Tripvista privacy policy

At GIM DiCom, the protection and security of your personal data is our top priority. You can expect us to handle your data sensitively and carefully and to ensure a high level of data security.

The Travelpinion Panel in Germany (the "Panel") is a market research portal operated by GIM DiCom GmbH. This Privacy Policy sets out the data practices for this panel, the app "Tripvista" (the "App") and the associated panel portal website https://tripvista.intervista.ch/ (the "Panel Portal", the "Website").

We collect and use your personal data exclusively in accordance with the relevant data protection laws, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Federal Data Protection Act and, as a market research institute, we are committed to the strict guidelines of our professional associations (in particular ADM guidelines, ICC/ESOMAR, international code on market, opinion and social research and data analytics).

In this privacy policy, we inform you about the most important aspects of data processing in the context of our activities and the data protection rights to which you are entitled. It describes how we collect and process your personal data (information that relates to a person and identifies them directly or indirectly) when you ("you", "your", "panellist") participate in our market research activities (the "panel") or use our services.

1. Contacts

1.1 Name and address of the person responsible

The controller within the meaning of data protection law is :
GIM DiCom GmbH
Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 12-16
65189 Wiesbaden
Tel.: + 49 (0)611 95 00 31-10
E-Mail: info@gim-dicom.com
Webseite: https://www.gim-dicom.com
Managing Director: Dr Jörg Munkes
Register court: Wiesbaden Local Court
Register number: HRB 31119
VAT no. DE325028885

1.2 Name and address of the data protection officer

The data protection officer of the controller is:
Lutz Goldschmidt
Goldschmidtstraße 4-6
Optingenstrasse 5
69115 Heidelberg
E-mail: datenschutz@gim-dicom.com

2. Legal bases

The legal basis for the processing of your personal data depends on the purpose of the data processing in each individual case. These are in particular:

• Your consent, which you can revoke at any time. All you need to do is send us an e-mail. The legality of the data processing that has already taken place remains unaffected by the cancellation;
• the conclusion or fulfilment of a contract with you or the implementation of pre-contractual measures;
• • the protection of our legitimate interests or a legal obligation, provided that your interests or fundamental rights and freedoms do not prevail.

3. Collection, processing and use of personal data

3.1 Use of personal data

We use your personal data for the purposes described below. We collect and process your personal data only to the extent necessary to fulfil the respective purposes. We will only use your personal data as described in this Privacy Policy. If we intend to use your personal data for purposes other than those described in the respective declaration of consent, we will inform you in advance and ensure that we have the necessary legal basis.

For communication purposes (for example, about our services or to inform you about our policies and conditions), we store personal data such as name, postal address, telephone number and e-mail address ("registration data", in the case of the panel also referred to as your "master data").

We collect personal data from panellists (panel participants) in addition to the registration/master data:

• for location measurement/tracking for various research areas;
• as part of surveys conducted online, by telephone or in person;
• via cookies and similar technologies;
• in the context of specific projects that require your separate consent, in the form of automated data collection via hardware (special devices that you receive from us) or software (special computer programmes or mobile apps) for web tracking in the context of internet and advertising effectiveness research (data about your use of the internet, streaming services and social media platforms and other (online) media channels and digital services in general) or geolocation tracking
• if you actively provide us with the data as part of your participation (e.g. via applications or devices)

3.2 Access data

When you access the website, i.e. if you do not register or otherwise transmit information, information of a general nature is automatically collected. This information (server log files) includes, for example, the IP address, the type and version of the operating system and browser, the referrer URL, the date and time of the server enquiry and similar. This is exclusively information that does not allow any conclusions to be drawn about your person.

This data is processed for the purpose of enabling the use of the website (establishing a connection), ensuring system security and stability in the long term, optimising our offer and for internal statistical purposes, i.e. on the basis of our legitimate interests. This data is not passed on to third parties or analysed in any other way. A personalised user profile is not created.

3.3 Contact form

You have the option of contacting us via a contact form on the website. In this case, the information you provide will be processed for correspondence with you or for the purpose of processing your enquiry and handling it. Which data is collected in the case of a contact form can be seen from the respective contact form. The information marked with (*) is mandatory. All other information can be provided voluntarily by the person making the enquiry.

The basis for the processing of your personal data is our legitimate interest in processing your enquiry.

You can object to this data processing at any time. Please send your objection to the following e-mail address: datenschutz@g-i-m.com. In such a case, your enquiry will not be processed any further.

3.4 Market and mobility research

The data collected as part of market and media research will not be used for advertising purposes, but exclusively for the anonymous, summarised evaluation of research studies. You will find detailed information (in particular on the evaluation of your data) in the respective survey, project or where you provide your data. The data from different surveys and projects can be combined. The prerequisite for the processing of your personal data is your consent to the project. We generally assume that the resulting contract is the legal basis for data processing.

3.5 Processing of personal data

We also process personal data to the extent necessary in the context of your participation in the panel and other interactions with you, as described in this privacy policy. The data processed in this context, the type, scope, purpose and necessity of its processing are determined by the underlying contractual relationship.

The processed data includes master data (e.g. name and address), contact data (e.g. email address and telephone number), survey data, passively measured data, participation and transaction data.

3.6 Categories of recipients of personal data

We treat your personal data as strictly confidential, unless we are legally obliged to disclose it. If personal data is processed by sub-processors, we ensure that the legal requirements are complied with. Your personal data will not be resold under any circumstances and will not be made accessible to unauthorised persons free of charge.

Recipients of personal data include IT service providers (e.g. hosting providers, App Store), partners for the crediting of bonus points, other companies in the GIM Group within the defined purposes or carefully selected research institutes.

If the level of data protection in a country in which the data is processed does not correspond to the applicable data protection regulations, we contractually ensure that the protection of your personal data corresponds to that in the EU/EEA at all times.

3.7 Storage period

We only process personal data for as long as this is necessary for the respective purpose.

If we store the data on the basis of a contractual relationship with you, this data will remain stored for at least as long as the contractual relationship exists and for as long as limitation periods for possible claims by/against us, statutory or contractual retention obligations exist, but for a maximum of 11 years.

In the case of research projects with apps, uninstalling the app does not automatically lead to the deletion of the data already collected. In this case, your data may continue to be used for the purposes described.

4. Download the Tripvista app

When you download the "Tripvista" app, certain required information is transmitted to the app store you have selected (e.g. Google Play or Apple App Store), in particular the user name, email address, the customer number of your account, the time of the download and the individual device identification number may be processed. This data is processed exclusively by the respective app store and is beyond our control.

5. Authorisations for the Tripvista app

The app requires the following authorisations:

• Internet access: This is required for data exchange
• Location release: This is required for the location measurement.
• Activity recognition: This is required for recognising the type of movement
• Bluetooth: This is required so that the app can recognise beacons.
• Notifications: These are used to invite you to surveys, for example.

6. Cookies and similar technology

We use so-called "cookies and similar technologies" on the basis of a contract or legitimate interests for the purposes of the panel on our panel portal, in the context of online surveys (the "surveys") and with our app.

6.1 What are cookies and similar technologies?

Cookies are small text files that are placed and stored on your computer or mobile device when you access websites. "First-party cookies" are set by the website you are visiting. "Third-party cookies" are set by domains other than the websites you visit.

Like cookies, local storage allows websites to store information on a computer or mobile device. Content in local storage is usually stored permanently, so it does not automatically expire after a certain time like cookies, and unlike cookies, data from local storage is not automatically transferred every time you visit the website that stored the data.

The Mobile Advertising ID is a unique identifier (ID) that is set by the operating system of your mobile device. This ID is passed on to apps that you install on your device and that may contain adverts. Most devices allow apps to access the Mobile Advertising ID by default. However, you may be able to change the settings on your device to prevent this ID from being passed on to apps. Read more about handling Mobile Advertising IDs in the help menu of your operating system. For Android devices this is the Android Advertising ID, for iOS devices the ID for Advertiser (IDFA). See the help menu of your operating system for more information on how to handle Mobile Advertising IDs. For Android devices this is the Android Advertising ID, for iOS devices it is the ID for Advertiser (IDFA).

We refer to cookies, local storage and the Mobile Advertising ID collectively as "cookies and similar technologies".

6.2 Use of cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies as follows:

• in the panel portal,
• in the context of online surveys,
• with apps,

• improve the performance of the respective websites and the user experience,
• contacts with advertising and online media,
  • by recognising when, how often, on which websites and within which apps certain online advertising, media and other content is displayed on your device,
  • Simulate online advertising exclusively on panellists' devices for advertising test purposes.

6.3 What types of cookies do we use?

Most cookies fall into one or more of the following categories:

Strictly necessary cookies
This type of cookie is required to provide the service explicitly requested by website visitors. Without these cookies, websites will not function or we will not be able to provide the requested services. For the purposes of the panel, we use strictly necessary cookies in the portal and in the context of online surveys.

Performance optimisation cookies
These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, e.g. which pages are the most popular, which method of linking between pages is the best and whether users receive error messages from individual pages. These cookies allow us to ensure a high quality user experience. The information collected by these cookies does not personally identify users. Rather, they are intended to help us optimise our website. We use cookies to optimise performance on the portal and in the surveys.

Targeting cookies
These cookies collect information about your browsing habits in order to show you adverts that are relevant to you and tailored to your interests. They are also used to control the frequency with which an advert is displayed and to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. While targeting cookies are usually placed by advertising networks or social media networks with the website operator's permission, we as market researchers set these cookies to measure whether and how often and where you have been shown certain adverts on the internet and to provide advertisers with summarised statistical data on the impact of their campaigns.

6.4 How can you prevent the use of cookies or delete cookies?

Most browsers accept cookies automatically. If you do not wish to do this, you can set up your browser so that it informs you about the setting of cookies and you only allow the acceptance of cookies for certain cases in individual cases or generally exclude them. You can also activate the automatic deletion of cookies when closing the browser. Furthermore, cookies that have already been set can be deleted at any time via an internet browser or other software programmes.

You can make privacy settings in your browser that block all cookies; however, this could have a significant impact on your browsing experience, as many websites may then no longer function properly. Your browser can allow you to delete all cookies as soon as the browser is closed. However, this option will also delete cookies that are actually stored permanently, which can save your personalised preferences on the websites you visit regularly. However, desired cookies can be retained if your browser allows you to specify which websites may always or never use cookies.

The procedure for checking and deleting cookies depends on the browser you are using. You can find information on this in the help menu of your browser. Please note that individual functions of our website may not work if you deactivate the use of cookies.

7. Collection of personal data from other sources

We also collect personal data about you from other sources, e.g. advertising networks, social media platforms and operators of websites and mobile apps. We use such secondary data to supplement the data we collect from panellists in the course of your participation in the panel.

If and when this is the case, we will either ensure that the source informs you in advance about the data transfer or we will inform you that we have received your personal data and provide you with all information required by law.

8. data security

We take technical and organisational security precautions to protect your personal data against manipulation, loss, destruction or access by unauthorised persons. This includes the use of recognised encryption methods (e.g. SSL encryption). Our security measures are continuously improved in line with technological developments. Access to your personal data is only granted to those of our employees, service providers or partners who require this access to fulfil a business purpose or to perform their duties.

We also take our own internal data protection seriously. Our employees and the service companies commissioned by us are obliged to maintain confidentiality and to comply with data protection regulations. Furthermore, they are only granted access to your personal data to the extent necessary.

9. participation in the research project by children

Participation in the research project is aimed at an adult audience. Participants must therefore be over the age of 18.

10. links to websites of other providers

Our panel portal may contain links to websites of other providers that are not covered by this privacy policy. After clicking on the link, we no longer have any influence on the processing of any data transmitted to third parties (such as the IP address or the URL), as the behaviour of third parties is naturally beyond our control. We can therefore accept no responsibility for the processing of your personal data by third parties. Insofar as the collection, processing or use of your personal data is associated with the use of the websites of other providers, please observe the data protection information of the respective providers.

Illegal contents were not recognisable at the time of linking. However, we cannot reasonably be expected to permanently monitor and check the content of the linked pages without concrete evidence of an infringement. If we become aware of any legal infringements, such links will be removed immediately.

11. your rights

As a data subject, you are entitled to various rights under the applicable law and under the given conditions, which we will take into account. These may be

Right to information

You have the right to request information from us as to whether we process your personal data and, if so, which data we process.

Right to rectification

You have the right to request the rectification of your inaccurate personal data and, where applicable, the completion of incomplete personal data in our systems. We make reasonable efforts to keep personal data in our possession or under our control that is used on an ongoing basis accurate, complete, current and relevant based on the most up-to-date information available to us.

Right to erasure

You have the right to request that your personal data be erased, for example if the data is no longer required for the purposes pursued. However, if we are obliged or authorised to retain your personal data due to legal or contractual obligations, we can therefore only restrict or block your personal data to the extent necessary in these cases.

Right to restriction of processing

You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data.

Right to data portability

You may have the right to receive your personal data, which we process automatically on the basis of your consent or to fulfil a contract, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to request the transfer of this data to a third party. If you request the direct transfer of personal data to another controller, this will only take place if it is technically feasible.

Right to object

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data at any time in accordance with the legal requirements. In particular, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for the purpose of direct marketing.

Withdrawal of consent

You have the right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time, in principle with effect for the future. Please note that by withdrawing your consent, you as a panellist generally also end your participation and are no longer entitled to any remuneration, participation incentives, expense allowances or bonuses that may be offered to panellists.

Right to lodge a complaint

If applicable, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a competent supervisory authority if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates data protection regulations.

For questions in connection with our data protection policy and for information regarding your rights and how to assert them, you can contact us using the contact details provided in section 1 of this privacy policy. If necessary, we reserve the right to request your identification in an appropriate manner for the processing of enquiries.

12. changes to the privacy policy

We expressly reserve the right to amend or change this privacy policy at any time. All changes and additions are at the sole discretion of the company.

The current status is April 2024.