Deutsche Welle (DW) social media privacy policy

I. General information

We maintain publicly accessible pages and channels on various social networks. Your visit to these pages and channels initiates a variety of data processing operations. 

We have no influence on the data protection settings of these third-party platforms. Nevertheless, we would like to inform you here about data processing in connection with our social media presences. 

Below we provide you with an overview of which of your personal data is collected, used and stored by us when you visit our pages and channels on these platforms. You are not obliged to provide us with your personal data. However, this may be necessary for individual functionalities of our pages and channels on social networks. These functionalities will not be available to you, or only to a limited extent, if you do not provide us with your personal data. 

When you visit our pages and channels, your personal data is not only collected, used and stored by us, but also by the operators of the respective social network. This happens even if you do not have a profile on the respective social network. The individual data processing operations and their scope differ depending on the operator of the respective social network and they are not necessarily traceable by us. The data collected about you in this context may be transferred to countries outside the European Union. For details on the collection and storage of your personal data as well as the type, scope and purpose of its use by the operator of the respective social network, please refer to the data protection declarations of the respective operator: 

• The privacy policy for the social network Facebook, which is operated by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland, can be viewed here
• The privacy policy for the social network Instagram, which is operated by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, can be viewed here
• The privacy policy for the social network YouTube, which is operated by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, can be viewed here
• The privacy policy for the social network X, which is operated by X Corp., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA, can be viewed here

II. Information on the processing of personal data by DW

1. The controller within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 7 GDPR is  

Deutsche Welle
Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 3 
53113 Bonn
Germany

2 The contact details of the Data Protection Officer are as follows:  

Data Protection Officer 
Deutsche Welle
Kurt-Schumacher-Strasse 3 
53113 Bonn
datenschutz@dw.com

3. When you visit our pages/channels on social networks, we process your publicly stored profile information and, in some cases, anonymised statistical information provided to us by the social network. We process this data to align our services more closelywith the needs and interests of our audience. Art. 6 para. 1 lit. e) GDPR serves as the legal basis for processing this data. This provision states that processing personal data is permitted if it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. The constitutional functional mandate of public broadcasting qualifies as such a public interest. It is derived by the Federal Constitutional Court from Art. 5 para. 1 sentence 2 of the German Basic Law. The functional mandate applies to all programming offered by public service broadcasters and also includes new forms of dissemination such as the dissemination of broadcasters' content in social network.. In other cases, the legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. Data processing serves to safeguard the overriding legitimate interest of DW. This legitimate interest lies in measuring and optimising the success of the social media presence.4. If you use our pages and channels in social networks to contact us (e.g. by sending us private messages), the data you provide us with will be processed by us in order to contact you and, if necessary, to respond to you. The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f) GDPR, whereby our legitimate interest lies in interacting with your message via a modern communication channel chosen by you. 

5. In addition, cookies may also be used that are stored on your end device when you visit our site or our channel even if you do not have your own profile or are not logged into it during your visit to our site or our channel. These cookies allow social networks to create user profiles based on your preferences and interests and to show you customised advertising. Cookies remain on your end device until you delete them. Details on this can be found in the above-mentioned privacy policies of the respective social networks. 

6. We delete stored data as soon as its storage is no longer required or you request us to delete it; in the case of statutory retention obligations, we restrict the processing of the stored data accordingly. 

7. We may transfer your personal data to third-party providers who help us to process your interactions with our posts on the platforms, e.g. messages or reactions. 

III. Your rights as a data subject affected by data processing

In principle, you have the right to information, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability, objection and complaint to a supervisory authority in accordance with the GDPR. However, the aforementioned rights may be restricted or excluded by law, in particular Section 63 of the Deutsche-Welle-Act, in specific cases.