IntroductionThank you for your interest in the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany website. The issue of data protection and confidentiality is a topic we take very seriously and we follow the applicable national and European data protection regulations. With this statement on data protection measures, we therefore want to provide you with information on the types of data that we may collect and how we use that data.

Storage and use of dataAs a visitor to our website, you will remain anonymous. The data we store and analyze is used for statistical purposes only, for instance to ensure the continuous improvement of our services. The data we store on our servers comprises the name of your internet service provider, the website from which you visited us, the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany web pages you have looked up, your IP address and the date and duration of your visit.

Collection, processing and use of personal dataWe only collect and process personal data if you make use of specific services and we therefore require your data or if you have voluntarily given us your express consent. You may do so, for instance, as part of a registration procedure, by completing a form or by sending an e-mail, ordering products or services, sending us a query or requesting materials. Unless we are subject to other legal commitments, we only use your personal data for the purposes for which you have given your consent.
Your personal data will only be shared by us with third parties if that is required in order to provide a service you have requested or if you have given your consent. If data has been released for use by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany subsidiaries and if such permission involves data transfer to other countries, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will ensure that the data importer is placed under a suitable level of data protection commitment.

Data retentionWe store data as required by legal obligation or for the period of time that is required to provide a service you have requested or as agreed in applicable consent.

Right to review, correct and objectYou are entitled to review and correct any of your personal data we have stored, and you may withdraw your consent to the use of your data at any time, affecting all future use. All you need to do is to send an e-mail to: privacy@emdgroup.com

Data protection and securityOur employees involved in data processing are obliged to confidentiality in the use of personal data. Our data protection measures are continually updated, reflecting technical developments.

Data Privacy Disclaimer for Social PluginsSocial plugins are integrated on certain webpages of our website, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and/or Youtube. The social plugins are identified with the companies’ logo, comment fields or what are known as a »Like« or »+1« button. When you visit a page that displays such a plugin your browser will create a direct connection to the respective social media provider server. At the same time Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and/or Google will know that the respective page on our website has been visited. If you are registered and have logged in with the provider concerned, your visit can also be assigned to your user account. Social media provider such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Youtube do not provide specific information about which data is transmitted in the use of their social plugins. We therefore have no knowledge regarding the content and scope of the transmitted data or its use by Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Youtube. Please refer to the further information about this in the data protection regulations of the social media services which are found here:
Facebook,
Twitter,
LinkedIn,
Google+ and
Youtube. If you do not wish a provider to collect data on you through our website, please deactivate the plugins in your web browser. If you wish to avoid a link to any existing user account, you must log out before your visit to our website.


Google AnalyticsThis 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 will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. In case IP-anonymisation is activated on this website, your IP address will be truncated within the area of Member States of the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases the whole IP address will be first transfered to a Google server in the USA and truncated there. The IP-anonymisation is active on this website. Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing them other services relating to website activity and internet usage. The IP-address, that your Browser conveys within the scope of Google Analytics, will not be associated 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 can also opt-out from being tracked by Google Analytics with effect for the future by downloading and installing Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Addon for your current web browser: „
http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de“.


Cookies used on this websiteName of Cookie | 1st or 3rd party Cookie? If 3rd party: Who is setting it? | Purpose of the Cookie? | What data holds the Cookie? | Is it a session or persistent Cookie? | If persistent, how long is its lifespan? |
JSESSIONID | 1st party | Session ID needed for e.g. Registration | SESSION ID | session | |
WT_FPC | 3rd party Webtrends | Used to distinguish users | different values | persistent | 2 years |
mrck_survey_... | 3rd party mafo1.myaudience.de | | different values | persistent | 1 year |
ACOOKIE | 3rd party - sdc01.mrck.de | | | persistent | 10 years |
TAFSessionId | 1st party | | SESSION ID | session | |
TAFTrackingId | 1st party | | | persistent | 90 years |
_ ga | 3rd party - google-analytics.com | Used to distinguish users. | different values | persistent | 2 years |
_ gat | 3rd party - google-analytics.com | Used to throttle request rate. | different values | persistent | 10 minutes |
_utma | 3rd party - google-analytics.com | Used to distinguish users and sessions | different values | persistent | 2 years |
_utmb | 3rd party - google-analytics.com | Used to determine new sessions/ visits. | different values | persistent | 30 mins from set/update |
_utmz | 3rd party - google-analytics.com | Used to determine new sessions/ visits. | different values | persistent | 6 months from set/update |
_utmv | 3rd party - google-analytics.com | Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached this site. | different values | persistent | 2 years from set/update |


ContactIf you have questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact our Corporate Privacy Officer.
Norbert Moeren
Corporate Privacy Officer at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
Phone: +49 6151 72 - 5167
Fax: +49 6151 72 - 915167
