Privacy policy

Version 4.0 dated 26 August 2025

GUTcert attaches great importance to the protection of your personal data. Therefore, it is normally possible to use our website without providing personal data.

If personal data (e.g. name, address or email address) is required on certain pages (forms), this is done on a voluntary basis as far as possible. We treat all personal data provided to us confidentially, in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy. It will not be passed on to third parties without your express consent.

However, we would like to point out that data transmission over the Internet (e.g. when communicating by email) can have security gaps. It is therefore not possible to completely protect data from access by third parties.

The entity responsible for data processing is

GUT Certifizierungsgesellschaft
für Managementsysteme mbH
Environmental Verifier
Eichenstraße 3b
12435 Berlin

Contact: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Uwe Lieback, Managing Director

Please address any questions or comments regarding this privacy policy to the company's data protection officer at datenschutz@gut-cert.de.

The provider of the pages automatically collects and stores information in so-called server log files, which your browser automatically transmits to us. The following information is collected without your intervention and stored until it is automatically deleted after 14 days:

• the IP address of the requesting computer
• the date and time of access
• the name and URL of the file accessed
• the website from which access was made (referrer URL)
• the browser you are using and, if applicable, the operating system of your computer and the name of your access provider

The data is not merged with other data sources. If we become aware of specific indications of illegal use, we reserve the right to check this data retrospectively.

Some of the web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain viruses. Cookies serve to make our website more user-friendly, effective and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.

Most of the cookies we use are so-called ‘session cookies’. They are automatically deleted at the end of your visit. Other cookies remain stored on your device until you delete them. These cookies enable us to recognise your browser the next time you visit.

You can set your browser so that you are informed about the setting of cookies and only allow cookies in individual cases, exclude the acceptance of cookies for certain cases or in general, and activate the automatic deletion of cookies when you close your browser. If you deactivate cookies, the functionality of this website may be restricted.

If you send us enquiries via the contact form, your details from the enquiry form, including the contact details you provided there, will be stored by us for the purpose of processing the enquiry and in case of follow-up questions. We will not pass on this data without your consent. The only exception here is our parent company AFNOR, the French standards institute, which is just as committed to data protection as we are and with which we collaborate in particular on international certifications.

If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter offered on the website, we will ask you for the following information:

Email address (mandatory field)

No further data will be collected. This data is stored on our web server. We use it exclusively for sending the requested information and do not pass it on to third parties.

You can revoke your consent to the storage of data, your email address and its use for sending the newsletter at any time, for example via the ‘Unsubscribe’ link on our website.

This website (gut-cert.de) 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 analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will generally be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. However, if IP anonymisation is activated on this website, your IP address will be truncated by Google within member states of the European Union or in other states party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and truncated there.

On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services relating to website activity and internet usage to the website operator.

The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other Google data. You can prevent the storage of cookies by adjusting your browser software settings accordingly; however, we would like to point out that in this case you may not be able to use all functions of this website to their full extent. You can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to your use of the website (including your IP address) and from processing this data by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available under the following link (http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de).

For more information on terms of use and data protection, please visit http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html or https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/. We would like to point out that on this website, Google Analytics has been extended by the code ‘gat._anonymizeIp();’ to ensure anonymous collection of IP addresses (so-called IP masking).

With the exception of the processing described under Google Analytics and cookies, we do not transfer your data to recipients based outside the European Union or the European Economic Area.

This privacy policy applies only to the website www.gut-cert.de. Websites of other providers linked to our website, including LinkedIn, Xing, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and YouTube, are not covered by this privacy policy. These are independent controllers who do not act on behalf of GUTcert. If you leave the GUTcert website via such a link, we recommend that you carefully read the privacy policy of each website that may collect personal data.

Videos can be played directly on our website via plug-ins from the streaming platform ‘YouTube.de’ or ‘YouTube.com’ integrated into our website. When using the streaming function, information stored on users' end devices is also processed. The purpose of data processing is to embed visual content (‘videos’) that we have published on ‘YouTube.de’ or ‘YouTube.com’ on this website. The videos are embedded in ‘extended data protection mode’, which means that no data about users is transferred to ‘YouTube’ if no videos are played. When videos are played on our website, YouTube receives information that the corresponding subpage of our website has been accessed. In addition, access data, in particular the IP address, browser information, the previously visited website and the date and time of the server request, is transmitted to Google. This occurs regardless of whether YouTube provides a user account through which users are logged in or whether no user account exists. If users are logged in to Google, the user data is directly assigned to the respective YouTube account. YouTube stores the data as usage profiles and processes it independently of the existence of a user account with Google for statistical analysis and advertising purposes.

Recipient: YouTube LLC (head office at 901 Cherry Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA; responsible within the EU: Google Ireland Ltd., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; Google, LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (hereinafter: ‘YouTube’))

Storage period: We do not store any data when using YouTube. For more information on the storage period at YouTube, please visit https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Third country transfer: Consent for ‘YouTube’ also includes consent to the possible transfer of data to the United States. The US is classified by the European Court of Justice as a country without an adequate level of data protection and without appropriate safeguards according to EU standards. In particular, there is a risk that your personal data may be processed by US authorities for control and surveillance purposes, possibly without the possibility of preventing access to data by means of a legal remedy or having the illegality of the access determined. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that your rights as a data subject can be fully enforced and that supervisory authorities in the US will provide appropriate remedies. The use of YouTube requires the transfer of data to a third country. If you do not wish to consent to the transfer of data to a third country, you must deselect YouTube.

We have integrated the external map service ‘OpenStreetMap’ from the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) into our website. We use the services of ‘OpenStreetMap’ to display maps or map sections on our website in order to make our online offerings more attractive and to make it easier for you to find the locations we specify on the website. As part of the map services provided, OpenStreetMap uses tracking technologies such as cookies and similar functions to collect data on how users use the map services, to continuously improve the map data and to make this geoinformation accessible to everyone. When using the map functions, OpenStreetMap also processes information generated by users' end devices, as well as session metadata and information about the use of our website, e.g. that users have accessed the corresponding subpage of our website. In addition, access data such as the IP address, browser information, the previously visited website and the date and time of the server request are transmitted to OpenStreetMap for the purposes mentioned above.

Recipient: OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF), St John's Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 oWS, United Kingdom (UK)
Storage period: The storage period for OpenStreetMap is a maximum of six months.

This site uses SSL encryption for security reasons and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as requests you send to us as the site operator. You can recognise an encrypted connection by the fact that the address line of the browser changes from ‘http://’ to ‘https://’ and by the lock symbol in your browser line. When SSL encryption is activated, the data you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.

We also use appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal data stored with us against manipulation, partial or complete loss and unauthorised access by third parties. Our security measures are continuously improved in line with technological developments.

If the respective legal requirements are met, you have the following additional rights in addition to the right to revoke your consent given to us:

• Right to information about your personal data stored by us in accordance with Art. 15 GDPR
• Right to rectification of inaccurate data or completion of accurate data in accordance with Art. 16 GDPR
• Right to erasure of your data stored by us in accordance with Art. 17 GDPR
• Right to restriction of processing of your data in accordance with Art. 18 GDPR
• Right to data portability in accordance with Art. 20 GDPR
• Right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority

Under the conditions of Art. 21 (1) GDPR, data processing may be objected to for reasons arising from the particular situation of the data subject.

The above general right of objection applies to all processing purposes described in this privacy policy. Under the GDPR, we are only obliged to implement such a general objection if you give us reasons of overriding importance (e.g. a possible danger to life or health).