Privacy Policy

Last updated: January 2026. This Privacy Policy explains how RuhrWirtschaft Analyse, as the data controller, processes personal data in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG).

1. Data Controller

2. Categories of Personal Data We Process

2.1 Data provided by you

When you contact us via our contact form, by email or by telephone, we process the information you provide: your name, email address, telephone number and the content of your message or enquiry.

2.2 Data collected automatically

When you visit our website, our hosting provider automatically records technical access data, including IP address, date and time of access, requested resource, referrer URL, browser type and operating system. This data is stored in server log files.

2.3 Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies as described in our Cookies Policy. Non-essential cookies (analytics and marketing) are only set with your prior consent via our cookie consent banner. You may withdraw or change your consent at any time.

3. Purposes and Legal Bases of Processing

• Performance of a contract or pre-contractual measures (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR): processing enquiries, preparing quotations and delivering economic analysis reports and advisory services.
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR): ensuring the security and stability of our website, analysing server logs to detect misuse, and communicating with existing business clients.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR): setting non-essential cookies and any analytics or marketing activities that require consent.
• Legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR): compliance with commercial, tax and accounting record-keeping obligations under German law.

4. Retention Periods

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described above. Enquiry correspondence is deleted no later than 12 months after the matter is concluded, unless a business relationship follows. Contractual and accounting records are retained for the statutory periods (generally 6 to 10 years under German commercial and tax law). Server log data is deleted within 14 days. Cookie consent records are stored for a maximum of 12 months.

5. Recipients and Transfers of Data

Personal data is processed by our own staff and, where necessary, by service providers acting as processors on our behalf, including hosting providers, email service providers and IT maintenance providers. All processors are bound by data processing agreements in accordance with Art. 28 GDPR. Data is only transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area where an adequate level of protection is guaranteed, for example through the European Commission's adequacy decisions or Standard Contractual Clauses.

6. Your Rights

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

• Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR)
• Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR)
• Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR)
• Right to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
• Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)
• Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21 GDPR)
• Right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing (Art. 7(3) GDPR)

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected] or write to RuhrWirtschaft Analyse, Kettwiger Straße 42, 45127 Essen, Germany. We will respond within one month of receiving your request.

7. Right to Lodge a Complaint

If you believe that the processing of your personal data infringes the GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular the Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen (LDI NRW), which supervises our activities in Essen.

8. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access. Our website is delivered via TLS encryption (HTTPS), and access to internal systems is restricted on a need-to-know basis.

9. Obligation to Provide Data

You are not legally required to provide personal data. However, certain information (such as your name and email address) is necessary for us to respond to your enquiry or to deliver our services. Without this data, we may be unable to process your request.

10. Automated Decision-Making

We do not use automated decision-making, including profiling, within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The current version is always available on this page. This version was last updated in January 2026.