Privacy Policy of betterSoil e.V.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect and process your data and informs you about your rights.

The legal basis is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. Provider and controller within the meaning of the GDPR

betterSoil e.V.

Executive Board: Azadeh Farajpour Javazmi, Dr Tobias Orthen, Marco Reichert

Register court: Local Court of Ulm

Registration number: VR 722084

Lise-Meitner-Strasse 9

89081 Ulm, Germany

Email: mail@bettersoil.info

Email: mail@bettersoil.de

Website: www.bettersoil.info 

Website: www.bettersoil.de

2. Collection and storage of data when visiting the website

When you access our website, the browser used on your device automatically sends information to our website server. This information is temporarily stored in server log files. The following information is collected:

• name and URL of the website visited,
• referrer URL,
• date and time of access,
• shortened IP address,
• web browser and operating system used on your device, and
• domain name or host name of the accessing device.

The IP address is stored only in shortened form. The final digits of the IP address are removed, meaning that we are generally unable to associate it directly with a particular individual.

The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. These data do not enable us to identify you. They are not combined with personal data. However, we reserve the right to review the data retrospectively if we become aware of specific indications of unlawful use.

The collection of these data is essential to ensure a smooth connection to the website and its convenient use, as well as the delivery and display of website content. We also use the data to evaluate system security and stability and for statistical purposes, particularly to optimise the website, its technology and our services.

The website is hosted by Mittwald CM Service GmbH & Co. KG, Königsberger Strasse 4-6, 32339 Espelkamp, Germany. betterSoil e.V. has concluded a data processing agreement with the hosting provider. Server log files are stored for seven days and are then deleted, unless longer retention is necessary to investigate a security incident. Further information is available at: https://www.mittwald.de/faq/service-informationen/faq/datenschutz-alles-wichtige-zur-dsgvo#h-5-wie-lange-werden-access-,-ftp-,-error--und-mail-logs-bei-mittwald-gespeichert?

3. Personal data and its use

Personal data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This includes, in particular, a person’s name, address, email address, telephone number and gender.

We collect, process and use your personal data only where you have consented to such collection, processing and use, or where another legal basis under the GDPR applies.

4. Duration of data storage and deletion

We do not retain data for longer than is necessary to fulfil our contractual or statutory obligations. Personal data that you provide to receive our newsletter, information and advertising materials, or invitations to our events will be stored only until you withdraw your consent to this use. If the purpose of storage no longer applies or a statutory retention period expires, the personal data will be restricted or deleted.

5. Data security

We protect your personal data through appropriate organisational and technical measures designed to safeguard it against accidental or intentional manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction, or unauthorised access by third parties. Our security measures are continuously improved in line with technological developments. Nevertheless, internet-based data transmissions may have security vulnerabilities, meaning that absolute protection cannot be guaranteed.

6. Cookies

Our website uses cookies to make our services more user-friendly, effective and secure. A cookie is a small text file that our web server transmits to the cookie file of the browser on your desktop computer, laptop or mobile device. Cookies do not damage your device and do not contain viruses, trojans or other malware. They enable our website to recognise you as a user when a connection is established between our web server and your browser. Cookies help us determine how frequently our website is used and the number of users visiting it. The content of the cookies we use is limited to an identification number that does not directly identify the user. The main purpose of a cookie is to recognise returning visitors to the website.

To optimise user-friendliness, our website uses session cookies. These are temporary cookies that remain in your browser’s cookie file until you leave our website and are automatically deleted at the end of your visit. We also use persistent cookies to record website usage statistically and evaluate it for the purpose of optimising our services. These cookies allow us to recognise automatically that you have visited our website before when you return.

The analytics technologies used after you have given your consent include, in particular, Google Analytics. These services are activated only after you have consented to the “Analytics” category.

You may consent to all cookies, reject them, or make an individual selection. Technically necessary cookies required to display the website are exempt from this choice. You may also configure your browser so that it does not accept cookies. Where you have given your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR, third-party cookies may be used for advertising and marketing purposes. You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future through the cookie settings on our website. Disabling cookies may, however, restrict the functionality of our website.

7. Google Tag Manager

We use Google Tag Manager, a service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Its parent company is Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Google Tag Manager is used for the central management and deployment of website tags. In particular, analytics and marketing services may be integrated through Google Tag Manager. As a rule, Google Tag Manager does not itself create independent user profiles. However, the technical provision of the service may involve the processing of technical information, especially the IP address and information about the device used.

Google Tag Manager is activated on our website only after you have consented to the relevant category, particularly “Analytics” or “Marketing”. The legal basis is your consent pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) GDPR in conjunction with Section 25(1) of the German Telecommunications-Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG). You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future through the cookie settings.

We use only our server-side Tag Manager. When the website is accessed, the user or client establishes a connection to our Tag Manager server.

8. Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Its parent company is Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Google Analytics enables us to evaluate the use of our website statistically and improve our services. In particular, the following data may be processed:

• pages and content accessed,
• date and time of access,
• approximate geographical region,
• browser and operating system used,
• device type,
• referrer URL,
• interactions with the website,
• shortened or anonymised IP address, and
• randomly assigned online identifiers.

Analytics data are transmitted through server-side tracking. The data are first sent to and processed on a server controlled or commissioned by us. Accordingly, the website visitor’s browser does not establish a direct connection to Google Analytics.

Selected data may subsequently be forwarded from the server-side tagging system to Google Analytics. Before transmission, the data are reduced or adapted in accordance with our technical configuration.

The server-side tagging server is operated by Netcup, a German hosting provider, and is located in Germany. Standard events such as page views, scroll depth and link clicks are tracked. In addition, e-commerce events relating to the sale of the betterSoil book are tracked.

Google Analytics is activated only if you have expressly consented to the use of analytics technologies. The legal basis is your consent pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) GDPR in conjunction with Section 25(1) TDDDG. You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future through the cookie settings.

The data transmitted by us to Google Analytics are automatically deleted after two months in the case of event data and after fourteen months in the case of user data.

Google may also process data in the USA. Google LLC is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Where necessary, data transfers are additionally based on the standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission. Further information about data processing by Google is available in Google’s privacy policy.

9. YouTube

Videos from YouTube are embedded on our website. YouTube is a platform operated by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Its parent company is Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. We use YouTube in enhanced privacy mode. According to YouTube, this mode means that YouTube does not store information about visitors to our website unless they play a video. However, enhanced privacy mode does not necessarily prevent data from being shared with YouTube partners.

As soon as you start a YouTube video embedded on our website, a connection is established to YouTube’s servers. YouTube is informed which of our pages you have visited. If you are logged into your YouTube account, you enable YouTube to associate your browsing behaviour directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account. After a video is started, YouTube may also store various cookies on your device or use comparable recognition technologies. In this way, YouTube may obtain information about visitors to this website. Starting a YouTube video may trigger further data-processing operations over which we have no control.

YouTube videos are embedded to present our online content in an appealing manner. This constitutes a legitimate interest within the meaning of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, although this legal basis is applied only subsidiarily to consent. The legal basis for processing your personal data through the embedding of YouTube videos is your consent pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) GDPR in conjunction with Section 25(1) TDDDG.

The legal basis for storing cookies and further evaluating the data collected is your consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future through our cookie settings.

Please note that the information described above may be transmitted to Google servers in the USA. Data transfers to the USA are based on the European Commission’s adequacy decision of 10 July 2023 concerning the EU-US Data Privacy Framework under Article 45 GDPR, as Google LLC is certified under the Framework. Where, in an individual case, no sufficient basis exists, we rely on standard contractual clauses pursuant to Article 46(2)(c) GDPR.

Further information about privacy at YouTube and Google is available at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

10. Newsletter

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we use your email address to send you our newsletter regularly. You can subscribe using the form on our website. A valid email address is required to receive the newsletter. You must also provide your company, where applicable, your first and last name, and the country from which you subscribe. You may choose whether to receive the newsletter in German or English. The date on which you subscribed is also stored.

We use a double opt-in procedure. Once you have subscribed, we send you a confirmation email containing a link through which you must confirm your subscription.

The newsletter is sent through Mailchimp, a cloud-based management platform provided by The Rocket Science Group, LLC, based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Mailchimp is a service used, among other things, to organise and analyse newsletter distribution. When you enter data for the purpose of receiving the newsletter, such as your email address, the data are stored on Mailchimp servers in the USA. By subscribing to our newsletter, you consent to the processing of your data by this service provider. Mailchimp also shares information with third parties.

Mailchimp processes the data you provide on our behalf. Mailchimp’s Data Processing Addendum (DPA) forms part of the terms of use applicable between us and Mailchimp and is therefore automatically incorporated into the contractual relationship. No separate agreement or handwritten signature is required. Further information about how Mailchimp handles your data is available at: https://www.intuit.com/privacy/statement/.

Our newsletters may contain tracking pixels and personalised links. These enable us to determine whether a message has been opened and which links have been clicked. This analysis is used to improve the content of our newsletter. Such performance measurement takes place only on the basis of your consent.

You may withdraw your consent to the storage of your data for newsletter purposes and unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time. You may use the unsubscribe link included in every newsletter or send your request by email to mail@bettersoil.info. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out on the basis of consent before its withdrawal.

11. Social media

Our website contains links to our profiles and pages on social networks, in particular Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.

The social-media icons displayed on our website are external links only. We do not use social-media plugins, sharing functions, embedded feeds or “Like” buttons.

Merely visiting our website does not, as a rule, establish a connection to the servers of the relevant social-media providers through these links. Only when you click a social-media link do you leave our website and are redirected to the website of the respective provider.

From that point onwards, the relevant platform operator may process personal data. This may include, in particular, your IP address, information about the device used, the date and time of access, and information about your user account.

If you are logged into the relevant platform at the same time, the platform operator may be able to associate your visit with your user account.

We maintain pages or profiles on the following platforms:

• Facebook and Instagram, provided by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited;
• LinkedIn, provided by LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company; and
• X, provided by X Corp.

On our social-media pages, we provide information about betterSoil e.V., our activities, projects and events. Depending on the platform, users may comment on, share, save or react to our posts.

Where we and the relevant platform operator are joint controllers for the processing of page or insights data, joint controllership is governed by Article 26 GDPR and the agreements made available by the respective provider.

The privacy policies of the respective providers also apply to the processing of personal data by those platforms.

12. Your rights as a data subject

If you wish to exercise one or more of the rights listed below, you may contact us at any time.

12.1 Right of access (Article 15 GDPR)

You have the right at any time to obtain from us, free of charge, information about the personal data stored concerning you and a copy of that information. You also have the right to information about the purposes of processing; the categories of personal data concerned; the recipients or categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, particularly recipients in third countries or international organisations; where possible, the envisaged period for which the personal data will be stored or, where this is not possible, the criteria used to determine that period; the existence of a right to request rectification or erasure of personal data, restriction of processing, or to object to such processing; the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority; where the personal data were not collected from you, any available information as to their source; and the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, together with meaningful information about the logic involved and the significance and envisaged consequences of such processing for you.

You also have the right to be informed whether personal data have been transferred to a third country or an international organisation. Where this is the case, you have the right to be informed of the appropriate safeguards relating to the transfer.

12.2 Right to rectification (Article 16 GDPR)

You have the right to obtain without undue delay the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning you. Taking into account the purposes of the processing, you also have the right to have incomplete personal data completed.

12.3 Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) (Articles 17 and 19 GDPR)

You have the right to request that personal data concerning you be erased without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies and insofar as processing is not necessary for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information, compliance with a legal obligation, reasons of public interest, or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims:

• The personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed.
• You withdraw the consent on which the processing is based pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) GDPR or Article 9(2)(a) GDPR, and there is no other legal basis for the processing.
• You object to the processing pursuant to Article 21(1) GDPR and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing, or you object pursuant to Article 21(2) GDPR.
• The personal data have been unlawfully processed.
• The personal data must be erased in order to comply with a legal obligation under Union or Member State law to which we are subject.
• The personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information-society services referred to in Article 8(1) GDPR.

Where we have made personal data public and are obliged under Article 17(1) GDPR to erase them, we will, taking account of available technology and the cost of implementation, take reasonable steps, including technical measures, to inform other controllers processing the published personal data that you have requested erasure of those personal data, insofar as the processing is not required.

12.4 Right to restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR)

You have the right to request restriction of processing where you contest the accuracy of the personal data; the processing is unlawful but you oppose erasure; we no longer need the personal data for the purposes of processing but you require them for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims; or you have objected to processing pursuant to Article 21(1) GDPR.

12.5 Right to data portability (Article 20 GDPR)

You have the right to receive the personal data concerning you that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or to request that those data be transmitted to another controller where technically feasible, provided that this does not adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

12.6 Right to object (Article 21 GDPR)

You have the right, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you. This also applies to profiling based on those provisions. In the event of an objection, we will no longer process the personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or unless the processing serves the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Where we process personal data for direct-marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data for such marketing. This also applies to profiling to the extent that it is related to direct marketing. If you object to processing for direct-marketing purposes, we will no longer process your personal data for those purposes.

You also have the right, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to object to the processing of personal data concerning you for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes pursuant to Article 89(1) GDPR, unless the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of public interest.

12.7 Automated individual decision-making, including profiling (Article 22 GDPR)

You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you, unless the decision: (i) is necessary for entering into or performing a contract between you and us; (ii) is authorised by Union or Member State law to which we are subject and which also lays down suitable measures to safeguard your rights, freedoms and legitimate interests; or (iii) is based on your explicit consent.

Where the decision is necessary for entering into or performing a contract between you and us, or is based on your explicit consent, we will implement suitable measures to safeguard your rights, freedoms and legitimate interests, including at least the right to obtain human intervention on our part, to express your point of view and to contest the decision.

12.8 Right to withdraw consent under data protection law (Article 7(3) GDPR)

You have the right to withdraw consent that you have previously given at any time. As a result, we may no longer continue the processing based on that consent in the future. An informal notification by email is sufficient. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

12.9 Right to lodge a complaint (Article 77 GDPR)

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. As a rule, you may contact the supervisory authority at your habitual residence or place of work, or the supervisory authority responsible for the registered office of betterSoil e.V.

13. Data security

We protect your personal data through appropriate organisational and technical measures designed to safeguard it against accidental or intentional manipulation, partial or complete loss, destruction, or unauthorised access by third parties. Our security measures are reviewed regularly and adapted to technological progress. These measures include the use of recognised encryption methods such as SSL or TLS. Nevertheless, internet-based data transmissions may have security vulnerabilities, meaning that absolute protection cannot be guaranteed.

14. Amendments

betterSoil e.V. may amend this Privacy Policy or the content of the website at any time without prior notice.

Last updated: July 2026