Data Protection Privacy statement

The Federal Statistical Office takes the protection of your private and personal sphere seriously and complies with the data protection regulations.
Your trust is important to us!

By including this privacy statement on our website, we are complying with our obligation to provide information when collecting personal data in accordance with Art. 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We will collect your personal data when you access our website.

We have taken technical and organisational measures to ensure that the data protection regulations are observed by ourselves and our service providers. This website is operated by the Federal Information Technology Centre (ITZBund), An der Küppe 2, D-53225 Bonn, which is the German government’s central IT service provider.

This privacy statement may have to be updated to incorporate new website developments. We would therefore advise you to read this privacy statement regularly.

Personal data

The term “personal data” is used in this privacy statement to refer to any information about you that is not anonymised (e.g. your name, email address, postal address and user behaviour). This does not include any information that cannot be linked to your identity.

Some of the data we collect will be provided by you. In such cases, the processing will be based on your consent. This may include data that you enter in a contact form.

Access to our website

Other data will be collected by our IT systems automatically when you visit our website. This particularly includes technical data such as your IP address, Internet browser, operating system or the time of your visit. This data will be collected automatically as soon as you access our website. It will be used to provide our website as one of our tasks carried out in the public interest.

Whenever you access the website of the Federal Statistical Office, and whenever you retrieve a file, data concerning such processes will be stored and processed.

The following data will be stored on each access / retrieval:

  • The name of the file accessed
  • The date and time of access
  • The volume of data transmitted
  • A message to confirm whether the access was successful
  • The referral URL
  • The device technology used
  • IP addresses (which will be anonymised during further processing)
  • The anonymised IP address, anonymised DNS information and top-level domains (TLDs) of the accessing host system

This data will only be evaluated for statistical purposes – and for the purpose of optimising the website – before being deleted. No user profiles will be created.

Use of cookies

The Federal Statistical Office uses cookies on its web pages. They are technically necessary for the full use of all the features of this website. Applying the cookies is based on Article 6 paragraph 1 point e of GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) in conjunction with Section 3 of the E-Government Act (EGovG).

Most browsers are set to accept cookies automatically. However, you can deactivate the storage of cookies or set your browser to accept session cookies which are stored only during your web session.
If you use a browser extension which prevents our cookies from being stored, we will of course accept your decision. Then no cookies will be stored and your visit to this website will not be tracked. Please note that you may not be able in this case to make full use of all the features of this website.

Use of Matomo web analytics

This website uses the Matomo web analysis service to analyse and optimise the use of our website. The software runs only on web servers operated by the service provider "ITZ Bund" on behalf of the Federal Statistical Office.

The legal basis for processing using Matomo is your explicit consent as per Article 6 paragraph 1 point a of GDPR in conjunction with Section 25 (1) of the Telecommunications Telemedia Data Protection Act (TTDSG)

When individual pages of our websites are accessed, the following data are stored:

  • two bytes of the IP address of the system used to access the website,
  • the website accessed,
  • the website from which the user accessed our website (referrer),
  • the subpages accessed from the accessed website,
  • the length of time spent on the website,
  • how often the website is accessed.

This website uses Matomo with the extension "anonymizeIP". The software is set so that IP addresses are not stored completely, but two bytes of the IP address are masked (example: 238.159.xxx.xxx). As a result, IP addresses are shortened before being processed. Assigning the shortened IP address to the accessing computer is thereby made more difficult. The logging files pseudonymised this way are deleted after 30 days.

Matomo's exclusive purpose is to optimise our website. The anonymised information about your use of this website is not used for person-based analysis or to create profiles and is not passed on to third parties. The analysis only helps to optimise our services.

Web analysis is deactivated in the default setting. You can decide here whether a unique web analysis cookie may be placed in your browser in order to enable the operator of the website to collect and analyse various statistical data. If you decide otherwise, even at a later time, please choose the relevant option to store the Matomo deactivation cookie in your browser.

Privacy settings

Here you can view your privacy settings and withdraw at any time your consent given earlier.


Registration and use of the online survey (IDEV) as part of the census

Registration and log-in

Our website can be used for more than just informational purposes; we also offer services that can be used to report data. If you are a registered user, your access data will be logged as well as other actions performed with your access number (e.g. log in, log out, save, submit). This information will not be automatically evaluated.

Processed data (content of notification)

When reporting information via IDEV, you will be separately informed about the purposes of processing, the legal basis and your rights under the GDPR and the Federal Statistics Act (BStatG) when the data is collected (information to be provided in accordance with Section 17 BStatG).

Use of social media

The Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder use various social media channels for their public relations as part of the census. We use the following services:

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

By using such services, the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder can process personal data via their own accounts; data is also processed by the social media providers themselves.

The general legal basis for the processing of personal data by the Federal Statistical Office through its own social media channels is point (e) of Art. 6 (1) GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 BDSG, as the data is processed for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.

Twitter (microblogging service)

The Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder use the technical platform and services provided by Twitter, Inc. (1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103 USA). Twitter International Company (One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2 D02 AX07, Ireland) is responsible for processing data belonging to persons residing outside the USA.

Please note that you may use the Twitter microblogging service and its features at your own risk. This particularly applies to the use of interactive features (e.g. re-tweeting and commenting).

Processing by Twitter, Inc.

If you use Twitter and the “re-tweet” function, the websites you visit will be linked to your Twitter account and shared with other users. As a result, data will be sent to Twitter, Inc. and then processed by Twitter. More detailed information on the way in which Twitter, Inc. will process your personal data can be found in Twitter’s privacy policy: https://twitter.com/de/privacy.

The Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder have no influence on the nature and scope of the data processed by Twitter, Inc., the nature of such processing and use or the disclosure of such data to third parties. In this regard, they also have no effective means of control. In this context, we would like to point out that the personal data processed by Twitter may be transferred to a third country such as the USA, where no adequate level of protection has been certified by the European Commission in accordance with Art. 45 GDPR.

Twitter, Inc. may analyse your personal data with tools such as Google Analytics. The Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder have no control over the use of such tools by Twitter, Inc. If any such tools are used by Twitter, Inc. for the account run by the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder, they will not have requested, approved or otherwise supported such. The data obtained from such analysis will not be provided to the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder in a personal form. The Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder will only be able to view certain, non-personal information about Twitter activities through their account (e.g. the number of profile or link clicks generated by a certain post). In addition, the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder have no way of preventing or disabling the use of such tools on their Twitter account.
You can change your Twitter privacy settings via your account settings: https://twitter.com/account/settings.

Processing by the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder

The Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder will also process your personal data within the scope of the general legal basis indicated above (point (e) of Art. 6 (1) GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 BDSG). They will not collect any data themselves via their Twitter account. However, the data you enter on Twitter, particularly your username and the content posted through your account, will be processed by the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder if they ever wish to re-tweet your tweets, reply to them or refer to your account. In such cases, the Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder will add the data you freely post and share on Twitter to their social media channel and make it available to their followers.

The Federal Statistical Office uses SocialHub to plan and post content on social networks, interact with users and avoid missing out on any relevant posts; this is a product offered by maloon GmbH (Schütterlettenweg 4; 85053 Ingolstadt; Germany; Tel.: +49 841 493 990-0; Fax: +49 841 493 990-10; Email: hallo@socialhub.io; Website: www.socialhub.io).

Instagram (online service)

The Federal Statistical Office uses the technical platform and services provided by Instagram, LLC (1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA). Facebook Ireland, Ltd. (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible for processing data belonging to persons residing outside the USA.
Please note that you may use the Instagram service and its features at your own risk. This particularly applies to the use of interactive features (e.g. sharing, commenting and liking).

Processing by Instagram

More information on the data processed by Instagram and the purposes of such processing can be found in Instagram’s privacy policy:
https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875?helpref=page_content

The Federal Statistical Office has no influence on the nature and scope of the data processed by Instagram, the nature of such processing and use or the disclosure of such data to third parties. In this regard, it also has no effective means of control. In this context, we would like to point out that the personal data processed by Instagram may be transferred to a third country such as the USA, where no adequate level of protection has been certified by the European Commission in accordance with Art. 45 GDPR, if this is necessary (e.g. to comply with a law or due to a binding order issued by a government authority).

Instagram, Inc. may analyse your personal data with tools. The Federal Statistical Office has no control over the use of such tools by Instagram, Inc. If any such tools are used by Instagram, Inc. for the account run by the Federal Statistical Office, it will not have requested, approved or otherwise supported such. The data obtained from such analysis will not be provided to the Federal Statistical Office in a personal form. The Federal Statistical Office will only be able to view certain, non-personal information about Instagram activities through its account (e.g. the number of profile clicks generated by a certain post). In addition, the Federal Statistical Office has no way of preventing or disabling the use of such tools on its Instagram account.

You can restrict the processing of your data by changing the general settings for your Instagram account. In addition, you can usually change the settings of mobile devices (e.g. smartphones and tablets) to restrict Instagram’s access to your contact and calendar data, photos, location data, etc. However, this will depend on the operating system you are using.
More information on these aspects can be found on the following Instagram help pages:
https://help.instagram.com/116024195217477/?helpref=hc_fnav&bc[0]=Instagram-Hilfe&bc[1]=Datenschutz%20und%20Sicherheitsbereich
Here you will also find information on how to view your own data on Instagram and how to change your personalisation and privacy settings

Processing by the Federal Statistical Office

However, the data you enter on Instagram, particularly your username and the content posted through your account, will be processed by the Federal Statistical Office if it ever likes your posts, replies to them or refers to your account. In such cases, the Federal Statistical Office will add the data you freely post and share on Instagram to its social media channel and make it available to its subscribers.

The Federal Statistical Office uses SocialHub to plan and post content on social networks, interact with users and avoid missing out on any relevant posts; this is a product offered by maloon GmbH (Schütterlettenweg 4; 85053 Ingolstadt; Germany; Tel.: +49 841 493 990-0; Fax: +49 841 493 990-10; Email: hallo@socialhub.io; Website: www.socialhub.io).

YouTube (video portal)

The Federal Statistical Office uses the technical platform and services provided by Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; www.youtube.com).

Please note that you may use the YouTube service and its features at your own risk. This particularly applies to the use of interactive features (e.g. commenting and rating).

Processing by YouTube

More information on the data processed by YouTube and the purposes of such processing can be found in YouTube / Google’s privacy policy:
https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de

The Federal Statistical Office has no influence on the nature and scope of the data processed by YouTube / Google, the nature of such processing and use or the disclosure of such data to third parties. In this regard, it also has no effective means of control. In this context, we would like to point out that the personal data processed by YouTube / Google may be transferred to a third country such as the USA, where no adequate level of protection has been certified by the European Commission in accordance with Art. 45 GDPR, if this is necessary (e.g. to comply with a law or due to a binding order issued by a government authority).

YouTube may analyse your personal data with tools such as Google Analytics. The Federal Statistical Office has no control over the use of such tools by YouTube. If any such tools are used by YouTube for the account run by the Federal Statistical Office, it will not have requested, approved or otherwise supported such. The data obtained from such analysis will not be provided to the Federal Statistical Office in a personal form. The Federal Statistical Office will only be able to view certain, non-personal information about YouTube activities through its account (e.g. the number of profile or link clicks generated by a certain post). In addition, the Federal Statistical Office has no way of preventing or disabling the use of such tools on its YouTube account.

You can restrict the processing of your data by changing the general settings for your YouTube account and by referring to the “Privacy” section of your settings. In addition, you can usually change the settings of mobile devices (e.g. smartphones and tablets) to restrict YouTube’s access to your contact and calendar data, photos, location data, etc. However, this will depend on the operating system you are using.

More information on these aspects can be found on the following YouTube help pages:
https://policies.google.com/privacy?gl=DE&hl=de#infosecurity
Here you will also find information on how to view your own data on YouTube.

Enquiries via the contact form

The personal data you enter in the contact form will be collected and electronically stored by us. We will need this information to respond to your enquiry, analyse your user behaviour and optimise our range of information as part of our tasks carried out in the public interest in accordance with point (e) of Art. 6 (1) GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 BDSG. The data will also be used to forward your enquiry, based on your consent, to the statistical office in the federal state indicated by you.

In addition, we will keep your data for customer care purposes (e.g. to optimally process other enquiries in the future). Your data will be processed for such purposes on the basis of your consent given in accordance with point (a) of Art. 6 (1) GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time with future effect.

Your personal data will generally not be disclosed to third parties. We will therefore ask for your explicit consent to certain uses (e.g. the forwarding of enquiries to the statistical office in a certain federal state) in the relevant areas of our website. You may withdraw your consent at any time with future effect. The rights you may assert against us with regard to the processing of your personal data (see section below) also apply to all services offered on our website.

Email or telephone enquiries

If you send us your enquiries via email or by phone, we will store your information in our customer management system to respond to your enquiry. This will be done as part of our tasks carried out in the public interest in accordance with point (e) of Art. 6 (1) GDPR in conjunction with Section 3 BDSG.

Newsletter

We give you the opportunity to register as a recipient of one or more of our newsletters. To do this, you must provide your email address. We will use your email address exclusively for the purpose of sending you the newsletter(s) to which you have subscribed. We will send you such information and store your email address on the basis of your consent in accordance with point (a) of Art. 6 (1) GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time with future effect. If you withdraw your consent or unsubscribe from all newsletters, your email address will be deleted. Your email address will not be disclosed to third parties. You have the rights detailed below with regard to your email address if the conditions indicated there are met.

Disclosure of personal data to third parties

Any data logged when you access www.zensus2022.de will only be disclosed to third parties if we are obliged to do so in compliance with a piece of legislation or a court decision, or if the disclosure of such information is necessary for legal or criminal prosecution following attacks on Destatis’s Internet infrastructure. The data will be disclosed to the Federal Information Technology Centre (ITZBund), which is the German government’s central IT service provider. Your data will not be disclosed for any other commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Protection of minors

Processing personal data of minors is always based on an existing legal basis such as the census acts in the context of the 2022 Census.
If personal data are processed on the basis of consent, people under the age of 16 should not transmit any data to us without the consent of their parents or legal guardians.

Links to third-party websites

Our website contains links to third-party websites. We have no control over their compliance with data protection provisions.

Your rights

If the relevant conditions are met, you may assert the following rights against us with regard to your personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

  • A right to rectification in accordance with Art. 16 GDPR
  • A right to erasure in accordance with Art. 17 GDPR
  • A right to the restriction of processing in accordance with Art. 18 GDPR
  • A right to object in accordance with Art. 21 GDPR
  • A right to data portability in accordance with Art. 20 GDPR

If you would like to exercise any of your rights as a data subject with regard to the processing of your personal data by the Federal Statistical Office during the 2022 census, please click here.

If you believe the way in which we are processing your personal data constitutes a violation of the data protection regulations, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority (Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information: Graurheindorfer Straße 153, D-53117 Bonn) in accordance with Art. 77 GDPR.

Contact details of the controller

Federal Statistical Office
Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 11
D-65189 Wiesbaden

represented by the President of the Federal Statistical Office.

Contact details of the data protection officer

As your trust is important to us, we will be happy to answer any questions you might have about the processing of your personal data at any time. If you cannot find the answers you are looking for in this privacy statement, please do not hesitate to contact our data protection officer.

Data Protection Officer for the Federal Statistical Office, D-65180 Wiesbaden

Tel.: +49 611 75 4449
datenschutzbeauftragter@destatis.de
Wiesbaden, January 2023