Legal notes

Good to know.

Disclaimer

LIABILITY FOR CONTENTS

The contents of these Internet pages was created with the utmost care. However, we cannot assume liability for the content being correct, complete and up-to-date. In accordance with Section 7, paragraph 1 of the German Telemedia Act (TMG) we, as a service provider, are responsible under general legislation for our own content on these pages. However, in accordance to Sections 8 to 10 of the TMG, we, as a service provider, are not responsible for monitoring information transferred or stored by third parties, or researching circumstances that may sugest an illegal activity. Obligations to remove or block usage of information under general legislation remain unaffected. Any liability in this regard is, however, only incurred from the moment in time that knowledge of the specific breach of law is obtained. Upon discovery of any corresponding infringements of this type we will remove such content immediately.

LIABILITY FOR LINKS

Our offering contains links to external third-party websites on whose contents we have no influence. For this reason, we are not able to accept any liability for this third-party content. The provider or operator of these linked sites remains responsible for their content at all times. The linked sites were all verified at the time that the link was created for any possible legal infringements. No illegal contents were discernible at the time the link was established. Permanent checking of the contents of the linked websites is, however, unreasonlable without suspect that there has been a breach of the law. Upon discovery of any corresponding infringements we will remove such links immediately.

COPYRIGHTS AND OTHER PROPERTY RIGHTS

The entire contents and works created for our website - unless expressly indicated otherwise -are our property and protected under copyright law., This includes texts, pictures, graphics, audio and video files. The reproduction, processing, dissemination and any form of utilisation beyond the limits of copyright law require the written approval of Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG. Downloads and repeoductions of this site may only be authorized for private, non-commercial purposes. Insofar as the contents on this site were not created by the operator, third-party copyrights are to be respected. 

If a violation of copyright should nonetheless come to your attention, we ask you to inform us accordingly. The content will be immediately removed upon discovery of any corresponding infringement. Let it hereby be noted that abuse of our copyright or other protection rights may entail legal consequences under civil and/or criminal law. 

CALL UP OF LEGAL INFORMATION

You can call up our reference to legal information on this Internet page at any time. We will also publish future changes to our legal information. The permanent Internet address for this page is:

www.ritter-sport.de/en/legal_notes.html.

Data Privacy

THE PROTECTION OF YOUR PRIVACY IS IMPORTANT TO US

It is important for us to handle your personal data responsibly when you use our websites and communicate with us electronically. We take all necessary measures to protect the personal data you provide and to comply with applicable national and European data protection regulations.

The purpose of this data protection statement is to brief you on how RITTER SPORT processes your personal data. Please note that the responsible party for your personal data within the framework of a website (controller) is the company specified under “Information Required by Law” on the website.

Contact Data Protection Officer:

VdE Service GmbH

Eduard-Pfeiffer-Straße 48

70192 Stuttgart

Via email: datenschutz@ritter-sport.de

Or contact us directly via:
Keyword: "Datenschutz"
Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG
Alfred-Ritter-Straße 25
71111 Waldenbuch

WHICH TYPE OF DATA IS COLLECTED AND HOW IS IT COLLECTED WHEN YOU VISIT THIS WEBSITE?

We only collect personal information that you choose to provide us with or which is necessary to provide you with our service. By default, when you visit our website, our web servers store information about the browser and the operating system you use, the website from which you visit us, the websites you visit via our site as well as the date of your visit. For a period of seven days, we also store the Internet Protocol address (IP-address) assigned to you by your Internet service provider for security reasons, e.g., to detect attacks on our websites. With the exception of the IP-address, personal data is only stored if you provide it to us on a voluntary basis. If you provide us with your email address, your name, your postal address, your telephone number and, if applicable, other data which enables you to receive information about our products, create your own variety suggestions, participate in competitions or surveys, purchase products or simply obtain up-to-date information on the products which interest you.

When you access our website and enter data in blank text fields and, for example, add comments, our systems store the Internet Protocol address (IP-address). We require this information for security reasons, to prevent misuse and for other security precautions.

SECURITY

RITTER SPORT has technical and organisational security measures in place to protect your data, which is managed by us, against manipulation, loss, destruction and against access by unauthorised persons. Our security measures are continuously improved and aligned with technological developments.

Only authorised staff have access to your personal data. These may also be authorised staff of our service providers, who process the data on behalf of RITTER SPORT or who have access to such data. For such cases, we have concluded a specific "order data processing agreement" with the service provider.

FOR WHICH PURPOSES DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA?

We use your personal data for the purposes of technical administration of the website, customer administration, to respond to your questions as part of our customer service work, for product surveys and enquiries. In terms of marketing, we only use your data to the extent necessary for your specific case. We use your personal data exclusively for the purposes for which you have made them available to us.

If you have consented to the processing of your personal data, this data will also be used for the purposes stated in the corresponding consent, e.g., product delivery. You may revoke your respective consent at any time going forward.

We strive to make your visit to our websites as user-friendly and custom-tailored as possible within the context of individual use. The information you automatically generate and transmit helps us to provide you with individual and precise information. On our RITTER SPORT website, this information comprises e.g. "technical data" (e.g. IP-address, operating system, browser), as well as the date and time of your visit to our website.

TRANSMISSION OF YOUR DATA TO THIRD PARTIES AND TO OTHER COUNTRIES

We will not share your personal information with any other company that wishes to use it for direct marketing purposes unless you have granted us permission to do so. Furthermore, we make your personal data available to the following other entities to a very limited extent:

• Our service providers. We have legally committed these companies to implement the same security measures as we enforce ourselves with regard to personal data, to ensure data confidentiality and its processing exclusively according to our express instructions.
  
• Other companies, if you have provided your consent or if these companies work on our behalf as our service providers and we have contractually committed them to the same extent as our external service providers.
  
• Personal data shall only be disclosed towards government institutions and authorities within the framework of mandatory legal provisions.

Your personal data may be transferred to other countries if we contract a service provider based abroad. In this case, a specific "contract data processing agreement" is concluded with the service provider, which ensures the same level of data protection and data security that is mandatory in Germany. This is ensured, among other things, by committing the service provider to act exclusively on our instructions and to continuously deploy all technical measures to protect your personal data to the same extent we do here.

If personal data is processed in a country outside of the EU and the EEA, we ensure the appropriate level of data protection by concluding the standard contract specified for this purpose by the EU; or in the alternative, if an EU Commission adequacy directive is available for the respective country.

RIGHTS OF THE INVOLVED PARTIES

We have listed your rights related to your personal data below:

You are entitled to information, rectification, cancellation, restriction of processing, objection to processing and the right to data transferability. You also have the right to revoke your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time in the future. In order to assert these rights related to data protection law, please use the contact information provided at the beginning of this document.

You also have the option to file a grievance with the respective Data Protection Supervisory Authority.


COOKIES

Your use of our website constitutes your consent to the use and storage of cookies on your device. You may also view our website without the use of cookies. Most browsers automatically accept cookies. You can prevent cookies from being stored on your device by selecting *do not accept cookies* in your browser settings. You can delete cookies previously generated on your device at any time. Please refer to your browsers or device manufacturer’s instructions for information on how this works in detail. If you use different computers at different locations, you need to ensure that each browser is aligned to your preferences regarding cookies.

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device. The session cookie that we use for our RITTER SPORT website is deleted after the browser session has ended.

We use cookies, for example, to store information such as the browser type and operating system, the respective page, the website path, etc., as well as to obtain an insight into the use of this website. Cookies help us to align our RITTER SPORT website to the needs of our consumers and to offer certain services and functions, such as information which is customised to your requirements.

Personal data can be stored in cookies only if you have approved your consent, or if this is technically imperative, e.g., to enable a protected login.

You find a full list of cookies we have in use as well as the opportunity to change or entirely decline your cookie consent settings here.

Here is a list of Cookies we use beside Cookiebot (Update: 06.05.2024):

WEB ANALYSIS BY ETRACKER

On this website, data for marketing and optimisation purposes are collected and stored with etracker GmbH (www.etracker.com/datenschutz/) technologies. User profiles can be set up under a pseudonym based on these data. Cookies may be used for this purpose. Cookies are small text files, which are stored locally in the website visitor‘s internet browser cache. For example, cookies enable recognition of the internet browser. The data collected by means of the etracker technologies will not be used to determine the personal identity of the website visitor or merged with personal data pertaining to the bearer of the pseudonym, unless separately agreed upon by the person concerned. Data collection and storage can be revoked at any time with effect for the future under the following link.

THE USE OF REMARKETING TECHNOLOGY

We use remarketing technologies from Facebook Inc. (“Facebook Pixel”) (www.facebook.com). Using this technology, users who have already visited our website and who are interested in the offer are addressed again via targeted advertising using advertising inserts on the websites of our advertising partners. The insertion of advertisements is performed by the use of cookies. Using these cookies, user behaviour when visiting our website is processed and analysed by Facebook and can then subsequently be used for targeted product recommendations and interest-based advertisements. Processing of this data is performed on the basis of Article 6 (1) lit. f of the GDPR from a legitimate interest in the purpose given above.

Opportunity to withhold consent:

If you do not want to be involved in the remarketing procedure, then you can also reject the placement of the cookie that is required for this – for example using the browser setting that disables the automatic placement of cookies in general (see the Cookies section). You can also disable the placement of this cookie by clicking on this link (disable). Furthermore, you can also withhold consent for this procedure directly on the following platform:

Facebook, Inc.: To the withhold consent page

https://www.facebook.com/ads/website_custom_audiences/

You can find more detailed information about the collection and usage of the data by Facebook, about your rights regarding this and the options to protect your privacy in Facebook’s privacy policy at

https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/

GOOGLE TAG MANAGER

Our website utilizes Google Tag Manager to track and collect data to enhance your browsing experience. Here is a detailed explanation of what we track and how it is tracked:

What is being tracked?

• User Interactions on the Website: This includes tracking click behavior, pages visited, time spent on each page, and other forms of user engagement.
• Conversions: Specific actions such as purchases, form submissions, and newsletter signups are monitored to understand user behavior and improve our services.
• User Data: Where available and in accordance with privacy laws, we collect demographic information such as age, gender, and location.

How is this tracked?

• Tracking Pixels: These small snippets of code are placed on every page of our website. They send data about user interactions to the conversion API.
• Server-side Data Transfer: To ensure data accuracy, events and interactions are also sent directly from our server to Facebook's servers.

FACEBOOK

Our website primarily contains references (links) to the external Facebook social network. You will recognise the references within the context of our internet site, for example, by the Facebook logo. We generally do not use so-called “social plugins” from Facebook for this purpose. By clicking on these symbols, you will be forwarded directly to the Facebook internet pages. This internet site is operated by Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA, (Facebook).

In our blog and within the scope of the “share page” function on our website, we alternatively use so-called social plugins (“plugins”) from Facebook. The plugins are denoted by a Facebook logo (e.g. “like button”). An overview of the Facebook plugins and their appearance can be found here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins.

You can identify whether it is a link or a plugin by pointing the cursor to the respective Facebook logo. If a social plugin is used, the note “2 clicks for more privacy” appears.

Our website uses so-called social plugins ("plugins") of the Facebook social network, operated by Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA ("Facebook"). The plugins are denoted by a Facebook logo. An overview of the Facebook plugins and their appearance can be found here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins

If you visit a page on our internet site containing such a plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to the Facebook servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by Facebook directly to your browser and integrated into the page. By way of this integration, Facebook receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a Facebook profile or are currently not logged into Facebook. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted from your browser directly to a Facebook server in the USA and stored there.

If you are logged in to Facebook, Facebook can directly assign your visit to our website to your Facebook profile. If you interact with the plugins, for example, click on the "Like" button or leave a comment, this information is also transmitted directly to a Facebook server and stored there. The information will also be posted on your Facebook profile and displayed to your Facebook friends.

The described data processing operations are performed in accordance with section f of Art. 6 (1) GDPR on the basis of Facebook's legitimate interests in integrating personalised advertising in order to inform other users of the social network about your activities on our website and to tailor our services to the needs of the user, as well as on the basis of our legitimate interests in effectively providing information to users and communicating with the users in accordance with section f of Art. 6 (1) GDPR.

If you do not want Facebook to assign the data collected via our website directly to your Facebook profile, you must log out of Facebook before visiting our website. You can also prevent the loading of Facebook plugins and thus the data processing operations described above by way of add-ons for your browser with effect for the future, for example via the script blocker “NoScript” (http://noscript.net/).

Facebook Inc. based in the USA is certified for the US-European data protection convention “Privacy Shield”, which ensures compliance with data protection levels valid in the EU.

The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook, as well as your respective rights and settings options for the protection of your privacy can be found in the Facebook privacy policy: http://www.facebook.com/policy.php

Further information about the processing of your personal data as well as your options to object to this can be found under the links below:

Opt-out: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads and http://www.youronlinechoices.com

Privacy Shield: https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active.

X

Our website primarily contains references (links) to the microblogging service X. You will recognise the references within the context of our internet site, for example, by the X logo for instance in the form of a white “X” on black background. We generally do not use so-called “social plugins” from X for this purpose. By clicking on these symbols, you will be forwarded directly to the X internet pages. This internet site is operated by X Inc., 1355 Market St, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA, (X).

In our blog and within the scope of the “share page” function on our website, we alternatively use so-called social plugins (“plugins”) from X. The plugins are denoted by a X logo, for example, in the form of a white “X” on black background.

You can identify whether it is a link or a plugin by pointing the cursor to the respective X logo. If a social plugin is used, the note “2 clicks for more privacy” appears.

This means that when you visit a page on our website, which contains such a plugin, we will inform you, that if you click again, your browser connects directly to the X servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by X directly to your browser and integrated into the page. By way of this integration, X receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a X profile or are currently not logged into X. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted from your browser directly to a X server in the USA and stored there.

If you are logged into X, X can directly assign the visit to our website to your X profile. If you interact with the plugins, for example, click on the "Tweet" button, this information is also transmitted directly to a X server and stored there. The information will also be posted on your X account and displayed to your contacts there.

The purpose and scope of the data collection, as well as further processing and use of the data by X and your respective rights and settings options for your privacy protection can be found in the X privacy policy: https://twitter.com/en/privacy.

If you do not want X to allocate the data collected via our internet site directly to your X profile, you must log out of X before visiting our website. You can also completely prevent the X from loading plugins with add-ons for your browser, for example, by way of the script blocker “NoScript” (http://noscript.net).

YOUTUBE

Our website primarily contains references (links) to the Google-operated site, YouTube. The site operator is YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. We do not use so-called “social plugins” from YouTube for this purpose. By clicking on these symbols, you will be forwarded directly to the YouTube internet pages.

Further information on the handling of user data can be found in the YouTube privacy policy at: https://policies.google.com/technologies/product-privacy?hl=de&gl=de

PINTEREST

Our Web site primarily contains references (links) to the Pinterest social network operated by Pinterest, Inc., located at 808 Brannan St, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. For this purpose, we generally do not use so-called Pinterest “social plugins”. By clicking on these symbols, you will be forwarded directly to the Pinterest internet pages.

Within the scope of the “share page” function on our website, we alternatively use the so-called “Pin it” button of the social network Pinterest. This is operated by Pinterest, Inc. – located at 808 Brannan St, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. By using the “Pin it” button, Pinterest receives the information that you visited our webpages. Should you be logged into your Pinterest account at the same time, it is furthermore possible for Pinterest to assign your visit to your Pinterest account. By clicking the “Pin it” button, data are transmitted to Pinterest which are stored on servers (in the USA). You can prevent this by logging out of your Pinterest account before clicking the “Pin it” button. To protect your privacy, please refer to Pinterest's Privacy Policy for more details on how Pinterest collects your processes and uses your data, as well as your legal options and settings options at: https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy

INSTAGRAM

Our website includes references (links) to the Instagram service, operated by Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA. For this purpose, we do not use so-called “social plugins” from Instagram. By clicking on these symbols, you will be forwarded directly to the Instagram webpages.

To protect your privacy, please refer to Instagram's Privacy Policy for more details on how Instagram collects or processes and uses your data, as well as your legal options and settings options at: https://help.instagram.com/155833707900388.

DOUBLE CLICK FROM GOOGLE

This website uses functions of Google Analytics of Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States, which support interest-based advertising and advertising based on user browsing behaviour. Google Analytics uses a third-party cookie from DoubleClick to evaluate data regarding users' browsing behaviour on different websites. These data can be used to prepare statistical statements on demographic data and areas of interest of website users.

We expressly draw your attention to the fact that we cannot view data related to individual users and that the statistical data we use cannot be traced back to specific users.

You can disable the DoubleClick cookie at any time: http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/html/opt-out.html

For more information about Google's terms of use and privacy, please visit https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/

GOOGLE+

Our website uses so-called social plugins ("plugins") of the Google+ social network, operated by Google LLC., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA ("Google"). The plugins can be identified, for example, as buttons with the sign "+1" on a white or coloured background. An overview of the Google plugins and their appearance can be found here: https://developers.google.com/+/plugins

If you visit a page on our internet site containing such a plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to the Google servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by Google directly to your browser and integrated into the page. By way of this integration, Google receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page of our website, even if you do not have a Google+ profile or are currently not logged into Google+. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted from your browser directly to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

If you are logged in to Google+, Google can directly assign the visit to our website to your Google+ profile. If you interact with the plugins, for example, click on the "+1" button, this information is also transmitted directly to a Google server and stored there. The information will also be posted on Google+ and displayed to your contacts there.

If you do not want Google to allocate the data collected via our internet site directly to your Google+ profile, you must log out of Google+ before visiting our website.

You can also prevent the loading of Google+ plugins and thus the data processing described above by way of add-ons for your browser with effect for the future, for example via the script blocker “NoScript” (http://noscript.net/)

Google LLC based in the USA is certified for the US-European data protection convention “Privacy Shield”, which ensures compliance with data protection levels valid in the EU.

The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Google as well as your rights in this regard and settings options for the protection of your privacy can be found in the Google privacy policy: https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/

HOW LONG DO WE STORE YOUR DATA?

We store your personal data that you submit to us via our websites in our databases. The data is stored for as long as required for the purpose for which you have provided us with your data or for compliance with legal regulations (for example, statutory retention requirements). For instance, this implies that the data is stored until we have replied to a question from you or a competition is over. If you have granted us consent for the storage of your personal data for marketing purposes, this implies that your data will be stored for the period for which we are implementing marketing measures or until you revoke your consent. You may revoke your consent to receive advertising at any time with effect for the future.

Effective date: April 2018