Data protection

Many thanks for your interest in our homepage and our company.

The protection and security of your data are of paramount interest to us, and for that reason we would like to hereby give you a detailed description of how we handle your data. You will learn what data we collect when you visit our website and what use we make of them in detail.

We deploy various techniques on our website to enhance the user-friendliness, effectiveness and security of the site. In this context, data may be collected by us or by third parties commissioned by us.

As our web offering and the technology on which it is based are subject to constant change and refinement, while legal regulations and official requirements are also regularly modified, this data privacy policy may also undergo changes. All future changes to our data privacy policy will be announced on this website. You can download and print out the latest version of the data privacy policy from our website at any time.

Recognising the need to give your personal data comprehensive protection, we adhere to the definitive statutory provisions of the German Data Protection Act —  BDSG for short — and the General Data Protection Regulation —  GDPR for short. Other standards pertaining to data protection are also observed.

Please read this data privacy policy carefully before using this website. In this policy statement, we explain among other things how we handle your personal data and how we use cookies. By using this website, you are accepting these arrangements.

Name and contact details of the person responsible for the processing and of the company’s data protection officer.

This data protection information applies to data processing by:

Controller: RETRALOG GmbH, RETRALOG Recycling GmbH, RETRALOG TTP GmbH, RETRALOG Transport GmbH, each represented by the Managing Director Olaf Retemeyer (with respect to RETRALOG Recycling GmbH a further Managing Director: Jan Schlichtmann; with respect to RETRALOG GmbH a further Managing Director: Stephan Ruppe; with respect to RETRALOG Transport GmbH a further Managing Director: Henning Mahler), Julius-Leber-Weg 9, 21684 Stade, Email: echtstark@retralog.com, Telephone: +49 (0) 4141 78892-0 , Fax:+49 (0) 4141 78892-40

If you have any questions about data protection or the responsible for data protection at RETRALOG GmbH, RETRALOG Recycling GmbH, RETRALOG TTP GmbH and RETRALOG Transport GmbH, please feel free to contact Stephan Ruppe at the address above or at ruppe@retralog.com.

Collection, storage and use of personal details

With regard to the volume of data collected and stored, a distinction must be made between a mere visit on your part to our website and the data collected in the process and a business transaction conducted by you — particularly the purchase of a product.

I. Data automatically collected (by the technology deployed) as a result of a mere visit to our website

  1. If you visit our website purely out of curiosity and for the purpose of gathering information, the browser used on your device automatically sends information to our website’s server. This information is stored temporarily in a so-called log file. The following information is registered without any involvement from you and stored until its automatic erasure:
  • your IP address
  • date and time when you accessed our website
  • pages of ours visited
  • URL of the site visited by you prior to your arrival (= referrer URL)
  • information on the browser used by you (type, version, operating system, etc.) as well as the name of your access provider
  1. The data specified above are processed by us for the following purposes:
  • to guarantee a smooth connection to our website,
  • to enhance the ease of use of our website,
  • to evaluate system security and stability as well as
  • for further administrative purposes.

The legal basis for processing the data is set out in Art. 6 (1)(1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest is inferred from the purposes of data collection as listed above. On no account will we use the data we collect to draw conclusions about you personally.

We also use cookies and analytical services when you visit our website. You can also find further information in this regard in this privacy policy.

II. Data directly collected / data provided by you yourself

We also collect personal data if you supply information to us directly, i.e. knowingly and willingly disclose it to us. This is particularly the case if you enter into a contractual relationship with us via our website, and take advantage of a service offered by us. We need these data to allow you to take advantage of our services and in particular to process purchase transactions from beginning to end. They therefore include identification data such as your postal address.

The legal basis for processing the data is set out in Art. 6 (1)(1)(b) GDPR.

III. Registration for our newsletter

We will be happy to keep you regularly up to date on current metal prices through our metal price monitor, and other facts of importance in this context. We use our electronic newsletter for this purpose among others. If you would like to receive our newsletter and you register to do so, we will need your email address as well as your associated consent to receiving a newsletter. After registering, you will also receive an email with a confirmation link which you have to click on. By doing so, you identify yourself as the owner of the email address (the so-called double opt-in procedure). If this confirmation is substantially delayed, the registration process is aborted and the previously specified email address is deleted again from our server.

Provided you have given your explicit consent in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(1)(a) GDPR, we will use your email address to send you our newsletter on a regular basis. The order can be cancelled at any time, e.g. via a link at the end of each newsletter. Alternatively, you are welcome to communicate your desire to cancel at any time by sending an email to echtstark@retralog.com.

IV. Using our contact form

If you have questions of any kind, we give you the option of contacting us via the various forms provided on the website (contact enquiry, transport enquiry, metal enquiry, disposal enquiry). To do so, you must provide a valid email address so that we know who sent the enquiry and to enable us to answer it. You may volunteer additional information as well.

Data required for the purpose of making contact with us are processed in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(1)(a) GDPR on the basis of your freely given consent.

The personal data collected by us from your use of the contact form will be automatically erased as soon as we have completed the matter addressed in your enquiry.

Transfer to third parties

Your personal data will not be transferred to third parties for purposes other than those listed below.

We only transfer your data to third parties if:

  • you have provided your explicit consent in this regard according to Art. 6 (1)(1)(a) GDPR,
  • transfer is necessary according to Art. 6 (1)(1)(f) GDPR for the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims and there is no reason to assume that you have an overriding, sensitive interest in the non-transfer of your data,
  • transfer is necessary to comply with a legal obligation according to Art. 6 (1)(1)(c) GDPR, and this
  • is permitted in law and necessary for the performance of a contract with you according to Art. 6 (1)(1)(b) GDPR.

Deletion of data collected

As a general rule, we will store your personal data as long as we have a legitimate interest in doing so (e.g. to process orders placed by you) and this is not outweighed by your interest in discontinuing such storage.

We can continue to store the data even without any legitimate interest if we are legally obliged to do so (for example, to fulfil duties of retention). We will erase your personal data even without any involvement on your part as soon as they are no longer required to meet the purpose of the processing or their storage is otherwise unlawful. Besides the duties of retention prescribed in law, statutes of limitations which are basically 3 years (general limitation period) but can be up to 30 years in individual cases, can affect the length of time we retain your data.

Cookies

Our website uses so-called cookies. These are small files which your browser on your device places in a specially designated directory when you visit our website. Cookies do no damage to your device and they contain no viruses, Trojans or other malware.

For example, these cookies can be used to establish whether you have already visited a website. Or information on the contents of your shopping basket may be stored in the cookies. However, this does not mean that we acquire any direct knowledge of your identity as a result. On the one hand, the use of cookies serves the purpose of making the use of our website more pleasant for you. For example, we use so-called session cookies to detect that you have already visited individual pages on our website. Such cookies are automatically deleted when you leave our website. On the other, we also use temporary cookies to optimise the user-friendliness of the site, and these are stored on your device for a certain length of time that is defined. If you visit our website again to take advantage of our services, the system automatically recognises that you have been here before, and it remembers the details you entered and the settings you chose to spare you the trouble of re-entering such details.

Most browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can configure your browser so as not to save cookies or to require explicit consent before a cookie is saved. You can also delete cookies already placed at any time. Please note that the deactivation of cookies may lead to restrictions in the use of our website. You can find out more about how cookies work at http://www.allaboutcookies.org/ .

The data processed by cookies are needed for the purposes specified to protect our legitimate interests and those of third parties in accordance with Art. 6 (1)(1)(f) GDPR.

Use of Google Maps

We use the “Google Maps” component on our website from Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA, hereafter “Google”. This enables us to directly display interactive maps on the website, thereby enabling you to use the map function with ease.

Every time you call up the “Google Maps” component, Google places a cookie in order to process user settings and user data when the page where the “Google Maps” component is integrated, is displayed. This cookie is not normally deleted by closing the browser but expires after a certain length of time unless it is manually deleted by you beforehand.

If you do not agree to this processing of your data, there is an option to deactivate the “Google Maps” service and thereby to prevent the transmission of data to Google. To do so, you must deactivate the Java script function in your browser. In this case, however, you will not be able to use “Google Maps” or only to a limited extent.

You can obtain more information in the provider’s data privacy policy at http://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/terms/regional.html as well as in the additional terms of business for “Google Maps” at https://www.google.com/intl/de_de/help/terms_maps.html.

Google Web Fonts

This site uses so-called web fonts which are provided by Google for displaying fonts in a uniform manner. When you open a page, your browser loads the required web fonts to your browser cache in order to display texts and fonts correctly. If your browser does not support web fonts, a standard font is used by your computer.

We use Google web fonts in the interests of a uniform, attractive display of our online offering. This represents a legitimate interest as defined by Art. 6 (1)(f) GDPR.

For more information about Google web fonts, see https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and Google’s data privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

Web tracking

The tracking measures we employ as listed in the following are performed on the basis of Art. 6 (1)(1)(f) GDPR. We use these tracking measures firstly to ensure a needs-based design and ongoing optimisation of our website. Secondly, we use tracking tools to collect statistics on the use of our website, which we analyse in order to optimise our services on your behalf. These interests are to be seen as legitimate as defined by the regulation quoted above.

The data processing purposes and the data categories in each case can be taken from the respective tracking tools.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google Inc. (https://www.google.de/intl/de/about/) (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; hereafter “Google”) for the purpose of achieving an appropriate design and ongoing optimisation of our web pages. Pseudonymised user profiles are created in this context and cookies used (see Clause 4). The information generated by the cookie on your use of this website such as

  • browser type/version,
  • operating system used,
  • referrer URL (previously visited page),
  • host name of the PC accessing the content (IP address),
  • time of server enquiry,

is transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. This information is used to evaluate use of the website, compile reports on website activities and provide other services associated with use of the website and the internet for the purposes of market research and the appropriate design of these web pages. This information may also be passed on to third parties if this is legally required or if third parties process this information as contract processors. On no account will your IP address be conflated with other data. The IP addresses are anonymised with the result that no attribution is possible (IP masking).

You can prevent the installation of cookies by adjusting the settings in your browser software accordingly. However, we must advise you that in this case you may not be able to fully utilise all functions of this website.

In addition, you may prevent the data created by the cookie in relation to your use of this website (including your IP address) from being recorded or processed by Google by downloading and installing a browser add-on: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.

As an alternative to the browser add-on, particularly for browsers on mobile devices, you can also prevent data from being recorded by Google Analytics by clicking on this link. An opt-out cookie is placed on your computer which prevents your data from being registered on future visits to this website. The opt-out cookie only applies to this browser and only for our website, and it is stored on your device. If you delete the cookies in this browser, you will have to place the opt-out cookie again.

You can find further information on data protection in connection with Google Analytics, for example, in Google Analytics’ Help section (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de).

Social media plug-ins

On the basis of Art. 6 (1)(1)(f) GDPR, we use social media plug-ins from the following social media networks on our website

  • Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
  • YouTube, Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
  • Xing AG, Gänsemarkt 43, 20354 Hamburg
  • Vimeo LLC, 555 West 18th Street, New York 10011, USA

in order to raise the profile of our companies. The underlying promotional purpose is to be seen as a legitimate interest as defined by GDPR. Responsibility for their operation in compliance with data protection regulations lies with the respective providers.

The standard way in which these plug-ins work is that when a website using social plug-ins is called up, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of Facebook, etc. The relevant operator transfers the content of the plug-in directly to your browser and embeds it in the page. As a result of this link, the operator receives the information that your browser has called up the corresponding page of our website. If you are logged into Facebook, Facebook can match your visit directly to your Facebook profile.

To guarantee protection of your privacy, we have implemented technical measures which ensure that data cannot be recorded by the provider of the particular plug-in without your agreement. On our website, the plug-ins are designed as simple HTML links. The user of our website therefore remains invisible initially to the user of the relevant plug-in. If you click on the button, the page you wish to share is transmitted to the respective operator and the operator’s pop-up opens. If you are already logged in, you have to confirm your Share/Like again. The data are only transmitted when the provider’s pop-up opens.

To learn the purpose and scope of data collection and further processing and use of the data by Facebook, YouTube, Xing or Vimeo, as well as your rights in this regard and settings options for protecting your privacy, kindly refer to the privacy policies of

Rights of data subjects

You have the right

  • according to Art. 15 GDPR to demand information about the personal data we process. In particular, you may demand information about the purposes of processing, the category of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data has been or will be disclosed, the envisaged period for which the data will be stored, the existence of the right to rectification, erasure, restriction of the processing or right of objection, as well as the right to lodge a complaint, to know where the data was collected if not by us, and the existence of automated decision-making including profiling and meaningful information about the logic involved;
  • according to Art. 16 GDPR to demand rectification or completion of the personal data stored with us without undue delay;
  • according to Art. 17 GDPR to demand erasure of the personal data stored with us, except where processing is necessary for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation; for reasons of public interest, or for the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims;
  • according to Art. 18 GDPR to demand restriction in the processing of your personal data, where the accuracy of the personal data is contested by you, the processing is unlawful but you oppose the erasure of the personal data and we no longer need the personal data, but they are required by you for the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims; or you have objected to processing pursuant to Article 21 GDPR.
  • according to Art. 20 GDPR to obtain the personal data that you have submitted to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to transmit this data to another controller;
  • according to Art. 7 (3) GDPR to revoke your consent that you have given to us at any time. If you do so, we will desist from processing the data to which your consent had referred, effective for the future, and
  • according to Art. 77 GDPR to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. In most cases you will be able to contact the supervisory authority responsible for your habitual place of residence or work or the head office of our law firm.

Right to object

Insofar as your data is processed based on legitimate interests according to Art. 6 (1)(1)(f) GDPR, you are entitled pursuant to Art. 21 GDPR to object to the processing of your personal data, provided there are grounds relating to your particular situation or where personal data is processed for direct marketing purposes. You are always entitled to object in the latter case; we will comply with this objection without requiring that you provide particular circumstances.

To enforce your right of revocation or objection, we request that you simply send an e-mail to echtstark@retralog.com .

Securing your data through encryption

To guarantee the highest possible protection of your data on our website, all data provided by you are transmitted on the internet with SSL encryption (Secure Sockets Layer technology) at the highest level of encryption supported by your browser. You can recognise this protection by the lock symbol in your browser.

We also use suitable technical and organisational security measures to protect your data from accidental or deliberate manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction, and from unauthorised access by third parties. Our security measures are revised continuously according to the state of the art.

Right of access

On request, we will be happy to inform you at any time free of charge of the data stored about you. You can also block or rectify your data collected by us at any time, or have them erased. To do so, please contact us by phone or send us your request by post, fax or email.

We will be happy to help you with any further questions surrounding the topic of data protection in our company.

Your team at RETRALOG GmbH, RETRALOG Recycling GmbH and RETRALOG TTP GmbH

Friendly Captcha   

Description and purpose  

This website uses the service “Friendly Captcha” (www.friendlycaptcha.com). This service is an offer of the provider Friendly Captcha GmbH, Am Anger 3-5, 82237 Wörthsee, Germany. Friendly Captcha is a novel, privacy-friendly protection solution to make it more difficult for automated programs and scripts (so-called “bots”) to use this website. In this context, we have integrated a program code from Friendly Captcha into our website (e.g. for contact forms) so that the end device of the visitor can establish a connection to the servers of Friendly Captcha in order to receive a calculation task from Friendly Captcha. The end device of the respective visitor solves the calculation task (puzzle), which takes up certain system resources, and sends the calculation result to our web server. This web server contacts the Friendly Captcha server via an interface and receives as a response whether the puzzle was solved correctly by the end device. Depending on the result, we can apply security rules to requests via our website and thus, for example, process them further or reject them.  

Friendly Captcha processes and stores the following data in the process described above:  

  • Anonymized IP address of the requesting computer.  
  • Information about the browser used, as well as operating system.  
  • Anonymized counter per IP address to control the cryptographic tasks.  
  • Web page from which the access took place.  
  • The version of the widget.  
  • A timestamp.  

This data is used exclusively for the protection against spam and bots described above. Friendly Captcha does not set or read cookies on the visitor’s device. IP addresses are only stored in hashed (one-way encrypted) form and do not allow us and Friendly Captcha to draw any conclusions about an individual person.   

Legal basis  

The legal basis for the processing is our overriding legitimate interests in protecting our website from abusive access by bots, hence spam protection and protection against attacks (e.g. mass requests), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) DSGVO.   

Recipient  

The recipient is Friendly Captcha GmbH, Am Anger 3-5, 82237 Wörthsee.   

Transmission to third countries  

A transfer to a third country does not take place.  

Objection   

According to Art. 21 (1) DSGVO, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data at any time. If you exercise your right, processing for this purpose will no longer take place. You can find more information on this in our privacy policy under “Rights of data subjects”.  

Duration of data storage  

If personal data is collected, it will be deleted after 30 days at the latest.   

Contractual and legal obligation  

There is no contractual or legal obligation for the provision of the data.  

Further data protection information 

Further information on data protection when using Friendly Captcha can be found at https://friendlycaptcha.com/legal/privacy-end-users/.