Privacy Policy

This policy was last updated on 8/23/2023.

This is the privacy policy (“policy”) for scientificamerican.com and the 麻豆传媒AV mobile apps (collectively our “web properties”), which are operated and provided by Springer Nature America, Inc. (we, us and our). Springer Nature America, Inc. (麻豆传媒AV) is located at 1 New York Plaza New York, NY 10004. We can also be contacted at sadigital@sciam.com.

We will only use the personal data gathered over this website as set out in this policy. Below you will find information on how we use your personal data, for which purposes your personal data is used, with whom it is shared and what control and information rights you may have.

I. Summary of our processing activities

We publish magazines, eBooks, news and data. Some of this material is freely available, some of it is only available to subscribers. The following summary offers a quick overview of the data processing activities that are undertaken on our website. You will find more detailed information under the indicated sections below.

When you visit our web properties for informational reasons without setting up an account, only limited personal data will be processed in order to service your request (see III).
If you are identified as belonging to a customer organization then we collect information in order to be able to provide usage reporting to that customer.
If you register for one of our services or subscribe to our newsletters, further personal data will be processed in the scope of such services (see IV and V).
Furthermore, your personal data will be used to provide you with relevant advertising for our services and products (see VII) and for statistical analysis that helps us to monitor the performance of our internet properties, improve those properties, and personalize your experience (see VIII). Additionally, we improve your website experience with third party content (see IX).
Your personal data may be disclosed to third parties (see X) that might be located outside your country of residence; potentially, different data protection standards may apply (see XI).
We have implemented appropriate safeguards to secure your personal data (see XII) and retain your personal data only as long as necessary (see XIII).
Under the legislation applicable to you, you may be entitled to exercise certain rights with regard to the processing of your personal data (see XIV).

II. Definitions

Personal data: means any information relating to a natural person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, or an online identifier.
Processing: means any operation which is performed on personal data, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation or any kind of disclosure or other use.

III. Informational use of our web properties

When you visit our web properties for informational reasons, i.e. without registering for any of our provided services listed under IV and without providing us with personal data in any other form, we may automatically collect additional information about you which will contain personal data only in limited cases and which is automatically recognized by our server, such as:

Examples might include:

- your IP address;

- your device type, name and IDs;

- the date and time of your requests;

- the content of your requests;

- information on your browser version;

- your screen resolution;

- information on your operating system, including language settings.

We use such information only to assist us in providing an effective service (e.g. to adapt our web properties to the needs of your device or to allow you to log in to our web properties), and to collect broad demographic information for anonymized, aggregated use.

If you are identified by IP or equivalent method as belonging to a customer organization such as university or a company then we will also collect the identity of that organization and use it to create usage reports which show the organization how much of the content we publish is being read by their students, members or employees. This information does not contain anything related to a personal login unless (a) you are a nominated administrator for that organization or (b) your organization specifically requires it as a part of a usage-based access contract.

The personal data automatically collected is necessary for us to provide the website, Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. b GDPR, and for our legitimate interest to guarantee the web properties’ stability and security, Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. f GDPR.

IV. Registration for our services

Access to subscription content is provided via a variety of mechanisms such as IP site licenses, login via third party federated identity providers or by a personal account with us. If your access to our content is provided by an organization or an institution like a university or a company then they choose the access method on your behalf. A personal account is required to purchase content directly from us, or to receive personal services like newsletters and alerts.

If you need to create a personal login with us then we will store and process the following:

- Information (such as your name, user name and email address) that is provided by registration;

- Information in connection with an account sign-in facility (e.g. log-in and password details);

- Communications sent by you (e.g. via e-mail or website communication forms).

The information that is necessary for the performance of the service is labeled accordingly. All further information is provided voluntarily.

We will process the personal data you provide to:

Examples might include:

- Identify you at sign-in;

- Provide you with the services and information offered through the website or which you request;

- Administer your account;

- Communicate with you;

- (behavioral) Advertising and profiling

- Facilitate attendance of conference

- Provide access (where appropriate) to other Springer Nature group content if you so request

For this, the legal basis is Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. b GDPR. The use of your personal data for behavioral advertising and profiling is done with consent, Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. a GDPR.

We use the personal data and contact data you provide by registration to inform you directly about our additional products and services and to improve your experience on our web properties. The use of your personal data for directly advertising related products and services is with consent, Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. a GDPR.

You can object to the use of your personal data for direct marketing at any time. We will then refrain from any processing to the extent it is related to such purposes. You may opt-out of direct marketing via opt-out links in any marketing communication or via user profile pages on the website (where available). You can also inform us about your objection by contacting our Data Protection Office at dataprotection@springernature.com.

We offer notification services such as table-of-contents or new book alerts. This service is provided by means of a double-opt-in. Thus, you will receive an email containing a link by which you can confirm that you are the owner of the email address and wish to be notified via our email service. You can end this service by opting out via the link provided in each notification email. This notification service is based on your consent, Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. a GDPR.

Registration data is kept until such time as an account deletion request is made. If such a request is received we will erase your data within 30 days. Statutory storage obligations or the need for legal actions that may arise from misconduct within the services or payment problems can lead to a longer retention of your personal data. In this case, we will inform you accordingly.

V. Information about the specific uses that require registration

1. Subscription store

For the use of our store you have to set up an account as described under IV. Your customer account retains your personal data for future purchases. You can change your personal data in your account’s settings. To delete your account, please contact customer service at help@sciam.com. If you have made a purchase with your account, your account cannot be deleted. However, we can render your account inoperable by removing your personal information, including your email address. We will not perform any action to your account without your expressed permission. This processing is based on Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. b.

When purchasing a product that requires shipping we may share the delivery data with a Contractor to provide shipment tracking to you. Such a transfer will be based on data processing agreements in accordance with Article 28 of the GDPR. Therefore, our Contractors will only use your personal data to the extent necessary to perform their functions and will be contractually bound to process your personal data only on our behalf and in compliance with our requests.

By statutory law we are required to retain the provided financial data in relation to transactions (including address, payment and order information) for ten years. However, after 2 years we will restrict the processing of your personal data to comply with the statutory requirements and will not process the personal data any further. Regarding this, the retention of your personal data is based on Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. c GDPR.

2. Article alerts and Newsletters

With your email address you can subscribe to our newsletters that provide you with the latest news about our products and services if you consent to receiving such newsletters.

You can further sign up for our newsletter via Facebook. For this purpose, we are using Facebook Lead Ads, a service by Facebook Inc., 1601 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304 U.S. ("Facebook"). Lead Ads makes it even easier for you to sign up for our newsletter as the form will already be pre-populated via Facebook with your data and you only need to submit the form. Of course, you have the opportunity to amend and review the data before submission. For more information on how lead ads works see here - .

If you sign up for editorial newsletters on Facebook and consent to receiving marketing emails or Facebook advertisements, you may or may not receive Facebook advertisements about products or services from 麻豆传媒AV.

If you reside in the EU please be aware that your personal data will be transferred back to Facebook to facilitate advertisements. Facebook processes this data also in countries outside of the EU where a different level of data protection applies and access to the data by authorities and public bodies is possible. With your consent, you also agree to the transfer to Facebook in third countries, including the USA.

The legal basis for this processing is Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. a GDPR. Your email address will be retained as long as you subscribe to our newsletters.

You can unsubscribe from this service by opting out via the link provided in each newsletter. If you inquired about a product or service and no longer wish to be contacted, you can email , citing the name of the product or service, and request that your email address be removed.

We utilize tools such as Acoustic, Amazon SES, and SendGrid to send emails. If you do not wish for your data to be processed by these providers, please email help@sciam.com – however, if you do not allow for this processing you will not be able to access our web properties or newsletters. For additional information on the use your data by these providers, please refer to:

VI. Automated decision making

We do not use your personal data for automated decision making which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you, however we do use your personal data to offer you content and services which we believe may be of interest and to improve your experience on our web properties.

VII. Online advertising, e-commerce and related tools

We use marketing services to provide you with offers. For this purpose, we place advertisements via advertising service providers that use cookies and/or web beacons that are activated when you visit our website. Cookies are small text files that are stored locally in the internet browser and allow recognition of a user. Web beacons are small image files, which allow log file recording and log file analysis. To present online advertising we use the services of, inter alia, Google AdExchange and AdSense, Microsoft Advertising. Respective advertisement is labeled as “ADVERTISEMENT” or “AdChoices”.

The cookies and web beacons enable our service providers to collect information about you and your behavior, e.g. IP address, browser information, information on user activities and click data, and to recognize visitors to our website under a pseudonym and only display products that are likely to be of interest to our visitors. Most of the tools use pseudonymised or aggregated data, e.g. shortened IP addresses. The data is used to analyze the use of our website and, thereby, improve and optimize the website and to display advertising tailored to your needs. We collect this data (to improve your website experience and to promote our products and services). You can update your preferences via the “Use of cookies/Do not sell my data” link in the page footer.

Personal data collected via first party cookies is based on consent, Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. a GDPR, to improve your website experience and promote our products and services. We collect this data via a cookie management tool; you can update your preferences via the “Use of cookies/Do not sell my data” link in the page footer.

Personal data collected via third party targeting cookies is based on your consent, Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. a GDPR. You can update your preferences via the “Use of cookies/Do not sell my data” link in the page footer.

Please note that we neither have the control of the extent of personal data that is collected by the respective plug-in provider nor do we know the processing’s purpose or the period your personal data will be retained. Your personal data will be transferred to and processed inside and outside of the EEA.

XI.

It is possible that the above providers may disclose your personal data to its business partners, third parties or authorities.

You can prevent the installation of such a cookie (i) by a respective setting of your browser that blocks the installation of third party cookies, (ii) by deactivating the interest-related advertising under https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated, (iii) generally blocking cookies under https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996 or (iv) by deselecting the option for tracking cookies via the Springer Nature cookie preference centre.

Further information about the processing of your personal data in the provider’s course of operation is provided by its privacy policy. Moreover, you will be provided with further information with regard to your rights and settings concerning privacy. You can access the provider’s privacy policy by following these links:

(, )

On our web properties, we use the remarketing or “Similar audiences” feature of AdWords offered by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 USA, hereinafter referred to as “Google”

Google uses cookies/tracking technologies, i.e., text files that are stored on your computer and that allow us to analyze your use of our web properties. Information generated by Cookies/tracking technology on your use of our web properties (including your IP address) will be transferred to a Google server in the U.S. and stored on that server. After that, the last three digits of the IP address will be deleted by Google so that it is no longer possible to clearly match this IP address with personal data. Google will use this information to analyze your use of the our web properties, to create activity reports for us and to provide additional services in connection with the use of the website and the internet. Furthermore, Google may transfer this information to third parties, if it is required to do so in accordance with statutory provisions or if third parties process data on behalf of Google.

Third party providers, including Google, place advertisements on websites on the internet. Third party providers, including Google, use stored cookies/tracking information to place advertisements based on previous visits of a user on this website.

For additional information on the anonymous analysis of your search behavior please refer to:

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de
http://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/

You may object to data collection and storage for the purpose of remarketing at any time - this objection will be effective for the future, but not retroactively - by deactivating interest-based advertising in Google or by deactivating the services on the website of the Network Advertising Initiative. Note: in that case, you may not be able to use all features of our web properties anymore. By using this website, you grant your consent to the processing of data collected about you by Google in the manner and for the purpose described above.

Facebook Custom Audience

This Website uses retargeting tags and Custom Audience of Facebook Inc., 1601 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304 U.S., hereinafter referred to as “Facebook”.

When you visit our web properties, remarketing tags will build a direct connection between your browser and the Facebook server. This way, Facebook learns that you have visited our web properties with your IP address. This will enable Facebook to match your visit of our pages with your user account. The information obtained this way can be used to display Facebook ads. Please note that we do not receive any information on the contents of data transferred and their use by Facebook.

With regard to the use of Custom Audience we would like to point out that Facebook and third parties use cookies, web beacons or similar technologies to collect or gather information on this website. Based on the data gained we can make our Facebook activities more efficient and, e.g., arrange for contents or ads to be shown only to visitors of our web properties. The data collected this way will be encrypted and transferred to Facebook and is anonymous for us, e.g., we cannot see personal data of individual users.

We may also utilize other tools, such as Permutive, to build anonymous behavioral segments, and pass the status of membership of these segment(s) into the Facebook cookie. This will enable membership of these segments to be used when building Custom Audiences within Facebook.

For further information on the privacy policy of Facebook and Custom Audience please refer to https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/ or https://www.facebook.com/business/a/online-sales/custom-audiences-website.

If you do not wish your data to be collected via Custom Audience, you can deactivate custom Audience using this .

We utilize tools such as Piano and Stripe to manage your subscriptions, identity, payments, and authorizations. If you do not wish for your data to be processed by these providers, please email help@sciam.com – however, if you do not allow for this processing you will not be able to access our web properties. For additional information on the use your data by these providers, please refer to:

VIII. Analytics

OneTrust

We use Onetrust, a service provided by OneTrust LLC, Dixon House, 1 Lloyd's Avenue, London, EC3N 3DQ (“Onetrust”). We use Onetrust services to provide information about the cookies and other tracking technology used on our website and to manage user preferences on that behalf.

Onetrust places the following cookies on your computer:

OptanonAlert, OptanonConsent, _dc_gtm_UA-xxxxxxxx
This allows us to identify if the cookie banner is displayed, which choices you made and how to act upon those choices (Opt-in or Opt-out of cookie categories). These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences. To review your current settings please go to our Privacy Preference Centre. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

You can set your browser to block these cookies, but some parts of the site may then not perform as designed.

For more information about privacy policies and Onetrust, please refer to the Onetrust website: https://Onetrust.com/privacy-notice/.

For statistical analyses we use web analytics services such as Google Analytics, to collect information about the use of this site.

General tracking information

The tools collect information such as:

- Device and browser information (operating system information, Mobile device identifier, mobile operating system, etc.)

- IP address

- Asset accessed, URL click stream (the chronological order of our internet sites you visited)

- Geographic location

- Time of visit

- Referring site, application, or service

We use the information we get from the providers only to determine the most useful information you are looking for, and to improve and optimize our web properties.

We will track your behavior online for the purposes described above; this data will not be shared outside of Springer Nature and our processors as outlined below. You can stop this tracking using our Privacy Preference Centre. The legal basis for this processing is consent, Art. 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit.a GDPR, to analyze our web properties’ traffic, improve the user’s experience and optimize the website in general.

We do not share information on your web behavior with any 3rd party providers without your explicit consent. Consent is provided by clicking the appropriate button on the web banner that appears on your first visit to the website. You can update or withdraw your consent by visiting our Privacy Preference Centre. The legal basis for this processing is Art. 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. a GDPR and represents your consent to accepting 3rd party targeting cookies.

Depending on the provider the information generated about your use of the website may be transferred to and processed in third countries, e.g. the United States. For further information about the potential risks of a cross border data transfer please refer to section XI. The tools collect only the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit this site, rather than your name or any other identifying information, unless noted. The provider will use this information in order to evaluate your use of the web properties, to compile reports on website activities and to provide other services relating to website and internet use to us.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). On our behalf Google will use the information generated by cookies and IP address for the purpose of evaluating your use of our web properties, compiling reports on activity and providing other services relating to web property activity and internet activity in connection with the use of our web properties and according to your consent preferences. You can access the Google's privacy policy here:

The legal basis for the data transfer is Art. 28 GDPR in conjunction with the data processing agreement.

You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser or by amending your preferences.

Chartbeat

We use Chartbeat, a web analytics service. On our behalf Chartbeat will use the information generated by a cookies and IP address for the purpose of evaluating your use of our web properties, compiling reports on activity and providing other services relating to web property activity and internet activity in connection with the use of the web properties and according to your consent preferences. You can access the Chartbeat privacy policy here:

The legal basis for the data transfer is Art. 28 GDPR in conjunction with the data processing agreement.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser or by amending your preferences.

Segment

We use Segment, a web analytics service and customer data platform. On our behalf Segment will use the information generated by cookies and IP address for the purpose of evaluating your use of our web properties, compiling reports on activity and providing other services relating to web property activity and internet activity in connection with the use of the web properties and according to your consent preferences. Depending on your usage, Segment may also possess your email address. You can access the Segment privacy policy here:

The legal basis for the data transfer is Art. 28 GDPR in conjunction with the data processing agreement.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser or by amending your preferences.

IX. Third party content, social media plugins

The web properties may contain links to third parties. We are not responsible for the content and the data collection on respective third party properties; please check the privacy policy of respective websites for information of respective websites’ data processing activities.

1. Social Media plug-ins

We use the following social media plug-ins: Facebook, Twitter. This allows you to communicate with such services and like or comment from our web properties. Social media plug-ins enable a direct communication between your device and the servers of the social media provider, allowing the social media provider to communicate with you and collect information about you using our web properties. This processing is based on Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. f GDPR and represents our legitimate interest to improve your experience and to optimize our services.

Transfer of personal data takes place whether you have an account with the provider or not.

Further information about the processing of your personal data in the provider’s course of operation is provided via their respective privacy policy. Moreover, you will be provided with further information with regard to your rights and setting concerning privacy.

a. Facebook Social plugins

We use so-called social plugins („plugins“) of the social networking site facebook.com provided by Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ("Facebook"). The plugins can be identified by one of Facebook’s logos (white “f” on blue tile or a “thumps-up”-sign) or by the additional text “Facebook Social Plugin”. The list of Facebook Social Plugins and their appearance can be accessed via: http://developers.facebook.com/plugins.

If a user visits using such a plugin, the user’s browser directly connects to Facebook’s servers. The plugin and its content are made available directly on Facebook’s servers.

Due to the integration of the plugin Facebook collects the information that a user is visiting the corresponding property. If the user is logged in on Facebook at the moment he or she visits the property, Facebook may be able to connect the session to the user’s Facebook account. If the user interacts with the plugin – for example if he or she presses the like button or comments on something – the user’s browser transmits this information to Facebook. Facebook stores this information. If a user is not a member of Facebook, Facebook may collect and store the user’s IP-address. Facebook states that it only collects anonymized IP-addresses in Germany.

The reason for and scope of the data acquisition and information about the way in which the data is processed and used by Facebook, as well as the user’s rights in this respect and settings options for protecting the users privacy can be found under: http://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

If the user is a member of Facebook and does not wish Facebook to collect personal data via this homepage and to link this with his data stored on Facebook, the user needs to log off from Facebook before going to this homepage.
The user may also block Facebook’s plugins using add-ons for the user’s browser, for example the “Facebook Blocker“.

b. Twitter

We use the twitter-button. The button is provided by Twitter Inc., 795 Folsom St., Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA. (“Twitter”) The buttons are marked using the text “Twitter” or “Follow” and a stylized blue bird. The button enables the user to share on Twitter or to follow the provider on Twitter.

If a user visits one of the properties using such a button, the user’s browser directly connects to Twitter’s servers. The Twitter-button and its content are loaded directly from Twitter’s servers. According to the provider’s knowledge, Twitter collects the user IP-address and the URL when the button is loaded from Twitter’s servers. However, this data is only be used for loading and displaying the Twitter-button.

Further information can be found in Twitter’s privacy statement under: .

Should you have any questions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us via the email address dataprotection@springernature.com.

2. Do Not Track

There are different ways you can prevent tracking of your online activity. One of them is setting a preference in your browser that alerts web properties you visit that you do not want them to collect certain information about you. This is referred to as a Do-Not-Track (“DNT”) signal. Please note that currently our website does not respond to these DNT signals from web browsers. At this time, there is no universally accepted standard for what a company should do when a DNT signal is detected.

X. Information sharing

Where personal data is disclosed to third parties for the purposes mentioned above the legal basis for the transfer of your personal data is Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. b and f GDPR. Some of the recipients may reside outside the EEA. For further information about cross border transfer in general and transfers outside of the EEA see section on Cross border data transfers.

We may disclose your personal data to contractors who assist us in providing the services we offer through our web properties. Such a transfer will be based on data processing agreements (Art. 28 GDPR). Therefore, our contractors will only use your personal data to the extent necessary to perform their functions and will be contractually bound to process your personal data only on our behalf and in compliance with our requests.

In the event that we undergo re-organization or are sold to a third party, any personal data we hold about you may be transferred to that re-organized entity or third party in compliance with applicable law.

We may disclose your personal data if legally entitled or required to do so (for example if required by law or by a court order). The legal basis for this will be Article 6 sec. 1 sent. 1 lit. c GDPR (in conjunction with the respective national law).

1. Usage Reports

We may disclose anonymous aggregate statistics about users of our web properties in order to describe our services to prospective partners, advertisers and other reputable third parties and for other lawful purposes, but these statistics will include no personal data. We also supply standardized usage reports to institutional customers, also known as Counter Reports. For more information on Counter Reports - https://www.projectcounter.org/code-of-practice-sections/usage-reports/

In addition to the above mentioned reports and by special arrangement:

When you read research journals and eBooks or use database products, we will process your personal data to create usage reports. For journals and eBooks this will include your full text HTML and PDF downloads, your IP address and potentially your email address. This data is necessary for the usage report as it provides information on the usage and overall interest in a particular journal or group of journals or eBooks.

The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) 1 lit. f GDPR. We have a legitimate interest to assess and evaluate the use of our content to be able to improve our services. We will retain this data securely for ongoing internal analysis and future reference.

We may share the usage data with licensee under whose license you are accessing and using our services, (e.g. your employer, the institution you are a member to, your university etc. “Licensee”). The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) 1 lit. f GDPR. The Licensee has a legitimate interest in using the usage data to assess and evaluate the economic efficiency of its license for our content. Based on this evaluation, the Licensee will be able to determine e.g. the necessity to obtain more licenses or reduce the number of licenses or to allocate costs internally. Further, the usage data may allow the Licensee to request contributions or funding. The Licensee is contractually limited to use the usage data for no other purposes than these economic efficiency assessment purposes.

In addition, we ourselves have a legitimate interest in enabling the Licensee to use the usage data to conduct respective evaluation and assessments is also in our interest as it makes our service more attractive for the Licensees.

If the Licensee resides outside the EEA, the transfer is safeguarded by a Commission’s adequacy decision such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. You can find further information about the aforementioned safeguards by contacting onlineservice@springernature.com.

You may object to the transfer of the usage data to the Licensee at any time without reason by sending an email to onlineservice@springernature.com.

XI. Cross border data transfers

Within the scope of our information sharing activities set out above, your personal data may be transferred to other countries (including countries outside the EEA) which may have different data protection standards from your country of residence. Please note that data processed in a foreign country may be subject to foreign laws and accessible to foreign governments, courts, law enforcement, and regulatory agencies. However, we will endeavor to take reasonable measures to maintain an adequate level of data protection when sharing your personal data with such countries.

In the case of a transfer outside of the EEA, this transfer is safeguarded by privacy the EU Model Clauses. You can find further information about the aforementioned safeguards by following this link

XII. Security

We have reasonable state of the art security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of personal data under our control. For example, our security and privacy policies are periodically reviewed and enhanced as necessary and only authorized personnel have access to personal data. Whilst we cannot ensure or guarantee that loss, misuse or alteration of information will never occur, we use all reasonable efforts to prevent it.

You should bear in mind that submission of information over the internet is never entirely secure. We cannot guarantee the security of information you submit via our web properties whilst it is in transit over the internet and any such submission is at your own risk.

XIII. Data retention

We strive to keep our processing activities with respect to your personal data as limited as possible. In the absence of specific retention periods set out in this policy, your personal data will be retained only for as long as we need it to fulfill the purpose for which we have collected it and, if applicable, as long as required by statutory retention requirements.

XIV. Your rights

Under the legislation applicable to you, you may be entitled to exercise some or all of the following rights:

1. require (i) information as to whether your personal data is retained and (ii) access to and/or duplicates of your personal data retained, including the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data concerned, and the data recipients as well as potential retention periods;

2. request rectification, removal or restriction of your personal data, e.g. because (i) it is incomplete or inaccurate, (ii) it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, or (iii) the consent on which the processing was based has been withdrawn;

3. refuse to provide and – without impact to data processing activities that have taken place before such withdrawal – withdraw your consent to processing of your personal data at any time;

4. object, on grounds relating to your particular situation, that your personal data shall be subject to a processing. In this case, please provide us with information about your particular situation. After the assessment of the facts presented by you we will either stop processing your personal data or present you our compelling legitimate grounds for an ongoing processing;

5. take legal actions in relation to any potential breach of your rights regarding the processing of your personal data, as well as to lodge complaints before the competent data protection regulators;

6. require (i) to receive the personal data concerning you, which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and (ii) to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from our side; where technically feasible you shall have the right to have the personal data transmitted directly from us to another controller;

7. not to be subject to any automated decision making, including profiling (automatic decisions based on data processing by automatic means, for the purpose of assessing several personal aspects) which produce legal effects on you or affects you with similar significance; and/or

8. Your California Privacy Rights: Please see /page/california-consumer-privacy-statement/

You may (i) exercise the rights referred to above or (ii) pose any questions or (iii) make any complaints regarding our data processing by contacting us using the contact details set out below.

XV. Minors

Our web properties are not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect any personal data from children under 16 years old. However, if the parent or the guardian of a child under 16 years old believes that the child has provided us with personal data, the parent or guardian of that child should contact us at dataprotection@springernature.com to request the deletion of this data from our files.

XVI. Contacting us

Please submit any questions, concerns or comments you have about this privacy policy or any requests concerning your personal data by email to our Group Data Protection Officer. You can contact our Group Data Protection Officer via dataprotection@springernature.com.

The information you provide when contacting us at dataprotection@springernature.com will be processed to handle your request and will be erased when your request is completed. Alternatively, we will restrict the processing of the respective information in accordance with statutory retention requirements.

XVII. Amendments to this policy

We reserve the right to change this policy from time to time by updating our web properties respectively. Please visit our web properties and check our respective current privacy policy. This policy was last updated on 8/23/2023.