Data protection

Introduction / employee confidentiality

The protection of your personal data is a key aspect of our daily work. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to inform you about the data protection principles regarding our website. The basis for these are the provisions of the German Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz, BDSG) and other data protection provisions. Within our firm, data protection is also a matter of great importance to us. Our employees have been explicitly bound to secrecy and confidentiality and to compliance with the provisions of data protection law. The information on this website has been compiled with great care.

With regard to data transmission over the Internet (e.g. when communicating by e-mail), it should be noted that a secure transmission is not guaranteed. Sensitive data should therefore either not be transmitted at all or only via a secure connection and/or in encrypted form.

Personal data

Only personal data is subject to data protection provisions. In accordance with section 3(1) BDSG personal data are details about personal or factual circumstances relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes, in particular, information such as name, address, email address or phone number but also usage data such as the IP address.

Use and purpose of the collection of data

As a general rule the provision of personal data is not required in order to use our website. We do, however, require your personal data in order to provide our services. In the event that you engage our services, we will collect, store and use your personal data only to the extent necessary for the provision of our services and the fulfilment of the contract or as required by law. The same applies to the sending of information, the preparation of offers as well as to any response to individual questions. Other personal data such as name, address, telephone number or email address are not logged as part of the use of the website unless you provide such information voluntarily, for example in the context of a request for a service, a survey, a competition or a request for information.

Personal data will only be processed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Transfer to third parties

As a rule, personal data will not be transferred to third parties unless this is necessary in order to provide the service or to implement the contract. Other than in order to provide the service and to implement the contract, personal data will be provided to public authorities or other state institutions only in accordance with statutory obligations to provide information or on the basis of court decisions. At the request of the competent authorities, we may in individual cases provide information about this data, as required for purposes of criminal prosecutions, to avert danger, to meet the statutory duties of the intelligence services or the German Military Counterintelligence Service or to enforce intellectual property rights.

Data pertaining to children and adolescents

Individuals below the age of 18 should not transmit any personal data to us without the consent of their parents or guardians. We do not knowingly request personal data from children and adolescents, we do not collect such data and do not pass it on to third parties other than within the scope of the provision of services commissioned by the parents or guardians.

Security measures

We have put in place extensive technical and operational security precautions in order to protect any personal data held by us against unauthorised access and misuse. Our security procedures to protect against damage, destruction or unauthorised access are checked regularly and adapted in line with technological progress.

Links

This website contains links to external pages. If you click on these links, you need to be aware that in most cases the IP address will also appear in the protocol of those websites. This data protection statement only applies to this website and not to any third-party websites.

Access and revocation

You may access your data stored with us at any time, without having to give any reasons and free of charge. You may at any time request that your data stored with us be blocked, rectified or erased. In the event that any retention obligations on our part prevent us from erasing your data, your data will not be erased but will instead be blocked from further use. You may also, at any time and without having to give any reasons, revoke your consent to the collection and processing of data provided, for instance, in the context of an engagement of our services. To this end, please get in touch via the contact details provided in the site notice.

We are always happy to answer any further questions you may have about our data protection notice and the processing of your personal data.

Erasure

After the contract has been fully completed or after expiry of any retention periods under tax and commercial law or any other statutory retention periods, your personal data will be erased unless you have expressly consented to a further use of the data.

Cookies

This website uses cookies. Cookies allow us, for example, to adjust the website to match your interests or to store your password to avoid you having to re-enter it each time. If you do not wish for us to recognise your computer, this is also possible; you can prevent the storage of cookies on your hard drive by selecting the “do not accept cookies” option in your browser settings. Please consult the instructions provided by your browser manufacturer for further details. If you choose not to accept cookies, however, this may lead to functional limitations in terms of our content.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies, i.e. text files that are stored on your computer and help analyse how you use the website. The information generated by this cookie about your use of this website will usually be transferred to a Google server in the US and stored there. In the event that IP anonymisation has been activated on this website, however, your IP address will first be truncated within Member States of the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transferred to a Google server in the US and be truncated there. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to analyse your use of the website, compile reports on website activity and provide other services to the website operator in relation to the use of the website and the Internet. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with any other data held by Google. You may prevent the storage of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser; however, we would like to point out that in this case you might not be able to use all the functions of this website to their full extent. In addition, you can prevent the data generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) being sent to Google and the processing of this data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available under the following link. The current link is http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.
For more information on how Google Analytics handles user data please refer to Google’s data protection policy: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de

Contact form

If you send us requests via the contact form, your details from the contact form including the contact data you have provided therein will be stored by us for purposes of processing the request and for any subsequent queries. We will not disclose this data to third parties without your consent.

Newsletter data

If you wish to receive one of the newsletters offered on the website, we require your email address as well as information that allows us to verify that you are the owner of the specified email address and that you agree to receive the newsletter. No other data will be collected. By sending the authentication email, you consent to the storage of the data in question which we will use exclusively for purposes of sending the requested information and which will not be passed on to third parties. You may revoke your consent for the storage of the data, the email address as well as its use in order to send the newsletter at any time, for instance via the “Unsubscribe” email address provided in the newsletter.

Commissioned data processing

We have entered into a contract with Google for commissioned data processing and fully comply with the strict requirements laid down by the German Data Protection Authorities with regard to the use of Google Analytics.

Data protection policy for the use of XING

Our website uses functions provided by the XING network. The provider is XING AG, Dammtorstraße 29-32, 20354 Hamburg, Germany. Every time you access one of our pages which contains functions operated by XING, a connection to servers belonging to XING is established. As far as we are aware, no personal data is stored in the process. In particular, no IP addresses are stored in this process and no usage behaviour is analysed. For further information regarding data protection and the XING Share Button, please refer to the privacy statement of XING under  https://www.xing.com/privacy 

SSL encryption

For reasons of security and in order to protect confidential content, for instance any requests which you send to us in our capacity as the site operators, this website uses SSL encryption. You can ascertain whether a connection is encrypted by checking whether the address bar of the browser has changed from “http://” to “https://” and whether there is a lock icon. If SSL encryption has been enabled, any data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

Questions and contact

If you have any other questions or suggestions regarding data protection, please get in touch via the contact information provided in the site notice.

According to Article 26 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the respective responsibilities in terms of data protection law must be allocated to the joint data controllers, MGK Partner and MSRE, and the data subjects must be made aware of the agreed arrangements.

MGK Partner and Moore Rhein-Ruhr are joint controllers responsible for data processing

Moore Rhein-Ruhr GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Kuhlenwall 20, 47051 Duisburg, Germany (hereinafter: MSRE) and MÜLLER-GICK-KRIEGER UND PARTNER mbB Wirtschaftsprüfer – Rechtsanwälte – Steuerberater, Kuhlenwall 20, 47051 Duisburg, Germany (hereinafter: MGK Partner) jointly determine the purpose and means of processing of their clients’ data, and are therefore joint controllers within the meaning of Article 26(1) sentence 1 GDPR. Inter alia due to the fact that the individuals involved are broadly identical, both Moore Rhein-Ruhr and MGK Partner are to all intents and purposes “in control of the data” and thus able, with regard to the “if” and “how”, to control the data processing operations.

Functions and relationships of Moore Rhein-Ruhr and MGK Partner vis-à-vis data subjects

I.)
The following obligations vis-à-vis the data subject shall be either the responsibility of Moore Rhein-Ruhr or MGK Partner, depending on which of the two companies is the lead company in each particular case:

1. information obligations in the event that personal data has been collected from the data subject pursuant to Article 13 GDPR
2. information obligations in the event that personal data has not been obtained from the data subject pursuant to Article 14 GDPR
3. processing of any subject access requests pursuant to Article 15 GDPR
4. processing of rectification requests pursuant to Article 16 GDPR
5. processing of erasure requests pursuant to Article 17 GDPR
6. processing of requests to restrict processing pursuant to Article 18 GDPR
7. communication obligations pursuant to Article 19 GDPR
8. processing of requests for surrender (data portability) pursuant to Article 20 GDPR
9. processing of any objections raised pursuant to Article 21 GDPR
10. implementation of the technical and organisational measures following a risk assessment, Article 24 in conjunction with Article 32 GDPR, and, where relevant, data protection impact assessment, Article 35 GDPR, and consultation of a supervisory authority / provision of the necessary information, Article 36(3) GDPR
11. notification of a personal data breach pursuant to Article 33 GDPR as well as the communication of such breach to the data subject pursuant to Article 34 GDPR

II.)
Moore Rhein-Ruhr shall always be responsible for the following:

1. documenting the selection of the technical and organisational measures as evidence pursuant to Article 24(1) GDPR as well as the review and updating of the measures
2. engaging commissioned data processors and sub-contracted data processors as well as their supervision
3. maintaining a list of processing activities
4. appointment of a data protection officer

III.)
The “lead” company within the meaning of clause 1 is the company which is predominantly involved with the client brief in question or the part of the client brief involved (for instance legal advice or tax consultancy). In cases of doubt, the principles of Article 56(1) and (2) GDPR shall apply mutatis mutandis.

IV.)
If it is not possible to determine a lead company in accordance with clause 3, in cases of doubt Moore Rhein-Ruhr shall be deemed to be the lead company.

V.)
Regardless of the details regarding responsibilities in accordance with clauses 1 to 4, the data subject may assert its right in the context of the GDPR against and vis-à-vis each of the responsible parties. This shall also apply to damages claims of the data subject in the event that the data subject has suffered a tangible or intangible damage due to a breach of the GDPR.

VI.)
The contact details of Moore Rhein-Ruhr and MGK Partner are as follows:

MÜLLER-GICK-KRIEGER UND PARTNER mbB
Wirtschaftsprüfer – Rechtsanwälte – Steuerberater

Registered office: Duisburg
Kuhlenwall 20
47051 Duisburg
Germany
Telephone: +49 203 29506-0
Telefax: +49 203 29506-611
info@mgk-partner.de

MÜLLER-GICK-KRIEGER UND PARTNER mbB
Wirtschaftsprüfer – Rechtsanwälte – Steuerberater

Registered office: Potsdam
Karl-Marx-Str. 40
14482 Potsdam
Germany
Telephone: +49 331 74395-0
Telefax: +49 331 74395-19
potsdam@mgk-partner.de

Moore Rhein-Ruhr GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Registered office: Duisburg
Kuhlenwall 20
47051 Duisburg
Germany
Telephone: +49 203 29506-70
Telefax: +49 203 29506-611
info@moore-rhein-ruhr.de

Brandenburgische Revisionsgesellschaft Zweigniederlassung der Moore Rhein-Ruhr GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft

Registered office: Potsdam
Karl-Marx-Str. 40
14482 Potsdam
Germany
Telephone: +49 331 74395-0
Telefax: +49 331 74395-19
info@moore-rhein-ruhr.de

Directors of Moore Rhein-Ruhr are the persons listed below who, with the exception of Mr Storms and Ms Eckardt, are also shareholders/partners and directors of MGK:

• Public Accountant, Tax Advisor, Specialist Advisor on International Tax Law Certified Public Accountant, Dipl.-Kfm. Hubert H. Storms
• Lawyer, Public Accountant, Tax Advisor, Dipl.-Kfm. Jochen König
• Public Accountant, Tax Advisor, Dipl.-Fw. Heribert Klein
• Public Accountant, Tax Advisor, Dipl.-Kfm. Dr. rer. pol. Alexander Wolff
• Public Accountant, Tax Advisor, Dipl.-Ök. Martina Eckhardt
• Public Accountant, Tax Advisor, Specialist Advisor on International Tax Law, Dipl.-Kffr. Carol Haßelmans
• Tax Advisor Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Axel Beranek
• Lawyer, Specialist Lawyer for Commercial and Corporate Law Ralf Haberle
• Lawyer, Specialist Lawyer for Commercial and Corporate Law, Specialist Lawyer for Tax Law Christoph Real