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Privacy statement

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A. General

“Medicine Matters.com” (hereinafter referred to as “Medicine Matters”) is an information platform and specialist library for technology and commerce operated by Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH of Heidelberger Platz 3 in 14197 Berlin on behalf of Springer Healthcare LLC. 

Part of Medicine Matters is accessible to all internet users. However, other parts of the website are restricted and require users to register to gain full access.

However, in order to operate Medicine Matters, we also need to collect and process certain personal data of our users. Data protection and data security are of utmost importance to us. We will fully comply with all applicable statutory requirements and regulations. We will collect, process and use personal data from users in connection with their use of the content and other offerings of Medicine Matters only as described in this Privacy Policy.

We will explain in detail in the following sections for what purposes and to what extent your personal data will be collected, processed and used.

B. Collection and storage of personal data

We will collect and process personal information about you if you register to access any restricted areas of our portal and if you wish to use any chargeable services. Moreover, we will store certain data generated during use of our website.

1. Inventory data

1.1 Registration

As a registered user you may subscribe to access certain restricted areas of our website or purchase single issues of journals or scientific or medical articles. We may also offer free access to specific content for restricted periods of time. You can subscribe directly online (also for free access for test purposes) by completing a form where you will be asked to enter the following information to allow us to administer and process your order:

  • your full name and title;
  • your email address;
  • your specialty and main area of work; and
  • your National Provider Identifier  (NPI) number or other relevant prescribing numbers.

2. Usage data/cookies

Some data, known as usage data, are generated whenever a user visits a website. We need to process these data to enable users to use Medicine Matters.

2.1 Log files

Our web server does not generally store information when users visit our website. Only if an error or other technical problem occurs on Medicine Matters will certain data be stored in what is known as log files. A log file contains the time and date when an error occurred. In this context, we would like to point out as a precaution that our log files do not log IP addresses, ie, they are completely anonymous.

2.2 Cookies

Our website also uses cookies. Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded and stored on your computer.

  • If you have activated the “remember me” option when logging in via SSO, we will set a cookie which allows us to obtain your login details (see clause 2.1 of the SSO Privacy Policy) to authenticate you as a user and to remember you and log you in automatically the next time you visit.
  • The other type of cookies we use are temporary cookies. These cookies help us gather information about the last page (URL) you visited from Medicine Matters. We do not gather personal data and not even IP addresses of our users through these cookies. Cookies are only used to present websites correctly based on the preferences you have selected and are deleted as soon as you close your browser or log out.
  • Other cookies and pixels (small image files integrated into the website) are used by our partners and third parties for web usage analysis, reach measurement, social plugin functionality, marketing and video display purposes. Further information on data processing by our partners and third parties, and on how to reject the future processing of your data through cookies and pixels is available for:
    • web usage analysis here;
    • reach measurement here;
    • the implementation and functionality of social plugins here;
    • marketing purposes here; and
    • the display of videos here.

If you want to disable the use of cookies, you can set your browser to reject and block any new cookies. However please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

2.3 Registration from an IP range

If you register on behalf of a company as part of a corporate agreement, the IP address (with the last digit removed) of the device you are using will be verified during the registration process to confirm whether you are within the IP range provided by your company or organisation and a cookie will be placed on your computer for the duration of the contract term. For this purpose, we will collect the IP address from which you access Medicine Matters during your login to confirm whether it is within the authorized IP range. However, the IP address will not be stored in complete form but without the last digit. This is necessary to ensure that you have access to all the offerings and information specific to the cooperation.

3. Content data

Another type of data that may be generated during your use of the offerings of Medicine Matters is content data. Content data include, without limitation, information you choose to provide while using the website (eg, by completing your profile) or information we require to be able to provide certain services to you, specifically:

  • your profession/position (permanent employee, freelance employee, etc);
  • your specialty; and
  • your National Provider Identifier  (NPI) number or other relevant prescribing numbers.

We collect and store content data for the sole purpose of providing to you the services you have requested, eg, to provide you with information about a specific subject area.

4. reCAPTCHA

In order to protect our websites against spam, in certain cases we use the reCAPTCHA service from Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA ("Google"). This allows us to determine if an entry has been made by a person or by automated software engaging in abusive activities. When you use reCAPTCHA, your IP-Address and other data required to make this service available is sent to Google. For this information the Data Protection regulations of Google Inc. apply, which may differ from those of Springer Nature.

Further information about reCAPTCHA and the Data Protection Guidelines of Google Inc. can be found at https://www.google.com/recaptcha and https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/

C. Use of personal data

1. Inventory data

1.1 General use of inventory data

We gather inventory data about users in order to perform the contracts entered into with them and customize their user account accordingly to be able to supply users with customized information and contact them if required.

1.2 Use of your email address

We use your email address to contact you about matters relating to your user account and to send you the newsletters and other information you have requested on specific topics. Of course, you may cancel your newsletter subscriptions at any time, either by sending an email to diabetes.medicinematters@springer.com or by clicking on the link at the end of the newsletter.

1.3 Disclosure of inventory data

Your inventory data will not normally be disclosed to third parties. Exceptions apply:

  • if and to the extent necessary for the performance of the contracts we have with you or in order to enforce any claims we are entitled to;
  • if you have given your consent to such disclosure;
  • if we are required by law or ordered by a court to disclose such information; or
  • if such information is requested by government agencies, including, without limitation, law enforcement and supervisory authorities, if and to the extent is necessary to remove a risk to public safety and order and to prosecute criminal offences.

For the performance of the contract we have with you, we may disclose inventory data to the following categories of recipients:

  • service providers for newsletter circulation;
  • service providers to handle payment and billing processes; or
  • operators of the online shop to manage the ordering process.

2. Usage data

2.1 General use of usage data

We collect and store log files for security reasons to be able to identify, investigate and stop any improper use of our portal. The utilization measurement data we obtain from the analytics service allow us and third parties to measure the reach of our website.

2.2 Disclosure of usage data

We do not normally disclose usage data to third parties.

Exceptions apply:

  • if and to the extent necessary for the performance of the contracts we have with you or in order to enforce any claims we are entitled to;
  • if you have given your consent to such disclosure;
  • if we are required by law or ordered by a court to disclose such information; or
  • if such information is requested by government agencies, including, without limitation, law enforcement and supervisory authorities, if and to the extent is necessary to remove a risk to public safety and order and to prosecute criminal offences.

3. Content data

We use content data for the performance of the contract we have with you and to provide the contract services to you. As a general rule, content data will only be disclosed:

  • if and to the extent necessary for the performance of the contracts we have with you or in order to enforce any claims we are entitled to;
  • if you have given your consent to such disclosure;
  • if we are required by law or ordered by a court to disclose such information; or
  • if such information is requested by government agencies, including, without limitation, law enforcement and supervisory authorities, if and to the extent is necessary to remove a risk to public safety and order and to prosecute criminal offences.

We also use content data to be able to present you, as a registered user, with targeted information and advertising based on the information available to us about your profession and the specialty you have selected.

I agree that Springer Healthcare LLC and Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH may use the information I have provided about my profession and specialty to deliver personalized advertising and advertisements.

You confirm you consent to the use of your data as aforesaid by clicking the appropriate checkbox for the privacy notice during the registration process.

You may at any time withdraw this consent with respect to any future use by giving notice to the address specified in section G.

D. Web usage analysis

1. Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc., Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). Google Analytics uses what is known as “cookies”, text files which are stored on your computer to allow us to analyse your use of the websites. The information generated by the cookie regarding your use of this website will, as a rule, be transmitted to and stored on a server of Google in the US. Due to the IP anonymization on this website, your IP address is shortened by Google within the territory of Member States of the European Union or in other signatory States to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will your full IP address be transmitted to a server of Google in the US and shortened there. Google will use this information on our behalf to analyse your use of the website, to compile reports on website activities and provide additional services relating to website use and internet use to the website operator. The IP address collected through Google Analytics from your browser will not be merged 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.

You may also prevent Google from collecting and storing information in cookies, from storing information about your use of the website (including your IP address) and from processing such information by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

For more information about privacy policies and Google Analytics, please refer to the Google website (https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245).

2. Webtrekk

This website uses Webtrekk, a web analytics service provided by Webtrekk GmbH, Robert-Koch-Platz 4, D-10115 Berlin (“Webtrekk”). We use Webtrekk services to collect and use statistical data on the use of our website to optimize our offering. In addition to cookies, Webtrekk also uses pixels (small gif files incorporated into the website).

Webtrekk places the following types of cookies on your computer:

  • last click (used for session timeout; lasts one session); and
  • “session cookie” (used for session identification; lasts one session).

The following information is collected through the use of pixels:

  • request (file name of the requested file);
  • browser type/version (eg, Internet Explorer 9.0);
  • browser language (eg, German);
  • the operating system used (eg, Windows 7);
  • JavaScript enabled;
  • Java on/off;
  • cookies on/off;
  • the referrer URL;
  • IP address (will be anonymized immediately and deleted after processing);
  • the time you access the site;
  • clicks; and
  • product parameters (eg, the ID of the product/subscription authorizing you to access the site).

These cookies are used for statistical purposes only, eg, to track which content of our website is accessed the most. This allows us to organize content into categories like “most read”, thereby making the website more comfortable to use. Moreover, the statistical information obtained about browser types and operating systems allows us to optimize our web design.

Webtrekk stores IP addresses only anonymously (in shortened form) and uses them only for session identification and geo-localisation. After that, IP addresses are immediately deleted. The information collected through Webtrekk will not be used to identify you personally unless you have specifically given us your consent.

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.
You may object at any time to the collection of the data referred to above, and opt out of any future processing of such data by

Webtrekk, by placing the opt-out cookie available at the following link on your computer: www.webtrekk.com/de/index/opt-out-webtrekk/

You will then continue to be excluded from web tracking until the cookie is deleted. The cookie is set for the named domain, per browser and computer. Therefore, if you visit our website, for instance, from home and from work or using different browsers, you have to place the cookie for each computer and browser separately.

For more information about privacy policies and Webtrekk, please refer to the Webtrekk website (www.webtrekk.com/de/warum-webtrekk/datenschutz).

3. Optimizely

This website uses Optimizely, a web analytics service provided by Optimizely Inc., 631 Howard Street, Suite 100 San Francisco, CA 94105 (“Optimizely”). Optimizely also uses cookies and tracking pixels. The information generated by the cookies and pixels regarding your use of this website will, as a rule, be transmitted to and stored on a server of Optimizely in the US. Optimizely will use this information on our behalf to analyse your use of the website and to compile reports on website activities.

In particular, the following information will be stored:

  • the total number and percentage of users who opened a website variation;
  • the number of clicks on links;
  • your browser type and version; and
  • campaign IDs through which the website was reached.

You can disable Optimizely tracking (and thus prevent the data generated by cookies and pixel, and relating to your use of the website, from being collected to and processed by Optimizely) at any time by following the instructions at www.optimizely.com/legal/opt-out/.

For more information about privacy policies and Optimizely, please refer to the Optimizely website (www.optimizely.com/privacy/).

4. Kiss Insights

This website uses Kiss Insights, a service from Qualaroo, which allows us the ability to pop-up questions to end users related to the content or feature they are currently focused on.  Kiss Insights is not always active on this website.  We only use this when we want to gather customer research about something specific on the AdisInsight website.

For more information about Kiss Insights privacy policy, please refer to the Qualaroo website (https://qualaroo.com/privacy-policy/).

Click here to learn more about how to opt out of ad network interest-based advertising. This site is not designed to respond to "do not track" signals received from browsers.

5. User Voice

Medicine Matters  uses the software UserVoice which is provided and operated by UserVoice Inc. 121 2nd St, Fl 4, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA (“UserVoice”). With this tool, the user may contact us, ask questions regarding the service, give us feedback and send us ideas how to enhance our service.

If a user utilizes the software, only necessary data will be transferred to UserVoice in order to adequately provide the functions of the software, inter alia the eMail address of the user, the browser version, the operating system (OS), the Referrer-URL and the IP-address.

UserVoice is a member of the Privacy Shield Framework (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant), enacted between the European Union and the United States. Medicine Matters will only use the data which it receives from UserVoice for the operation of the platform or to contact the user and will not pass them on to third parties under any circumstances.

For further information on the purpose and scope of data collection and the further processing and the use of data by UserVoice as well as the rights in this respect and settings options for protecting your privacy, the user may refer to the privacy policy of UserVoice at http://feedback.uservoice.com/tos#privacy-policy.

E. Reach measurement

Our website uses the “scalable next generation central measurement method” (SZMnG) of INFOnline GmbH, Forum Bonn Nord, Brühler Strasse 9, D-53119 Bonn (“INFOnline”, www.infonline.de) to obtain statistical parameters about how our offerings are used. This is done by collecting anonymous measurements.

The purpose of reach measurement is to establish the intensity of use, determine the number of users of a website and understand user behavior using statistical analysis under a single standardized procedure in order to obtain data that are comparable across the market. Usage statistics for offerings which participate in the German Audit Bureau of Circulations [Informationsgemeinschaft zur Feststellung der Verbreitung von Werbeträgern – IVW] (www.ivw.eu) or the studies of the German Working Group for Online Media Research [Arbeitsgemeinschaft Online-Forschung e.V. – AGOF] (www.agof.de) are published on a regular basis by AGOF and the German Study Group for Media Analysis [Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyse e.V.] (agma, www.agma-mmc.de) as well as by IVW and are available on their respective websites.

INFOnline GmbH collects and processes data in compliance with German data protection laws and regulations. Technical and organisational precautions will be taken to ensure that individual users cannot be identified at any time. Information that may be linked to an identifiable individual will be anonymized as soon as possible:

  • anonymizing IP addresses by shortening them before any processing;
  • geo-localisation to the level of federal states/regions;
  • processing anonymised device IDs and anonymised login IDs to measure shared use; and
  • stored usage events shall be deleted at the latest after 7 months.

For further information about data protection during the measurement process, please visit the website of INFOnline GmbH (www.infonline.de), which operates the measurement method, the Data Protection page of AGOF website (www.agof.de/datenschutz) and the Data Protection page of the IVW website (www.ivw.eu).

If you do not wish to take part in the measurement, please opt out at https://optout.ioam.de and http://optout.ivwbox.de.

For more detailed information about INFOnline’s reach measurement on the internet, please refer to the general data protection information provided by INFOnline (https://www.infonline.de/de/extra/datenschutzallgemein).

1. Hotjar

When someone visits this website, we collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behavior patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. We collect this information in a way which does not personally identify anyone.

Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, including Hotjar, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

F. Social media services

Some of our websites have social media buttons which allow users to recommend our offerings to their friends and contacts or to register or log in to our website using the login details of the relevant social network. Content can be recommended and/or shared only the “AddThis” service (see clause 1), which allows you recommend/share content on social networking sites. If you use your Google Plus, Facebook, XING or LinkedIn user account details to register or log in, the provider of the social networking site concerned will transmit data to us only with your prior consent. The data transmitted will then be used to create a new user account with us. Your data will be transmitted to us every time you log in. Your user account on a social networking site will not be permanently linked to your user account with us.

1. “AddThis” service

Our website uses the “AddThis” service, which is provided by AddThis LLC, Inc. 8000 Westpark Drive, Suite 625, McLean, VA 2210, USA (“AddThis”).

If you open a website of our offering which uses the AddThis service, your browser links directly to the AddThis servers. AddThis will receive the information that your browser has accessed the relevant website, place a cookie on your terminal to identify your browser and make available the Google Plus (cf. clause 2.1), Facebook (cf. clause 3.1), XING (cf. clause 4.1), LinkedIn (cf. clause 5.1) and Twitter (cf. clause 6) buttons, whose use will be tracked by AddThis. The data thus generated will be transmitted to and processed by AddThis in the US.

We have no control over the processing of data by AddThis. For more information about the data collected and their processing by AddThis LLC, please refer to www.addthis.com/privacy.

If you wish to opt out of any future processing of your data or information by AddThis, please set the opt-out cookie available to download via the following link: http://www.addthis.com/privacy/opt-out.

2. Video service

Our website features videos on certain topics. To be able to display videos directly on the website and deliver them to you, we use the “VideoManager” service provided by MovingIMAGE24 GmbH, Stralauer Allee 7, D-10245 Berlin (“MovingImage”). MovingImage helps us display and play videos correctly on the website.

MovingImage places a cookie on your device in which certain information about how to display and play videos is stored and transmitted to MovingImage. You can refuse cookies by disabling them in the setting of your web browser. We have no control over the amount and type of information MovingImage collects and how it is processed.

For further information about MovingImage's handling of personal data, please refer to the MovingImage Privacy Policy (www.movingimage24.com/de/datenschutz)

G. Data processing for marketing purposes

1. Facebook Custom Audience

Our website uses the Website Custom Audiences service provided by the social network Facebook and operated by Facebook Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland. Please refer to www.facebook.com/business/help/449542958510885/ for further information on Website Custom Audiences.

Through this service, Facebook generates a non-reversible and anonymous checksum (hash value) from your usage data that Facebook can use for analysis and marketing purposes. For the purpose of Website Custom Audiences, Facebook places a cookie, web beacon, pixel or comparable technology on the website that may possibly also be stored on your device. Since the service and any data processing by this service are exclusively Facebook’s responsibility, we have no influence on the the possible processing of personal data. Please refer to Facebook’s Privacy Policy at www.facebook.com/ads/website_custom_audiences/ and www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation for further information on the purpose and scope of the collection of data, and on the further processing and use of information, as well as the configuration options for your privacy.

If you object to the use of Facebook’s Website Custom Audiences, please opt out by visiting https://www.facebook.com/ads/website_custom_audiences/.

2. Google AdWords

Our website also uses Google Conversion Tracking, an analysis service provided by Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA; hereinafter “Google”). If you access our website by clicking a Google advertisement, Google AdWords stores a cookie on your device (conversion cookie). These cookies expire after 30 days and are not used to identify individual users. If you visit one of our pages and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and we can determine that someone has clicked on the ad and was redirected to our website. Each Google AdWords customer receives a different cookie to avoid cookies being tracked across the websites of different AdWords customers. The information collected by the conversion cookie is used to generate conversion statistics. As an AdWords customer, we only receive information about the total number of users that clicked on our ad and were redirected to a page containing a conversion tracking tag. However, we do not receive any information that could be used to identify individual users.

If you do not want information about your browsing behavior to be processed in the tracking analysis, you can block cookies by disabling them in your web browser settings. You can also disable cookies for conversion tracking by blocking cookies from the domain “googleadservices.com” in your browser settings.

Google also allows you to disable Google cookies for marketing purposes in your ad settings by visiting https://www.google.com/settings/ads/.

Alternatively you can disable the use of third-party cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative’s internet-based advertising opt-out page at www.networkadvertising.org/choices.

H. Rights to disclosure, correction, deletion or blocking of data

You have the right to obtain confirmation and disclosure of personal data Medicine Matters holds about you at any time. Requests may be made in text form by email to our customer service at diabetes.medicinematters@springer.com.

Moreover, you have the right to have your personal data corrected, blocked or deleted if the statutory conditions for this are met, respectively. If we have stored any incorrect information about you, please let us know and we will correct it without undue delay. For corrections, please contact us at the postal or email address indicated above.

Personal data will be deleted if their collection or processing was unlawful from the outset, if their processing or use turns out to be unlawful due to circumstances that arise subsequently or if we no longer need to know such data to fulfill the purpose of their processing or use. Only data we need to complete any tasks that remain outstanding or to enforce our rights and claims, and data we are required to retain by law will be excluded from deletion. However, such data will be blocked.

Contact for questions

If you have any questions about our data protection procedures, please contact us by email at diabetes.medicinematters@springer.com

Or write to us at:

Springer Healthcare – Medicine Matters
The Campus
4 Crinan Street
London, N1 9XW 
United Kingdom

Phone : +44 203 192 2236

Last amended

June 17, 2020

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