Privacy Policy

Data Protection & Privacy Policy

May 2020

Spark Networks Services GmbH is aware of the importance of personal data. That is why we have written this Privacy Policy for you. The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to help you understand what data we collect, why we collect it, what we do with it, and how we protect it. We encourage you to read this Privacy Policy carefully if you use our websites or services or conduct business with us.

Any personal data about you that we collect will be treated in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us using the contact information at the end of this Privacy Policy.

Clarification

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “Spark Networks Services GmbH” and all its subsidiaries and brands will be referred to as “We” and “Us” and “You” will be referred to as “Concerned Individuals”.

BSTDating is an online service aimed at bringing together people who are looking to build long-term relationships. To offer this service in the best possible conditions, we collect and use information concerning you.

Please note that this Privacy Policy applies to all our services, including the Website and the Applications (collectively, the “Services”). When you use our Service, you may find links to other websites, applications and services, or tools that allow you to share your information with other websites, applications and services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these other websites, applications and services and we encourage you to read the privacy policies of each of these websites, applications or services before sharing personal data.

If you do not agree with any of the terms of this Privacy Policy, do not use our Services.

Information about you

All of the information we collect about you allows us to provide and improve our Services and their functionality and is divided into three general categories:

  • The information you give us
  • Information collected automatically
  • Information we obtain from third parties

In many cases, personal information is only used in association with a pseudonym or anonymously.

What Personal Information we collect:

  • Excluding registration

When you browse our websites, we store data by default :

  • The IP (Internet Protocol address) of the computer used
  • The website from which your visit comes (referrer)
  • Sites you visit from our website
  • The date and time of your visit
  • The type of settings in your browser
  • The operating system

We use this data for statistical purposes without reference to individuals.

With registration
We only use personal information that you actively provide to us (e.g. contact information required for registration, profile information or photos). Most of the time, you are free to choose what personal information you wish to provide us with when you create your profile and/or perform a search. Personal information that is absolutely necessary for the execution of the contract is always marked separately as such (e.g. e-mail address) so that you know what information you need to provide in order to use the service and what you can do without.

  • We offer a Free Membership and a Paid Membership.

Free Membership

With the free membership, you will be asked to provide the following details, without which your registration cannot be completed :

  • Gender
  • Gender of the partner you are looking for
  • E-mail address
  • Password

We offer you a personality test once the registration is completed. First, we ask for the following information to identify partners who look like you:

  • Postal Code
  • Date of Birth
  • Size
  • Marital status
  • Education
  • Profession
  • Revenues

During the personality test, you will be asked to answer a series of personal questions (e.g. partner preferences, personal characteristics and traits sought in a partner). Information concerning ethnic origin or religious affiliation is considered sensitive personal data, which is subject to increased legal protection and which we protect using advanced technical means. We collect this data and other profile information (e.g. interests and preferences) as it forms the basis of our dating service and the basis of your profile on BSTDating. Direct contact information (e.g. email address, zip code) does not appear on the profile and is therefore invisible to other members.

Paid Membership

As part of a Paid Membership, we collect the following personal information during the payment process:

  • First and Last Name
  • Bank details or credit card number, which are collected by our trusted third parties.
  • Home address
  • Cookies

We use “cookies” to make your interaction with the platforms individually identifiable and optimized. A cookie is a text file that is temporarily stored in the computer’s memory (“session cookies”) or saved on the hard disk (“permanent cookie”). Cookies may contain information about your previous requests to the appropriate server or information about offers that have been made to you so far. Cookies do not allow programs to be run or viruses to be transmitted to your computer. Cookies are mainly used to provide personalized offers and to make the use of the Service as easy as possible.

Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. However, you can set your browser to refuse cookies or to ask you to confirm acceptance of cookies. However, if you choose to refuse cookies, you will not be able to take advantage of all our offers.

We use session cookies, partner and affiliate cookies, and persistent cookies.

Session Cookies: We primarily use “session cookies”, which are not stored on your hard drive and expire when you close your browser. Session cookies are used for login authentication and load balancing.
Cookies from partners and affiliates: We use these cookies if you access our services via an external advertising space. These cookies are used to settle accounts with our partners and do not contain any information about you.
Permanent cookies: We use “permanent cookies” to save your personal usage settings. This allows us to provide you with personalized offers and to improve our service, because you will find your personal settings on each new visit.
Lawfulness of processing and consent
We use your personal information only if it is lawful (in other words, if we are permitted to do so by law). Lawfulness, in particular for the purposes of Art. 6 and 9 of the General Regulation on Data Protection “RGPD”, implies

  • Consent (you must give your consent, for example to subscriptions to newsletters),
  • a contract (when processing is necessary to fulfill a contract to which you are a party, such as the Terms of Use and/or a Paid Subscription),
  • compliance with a legal obligation (e.g., withholding tax obligations and anti-money laundering controls, which may make it necessary to store or process data about you)
  • safeguarding your vital interests or those of another natural person (e.g., if we receive indications that a user is engaging in behavior that is dangerous to his or her own safety), and
  • “legitimate interests pursued by us or by a third party, unless the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of our users, which require protection of personal data, prevail”; legitimate interests are understood to mean
  • ensure the security and operation of our computer systems
  • improve and personalize our services, in particular by analyzing user behaviour
    use the services of third party providers for analysis and remarketing purposes, as outlined below
  • use personal data to examine, assert, exercise and defend legal claims.

If we use personal information for a purpose that by law requires your consent, we will always ask for your explicit consent and record your consent.

You may withdraw your consent and thus disengage at any time and/or object to any future use of your information.

You can always object to the processing of your data if you can prove a legitimate interest.

To withdraw or object, simply send us a message. You can do this by sending us an e-mail to the following address: [email protected].

If you have any further questions about the lawfulness of our collection and use of your personal data, please contact us using the contact details below.

Children
The Services we offer are not intended for children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 16. If we become aware that we have collected information from users under the age of 16, we will delete it immediately.

Tools used for data processing :

Use of analysis and remarketing programs
BSTDating analyzes the online behavior of users. We create anonymous user profiles to improve the quality of our service. To do so, we use Google Analytics, among others (including Universal Analytics), an online analysis service provided by Google Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States of America (“Google”), but with the extension “anonymizeIp”. Only abbreviated IP addresses are processed, without direct reference to individuals.

The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored on a Google server in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other websites and online services to visitors. The reports created by Google contain demographic and interest data generated based on your interaction with advertisements, or visits to advertising sites. Google may also transfer this information to third parties insofar as this is required by law or insofar as third parties process this information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You can prevent the installation of cookies by making a specific setting in your browser software. However, we would like to inform you that in this case you may not be able to use all the functions of this website to their full extent. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

You may object to the collection and analysis of your use of the Google Analytics Service. Use the browser add-on to disable Google Universal Analytics. You can also use the cookie settings described in Google’s Privacy Policy to prevent Google from using cookies for advertising purposes: https://adssettings.google.com.

To learn more about the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, please visit: www.google.com/analytics/terms/gb.html.

and http://www.google.com/intl/en/analytics/privacyoverview.html

Using Google DoubleClick
BSTDating uses the remarketing technology of Google (Google DoubleClick). Thanks to this technology, the users who have already visited the EliteSingles site and who showed an interest for this service, are targeted again to receive publicity on the pages belonging to the network of Google partners. These ads are different from those targeted to users who have not shown any interest in the services of EliteSingles. The display of ads is made possible by the installation of cookies, which are small text files stored on the user’s computer. These text files allow us to analyze your user behavior when you visit the site and then send you targeted product recommendations and advertising based on your interests.

If you do not wish to receive targeted advertising from Google, you can disable the use of cookies by Google by setting the opt-out settings to :

https://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/ or by installing the plug-in also available on this page.

If you do not wish to use the browser plug-in or mobile device browsers, you also have the option to disable the “Personalized Advertising” button in Google’s Ads Settings: https://www.google.com/settings/ads

Facebook Plugins

We use social plugins (“Plugins”), provided by the social network facebook.com, operated by Facebook Inc, 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, United States of America (“Facebook”). These Plugins are recognizable by a Facebook logo. By using a social plugin on an BSTDating site, your browser establishes a direct connection with Facebook’s servers. Facebook then transmits the content of the plugin to your browser and integrates it into the websites.

Thus, Facebook receives the information you have accessed on the corresponding pages of BSTDating. If you are connected to Facebook, Facebook can link your visit on BSTDating to your Facebook account. By interacting through Facebook plugins (for example, by clicking on the “Like” button), the corresponding information is transmitted to Facebook by your browser and is saved there. In order to learn more about the purpose and scope of the collection of personal information and the future processing and use of this personal information by Facebook, as well as your rights in this context and your privacy settings, we invite you to refer to the Facebook Privacy Policy.

If you do not wish Facebook to collect such personal information, we advise you to disconnect from Facebook before visiting BSTDating.

Use of Google+ social plugins
We use the “+1” button on the Google+ social network, operated by Google Inc, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States of America (“Google+”).

When you browse the pages of our websites containing this plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection with Google’s servers. The content of the “+1” button is transmitted directly to your browser and integrated by it into the websites.

We therefore have no influence on the amount of data that Google+ collects via this button.

According to Google, no personal information is collected without clicking on this button. The IP address is only collected for logged-in members.

For more information on the purpose and scope of the data collection, and on the future processing and use of this data by Google, as well as on your rights in this context and your privacy settings, please refer to Google’s privacy policies. Click on the “+1” button and on the corresponding FAQ (e.g. https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1319578 ).

If you do not wish that Google+ collects data concerning you, we advise you to disconnect from Google+ before going to BSTDating.

Use of Twitter social plugins
We use social plugins (“plugins”), provided by the social network twitter.com, operated by Twitter Inc, 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, United States of America. These Plugins are recognizable by a Twitter logo. By using a social plugin on an BSTDating site, your browser establishes a direct connection to Twitter’s servers. Twitter transmits the content of the plugin directly to your browser, which integrates it into websites. Thus, Twitter receives the information you have accessed on the corresponding page of BSTDating. If you are connected to Twitter, Twitter can link your visit to your Twitter account. By interacting through Twitter plugins (for example by posting a tweet on an article), the corresponding information is transmitted directly to Twitter by your browser and is recorded there. To learn more about the purpose and scope of the data collection, and the future processing and use of such data by Twitter, as well as your rights in this context and your privacy settings, please refer to the Twitter Privacy Policy at https://twitter.com/privacy.

If you do not want Twitter to collect data about you, we advise you to disconnect from Twitter before visiting BSTDating.

  • Zendesk

Our websites use the Zendesk Chat program, provided by Zendesk, Inc. 1019 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, United States of America (“Zendesk”) to improve communication with visitors. If you have any questions or experience general or specific difficulties with our products, website or company, please send us a message via Zendesk. You will be informed if someone is online to answer you immediately. If not, we will respond immediately during our business hours. In this context, we process data exclusively for the purpose of communicating with you.

When using Zendesk, the IP address of the device and the address of the page from which you access Zendesk are recorded. The IP address is anonymized. Zendesk also uses cookies and similar technologies. Data collected using these technologies may be transferred to and stored on a Zendesk server in the United States. You must be logged in to use the chat and your conversations are secure. In the event that personal data is transferred to Zendesk in the United States, Zendesk has complied with the EU-US data protection shield.

You can prevent the installation of cookies by a specific setting in your browser. However, we would like to inform you that, in this case, you may not be able to make full use of all the features of this website.

For more information, please refer to Zendesk’s privacy policy: https://www.zendesk.com/company/customers-partners/privacy-policy/.

  • Use of Payment Services

Stripe is a company operating in the technology sector. It develops software that enables individuals and businesses to receive payments online. Stripe provides the technical means, anti-fraud tools and banking infrastructure needed to operate online payment systems. Stripe processes payment information. To learn more about Stripe – and its privacy policy – visit https://stripe.com/.

Adyen is an online payment company that enables us to accept payments made online, from a mobile device and at the point of sale. In this way, payment information is processed by Adyen. For more information about Stripe – and its privacy policy – please visit https://www.adyen.com/policies-and-disclaimer/privacy-policy.

Other tracking and marketing tools

Trakken is a company that provides technology and services in the areas of Digital Analytics and Conversion Optimization. Trakken helps clients implement projects in the areas of e-commerce, media, finance, travel, telecommunications and consumer products. We use Trakken for our marketing activities. Therefore, personal data of our users (e.g. gender) is processed by Trakken. For more information about Trakken please visit https://www.trakken.de/.

Accengage develops and provides push notification technologies for mobile applications, websites and Facebook Messenger. We use Accengage to ensure that our customers can use and access push notifications. For more information about Accengage, please visit https://www.accengage.com/.

Adjust is a mobile analytics and attribution company that provides a business intelligence solution for mobile application vendors. Adjust combines advertising attribution with advanced analytics and stores statistics including rankings, ratings and analytics. We use Adjust for our marketing needs. To learn more about Adjust, please visit https://www.adjust.com/.

Experian provides solutions to help companies with decision analysis and marketing. We use Experian for our marketing needs only. In this way, your personal data (e.g. gender and age) is processed. More information about Experian can be found at http://www.experian.com/marketing-services/about.html.

IoSquare offers automated content moderation services. IoSquare processes data communicated in user messages. IoSquare has recently merged with the Swedish company Besedo. More information about IoSquare can be found at https://besedo.com/ .

Transfer to third countries and other recipients of personal data

We use, in part, external service providers to process your data. These companies have been carefully selected and commissioned by us, are bound by our instructions and are subject to regular inspections. If your data is processed by these companies outside the European Union, it is possible that your data will be processed in a country that applies a lower data protection standard than the European Union.

For example, information collected within the European Economic Area (“EEA”) may be transferred to countries outside the EEA for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We use adequate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission, or other mechanisms permitted by law, to ensure that the transfer of your personal data outside the EEA is lawful.

Personal data will be transferred to external service providers only if it is necessary to provide the service offered, for example to marketing companies, to process payment of membership fees, for debt collection (etc.). In this case, we will ensure that these external service providers are obliged, by contract or otherwise, to ensure that they apply an equivalent data protection standard.

  • Storage and conservation period

We store your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill our contractual and legal obligations or as permitted by law to meet specific needs, such as defending a legal claim.

When you close your account, we delete all information about you that we have in our possession. If it is impossible or unnecessary to delete your data for legal reasons, the data concerned will be blocked for further processing. The system is blocked in the following cases, for example :

  1. Your payment information and, where applicable, other data is generally subject to several legal storage obligations, imposed for example by the German Commercial Code (HGB) and the German Tax Code (AO). We are obliged by law to store this data for a maximum period of ten years for tax and control purposes. Only after this period has expired are we entitled to delete this data.
  2. Even if your data is not subject to any legal obligation, we may refuse to delete it immediately in cases permitted by law and block it. This applies in certain special cases, e.g. if we still need your data for the further processing of a contract or in connection with the assertion or defence of a legal claim (e.g. in the event of claims). The decisive factor for determining the duration of the blocking is the statutory limitation period. After expiry of the applicable limitation period, the data concerned will finally be deleted.
  • Tools used to protect your Data

We have implemented technical, organizational and physical measures designed to protect against unauthorized use, disclosure or access to the personal information we collect. All information that you send us when you register or log on to the site (for example, your contact information, profile information, payment information when ordering a paid membership) is encrypted. This encryption helps to protect the confidentiality of personal information exchanged between you and our web server, and helps us prevent misuse of personal data, for example, by intercepting it. The encryption method we use is SSL (Secure Socket Layer). It is a technology used and recognized by many players. Regarding our technique for collecting your personal information, we have implemented technical protections to store your personal information in a secure environment. Access to your personal information is limited to a few employees and subcontractors and is provided only to serve the purposes identified in this policy, to control quality, to respond to user complaints and to prevent fraud. The personal information we collect is stored in the European Union.

Some or all of the personal information we collect may be stored or processed on servers located outside your country or place of residence, where data protection laws may differ from the jurisdiction of the country where you reside. As a result, this information may be subject to requests for access by governments, courts or public forces in those jurisdictions or countries that make valid requests for such access. In accordance with the laws applicable in the relevant jurisdictions, we will ensure that all appropriate protections are in place so that the subcontractor in the relevant country is required to maintain personal information protection equivalent to that in force in the European Union.

  • Users’ rights

According to the RGPD, you have the following rights with regard to your information, which you may exercise at any time in written form.

  • The right to be informed

The right to be informed includes the obligation of the data controller to guarantee ‘fair processing of information’, generally through a privacy policy. It emphasizes the need for transparency about how we use our customers’ personal data.

  • The right of access

The right of access confers on the person concerned the right to obtain information from the data controller concerning his personal data. The data subject may request: (a) confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning him or her are being processed, (b) when they are being processed, the data subject may request access to and a copy of such data, and (c) request further information concerning the processing.

  • The right of rectification

The data subject has the right to obtain from the data controller the rectification of inaccurate personal data concerning him/her. If the data held by the data controller are obsolete or incomplete, the data subject may request that his/her data be completed.

  • The right to erase/the right to oblivion

The data subject may request the data controller to delete or erase his or her personal data from his or her system so that the data is no longer visible to third parties.

  • The right to limit processing

The data subject may request the data controller to stop processing his/her personal data; however, the data controller may continue to store such data.

  • The right to data portability

The data subject may ask the controller to receive information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format so that the data subject can pass on the data to another controller without the controller to whom the personal data were communicated obstructing this.

  • The right to object

The data subject may require the data controller to stop processing his or her personal data if there is no legitimate reason for the processing of such data.

  • The right to withdraw consent at any time

You may revoke the issued consent at any time. To cancel your consent, simply contact us. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of the processing based on the consent prior to its withdrawal.

  • The right to submit a complaint to a supervisory authority

If you do not receive a response from us within one month, you can file a complaint with the supervisory authority and try to obtain legal recourse.