Privacy Policy

Person responsible

Bench Audit GmbH
Schönhauser Allee 36, House 2
10435 Berlin

Managing Directors: Kaspar Neftel, Christian Walter

Phone: +49 (0)30 3464988 00
E-Mail: info@sedai-now.com

1. General information on data processing and legal basis

a) This data protection declaration informs you about the type, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data within our online offer and the websites, functions and content connected to it (hereinafter jointly referred to as "online offer" or "website"). The privacy policy applies regardless of the domains, systems, platforms and devices (e.g. desktop or mobile) used on which the online offer is executed.

b) The terms used, such as "personal data" or their "processing" we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

c) The personal data of users processed within the scope of this online offer includes inventory data (e.g., names and addresses of customers), contract data (e.g., services used, names of clerks, payment information), usage data (e.g., the web pages visited of our online offer, interest in our products) and content data (e.g., entries in the contact form).

d) The term "user" includes all categories of persons affected by the data processing. They include our business partners, customers, interested parties and other visitors to our online offer. The terms used, such as "user", are to be understood as gender-neutral.

e) We process users' personal data only in compliance with the relevant data protection regulations. This means that the users' data will only be processed if legal permission has been granted. I.e., in particular if the data processing is necessary for the provision of our contractual services (e.g. processing of orders) as well as online services, or is required by law, or if there is a consent of the users, as well as due to our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation and security of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, in particular in the case of range measurement, creation of profiles for advertising and marketing purposes, as well as collection of access data and use of third-party services.

f) We point out that the legal basis for the consents Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a. and Art. 7 GDPR, the legal basis for the processing for the fulfillment of our services and implementation of contractual measures Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b. GDPR, the legal basis for processing to fulfill our legal obligations Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c. GDPR, and the legal basis for processing to protect our legitimate interests Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR is.

2. Security measures

a) We take organizational, contractual and technical security measures in accordance with the state of the art to ensure that the provisions of data protection laws are complied with and thus to protect the data processed by us against accidental or intentional manipulation, loss, destruction or against access by unauthorized persons.

b) The security measures include in particular the encrypted transmission of data between your browser and our server.

3. Data transfer to third parties and third-party providers

a) Data is only passed on to third parties within the framework of legal requirements. We only pass on users' data to third parties if this is necessary, for example, on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b) GDPR for contractual purposes or on the basis of legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR in the economic and effective operation of our business.

b) If we use subcontractors to provide our services, we take appropriate legal precautions as well as corresponding technical and organizational measures to ensure the protection of personal data in accordance with the relevant legal regulations.

c) If content, tools or other means from other providers (hereinafter collectively referred to as "third party providers") are used within the scope of this data protection declaration and their named registered office is located in a third country, it is to be assumed that a transfer of data to the third party providers' countries of domicile takes place. Third countries are countries in which the GDPR is not directly applicable law, i.e. basically countries outside the EU or the European Economic Area. The transfer of data to third countries takes place either if there is an adequate level of data protection, user consent or otherwise legal permission.

4. User registration / provision of contractual services

a) We process inventory data (e.g., names and addresses as well as contact data of users), contract data (e.g., services used, names of contact persons, payment information) for the purpose of fulfilling our contractual obligations and services pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit b. GDPR.

b) Users can optionally create a user account, in which they can view their work and billing data in particular. As part of the registration process, the required mandatory information will be provided to the users. The user accounts are not public and cannot be indexed by search engines. If users have cancelled their user account, their data with regard to the user account will be deleted, subject to their retention is necessary for commercial or tax reasons in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c GDPR. It is the responsibility of the users to save their data in the event of termination before the end of the contract. We are entitled to irretrievably delete all user data stored during the term of the contract.

c) Within the scope of registration and renewed registrations as well as the use of our online services, we store the IP address and the time of the respective user action. The storage is based on our legitimate interests, as well as the user's protection against misuse and other unauthorized use. In principle, this data is not passed on to third parties, unless it is necessary for the pursuit of our claims or there is a legal obligation to do so in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c GDPR.

d) We process usage data (e.g., the visited web pages of our online offer, interest in our products) and content data (e.g., entries in the contact form or user profile) for advertising purposes in a user profile, e.g., to show the user product information or product emails based on their previously used services.

5. Contact

a) When contacting us (via contact form or e-mail), the user's details are processed for the purpose of handling the contact request and its processing pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b) GDPR.

b) The user's details may be stored in our customer relationship management system ("CRM system") or comparable inquiry organization.

c) We use the CRM system "Dynamics" with Outlook Add-In, of the provider Microsoft based on our legitimate interests (efficient and fast processing of user requests). For this purpose, we have concluded a contract with Microsoft with so-called standard contractual clauses, in which Microsoft undertakes to process user data only in accordance with our instructions and to comply with the EU data protection level. Microsoft is also certified under the Privacy Shield agreement and thus offers an additional guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (Privacy Shield).

6. Contributions and comments

a) When users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses are stored on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR are stored for 7 days.

b) This is done for our security in case someone leaves unlawful content in comments and posts (insults, prohibited political propaganda, etc.). In this case, we ourselves may be prosecuted for the comment or post and are therefore interested in the identity of the author.

7. Access data and log files

a) We collect on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, we collect data about each access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). The access data includes the name of the website accessed, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider.

b) Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g. for the clarification of abuse or fraud) for a maximum of seven days and then deleted. Data whose further storage is required for evidentiary purposes is excluded from deletion until the final clarification of the respective incident.

8. Reach measurement & cookies

a) Cookies are pieces of information that are transmitted from our web server or third-party web servers to users' web browsers and stored there for later retrieval. Cookies may be small files or other types of information storage.

b) We use "session cookies", which are only stored for the duration of the current visit to our online presence (e.g. to enable the storage of your login status or the shopping cart function and thus the use of our online offer at all). In a session cookie, a randomly generated unique identification number is stored, a so-called session ID. In addition, a cookie contains information about its origin and the storage period. These cookies cannot store any other data. Session cookies are deleted when you have finished using our online offer and log out or close the browser, for example.

c) For website analysis, this website uses Google (Universal) Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google LLC (Google). This serves to protect our legitimate interests in an optimized presentation of our offer, which prevail in the context of a balancing of interests, in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f GDPR. Google (Universal) Analytics uses methods that enable an analysis of your use of the website, such as cookies. The automatically collected information about your use of this website is usually transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. By activating IP anonymization on this website, the IP address is shortened before transmission within the Member States of the European Union or in other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. The anonymized IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other Google data. After the end of the purpose and the end of the use of Google Analytics by us, the data collected in this context will be deleted. Google LLC has its headquarters in the USA and is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield. A current certificate can be viewed here. Based on this agreement between the USA and the European Commission, the latter has determined an adequate level of data protection for companies certified under the Privacy Shield. You can prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address) to Google and the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on Download Page.

d) Users will be informed about the use of cookies in the context of pseudonymous reach measurement as part of this privacy policy.

e) If users do not want cookies to be stored on their computer, they are asked to deactivate the corresponding option in the system settings of their browser. Stored cookies can be deleted in the system settings of the browser. The exclusion of cookies can lead to functional restrictions of this online offer.

f) You can object to the use of cookies that are used for reach measurement and advertising purposes via the deactivation page of the network advertising initiative (http://optout.networkadvertising.org/) and additionally the US website (http://www.aboutads.info/choices) or the European website (Your ad choices).

9. Integration of services and content of third parties

a) We use within our online offer on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR) to integrate content or services offered by third-party providers, such as videos or fonts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as "content"). This always requires that the third-party providers of this content are aware of the IP address of the user, since without the IP address they could not send the content to their browser. The IP address is thus required for the display of this content. We endeavor to use only such content whose respective providers use the IP address only for the delivery of the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as "web beacons") for statistical or marketing purposes. The "pixel tags" can be used to evaluate information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user's device and may contain, among other things, technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of our online offer, as well as be linked to such information from other sources.
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b) The following presentation provides an overview of third-party providers and their content, along with links to their data protection statements, which contain further information on the processing of data and, in part already mentioned here, options for objection (so-called opt-out):

External Fonts from Google, Inc, ("Google Fonts"). The integration of Google Fonts takes place through a server call at Google (usually in the USA). Privacy policy: Privacy Policy – Privacy & Terms – Google, Opt-Out: Ads Settings.

10. Rights of the users

a) Users have the right, upon request and free of charge, to obtain information about the personal data that we have stored about them.

b) In addition, users have the right to correct incorrect data, restrict processing and delete their personal data, if applicable, to assert their rights to data portability and, in the event of the assumption of unlawful data processing, to file a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

c) Likewise, users may revoke consents, in principle with effect for the future.

11. Deletion of data

a) The data stored by us will be deleted as soon as they are no longer required for their intended purpose and the deletion does not conflict with any statutory retention obligations. If the user data is not deleted because it is required for other and legally permissible purposes, its processing will be restricted. I.e. the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to user data that must be retained for reasons of commercial or tax law.

b) According to legal requirements, data is stored for 6 years in accordance with § 257 para. 1 HGB (commercial books, inventories, opening balances, annual financial statements, commercial letters, accounting vouchers, etc.) and for 10 years in accordance with § 147 para. 1 AO (books, records, management reports, accounting vouchers, commercial and business letters, documents relevant for taxation, etc.).

12. Online presences in social media

a) We maintain online presences within social networks and platforms in order to be able to communicate with customers, interested parties and users active there and to inform them about our services there. When calling up the respective networks and platforms, the terms and conditions and data processing guidelines of their respective operators apply.

b) Unless otherwise stated in our privacy policy, we process the data of users if they communicate with us within the social networks and platforms, e.g. write posts on our online presences or send us messages.

13. Data protection information in the application procedure

a) We process the applicant data only for the purpose of and within the scope of the application procedure in accordance with the legal requirements. Applicant data is processed to fulfill our (pre)contractual obligations within the scope of the application procedure in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b. GDPR Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR insofar as the data processing becomes necessary for us, e.g. within the scope of legal procedures (in Germany, § 26 BDSG also applies).

b) The application procedure requires applicants to provide us with applicant data. The necessary applicant data are marked if we offer an online form, otherwise result from the job descriptions and basically include the personal details, postal and contact addresses and the documents belonging to the application, such as cover letter, resume and the certificates. In addition, applicants may voluntarily provide us with additional information.

c) By submitting their application to us, applicants agree to the processing of their data for the purposes of the application process in accordance with the type and scope set out in this data protection declaration.

d) Insofar as special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 (1) GDPR are voluntarily communicated within the scope of the application procedure, their processing shall additionally be carried out in accordance with Art. 9 (2) lit. b GDPR (e.g. health data, such as severely disabled status or ethnic origin). Insofar as special categories of personal data within the meaning of Art. 9 (1) GDPR are requested from applicants as part of the application process, their processing is additionally carried out in accordance with Art. 9 (2) a GDPR (e.g. health data, if this is necessary for the exercise of the profession).

e) If provided, applicants can submit their applications to us using an online form on our website. The data is transmitted to us in encrypted form in accordance with the state of the art.
Furthermore, applicants can send us their applications by e-mail. Please note, however, that e-mails are generally not sent in encrypted form and applicants must ensure that they are encrypted themselves. We cannot therefore accept any responsibility for the transmission path of the application between the sender and receipt on our server and therefore recommend rather using an online form or sending by post. This is because instead of applying via the online form and e-mail, applicants still have the option of sending us their application by post.

f) In the event of a successful application, the data provided by the applicants may be processed by us for the purposes of the employment relationship. Otherwise, if the application for a job offer is not successful, the applicants' data will be deleted. Applicants' data will also be deleted if an application is withdrawn, which applicants are entitled to do at any time.

g) Subject to a justified revocation by the applicants, the deletion will take place after the expiry of a period of six months so that we can answer any follow-up questions about the application and satisfy our obligations to provide evidence under the Equal Treatment Act. Invoices for any reimbursement of travel expenses will be archived in accordance with tax law requirements.

14. Hosting

a) The hosting services used by us serve to provide the following services: Infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space and database services, security services and technical maintenance services, which we use for the purpose of operating this online offer.

b) In this context, we, or our hosting provider, process inventory data, contact data, content data, contract data, usage data, meta data and communication data of customers, interested parties and visitors of this online offer on the basis of our legitimate interests in an efficient and secure provision of this online offer pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR in conjunction with Art. 28 GDPR. Art. 28 GDPR (conclusion of order processing contract).

15. Collection of access data and log files

a) We, or our hosting provider, collects on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, we collect data about each access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). The access data includes the name of the website accessed, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider.

b) Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g. for the clarification of abuse or fraud) for a maximum of 7 days and then deleted. Data whose further storage is necessary for evidentiary purposes is excluded from deletion until the final clarification of the respective incident.

16. Services

a) We process the data of our customers within the scope of our contractual services, which include conceptual and strategic consulting, campaign planning, software and design development/consulting or maintenance, implementation of campaigns and processes/handling, server administration, data analysis/consulting services and training services.

b) In this context, we process inventory data (e.g., customer master data, such as names or addresses), contact data (e.g., e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g., text entries, photographs, videos), contract data (e.g., subject matter of contract, term), payment data (e.g., bank details, payment history), usage and metadata (e.g., in the context of evaluating and measuring the success of marketing measures). As a matter of principle, we do not process special categories of personal data, unless these are components of commissioned processing. Data subjects include our customers, prospective customers as well as their customers, users, website visitors or employees as well as third parties. The purpose of the processing is the provision of contractual services, billing and our customer service. The legal basis for the processing results from Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contractual services), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (analysis, statistics, optimization, security measures). We process data that are necessary for the justification and fulfillment of the contractual services and point out the necessity of their indication. Disclosure to external parties only takes place if it is necessary in the context of an order. When processing the data provided to us within the scope of an order, we act in accordance with the instructions of the client as well as the legal requirements of an order processing pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR and do not process the data for any other purposes than those specified in the order.

c) We delete the data after the expiration of legal warranty and comparable obligations. The necessity of keeping the data is reviewed every three years; in the case of legal archiving obligations, the deletion takes place after their expiration (6 years, according to § 257 para. 1 HGB, 10 years, according to § 147 para. 1 AO). In the case of data disclosed to us by the client as part of an order, we delete the data in accordance with the specifications of the order, generally after the end of the order.

17. Provision of contractual services

a) We process inventory data (e.g., names and addresses as well as contact data of users), contract data (e.g., services used, names of contact persons, payment information) for the purpose of fulfilling our contractual obligations and services pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit b. GDPR. The entries marked as mandatory in online forms are required for the conclusion of the contract.

b) In the context of the use of our online services, we store the IP address and the time of the respective user action. The storage is based on our legitimate interests, as well as those of users in protection against abuse and other unauthorized use. In principle, this data is not passed on to third parties, unless it is necessary for the pursuit of our claims or there is a legal obligation to do so pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c GDPR.

c) We process usage data (e.g., the web pages visited on our online offer, interest in our products) and content data (e.g., entries in the contact form or user profile) for advertising purposes in a user profile, e.g., to display product information to the user based on the services they have used to date.

d) The deletion of the data takes place after the expiry of legal warranty and comparable obligations, the necessity of keeping the data is reviewed every three years; in the case of legal archiving obligations, the deletion takes place after their expiry. Information in any customer account shall remain until it is deleted.

18. Administration, financial accounting, office organization, contact management

a) We process data in the context of administrative tasks as well as organization of our operations, financial accounting and compliance with legal obligations, such as archiving. In this regard, we process the same data that we process in the context of providing our contractual services. The processing bases are Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c. GDPR, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR. Customers, interested parties, business partners and website visitors are affected by the processing. The purpose and our interest in the processing lies in the administration, financial accounting, office organization, archiving of data, i.e. tasks that serve the maintenance of our business activities, performance of our tasks and provision of our services. The deletion of data with regard to contractual services and contractual communication corresponds to the, in these processing activities mentioned.

b) In this context, we disclose or transfer data to the tax authorities, consultants, such as tax advisors or auditors, as well as other fee offices and payment service providers.

c) Furthermore, based on our business interests, we store information on suppliers, event organizers and other business partners, e.g. for the purpose of contacting them at a later date. This data, most of which is company-related, is generally stored permanently.

19. Business analyses and market research

a) In order to operate our business economically and to be able to recognize market trends, customer and user wishes, we analyze the data we have on business transactions, contracts, inquiries, etc.. In doing so, we process inventory data, communication data, contract data, payment data, usage data, metadata on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, whereby the data subjects include customers, interested parties, business partners, visitors and users of the online offer.

b) The analyses are carried out for the purpose of business evaluations, marketing and market research. In doing so, we may take into account the profiles of registered users with details of, for example, their purchase transactions. The analyses serve us to increase the user-friendliness, the optimization of our offer and the business management. The analyses serve us alone and are not disclosed externally, unless they are anonymous analyses with aggregated values.

c) If these analyses or profiles are personal, they will be deleted or anonymized upon termination of the user, otherwise after two years from the conclusion of the contract. In all other cases, the overall business analyses and general tendency analyses will be created anonymously, if possible.

20. Security measures

We ask you to regularly inform yourself about the content of our privacy policy. We adapt the data protection declaration as soon as the changes in the data processing carried out by us make this necessary. We will inform you as soon as the changes require an act of cooperation on your part (e.g. consent) or other individual notification.

21. Cooperation with Processors and Third Parties

Insofar as we disclose data to other persons and companies (order processors or third parties) in the course of our processing, transmit it to them or otherwise grant them access to the data, this shall only be done on the basis of a legal permission (e.g. if a transmission of the data to third parties, such as to payment service providers, is necessary for the performance of the contract pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. b GDPR), you have consented, a legal obligation provides for this or on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. when using agents, web hosts, etc.).
If we commission third parties with the processing of data on the basis of a so-called "order processing agreement", this is done on the basis of Art. 28 GDPR.

22. Transfers to third countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e. outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or if this occurs in the context of the use of third-party services or disclosure, or transfer of data to third parties, this will only occur if it is done to fulfill our (pre-)contractual obligations, on the basis of your consent, due to a legal obligation or on the basis of our legitimate interests. Subject to legal or contractual permissions, we process or allow the processing of data in a third country only if the special requirements of Art. 44 et seq. GDPR are met. This means that the processing is carried out, for example, on the basis of special guarantees, such as the officially recognized determination of a level of data protection that corresponds to the EU (e.g. for the USA through the "Privacy Shield") or compliance with officially recognized special contractual obligations (so-called "standard contractual clauses").

23. Right of objection

Users may object to the future processing of their personal data in accordance with the legal requirements at any time. The objection can be made in particular against the processing for purposes of direct advertising.

24. Changes of the privacy policy

a) We reserve the right to change the data protection declaration in order to adapt it to changed legal situations, or in the event of changes to the service as well as data processing. However, this only applies with regard to declarations on data processing. Insofar as user consent is required or components of the data protection declaration contain provisions of the contractual relationship with the users, the changes will only be made with the consent of the users.

b) Users are requested to inform themselves regularly about the content of the data protection declaration.

The Privacy Policy is available in German and English language. All rights and obligations arising shall exclusively be determined according to the version written in the German language; also with regard to the interpretation of the privacy policy; if required, solely the clauses and the phraseology of the German text version shall apply.