Online Shop Privacy Policy

1. Purpose of collecting and using data

Collecting your data serves to provide you with user-friendly, efficient and secure internet services. We (Springer-Verlag GmbH, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin, Germany, as data controller) collect personal data whenever you visit the “Shopping Cart” area on the website. We use the personal data in order to provide those users who are interested with information. Furthermore, we generally process the data with the goal of improving our service and ensuring its security.
Furthermore, whenever you complete transactions in the webshop, e.g. opening a user account and / or purchasing a publication, further data processing operations may take place for the purpose of providing to you the services you have requested and fulfilling our contractual obligations with you. We use personal data for the performance of the contract we have with you and to provide the contract services to you.

2. The form and scope of collecting and processing personal data

a) Newsletter

If you wish to receive a newsletter we need to save and use your e-mail address. We will then send electronic messages at appropriate intervals to the e-mail address you gave us, which may also contain topic-specific advertisements along with editorial information on our products and services. However, you can unsubscribe at any time for example by email to unsubscribe@springer.com.

b) Contract

In addition to that, we will use personal data you provided to us for concluding and carrying out contractual agreements that you conclude in the webshop. We may in particular use your name and/or e-mail address for creating digital watermarks, i.e. to mark digital content (eBooks and ePapers) that you have purchased subscribed to in our online shop. We also reserve the possibility to prevent misuse by marking an eBook or ePaper using other methods which are not necessarily evident to the customer. We will explicitly point out such marking of a product in the description of the respective product. Content where no mention of identification marks is made will not be marked using personal data.

c) Web usage analysis

We will use tools of third parties in order to create so-called utilization profiles by using a pseudonym if you visit our websites as a registered or unregistered user. This implies that data will be collected and saved anonymously or under a pseudonym for statistical, marketing and optimization purposes. This data includes information on the website from which you were taken to our offer, information on your internet service provider and the offers you viewed on our website, as well as the date and length of your visit. On the basis of this data a utilization profile will be created, along with a corresponding pseudonym. For this purpose, cookies may be used (see subparagraph 5 below).

d) Log files

Our web server does not generally store information when persons visit our website. Only if an error, other technical problem occurs or if a visitor carries out an action, certain data will be stored in what is known as log files. A log file contains the time and date when an error or the event (e.g. click) occurred. In our log files we furthermore store IP addresses of website visitors. We collect and store log files for security reasons to be able to identify, investigate and stop any improper use of our portal.

3. Passing on data to third parties

As a general rule, personal data will only be disclosed to third parties

  • if and to the extent necessary for the performance of the contracts we have with you or in order to enforce any claims we are entitled to,
  • if you have given your consent to such disclosure,
  • if we are required by law or ordered by a court to disclose such information or
  • if such information is requested by government agencies, including, without limitation, law enforcement and supervisory authorities, if and to the extent is necessary to remove a risk to public safety and order and to prosecute criminal offences.

4. Disclosure, rectification, deletion, account freezing

You have the right to obtain confirmation and disclosure of personal data we hold about you at any time. Requests may be made in text form by email to our customer service at customerservice@springer.com or in writing to Springer-Verlag GmbH, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin, Germany.

Moreover, you have the right to have your personal data corrected, blocked or deleted if the statutory conditions for this are met, respectively. If we have stored any incorrect information about you, please let us know and we will correct it without undue delay. For corrections, please contact us at the postal or email address indicated above.
Personal data will be deleted if their collection or processing was unlawful from the outset, if their processing or use turns out to be unlawful due to circumstances that arise subsequently or if we no longer need to know such data to fulfil the purpose of their processing or use. Only data we need to complete any tasks that remain outstanding or to enforce our rights and claims, and data we are required to retain by law will be excluded from deletion. However, such data will be blocked.

5. Cookies, etc.

We use so-called cookies or other instruments to analyze the usage of our website. Cookies are small files which are saved on your hard drive and which provide us with specific information. This information above all includes the IP address, your browser type, the URL click stream (the chronological order of our internet sites you visited), the date and the time of your visit on our website as well as the cookie number.

A so called “Shopping Cart- Cookie” may be set. The purpose of this cookie is to provide you with the content of your Shopping Cart for a certain period of time if you have not yet finally purchased the respective products dropped in the Shopping Cart and visit the website again. This cookie will be automatically deleted one week after it is set if not previously deleted by the user.

Using cookies and similar instruments makes it possible to recognize you whenever you as a user access our internet sites again after the expiration of a session. Cookies also allow us to ideally adapt our products and services to your individual needs. Lastly, we use cookies to statistically record how often our internet sites are viewed as well as the general navigation in order to create encoded usage profiles (see above) with the tools enumerated beneath.

If you want to disable the use of cookies, you can set your browser to reject and block any new cookies. Details about how this can be done in your browser can be found, for instance, in your browser’s help section. However, please note that, if you set your browser to automatically reject cookies, you might no longer be able to use certain features of the website.

a) Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. The IP address will be truncated before transmission. On our behalf Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet activity in connection with the use of the website. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser; however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. In addition to that you may prevent the collection of the information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including you IP address) and the processing of this data by Google if you download and install the browser plug-in available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de

b) Affiliate Networks

We use affiliate networks operated by Digital Window Inc. (http://www.affiliatewindow.com), Value Click International Limited (http://de.cj.com) and Zanox.de AG (http://www.zanox.com). Whenever you are referred to our website by an advertisement on a website that is part of these affiliate networks (affiliate), the fact that you are coming from that website will be recorded. For this purpose, the respective company will set a cookie. If you make a purchase on our website or revisit our website within a certain period of time, the respective companies will be able to recognize you and attribute any purchases you make to the affiliate. A random pseudonym will be used so that this information cannot be linked to you personally. We will not combine this information with your personal data nor forward any personal data on you to third parties. You can prevent being tracked by choosing the appropriate preference in the privacy options of your browser or disable cookies or delete the cookie.

c) Sociomantic

This website uses the third party tool “Sociomantic Sonar” operated by Sociomantic Labs GmbH, Paul- Lincke-Ufer 39/40, 10999 Berlin (www.sociomantic.com). Sociomantic Sonar delivers targeted ads on websites of its partner network to springer.com users that have vis-ited our website and have thus shown an interest in certain of our offers. Such targeted ads are displayed on the basis of information about the previous visits of the respective web pag-es that is inter alia stored in cookies which Sociomantic places on your computer. The data in these files is then retrieved in the course of subsequent visits of third party websites for specific product recommendations. The cookie includes a random identification number. Neither this number nor the information about your past use of the respective web pages can be attributed to you as an individual. Neither we nor Sociomantic will merge the information about the visits with any of your per-sonal data or disclose any of your personal data to any third party.

You can prevent all tracking by Sociomantic Sonar by clicking on the following link and checking the corresponding opt-out box: https://www.sociomantic.com/privacy/en/. When you opt-out a new cookie is placed in your web browser that tells Sociomantic’s technology to cease any data collection and data processing in relation to your web browser. You can opt-in to Sociomantic’s ads again at any time by un-checking the box explained above. Your opt-out stays active as long as the opt-out cookie remains stored in your web browser. Please, remember that your must check the opt-out box for each web browser that you use.

d) Criteo

This website uses the Criteo-Service to advertise on our site and third party websites to previous visitors of our site. Criteo-Service is operated by Criteo SA, Rue Blanche, 75009, Paris, France (http://www.criteo.com/).The advertisements are displayed on the basis of information that is stored in cookies which Criteo places on your computer. Cookies are small text files used to store a record. The text files include information, on your visit of our website, in particular product views that is read-out in the course of subsequent visits of this or third party websites for specific product recommendations. The cookie includes a random alias. In case you visit our website within a certain period of time and view our products, Criteo is able to recognize you by means of the alias. However, the information cannot be attributed to you personally. We or Criteo will not merge this information with your personal data and will not disclose any of your personal data to any third party. You can prevent the storing and using of information in a cookie placed by Criteo by clicking on the following link http://www.criteo.com/en/privacy-policy and using the controller next to “Opt-Out” by switching it to “ON”.
When you opt-out, a new cookie (Opt-Out-Cookie) is placed in your web browser that tells Criteo to cease data collection from and ad delivery to your browser. You can opt-in to Criteo’s ads again at any time by switching the controller to “OFF”. Please be aware that this configuration will be necessary for each of your browsers. In case all of your cookies in a browser are deleted, also the Opt-Out-Cookie of Criteo will be affected.

e) Webtrekk

This website uses Webtrekk, a web analytics service provided by Webtrekk GmbH, Robert-Koch-Platz 4, D-10115 Berlin (“Webtrekk”). We use Webtrekk services to collect and use statistical data on the use of our website to optimise our offering. In addition to cookies, Webtrekk also uses pixels (small gif files incorporated into the website).
Webtrekk places the following types of cookies on your computer:

  • last click (used for session timeout; lasts one session)
  • “session cookie” (used for session identification; lasts one session)

The following information is collected through the use of pixels:

  • request (file name of the requested file)
  • browser type/version (e.g. Internet Explorer 9.0)
  • browser language (e.g. German)
  • the operating system used (e.g. Windows 7)
  • JavaScript enabled
  • Java on/off
  • cookies on/off
  • the referrer URL
  • IP address (will be anonymised immediately and deleted after processing)
  • the time you access the site
  • clicks
  • • product parameters (e.g. the ID of the product)

These cookies are used for statistical purposes only, e.g. to track which content of our website is accessed the most. Moreover, the statistical information obtained about browser types and operating systems allows us to optimise our web design. Webtrekk stores IP addresses only anonymously (in shortened form) and uses them only for session identification and geo-localisation. After that, IP addresses are immediately deleted. The information collected through Webtrekk will not be used to identify you personally unless you have specifically given us your consent. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser; however, please note that if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. You may object at any time to the collection of the data referred to above, and opt out of any future processing of such data by Webtrekk, by placing the opt-out cookie available at the following link on your computer: http://www.webtrekk.com/index/datenschutzerklaerung/opt-out.html

You will then continue to be excluded from web tracking until the cookie is deleted. The cookie is set for the named domain, per browser and computer. Therefore, if you visit our website, for instance, from home and from work or using different browsers, you have to place the cookie for each computer and browser separately. For more information about privacy policies and Webtrekk, please refer to the Webtrekk website: https://www.webtrekk.com/de/warum-webtrekk/datenschutz/

6. Security

We employ technical and organizational security measures to guarantee that your data is protected from loss, incorrect modifications and unauthorized third-party access. To the greatest extent possible, we ensure that only authorized persons have access to your personal data and only insofar as it is necessary in the scope of the above-mentioned purposes.

Should you have any questions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us via the e-mail address dataprotection@springer.com.