vii) You have the right to receive your Personal Information that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and, if technically feasible, to have it transmitted to another controller without any hindrance from us, provided that such transmission does not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

(viii) You have the right to complain to a data protection authority about our collection and use of your Personal Information. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint directly with us, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. For more information, please contact your local data protection authority in the EEA. This provision is applicable provided that your Personal Information is processed by automated means and that the processing is based on your consent, on a contract which you are part of, or on pre-contractual obligations thereof.

California privacy rights

Consumers residing in California are afforded certain additional rights with respect to their Personal Information under the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). If you are a California resident, this section applies to you.

As described in this Policy in the information collection section above, we have collected the categories of Personal Information listed below in the past twelve (12) months:

  • Personal identifiers (such as email address, phone number, etc)
  • Person’s characteristics (such as age, gender, etc)
  • Internet or other electronic network activity
  • Purchase history
  • Geolocation data

As described in this Policy in the disclosure section above, we have disclosed the categories of Personal Information listed below in the past twelve (12) months:

  • Personal identifiers (such as email address, phone number, etc)
  • Person’s characteristics (such as age, gender, etc)
  • Internet or other electronic network activity
  • Purchase history
  • Geolocation data

In addition to the rights as explained in this Policy, California residents who provide Personal Information as defined in the statute to obtain Services for personal, family, or household use are entitled to request and obtain from us, once a calendar year, information about the categories and specific pieces of Personal Information we have collected and disclosed.

Furthermore, California residents have the right to request deletion of their Personal Information or opt-out of the sale of their Personal Information which may include selling, disclosing, or transferring Personal Information to another business or a third party for monetary or other valuable consideration. To do so, simply contact us. We will not discriminate against you if you exercise your rights under the CCPA.

How to exercise your rights

Any requests to exercise your rights can be directed to us through the contact details provided in this document. Please note that we may ask you to verify your identity before responding to such requests. Your request must provide sufficient information that allows us to verify that you are the person you are claiming to be or that you are the authorized representative of such person. If we receive your request from an authorized representative, we may request evidence that you have provided such an authorized representative with power of attorney or that the authorized representative otherwise has valid written authority to submit requests on your behalf.

You must include sufficient details to allow us to properly understand the request and respond to it. We cannot respond to your request or provide you with Personal Information unless we first verify your identity or authority to make such a request and confirm that the Personal Information relates to you.

Cookies

Our Services use “cookies” to help personalize your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the features of the Services.

We may use cookies to collect, store, and track information for security and personalization, to operate the Services, and for statistical purposes. Please note that you have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies by default, but you can modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer.

Data analytics

Our Services may use third-party analytics tools that use cookies, web beacons, or other similar information-gathering technologies to collect standard internet activity and usage information. The information gathered is used to compile statistical reports on User activity such as how often Users visit our Services, what pages they visit and for how long, etc. We use the information obtained from these analytics tools to monitor the performance and improve our Services. We do not use third-party analytics tools to track or to collect any personally identifiable information of our Users and we will not associate any information gathered from the statistical reports with any individual User.

Do Not Track signals

Some browsers incorporate a Do Not Track feature that signals to websites you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. Tracking is not the same as using or collecting information in connection with a website. For these purposes, tracking refers to collecting personally identifiable information from consumers who use or visit a website or online service as they move across different websites over time. How browsers communicate the Do Not Track signal is not yet uniform. As a result, the Services are not yet set up to interpret or respond to Do Not Track signals communicated by your browser. Even so, as described in more detail throughout this Policy, we limit our use and collection of your Personal Information. For a description of Do Not Track protocols for browsers and mobile devices or to learn more about the choices available to you, visit internetcookies.com

Advertisements

We may display online advertisements and we may share aggregated and non-identifying information about our customers that we or our advertisers collect through your use of the Services. We do not share personally identifiable information about individual customers with advertisers. In some instances, we may use this aggregated and non-identifying information to deliver tailored advertisements to the intended audience.

We may also permit certain third-party companies to help us tailor advertising that we think may be of interest to Users and to collect and use other data about User activities on the Services. These companies may deliver ads that might place cookies and otherwise track User behavior.

Social media features

Our Services may include social media features, such as the Facebook and Twitter buttons, Share This buttons, etc (collectively, “Social Media Features”). These Social Media Features may collect your IP address, what page you are visiting on our Services, and may set a cookie to enable Social Media Features to function properly. Social Media Features are hosted either by their respective providers or directly on our Services. Your interactions with these Social Media Features are governed by the privacy policy of their respective providers.

Email marketing

We offer electronic newsletters to which you may voluntarily subscribe at any time. We are committed to keeping your e-mail address confidential and will not disclose your email address to any third parties except as allowed in the information use and processing section or for the purposes of utilizing a third-party provider to send such emails. We will maintain the information sent via e-mail in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

In compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, all e-mails sent from us will clearly state who the e-mail is from and provide clear information on how to contact the sender. You may choose to stop receiving our newsletter or marketing emails by following the unsubscribe instructions included in these emails or by contacting us. However, you will continue to receive essential transactional emails.

Push notifications

We offer push notifications to which you may also voluntarily subscribe at any time. To make sure push notifications reach the correct devices, we use a third-party push notifications provider who relies on a device token unique to your device which is issued by the operating system of your device. While it is possible to access a list of device tokens, they will not reveal your identity, your unique device ID, or your contact information to us or our third-party push notifications provider. We will maintain the information sent via e-mail in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. If, at any time, you wish to stop receiving push notifications, simply adjust your device settings accordingly.

We may engage in affiliate marketing and have affiliate links present on the Services for the purpose of being able to offer you related or additional products and services. If you click on an affiliate link, a cookie will be placed on your browser to track any sales for purposes of commissions.

The Services contain links to other resources that are not owned or controlled by us. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other resources or third parties. We encourage you to be aware when you leave the Services and to read the privacy statements of each and every resource that may collect Personal Information.

Analysis tools and advertising

Google Tag Manager

We use the Google Tag Manager. The provider is Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland

The Google Tag Manager is a tool that allows us to integrate tracking or statistical tools and other technologies on our website. The Google Tag Manager itself does not create any user profiles, does not store cookies, and does not carry out any independent analyses. It only manages and runs the tools integrated via it. However, the Google Tag Manager does collect your IP address, which may also be transferred to Google’s parent company in the United States.

The Google Tag Manager is used on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the quick and uncomplicated integration and administration of various tools on his website. If appropriate consent has been obtained, the processing is carried out exclusively on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25 (1) TTDSG, insofar the consent includes the storage of cookies or the access to information in the user’s end device (e.g., device fingerprinting) within the meaning of the TTDSG. This consent can be revoked at any time.

Google Analytics

This website uses functions of the web analysis service Google Analytics. The provider of this service is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Google Analytics enables the website operator to analyze the behavior patterns of website visitors. To that end, the website operator receives a variety of user data, such as pages accessed, time spent on the page, the utilized operating system and the user’s origin. This data is summarized in a user-ID and assigned to the respective end device of the website visitor.

Furthermore, Google Analytics allows us to record your mouse and scroll movements and clicks, among other things. Google Analytics uses various modeling approaches to augment the collected data sets and uses machine learning technologies in data analysis.

Google Analytics uses technologies that make the recognition of the user for the purpose of analyzing the user behavior patterns (e.g., cookies or device fingerprinting). The website use information recorded by Google is, as a rule transferred to a Google server in the United States, where it is stored.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/controllerterms/mccs/.

Browser plug-in
You can prevent the recording and processing of your data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available under the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

For more information about the handling of user data by Google Analytics, please consult Google’s Data Privacy Declaration at: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.

Google Signals

We use Google Signals. Whenever you visit our website, Google Analytics records, among other things, your location, the progression of your search and YouTube progression as well as demographic data (site visitor data). This data may be used for customized advertising with the assistance of Google Signal. If you have a Google account, your site visitor information will be linked to your Google account by Google Signal and used to send you customized promotional messages. The data is also used to compile anonymized statistics of our users’ online patterns.

>Contract data processing
We have executed a contract data processing agreement with Google and are implementing the stringent provisions of the German data protection agencies to the fullest when using Google Analytics.

Google Analytics E-Commerce-Tracking

This website uses the “E-Commerce Tracking” function of Google Analytics. With the assistance of E-Commerce Tracking, the website operator is in a position to analyze the purchasing patterns of website visitors with the aim of improving the operator’s online marketing campaigns. In this context, information, such as the orders placed, the average order values, shipping costs and the time from viewing the product to making the purchasing decision are tracked. These data may be consolidated by Google under a transaction ID, which is allocated to the respective user or the user’s device.

Clarity

This website uses Clarity. The provider is Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399 (USA), https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/ (hereinafter referred to as “Clarity”).

Clarity is a tool to analyze user patterns on this website. Clarity records in particular cursor movements and compiles graphics that show on which parts of the website users are scrolling with great frequency (heatmaps). Clarity can also record sessions so that we can watch the use of the site in the form of videos. Moreover, we receive information on the general user conduct within our website.

Clarity uses technologies that make it possible to recognize users for the purpose of analyzing user patterns (e.g., cookies or use of device fingerprinting). Your personal data will be archived on Microsoft servers (Microsoft Azure Cloud Service) in the United States.

If your approval (consent) has been obtained the use of the abovementioned service shall occur on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25 TTDSG (German Telecommunications Act). Such consent may be revoked at any time. If your consent was not obtained, the use of the service will occur on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; the website operator has a legitimate interest in the effective analysis of user patterns.

For more details on Clarity’s data privacy policy, please see: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/clarity/faq.

Data processing
We have concluded a data processing agreement (DPA) with the above-mentioned provider. This is a contract mandated by data privacy laws that guarantees that they process personal data of our website visitors only based on our instructions and in compliance with the GDPR.

Google Ads

The website operator uses Google Ads. Google Ads is an online promotional program of Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Google Ads enables us to display ads in the Google search engine or on third-party websites, if the user enters certain search terms into Google (keyword targeting). It is also possible to place targeted ads based on the user data Google has in its possession (e.g., location data and interests; target group targeting). As the website operator, we can analyze these data quantitatively, for instance by analyzing which search terms resulted in the display of our ads and how many ads led to respective clicks.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://policies.google.com/privacy/frameworks and https://privacy.google.com/businesses/controllerterms/mccs/.

Google AdSense

This website uses Google AdSense, a service for the integration of ads. The provider of this service is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

With the assistance of Google Adsense, we are in a position to place targeted ads by third parties on our site. The contents of the ads are based on your interests, which Google determines based on your past user patterns. Moreover, when choosing compatible ads, context information, such as your location, the content of the visited website or Google search terms you have entered, will be taken into account.

Google AdSense uses Cookies, Web Beacons (invisible graphics) and comparable recognition technologies. As a result, it is possible to analyze information, such as visitor traffic data, on these sites.

The usage information for this website (including your IP address) recorded by Google Adsense and delivery of advertising formats are transferred to a Google server in the United States, where the information is stored. Google may share this information with one of its contracting partners. However, Google will not link your IP address with any other of your stored information.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/controllerterms/mccs/.

Google Remarketing

This website uses the functions of Google Analytics Remarketing. The provider of these solutions is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Google Remarketing analyzes your user patterns on our website (e.g., clicks on specific products), to allocate a certain advertising target groups to you and to subsequently display matching online offers to you when you visit other online offers (remarketing or retargeting).

Moreover, it is possible to link the advertising target groups generated with Google Remarketing to device encompassing functions of Google. This makes it possible to display interest-based customized advertising messages, depending on your prior usage and browsing patterns on a device (e.g., cell phone) in a manner tailored to you as well as on any of your devices (e.g., tablet or PC).

If you have a Google account, you have the option to object to personalized advertising under the following link: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

For further information and the pertinent data protection regulations, please consult the Data Privacy Policies of Google at: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads?hl=en.

Formation of Target Groups with Customer Reconciliation
For the formation of target groups, we use, among other things, the Google Remarketing customer reconciliation feature. To achieve this, we transfer certain customer data (e.g., email addresses) from our customer lists to Google. If the respective customers are Google users and are logged into their Google accounts, matching advertising messages within the Google network (e.g., YouTube, Gmail or in a search engine) are displayed for them to view.

Google Conversion-Tracking

This website uses Google Conversion Tracking. The provider of this service is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland.

With the assistance of Google Conversion Tracking, we are in a position to recognize whether the user has completed certain actions. For instance, we can analyze the how frequently which buttons on our website have been clicked and which products are reviewed or purchased with particular frequency. The purpose of this information is to compile conversion statistics. We learn how many users have clicked on our ads and which actions they have completed. We do not receive any information that would allow us to personally identify the users. Google as such uses cookies or comparable recognition technologies for identification purposes.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

For more information about Google Conversion Tracking, please review Google’s data protection policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

Google DoubleClick

This website uses features of Google DoubleClick. The provider is Google Ireland Limited (“Google”), Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, (hereinafter “DoubleClick”).

DoubleClick is used to show you interest-based ads across the Google Network. Advertisements can be tailored to the interests of the viewer using DoubleClick. For example, our ads may appear in Google search results or in banners associated with DoubleClick.

To be able to display interest adequate promotional content to users, DoubleClick must recognize the respective visitor so that it can allocate the websites visited, the clicks and other user pattern information to the user. To do this, DoubleClick deploys cookies or comparable recognition technologies (e.g., device fingerprinting). The recorded information is consolidated into a pseudonym user profile so that the respective user can be shown interest adequate advertising.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

For further information on how to object to the advertisements displayed by Google, please see the following links: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads and https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Facebook Pixel

To measure conversion rates, this website uses the visitor activity pixel of Facebook. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland. According to Facebook’s statement the collected data will be transferred to the USA and other third-party countries too.

This tool allows the tracking of page visitors after they have been linked to the website of the provider after clicking on a Facebook ad. This makes it possible to analyze the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes and to optimize future advertising campaigns.

For us as the operators of this website, the collected data is anonymous. We are not in a position to arrive at any conclusions as to the identity of users. However, Facebook archives the information and processes it, so that it is possible to make a connection to the respective user profile and Facebook is in a position to use the data for its own promotional purposes in compliance with the Facebook Data Usage Policy. This enables Facebook to display ads on Facebook pages as well as in locations outside of Facebook. We as the operator of this website have no control over the use of such data.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/legal/EU_data_transfer_addendum und https://de-de.facebook.com/help/566994660333381.

Insofar as personal data is collected on our website with the help of the tool described here and forwarded to Facebook, we and Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland are jointly responsible for this data processing (Art. 26 DSGVO). The joint responsibility is limited exclusively to the collection of the data and its forwarding to Facebook. The processing by Facebook that takes place after the onward transfer is not part of the joint responsibility. The obligations incumbent on us jointly have been set out in a joint processing agreement. The wording of the agreement can be found under: https://www.facebook.com/legal/controller_addendum. According to this agreement, we are responsible for providing the privacy information when using the Facebook tool and for the privacy-secure implementation of the tool on our website. Facebook is responsible for the data security of Facebook products. You can assert data subject rights (e.g., requests for information) regarding data processed by Facebook directly with Facebook. If you assert the data subject rights with us, we are obliged to forward them to Facebook.

In Facebook’s Data Privacy Policies, you will find additional information about the protection of your privacy at: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

You also have the option to deactivate the remarketing function “Custom Audiences” in the ad settings section under https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences…reen. To do this, you first have to log into Facebook.

If you do not have a Facebook account, you can deactivate any user-based advertising by Facebook on the website of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/.

Facebook Custom Audiences

We use Facebook Custom Audiences. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland.

Whenever you visit or use our website and apps, utilize our portfolio (e.g., participation in sweepstakes), transfer data to us or interact with the Facebook content of our company, we record related personal data. In the event that you have given us your consent to the use of Facebook Custom Audiences, we will share these data with Facebook to put Facebook in a position to send you compatible ads. These data may also be used to defined target audiences (Lookalike Audiences).

Facebook processes these data as our contract processor. For details, please consult the user agreement of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/customaudience.

The use of these services occurs on the basis of your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TTDSG. You may revoke your consent at any time.

The transfer of date to the USA is based on the standard contract clauses of the EU Commission. For details please see: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/customaudience and https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

LinkedIn Insight Tag

This website uses the Insight tag from LinkedIn. This service is provided by LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2, Ireland.

Data processing by LinkedIn Insight tag

We use the LinkedIn Insight tag to obtain information about visitors to our website. Once a website visitor is registered with LinkedIn, we can analyze the key occupational data (e.g., career level, company size, country, location, industry, job title) of our website visitors to help us better target our site to the relevant audience. We can also use LinkedIn Insight tags to measure whether visitors to our websites make a purchase or perform other actions (conversion measurement). Conversion measurement can also be carried out across devices (e.g. from PC to tablet). LinkedIn Insight Tag also features a retargeting function that allows us to display targeted advertising to visitors to our website outside of the website. According to LinkedIn, no identification of the advertising addressee takes place.

LinkedIn itself also collects log files (URL, referrer URL, IP address, device and browser characteristics and time of access). The IP addresses are shortened or (if they are used to reach LinkedIn members across devices) hashed (pseudonymized). The direct identifiers of LinkedIn members are deleted by LinkedIn after seven days. The remaining pseudonymized data will then be deleted within 180 days.

The data collected by LinkedIn cannot be assigned by us as a website operator to specific individuals. LinkedIn will store the personal data collected from website visitors on its servers in the USA and use it for its own promotional activities. For details, please see LinkedIn’s privacy policy at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy#choices-oblig.

Legal basis
If your approval (consent) has been obtained the use of the abovementioned service shall occur on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25 TTDSG (German Telecommunications Act). Such consent may be revoked at any time. If your consent was not obtained, the use of the service will occur on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; the website operator has a legitimate interest in effective advertising promotions that include the utilization of social media.

Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/dpa und https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/eu-sccs.

Objection to the use of LinkedIn Insight Tag
You can object to LinkedIn’s analysis of user behavior and targeted advertising at the following link: https://www.linkedin.com/psettings/guest…-out.

In addition, LinkedIn members can control the use of their personal information for promotional purposes in the account settings. To prevent LinkedIn from linking information collected on our site to your LinkedIn account, you must log out of your LinkedIn account before you visit our site.

Data processing
We have concluded a data processing agreement (DPA) with the above-mentioned provider. This is a contract mandated by data privacy laws that guarantees that they process personal data of our website visitors only based on our instructions and in compliance with the GDPR.

Pinterest-Tag

We have integrated Pinterest-Tag into this website. The provider is Pinterest Europe Ltd., Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.

The purpose of Pinterest-Tag is to record certain actions you perform on our website. Subsequently, the data can be used to display promotions to you that meet your interests on our website or on another Pinterest-Tag website.

For this purpose, Pinterest-Tag records, among other things, a Tag ID, your location, and the referrer URL. Furthermore, action specific data, such as the order value, ordered quantity, order number, the category of the purchased item and video views may be recorded.

Pinterest-Tag uses technologies that make the recognition of the user across sites possible, so that the user patterns can be analyzed (e.g., cookies or device fingerprinting).

If your approval (consent) has been obtained the use of the abovementioned service shall occur on the basis of Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25 TTDSG (German Telecommunications Act). Such consent may be revoked at any time. If your consent was not obtained, the use of the service will occur on the basis of Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; the website operator has a legitimate interest in ensuring the maximum effectiveness of the operator’s marketing activities.

Pinterest is an enterprise that does business around the globe, so that data may also be transmitted into the United States. Based on Pinterest’s statements, this data transmission is based on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commissions.

For more Pinterest-Tag information please visit: https://help.pinterest.com/de/business/a…-tag.

Data processing
We have concluded a data processing agreement (DPA) with the above-mentioned provider. This is a contract mandated by data privacy laws that guarantees that they process personal data of our website visitors only based on our instructions and in compliance with the GDPR.

Information security

We secure information you provide on computer servers in a controlled, secure environment, protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards in an effort to protect against unauthorized access, use, modification, and disclosure of Personal Information in our control and custody. However, no data transmission over the Internet or wireless network can be guaranteed.

Therefore, while we strive to protect your Personal Information, you acknowledge that (i) there are security and privacy limitations of the Internet which are beyond our control; (ii) the security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and the Services cannot be guaranteed; and (iii) any such information and data may be viewed or tampered with in transit by a third party, despite best efforts.

As the security of Personal Information depends in part on the security of the device you use to communicate with us and the security you use to protect your credentials, please take appropriate measures to protect this information.

Data breach

In the event we become aware that the security of the Services has been compromised or Users’ Personal Information has been disclosed to unrelated third parties as a result of external activity, including, but not limited to, security attacks or fraud, we reserve the right to take reasonably appropriate measures, including, but not limited to, investigation and reporting, as well as notification to and cooperation with law enforcement authorities. In the event of a data breach, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals if we believe that there is a reasonable risk of harm to the User as a result of the breach or if notice is otherwise required by law. When we do, we will send you an email.

Changes and amendments

We reserve the right to modify this Policy or its terms related to the Services at any time at our discretion. When we do, we will send you an email to notify you. We may also provide notice to you in other ways at our discretion, such as through the contact information you have provided.

An updated version of this Policy will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Policy unless otherwise specified. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of the revised Policy (or such other act specified at that time) will constitute your consent to those changes. However, we will not, without your consent, use your Personal Information in a manner materially different than what was stated at the time your Personal Information was collected.

Acceptance of this policy

You acknowledge that you have read this Policy and agree to all its terms and conditions. By accessing and using the Services and submitting your information you agree to be bound by this Policy. If you do not agree to abide by the terms of this Policy, you are not authorized to access or use the Services.

Contacting us

If you have any questions regarding the information we may hold about you or if you wish to exercise your rights, you may use the following data subject request form to submit your request:

If you have any other questions, concerns, or complaints regarding this Policy, we encourage you to contact us using the details below:

help@sbn-forum.com

We will attempt to resolve complaints and disputes and make every reasonable effort to honor your wish to exercise your rights as quickly as possible and in any event, within the timescales provided by applicable data protection laws.

This document was last updated on August 18, 2023