We thank you for visiting our website and for your interest in the Association of Conference Interpreters (VKD). The protection of your personal data and privacy is of particular concern to us. We process personal data gathered during your visit in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR. The following notice will give you a simple overview of what happens to your personal information when you visit our website. Personal information is any data that can be used to identify you as a person. Detailed information on data protection can be found in our Privacy Policy below.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party web sites to which we link.

Data protection

As the operator of this website, VKD is taking the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data confidentially and in accordance with all statutory data protection regulations and this Privacy Policy.

In using this website, various personal data will be collected. Personal data are any data that can be used to identify you as a person. This Privacy Policy explains which kind of information we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this happens.

Please note that all data transmitted via the internet (e.g. when communicating via web forms, e-mail or messengers) may be subject to security breaches. A complete protection of your data from access by third-parties is not possible.

Party responsible for this website

The party responsible for processing data on this website, its "data controller", is:

Verband der Konferenzdolmetscher (VKD) im BDÜ e.V.
Bobstraße 22
50676 Köln

Telephone: +49 157 32074324
Email: gs@vkd.bdue.de

The data controller is the natural or legal person who – on his own or together with others – decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (e.g., names, email addresses …).

How do we collect your data?

We process personal data gathered during your visit in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR.

Some data are collected when you provide it to us. This could, for example, be data you enter on a contact form.

Other data are collected automatically by our IT systems upon your website visit. These data are primarily technical data, such as your browser and operating system or when you accessed a given page. These data are collected automatically as soon as you visit our website.

What rights do you have regarding your data?

At any time, you have the right to request free of charge all information we have about your stored data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection. You also have the right to request that it be corrected, blocked, or deleted. If you have further questions about privacy and data protection, you can contact us at any time using the address given in this Privacy Policy. You also have the right to file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities.

Revocation of your consent to data processing

Many data processing operations are only allowed with your express consent. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal request via e-mail is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

Right to file complaints with regulatory authorities

If there has been a breach of data protection law, the person affected may file a complaint with the competent regulatory authority. The competent regulatory authority for matters related to data protection law is the data protection officer of the German state in which our association is headquartered. A current list of Germany’s data protection officers and their contact details can be found at: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html.

Right to data portability

You have the right to demand that we deliver all data that we process automatically on the basis of your consent or in fulfilment of a contract to you or to a third party designated by you, in a standard machine-readable format. If you require a direct transfer of data to another data controller, this will only be done to the extent that it is technically feasible.

Statutory data protection officer

We have appointed a data protection officer for our company:

agentia Wirtschaftsdienst
Dipl.-Inform. Udo Wenzel
Budapester Str. 31
10787 Berlin

Telephone: +49 30 21964398
Email: udo.wenzel@agentia.de

Cookies

Some of our web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses. Cookies help in making our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.

Most of the cookies we use are so-called "session cookies". They are automatically deleted after your visit. Other cookies remain in your device’s memory until you delete them. These cookies make it possible to recognize your browser upon your next visit of our site (e.g., to remember user settings).

You can configure your browser to inform you when a cookie is about to be set, so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject this cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies only under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when your browser is closed. However, disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

Cookies that are necessary to allow electronic communications or to provide certain functions you wish to use (such as a shopping cart) are stored pursuant to Art. 6 paragraph 1, letter f GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest storing cookies to ensure an optimised service provided free of technical errors. If other cookies (such as those used to analyse your surfing behaviour) are also stored, they will be treated separately in this Privacy Policy.

Server log files

Our website provider automatically collects and stores information that are automatically transmitted by your browser in so-called “server log files”. These data are:

• Browser type and version
• Operating system
• Referrer URL
• Host name of the accessing computer
• Time of the server request
• IP adress

 

These data will not be combined with data from other sources.

The basis for this data processing is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR, which allows the processing of data to fulfil a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.

SSL or TLS encryption

All VKD pages that transmit personal data, such as enquiries, seminar bookings or membership applications, use either SSL or TLS encryption. You can recognize whether a connection is encrypted by checking in your browser’s address bar if the protocol changes from "http://" to "https://" and if a lock icon is displayed next to the address bar.

While SSL or TLS transport encryption is activated, the data exchanged between us cannot be read by third parties.

Online search for interpreters and translators

On our website, you can also search for qualified interpreters and translators. Since you acquire their personal data in doing this, you must first agree to the Terms of Use for the VKD member database. We collect and store statistical data on every search (e.g., the searched language combination, areas of expertise, qualifications, CAT tools, zip code …) for the purpose of optimising our offer; however, these statistics cannot be used to draw conclusions as to your person.

Seminar booking

When booking a seminar via our website, we will collect and store the data you have entered on the form, including your contact details, to process your order and to answer your questions. We do not share this information without your permission.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter on the order form exclusively with your consent as per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will retain the information you provide on the order form until you demand its deletion, revoke your consent to its storage, or until the purpose for its storage no longer persists (e.g., after your order has been completed). Any statutory provisions, especially those regarding mandatory data retention periods, remain unaffected by this provision.

Member registration and login

VKD operates an internal member area on the subdomain "mein.bdue.de", to which all members gain access via automatically created login credentials. The personal data required to provide this member access is processed on the basis of the consent, as per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO, given upon membership application. We will continue to store the data collected at the application for as long as you remain a member of VKD. They will be deleted after your membership ends. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

Online membership application

Should you apply for membership in a VKD member association via our website, we will collect and store any data you have entered on the application form, including your contact details, to process your application and to answer your questions. We do not share this information without your permission.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter on the application form exclusively with your consent as per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will retain the data you provide on the application form until you request its deletion, revoke your consent for its storage, or until the purpose for its storage no longer persists (e.g., after your membership has ended). Any mandatory legal provisions, especially those regarding statutory data retention periods, remain unaffected by this provision.

VKD maintains online presences on various social media platforms. These presences can be reached via link buttons in the right margin of our website. Clicking on these link buttons does not transmit personal data.

Matomo (formerly Piwik)

This website uses Matomo, an open source web analytics service. Matomo uses so-called "cookies". Cookies are text files that are stored on your computer and that allow to analyse how you use our website. For this purpose, the website usage information generated by the cookie is stored on our server. Your IP address will be anonymised before it is stored.

Matomo cookies will remain on your device until you delete them.

The storage of Matomo cookies is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analysing user behaviour to optimise both its website and its advertising.

The information generated by the cookies about your use of this website will not be disclosed to third parties. You can prevent these cookies from being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean that you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website.

If you do not agree with the storage and use of your data, you can disable this feature below. In this case, an opt-out cookie will be stored in your browser to prevent Matomo from storing your usage data. If you delete your cookies, however, the opt-out cookie will also be deleted. You will thus need to reactivate the opt-out cookie upon your next return to our site.

Analytics opt-out:

Subscriber data

If you want to subscribe to our newsletter, we need a valid email address as well as information that allows us to verify that you are the rightful owner of the specified email address and that you agree to receive the newsletter. Additional data is only collected on a voluntary basis or not collected at all. We only use the information given to deliver the requested information and do not pass it on to third parties.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the subscription form only with your consent, as per Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. At any time, you can revoke your consent to the storage of your data, particularly of your email address and your consent to receive newsletters from us, through an “unsubscribe” link within the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription, when said data will be deleted. Data we have stored for other purposes (e.g., email addresses for the member area) remain unaffected.

YouTube

Our website uses plugins from YouTube, which is operated by Google. The plugin provider and operator of the YouTube platform is YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube plugin, a connection to YouTube’s servers is established. Thus, the YouTube server will be informed about which of our pages you have visited.

If you are logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube will additionally be able to directly associate your browsing behaviour with your YouTube user profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

We use YouTube to make our website more appealing. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

Further information about the processing of user data can be found in YouTube’s Privacy Policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Google Web Fonts

To facilitate a uniform appearance of our website for all visitors, this page uses “web fonts” provided by Google. When you open a page, your browser loads the required web fonts into its cache to correctly display texts and symbols in the selected fonts.

For this purpose, your browser has to establish a direct connection to Google servers. Google thus becomes aware that our web page was accessed from your IP address. We use Google Web fonts in the interest of a uniform and attractive presentation of our website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

If your browser does not support web fonts, it will use your browser’s standard font instead.

Further information on Google Web Fonts can be found at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and in Google's Privacy Policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.