Privacy

Privacy Policy

1. Privacy at a glance

The following information provides an overview of what happens to your personal data when you visit this website, register for a masterclass or attend our courses and concerts. Personal data is any data that can be used to identify you personally.

Some data is collected when you provide it to us, for example via the contact form, the newsletter sign-up or the course registration. Other data is collected automatically by our IT systems when you visit the website, mainly technical data such as your browser, operating system or the time of your visit. We measure website usage with Matomo without cookies and with shortened IP addresses. You can object to this at any time.

2. Controller

The controller responsible for data processing on this website and in connection with our courses and concerts is:

Trägerverein Forum Artium Georgsmarienhütte e. V.
Am Kasinopark 1–3
49124 Georgsmarienhütte, Germany
Phone: +49 5401 34160
Email: info@forum-artium.de
Represented by the board: Axel Zumstrull, Renate Berstermann

You can contact us at this address at any time with questions about data protection or to exercise your rights.

3. Hosting

This website is hosted by ipCONN GmbH, Kaiserstraße 10b, D-49809 Lingen (Ems), Germany. The personal data collected on this website is stored on the host’s servers. This includes in particular IP addresses, contact requests, communication data and website access data.

Hosting is based on our legitimate interest in providing our website securely, quickly and efficiently (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) and on the performance of contracts with our course participants (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). We have concluded a data processing agreement with the host pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR. The host processes the data only in accordance with our instructions.

4. General information and mandatory information

Legal bases

We process personal data on the following legal bases: consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, for special categories Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR), contract or pre-contractual measures (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR), legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR) and legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Where information is stored on or read from your device, Section 25 of the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG) also applies. The following sections state which legal basis applies in each case.

Storage period

Unless a more specific storage period is stated in this privacy policy, we store your data until the purpose of processing no longer applies. If you request deletion or withdraw your consent, we delete your data unless statutory retention periods apply. We retain documents relevant for tax and commercial law for up to ten years.

Recipients of personal data

We only pass on personal data if this is necessary to perform a contract, if we are legally obliged to do so (for example to tax authorities), if we have a legitimate interest in doing so or if you have given your consent. We only use service providers who process data on our behalf on the basis of a data processing agreement. The individual recipients are named in the following sections.

Your rights

You have the right at any time to obtain information free of charge about your stored data, its origin, its recipients and the purpose of processing (Art. 15 GDPR). You also have the right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR), erasure (Art. 17 GDPR), restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR) and data portability (Art. 20 GDPR). You can withdraw any consent you have given at any time with effect for the future. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR)

If processing is based on Art. 6(1)(e) or (f) GDPR, you may object to it at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will then no longer process the data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, or the processing serves the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. You may object to processing for direct marketing purposes at any time without giving reasons. You may also object to the use of photos and videos (Section 8) and to website analytics with Matomo (Section 9) without giving reasons.

Right to lodge a complaint

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority. The authority responsible for us is the Data Protection Commissioner of Lower Saxony (Die Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz Niedersachsen), Prinzenstraße 5, 30159 Hannover, Germany.

SSL/TLS encryption

This website uses SSL/TLS encryption. You can recognise an encrypted connection by “https://” in your browser’s address bar.

5. Data collection on this website

Server log files

With every visit, the host automatically collects information transmitted by your browser: browser type and version, operating system, referrer URL, host name of the accessing computer, time of the request and IP address. This data is not combined with other data sources. Processing is based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. We have a legitimate interest in providing the website securely and without technical errors.

Cookies and cookie banner

This website only uses technically necessary cookies that are required for its operation, for example to save your choice in the cookie banner. The legal basis is Section 25(2) No. 2 TDDDG and Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. We do not use cookies for analytics or advertising.

In the cookie banner, which runs on our own server using the “GDPR Cookie Compliance” plugin, you can switch off website analytics with Matomo (Section 9). You can change your choice at any time via the cookie icon on the website.

Contact form

If you send us a request via the contact form, we process your name, email address and message in order to answer your request. Requests are also stored in our website system. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR if your request relates to a contract or a course registration, and otherwise your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, which you give in the form. We delete the data once your request has been dealt with, if you request deletion or if you withdraw your consent, unless statutory retention periods apply.

Spam protection with Akismet

To prevent spam in the contact form, we use the Akismet service provided by Aut O’Mattic A8C Ireland Ltd., Business Centre, No.1 Lower Mayor Street, International Financial Services Centre, Dublin 1, Ireland. Your form entries, your IP address and technical information about your browser are transmitted to Akismet and checked for spam. Data may be transferred to the parent company Automattic Inc. in the USA. Automattic is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in preventing spam (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Requests by email or phone

If you contact us by email or phone, we store and process your request, including any personal data it contains, in order to deal with your concern. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR if your request relates to a contract, and otherwise our legitimate interest in handling requests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Deletion is handled in the same way as for the contact form.

6. Newsletter

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we process your email address and, if provided, your first and last name in order to send you information about courses, concerts and events at Forum Artium. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). After signing up, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription (double opt-in).

We use Mailchimp, a service of The Rocket Science Group LLC, 405 N Angier Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA, to send the newsletter. Your data is stored on servers in the USA. The provider is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. We have concluded a data processing agreement with the provider. Mailchimp analyses whether a newsletter was opened and which links were clicked so that we can improve our newsletter.

You can unsubscribe at any time via the link in each newsletter or by email to info@forum-artium.de. Your data will then be removed from the mailing list. To make sure we do not contact you again by mistake, your email address may remain on a blocklist (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

7. Registration for masterclasses

When you register for a masterclass, we process the data you enter in the registration form. This includes in particular your name, address, email address, phone number, instrument or voice type, repertoire, application documents such as CV and recordings, information on accommodation, meals, arrival and departure, and payment information.

We process this data in order to review your application, organise and run the course and invoice the course fees. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR and, for retention obligations under tax and commercial law, Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR. We only process information on food intolerances or allergies if you provide it voluntarily, on the basis of your explicit consent (Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR), and we only pass it on to the kitchen.

Recipients: The teacher of your course has access to your registration and application documents via a personal login to our course management system. The répétiteur receives your name and repertoire. The kitchen staff receive your name and your meal requirements. Everyone involved is contractually bound to confidentiality.

Course management: We use the butler.app software of Webbee GmbH, Mühlenstraße 8a, 14167 Berlin, Germany, for registration and course management. The booking module is embedded on our course pages, so your IP address is transmitted to Webbee when you open these pages. The data is stored in data centres in Germany. We have concluded a data processing agreement with the provider pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR.

Storage period: We delete the application documents of applicants who are not admitted to a course six months after the end of the course. We store all other data for as long as it is needed to run the course. We retain invoice-related data for up to ten years in accordance with statutory retention periods.

8. Photos and videos at courses and concerts

We take photos and videos at courses and concerts for documentation and public relations purposes (website, social media, programme booklets, press). Participants and audience members may be recognisable in them. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in documenting and presenting our work (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We only use individual portraits for posters or advertisements with your separate consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).

You may object at any time, without giving reasons, to the use of recordings in which you are recognisable, most easily by email to info@forum-artium.de. Your objection applies to future publications. Printed materials that have already been distributed cannot be withdrawn. We keep the recordings in our archive unless you object.

9. Website analytics with Matomo

This website uses the open-source software Matomo, which runs on our own server. Matomo records how many people visit our website, which pages are viewed, the region from which the website is accessed and which links bring visitors to us.

Matomo is configured not to set any cookies. Your IP address is shortened before it is stored, so it cannot be attributed to you. The data does not leave our server and is not passed on to third parties. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in an anonymised analysis of website usage in order to improve our services (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We delete the analytics data automatically after one year.

You can object to this at any time in two ways: switch off website analytics in the cookie banner, which you can open at any time via the cookie icon on the website, or use the field below. Your objection is stored in your browser. If you delete your browser data, you will need to object again.

10. Social media

This website links to our profiles on Facebook and Instagram. These are simple links. No data is transmitted to the providers unless you click on them.

When you visit our pages on Facebook or Instagram, Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Merrion Road, Dublin 4, D04 X2K5, Ireland, is primarily responsible for the data processing there. We are jointly responsible with Meta for the page statistics (“Insights”) that Meta provides to us (Art. 26 GDPR). The corresponding agreement is available at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum. You can exercise your rights directly with Meta or with us. Meta also transfers data to the USA and is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. The legal basis for operating our pages is our legitimate interest in communicating with our audience (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Last updated: October 2026