Privacy Policy

Person in Charge

The data controller within the meaning of data protection laws, in particular the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is:

Dr. Bernhard Hoffmann

Data Protection Officer

We have appointed the following person as Data Protection Officer:

Tabea Hoffmann

Your Rights as a Data Subject

You may exercise the following rights at any time using the contact information provided, in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

  • Information about the data we have stored about you and how it is processed (Art. 15 GDPR),
  • Rectification of inaccurate personal data (Art. 16 of the GDPR),
  • Deletion of your data stored by us (Art. 17 GDPR),
  • Restriction of data processing if we are not yet permitted to delete your data due to legal obligations (Art. 18 GDPR),
  • Objection to the processing of your data by us (Art. 21 GDPR) and
  • Data portability, provided that you have consented to the processing of your data or have entered into a contract with us (Art. 20 GDPR).

If you have given us your consent, you may revoke it at any time with future effect.

You may file a complaint with a supervisory authority at any time, such as the supervisory authority responsible for the state where you reside or the authority responsible for us as the data controller.

A list of supervisory authorities (for the private sector) with their addresses can be found at: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html.
Processing Activities

Collection of General Information When You Visit Our Website

Nature and Purpose of the Processing:

When you access our website—that is, if you do not register or otherwise submit information—information of a general nature is automatically collected. This information (server log files) includes, for example, the type of web browser, the operating system used, the domain name of your Internet service provider, your IP address, and similar details.

In particular, they are processed for the following purposes:

  • To ensure the website displays correctly and is optimized.

We do not use your data to draw conclusions about your identity. However, we reserve the right to review the server log files retroactively if there are specific indications of unlawful use.

Legal Basis and Legitimate Interest:

Data processing is carried out in accordance with Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR based on our legitimate interest in improving the stability and functionality of our website, as well as ensuring system security and detecting misuse.

Recipient:

The recipients of the data may include technical service providers who act as data processors for the operation and maintenance of our website.

Retention period:

Data is stored in server log files in a form that allows for the identification of the individuals concerned for a maximum of 30 days, unless a security-related incident occurs (e.g., a DDoS attack).

In the event of such an incident, server log files will be retained until the security-related incident has been resolved and fully investigated.

Provision required or mandatory:

The provision of the aforementioned personal data is not required by law or by contract. However, without the IP address, we cannot guarantee the service or the functionality of our website. In addition, certain features and services may not be available or may be limited.

Objection:

Please read the information below regarding your right to object under Article 21 of the GDPR.

Contact Us

Nature and Purpose of the Processing:

Our website features a contact form that can be used to contact us electronically. If a user chooses this option, the data entered in the form is transmitted to us and stored.

You can contact us using the email addresses provided. In this case, the user’s personal data transmitted with the email will be stored. This includes the date and time the email was sent, the email address, IP addresses, and information about the servers involved in the email communication.

You can contact us using the phone numbers provided. When you do so, we collect log data that includes your phone number and the duration of the call.

Regardless of the method of communication you choose, we will record the content of your inquiry. Your data will be stored for the purpose of communicating with you individually.

Legal basis:

The data is processed on the basis of a legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) of the GDPR).

Our legitimate interest in processing your data is to make it easy for you to contact us.

If you contact us to request a quote, your data will be processed for the purpose of taking steps prior to entering into a contract (Art. 6(1)(b) of the GDPR).

Recipient:

The recipients of the data may include technical service providers who act as data processors for the operation and maintenance of our website.

Retention period:

Data will be deleted no later than six months after the initial contact has been processed.

If a contractual relationship is established, we are subject to the statutory retention periods. These are generally 6 or 10 years for purposes of proper bookkeeping and tax compliance.

Provision required or mandatory:

Providing your personal data is voluntary. However, we can only process your request if you provide us with the necessary information and the reason for your request.
Objection

Please read the information below regarding your right to object under Article 21 of the GDPR.

Newsletter

Nature and Purpose of the Processing:

To send our newsletter or similar information, we collect personal data that is submitted to us via an input form.

To ensure successful registration, we need a valid email address. To verify that a registration is actually being performed by the owner of an email address, we use the double opt-in procedure. To this end, we log the newsletter subscription, the sending of a confirmation email, and the receipt of the response requested therein. No other data is collected.
Legal Basis

Based on your explicit consent (Art. 6(1)(a) of the GDPR), we will periodically send you our newsletter or similar information via email to the email address you provided.
Recipient

We use a service provider for shipping, which acts as our data processor.

Retention period:

In this context, the data will be processed only as long as the relevant consent has been provided.
Provision is mandatory or required

The provision of your personal data is voluntary and based solely on your consent. Without your consent, we cannot send you our newsletter.

Withdrawal of Consent:

You may revoke your consent to the storage of your personal data and its use for sending the newsletter at any time, effective for the future. You can unsubscribe by clicking the link included in every email or by using the contact information provided in this Privacy Policy.

Provision of Paid Services

Nature and Purpose of the Processing:

We process the data you provide when placing an order in order to fulfill and process your order. This also includes returns, exchanges, and complaints regarding items.

Your personal information will be used only to the extent necessary to process this order and deliver the requested products and services.

Legal basis:

The processing of data necessary for the conclusion of the contract is based on Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR.

Recipient:

Recipients of the data may include technical service providers who act as data processors for the operation and maintenance of our website.

To fulfill the contract, we will provide your name and address to the shipping company responsible for delivery, to the extent necessary to deliver the ordered goods.

Depending on which payment service provider you select during the ordering process, we will forward the payment data collected for this purpose to the financial institution responsible for processing the payment and, if applicable, to any payment service providers we have engaged, for the purpose of processing payments.

Retention period:

We store this data in our systems until the statutory retention periods have expired. These periods are generally 6 or 10 years to ensure proper accounting and to comply with tax requirements.

Provision required or mandatory:

Providing your personal data is required under the terms of the contract. Without your personal data, we cannot process your order.

Creating a Customer Account

Nature and Purpose of the Processing:

On our website, you have the option to create a customer account. To do so, we collect your contact information and link your purchases to your account.

Legal basis:

The data entered during registration is processed based on the user’s consent (Art. 6(1)(a) of the GDPR).

Recipient:

The recipients of the data may include technical service providers who act as data processors for the operation and maintenance of our website.

Retention period:

In this context, data is processed only as long as the relevant consent has been given.

Provision required or mandatory:

Creating a customer account is optional. It is beneficial for fulfilling a contract with you or for taking precontractual steps, but it is not required. You may place orders as a guest at any time.

Withdrawal of Consent:

You can delete your customer account at any time by contacting us using the contact information listed below.

Use of the Google Analytics Tracking Tool

Nature and Purpose of the Processing:

If you have given your consent, this website uses Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google Ireland Limited (Google Building Gordon House, 4 Barrow St, Dublin, D04 E5W5, Ireland).

Google Analytics uses cookies that enable an analysis of your use of the website. The information collected is generally transmitted to a Google server in the United States and stored there.

IP address anonymization is enabled by default in Google Analytics. Because IP anonymization is enabled on this website, Google will truncate your IP address within EU or EEA member states. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the United States and truncated there. According to information provided by Google, the IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics is not combined with other data held by Google.

While you visit our website, your user behavior is tracked in the form of so-called events, such as:

  • Page Views
  • Starting a Session
  • Length of stay
  • User Engagement
  • First Visit to a Website
  • Scrolls (when a visitor scrolls 90% of the way to the bottom of the page)
  • Clicks on external links
  • Ads viewed or clicked on
  • Internal Searches
  • Interaction with Video Content
  • Downloads
  • Language Settings

In addition, the following information is collected:

  • Your approximate location (region)
  • Your IP address (in abbreviated form)
  • Technical information such as browser, Internet service provider, device, and screen resolution
  • Source (referrer URL) of your visit (i.e., which website or advertising medium led you to us)

For more information on the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, please visit https://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html and https://policies.google.com/?hl=de.

On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide the website operator with other services related to website and Internet usage.

Legal basis:

The legal basis for this data processing is your consent pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR.

Recipient:

We use technical service providers to operate and maintain our website and to analyze cookies; these providers act as our data processors.

Another recipient of the data is Google Ireland Limited (Google Building Gordon House, 4 Barrow St, Dublin, D04 E5W5, Ireland). Google Ireland Limited uses Google LLC in the United States (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) as a service provider.

Retention period:

The data we send that is associated with cookies is automatically deleted after: 14.

Google Analytics cookies have a maximum lifespan of two years. Data that has reached the end of its retention period is automatically deleted once a month.

Transfer to a third country:

Since Google’s headquarters are located in the United States, it cannot be ruled out that the data may be processed on Google’s servers in the United States. This poses the risk that your data could be processed by U.S. authorities for monitoring and surveillance purposes without you having any legal recourse. To ensure an adequate level of data protection, we have entered into EU Standard Contractual Clauses with Google, which can be viewed here: https://business.safety.google/adscontrollerterms/sccs/eu-c2c/

Withdrawal of Consent:

You can withdraw your consent at any time in the cookie settings, effective for the future.

You can also disable Google Analytics tracking on our website by clicking this link. Doing so will install an opt-out cookie on your device. This will prevent Google Analytics from collecting data for this website and this browser in the future, as long as the cookie remains installed in your browser.

You can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and related to your use of the website (including your IP address), as well as from processing this data, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: Browser Add-On to Disable Google Analytics.

Cookies

A cookie is a small data file that is created when a user visits a website and is temporarily stored on the user’s system. When the user visits this website again, the user’s browser sends the previously received cookie back to the server. The server can analyze the information obtained through this process. In particular, cookies can make navigating a website easier.

You can access detailed information about cookies—including which cookies are used on this website and for what purposes—at any time in the cookie settings.

Deleting Cookies:

You can delete individual cookies or all cookies. You will also find information and instructions on how to delete these cookies or block them from being stored in the first place. Depending on your browser provider, you can find the necessary information at the following links:

In addition, you can prevent so-called scripts from loading by default. NoScript allows JavaScript, Java, and other plugins to run only on trusted domains of your choice.

For information and instructions on how to manage this feature, please contact your browser’s provider (e.g., for Mozilla Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/noscript/).

Technically Necessary Cookies

Nature and Purpose of the Processing:

We use cookies to make our website more user-friendly. Some elements of our website require that the browser used to access the site can be identified even after changing pages.

The purpose of using technically necessary cookies is to make it easier for users to navigate websites. Some features of our website cannot be provided without the use of cookies. For these features, it is necessary for the browser to be recognized even after the user navigates to a different page.

We need cookies for the following applications:

You can find an overview of the cookies we use in our cookie consent tool.

Legal Basis and Legitimate Interest:

In this regard, data processing is carried out solely on the basis of our legitimate interest in designing our website to be user-friendly and in documenting consent in accordance with Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, in conjunction with a balancing test under Section 25(2) of the TDDDG.

Recipient:

The recipients of the data may include technical service providers who act as data processors for the operation and maintenance of our website.

Retention period:

Please refer to the cookie consent tool for the storage duration of each cookie.

Provision required or mandatory:

The provision of the aforementioned personal data is not required by law or by contract. However, without this data, we cannot guarantee the service or the proper functioning of our website. In addition, certain services may not be available or may be limited.

Objection:

Please read the information below regarding your right to object under Article 21 of the GDPR.

Provision required or necessary:

The provision of your data is voluntary and based solely on your consent. However, please note that in this case, you may not be able to make full use of all the features of this website.

Withdrawal of Consent:

You can revoke your consent in the cookie consent tool for future use.

Profiling:

Technically non-essential cookies allow us to evaluate the behavior of website visitors and analyze their interests. To do this, we create a pseudonymous user profile.

Information Regarding Your Right to Object Under Article 21 of the GDPR

Right to Object on a Case-by-Case Basis:

You have the right, at any time, to object to the processing of personal data concerning you that is carried out pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR (data processing based on a balancing of interests) for reasons arising from your particular situation; this also applies to profiling based on this provision within the meaning of Article 4(4) of the GDPR.

If you object, we will no longer process your personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or the processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

Recipient of an objection:

metaX Institute for Dietetics GmbH
Dr. Bernhard Hoffmann
Am Straßbach 5
61169 Friedberg (Hesse)
Phone +49 (0) 6031 – 16672 -70
Fax +49 (0) 6031 – 16672 -50
Email address order@metax-shop.org

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update this Privacy Policy to ensure that it always complies with current legal requirements or to reflect changes to our services in the Privacy Policy, such as when introducing new services. The updated Privacy Policy will then apply to your next visit.

Questions About Data Protection

If you have any questions about data protection, please send an email to the data controller listed above.

Copyright Notice

This Privacy Policy was created with the assistance of activeMind AG—the experts in external data protection officers (Version #2024-10-25).