Privacy Policy

Last updated: January 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how WirtschaftsEcho ("we", "us", "our") collects, processes, stores and protects personal data of visitors, subscribers and business partners who use our website wirtschaftsecho.com and related services. WirtschaftsEcho is the controller responsible for the processing of your personal data within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation, "GDPR").

1. Controller and Contact

The data controller is:

• WirtschaftsEcho
• Ballindamm 27, 20095 Hamburg, Germany
• Phone: +49 911 456 6738
• Email: [email protected]

For all data protection enquiries, requests to exercise your rights, or complaints, please contact us at [email protected].

2. Categories of Personal Data We Process

Depending on how you interact with our website and services, we may process the following categories of personal data:

• Contact data: name, email address, phone number and message content when you use our contact form or write to us directly.
• Subscription and billing data: name, email address, billing address and payment details (processed by our payment service providers) when you purchase a subscription or corporate license.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, time zone setting and pages visited when you browse our website.
• Usage data: information about how you use our website, newsletters and services, including article reads, briefing opens and click behaviour.
• Communication data: records of correspondence, enquiries and support requests.

3. Purposes and Legal Bases for Processing

We process your personal data only where a legal basis under Art. 6 GDPR applies:

• Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR): to deliver subscriptions, briefings, sector reports and editorial consulting services you have ordered; to process payments; and to manage your account.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR): to send marketing newsletters, to place non-essential cookies (analytics and marketing), and for any other processing based on your freely given consent. You may withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future.
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR): to ensure the security and stability of our website, to detect and prevent misuse, to improve our editorial content and services, and to respond to business enquiries — provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override these interests.
• Legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR): to comply with commercial, tax and accounting retention requirements under German and EU law.

4. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website uses cookies. Essential cookies are required for the operation of the website and are set on the basis of our legitimate interest in providing a functioning service. Analytics and marketing cookies are set only with your prior consent, which you can grant, reject or configure through our cookie consent banner. You can change or withdraw your cookie preferences at any time. Detailed information on the cookies we use is available in our Cookies Policy.

5. Newsletter and Daily Briefing

If you subscribe to our newsletter or daily briefing, we use your email address to send you editorial content. Registration is based on your consent (double opt-in). Every email contains an unsubscribe link through which you may withdraw consent at any time. We record your subscription and opt-out status to demonstrate lawful processing and to respect your preferences.

6. Recipients and Data Transfers

We share personal data only with categories of processors and third parties that are necessary to operate our services:

• Hosting and infrastructure providers who host our website and store our data on our behalf under data processing agreements pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR.
• Payment service providers who process subscription payments. We do not store full payment card details on our systems.
• Email delivery providers who distribute our newsletters and briefings.
• Analytics providers, only where you have consented to analytics cookies.

Where data is transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area, we ensure an adequate level of protection through adequacy decisions of the European Commission or, where none exists, through Standard Contractual Clauses together with supplementary technical and organisational measures.

7. Retention Periods

We store personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described, unless statutory retention obligations require longer storage:

• Contact form enquiries: up to 12 months after resolution.
• Contract and billing data: 6 to 10 years in accordance with German commercial and tax law (§§ 147 AO, 257 HGB).
• Newsletter subscription data: until you unsubscribe, plus up to 3 months for documentation of the withdrawal.
• Cookie consent records: up to 12 months.
• Log file data: generally up to 30 days, unless required for security investigations.

8. Your Rights

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access (Art. 15): to obtain confirmation of whether we process your data and a copy of that data.
• Right to rectification (Art. 16): to have inaccurate data corrected and incomplete data completed.
• Right to erasure (Art. 17): to have your data deleted, subject to statutory retention obligations.
• Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18): to restrict processing in the circumstances described in the GDPR.
• Right to data portability (Art. 20): to receive data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
• Right to object (Art. 21): to object to processing based on legitimate interests, including profiling. You may object at any time to processing for direct marketing purposes, in which case we will stop such processing.
• Right to withdraw consent (Art. 7(3)): to withdraw consent previously given at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within one month of receipt of your request and verify your identity where necessary.

9. Right to Lodge a Complaint

If you believe that our processing of your personal data violates the GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence or place of work. For WirtschaftsEcho, the competent authority is the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection (HmbBfDI), Ludwig-Erhard-Straße 22, 20454 Hamburg, Germany.

10. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. These measures include TLS/SSL encryption of data in transit, access controls on a need-to-know basis, regular security reviews and staff confidentiality obligations. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure; therefore, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Data Protection of Minors

Our services are directed at professionals and adult readers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal data, please contact us at [email protected] and we will delete it without undue delay.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or technology. The version published on this page is the currently applicable version. Significant changes will be announced on our website or, where appropriate, communicated directly to registered users. This policy was last revised in January 2026.

13. Contact for Data Protection Matters

For questions, requests or complaints regarding data protection at WirtschaftsEcho, please contact:

• WirtschaftsEcho, Ballindamm 27, 20095 Hamburg, Germany
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +49 911 456 6738