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HOB Privacy Statement

Information Collection

We at HOB would like you, as our customer/prospect, to know how we treat your personal data. Our data protection guidelines, as well as a description of the methods we use for data acquisition and processing, can thus be found in the following sections.

We would like to assure you that we do not lease, sell or otherwise make available to third parties any user data which we receive via our Website, except in the manner explained in this data protection document. HOB feels as part of responsible disclosure that HOB web site users are aware of what information is being logged. User data can, under certain circumstances, be forwarded to legal entities or regulatory agencies or by their order made available. They may also be forwarded to HOB’s professional advisors subject to our professional secrecy obligation, in the event this is so ordered by legal authorities.

We consider it our duty to you to respect the trust you have placed in our company and to treat any data you have voluntarily given us in a responsible manner with professional care, as well as to store it securely. We endeavor to only collect those data which, according to our discretion, are required to serve our legitimate business interests.

To maintain and improve site quality and integrity, IP addresses are logged (the Internet Protocol addresses of computers). This log is a standard method of reporting to statistically find out which parts of our web site are visited and how long visitors spend there. We also log the type of browser and operating system you are using. We do not link IP addresses to personally identifiable information. This data, which is accrued through visits to our website, is not made available to third parties. Other HOB webpages with offers in other languages are subject to their own data protection guidelines.

If you so not want us to use your data, especially contact data, in the manner described in this data protection document, please read the corresponding section below. How you can cancel your subscription is described therein. HOB follows the principles of the “Safe Harbor” agreement of the European Union as regards the collection, use and storage of personal data and also endeavors to abide by the valid data protection laws and regulations in the customer´s/prospect´s respective country.

Web Analytics
In certain areas of the HOB Webpages, cookies are used, e. g., in the Webshop. Cookies are small text files that are stored in the visitor’s browser cache. Cookies make it possible to recognize a visitor‘s browser at a repeat visit. A cookie cannot read additional data from your hard drive, nor can it introduce computer viruses or determine your e-mail address.
The collected data are not used to determine the personal identity of a webpage visitor. Cookie data and such other data that is anonymously generated by a website visit are not collated in order to create a personal profile.

Information Use

At times we may request that you voluntarily supply us with personal information, such as your e-mail address. This can be used for purposes such as corresponding with us, registering at a site, making a purchase from our online shop, entering a sweepstakes, registering a new product, or participating in an online survey. The processing of data may be revoked by any website visitor at any time as regards future use.

Your personal data, in some circumstances, can be used to promote the marketing of our products, in that they are further adapted to the demands of our customers. Furthermore, this data can be used to help develop better products or services or to train our customers/prospects. In order to do this, it may occur that we make available your personal data to our business partners, e. g., to present to you new product developments that might be of interest to you. They may also be used to protect our own data.

Exchanging Data with Other Enterprises
Currently, HOB has no intentions of giving your data to any third party. We would, however, like to point out, that HOB reserves the right to exchange customer data with subsidiaries, affiliates, contractors and temporary employees. This is only done to further our legitimate business interests and only under the condition that the data are protected in such a way and within the scope that the policies of the EU-US “Safe Harbor” agreement for the protection of personal data or the lawful regulations in the respective country are met.

Furthermore, HOB reserves the right to forward customer data, within the scope of business transactions, etc., such as divestments, acquisitions, fusions, restructurings or liquidations, to other corporate bodies. With your permission, an exchange of your personal data with particular business partners is possible.

Notification of changes
Should we plan to use your personal data in any other way as was determined at the time of its collection, we will notify you of this via e-mail and request your permission, if we deem this necessary. It is your obligation to decide whether we may use your data in this other way or not. If, beyond this, we should make any important changes in our data protection guidelines that do not affect the personal data already in our database, we will publish an announcement in a prominent place on our website. In such cases in which we send such a notice per post, users who have stated that they want to be informed by us of changes, will receive an additional e-mail notification. Therein you will be informed of the changes in our data protection guidelines.

Piwik

This website uses Piwik, a web analytics open-source software. Piwik uses “cookies,” which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address anonymized prior to its storage) will be stored on the server of the service provider in Germany. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses “cookies,” which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site.

The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. In case of activation of the IP anonymization, Google will truncate/anonymize the last octet of the IP address for Member States of the European Union as well as for other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases, the full IP address is sent to and shortened by Google servers in the USA. On behalf of the website provider 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 services relating to website activity and internet usage to the website provider.

Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, please note that if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. Furthermore you can prevent Google’s collection and use of data (cookies and IP address) by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en-GB.

You can refuse the use of Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set on the computer, which prevents the future collection of your data when visiting this website:

Disable Google Analytics

Further information concerning the terms and conditions of use and data privacy can be found at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/gb.html

Please note that on this website, Google Analytics code is supplemented by “anonymizeIp” to ensure an anonymized collection of IP addresses (so called IP-masking).

 

Declining E-mail Offers

Although most customers tell us they appreciate receiving notice of these opportunities, we recognize the importance of providing you with choices. At any time after receiving an e-mail offer from HOB, you may request to discontinue receiving these offers. All e-mail offers that you receive from HOB will tell you how to decline further e-mail offers. Our partners may have different policies.

Children

While HOB's product ad campaigns and marketing materials may be viewed by children, we do not wish to receive data from children. HOB encourages parents and guardians to spend time online with their children and to participate in the interactive activities offered on the sites their children visit. No information should be submitted to, or posted at, HOB's web site by visitors under 18 years of age without the consent of their parent or guardian.

Change of this statement

HOB's privacy policy is subject to change at any time and without notice.