Privacy Policy

We take your data privacy and the protection of your personal data seriously and our data privacy principles provide fundamental guidance to all our businesses worldwide. We comply with applicable national regulations and our understanding of data privacy is based on the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), amended by local regulations in case they are stricter.

1. Preamble

This privacy notice is addressed to all visitors and users of our websites and apps (“user” or “you”) of the Merck Group (“Merck”, “us”).

This privacy policy describes how Merck will use the personal data of the users within the scope of the operation of our websites and/or apps (“services”). “Personal Data” in this document means all information that relates to a natural person and with which this person can be directly or indirectly identified.

Should you have questions or queries regarding the processing of your personal data by Merck, please feel free to contact our Data Protection Officer via privacy@merckgroup.com or the other contact details provided below.

2. General Information

This section informs you who is the controller of the processing of your personal data, how you may contact the controller and which rights you have as a data subject in this context.

2.1. Controller

The data controller means the person who determines the purposes and means of the processing of your personal data. For the processing activities described of in this privacy notice, Merck KGaA is data controller.

Merck KGaA

Frankfurter Strasse 250

64293 Darmstadt, Germany

Phone: +49 6151 72-0

Telefax: +49 6151 72-2000

2.2. Data Protection Officer

Merck has appointed a Data Protection Officer, whom may be contacted at:

GROUP DATA PRIVACY OFFICER

Merck KGaA

Frankfurter Strasse 250

64293 Darmstadt, Germany

Phone: +49 6151 72-0

privacy@merckgroup.com

You are also welcome to exercise your data protection rights by submitting your request directly in our Data Privacy Portal.

3. The Processing Activities in Detail

This section explains the different data processing activities in which Merck processes your personal data for the operation of our services provided on this website (“website”)

3.1. Operation of our Services

We process your personal data for purpose of the operation of our Websites. You can access our Websites without directly providing personal information. However, whenever you access our services, you automatically transfer personal data to our servers for technical reasons.

This processing activity may include the following data categories:

• Your IP address;
• Identifier (manufacturer, version, type of web browser, operating system);
• Language settings of your web browser;
• The time of your visit and visited subpages of our website;
• Your referrer URL (i.e., the URL of the page from which you visit us);
• The data volume accrued during your visit to our website;
• Access status (file transferred, file not found, etc.); and
• Name of the provider of your internet access.

The data processing is based on our legitimate business interests. We process these data for the purpose of presenting our services and to ensure its technical stability and security (e.g., to prevent hacker attacks).

3.2. Chatbots

You can use chatbots on our website to communicate your concerns to us. Chatbots are programs that, in a joint chat with you, classify your concerns with the help of artificial intelligence in order to forward them to our responsible employees and help you find your way around our website. The personal data provided during these chats will only be processed for the purpose of responding to your request.

This processing activity may include the following data categories: The information you provided within the chat, such as your name, email address and personal/professional interests. Please do not enter any additional unnecessary personal data if it can be avoided.

The processing is based on our (and your) legitimate business interest in the prompt and competent response to your requests.

Your personal data will be deleted within 24 hours, counting from your transmission of your request.

No automated decision-making or profiling takes place.

3.3. Google Maps

We may process your personal data to display maps, a service provided by Google LLC.

This processing activity may include the following data categories which will be transmitted to Google LLC in the United States of America:

• The technical data as described in Section 1;
• Your location;
• The content you access (e.g., places); and
• The frequency of these accesses.

The processing is based on our (and your) legitimate business interest to guide you to our premises and facilitate your route planning.

The use of the service is not possible without your data, and these are automatically provided when you open a sub-page on which Google Maps is integrated. We process no further personal data than those specified in Section 3.1. Information on data processing by Google can be found in Google’s privacy policy under the following link: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

We do not conduct automated decision-making or profiling in this context.

3.4. Social Bookmarks

We use social media plugins from various social networks (e.g., from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram ) on our services. Social bookmarks are internet bookmarks which enables the users of such services to collect links and news messages. With the help of these plugins you can share content or recommend products. We integrated such bookmarks as links only. That means that they just link you to corresponding services without automatically processing your personal data. If you decide to click on a social bookmark (meaning the embedded graphic), you will be directed to the page of the respective social media network. Please refer to the respective provider’s privacy policy to learn how your personal data are handled when you decide to visit their services.

3.5. Cookies

Cookies improve the user experience on our services because they allow, e.g., the system to recognize returning visitors. The term “cookies” in this privacy notice refers to cookies and similar technologies. The term “computer” in this privacy notice refers to computers, smartphones and all other devices with internet access. Cookies are small, usually randomly coded text files that are sent to your computer and stored there. These cookies allow your browser to track certain information that may be retrieved and used by internet servers at a later stage. Merck uses cookies and similar technologies on its services for several reasons, for example:

• Websites load faster;
• Websites may be browsed faster;
• Your settings, such as language and time zone, may be saved;
• Security on websites is improved since your identity may be verified; and
• Your log-in to secured websites is facilitated.

We included the following three categories of cookies on our services:

3.5.1. Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary to safeguard the functionalities of our services and for the website to operate. Cookies are set, in particular, in response to your actions and depend on your specific service requests (e.g., setting your privacy preferences, filling out forms, or logging in). More specifically, we set the following cookies:

• Excepted Cookies: The so-called excepted cookies are those that do not require the user’s prior consent to be used, and they correspond to technical cookies and customization cookies.
• Non-Excepted Cookies: All other cookies fall under the category of non-excepted cookies, which all require the users’ explicit and prior consent to be used.
• First-Party Cookies: First-party or origin cookies are set by the website visited by the user. Data collected through first-party cookies is used for purposes such as calculating page views, sessions, and the number of users.
• Third-Party Cookies: Third-party cookies are set by domains not directly visited by the user. This happens when publishers add third-party elements (such as chatbots, social plugins, or ads) to their website.

Once installed, these types of cookies also track users and store their information for ad targeting and behavioral advertising.

• Session Cookies: Session cookies expire immediately or within a few seconds after the user leaves the web browser. Among other uses, these cookies are used by e-commerce sites to remember the product placed in the cart by the user, to keep users logged in, and to calculate each user session for analytical purposes.
• Persistent Cookies: As the name suggests, persistent cookies remain in the user’s browser for a long period. Generally, persistent cookies must have an expiration date that can range from one second to ten years.
• Technical Cookies: Technical cookies allow users to navigate a website, online site, or application and use its services or features, such as accessing restricted areas, remembering items in a cart, completing a registration process, storing content for video playback, etc.
• Customization Cookies: These cookies store user experience preferences. For example, if a user selects a preferred language.
• Analytical Cookies: Analytical cookies are used to determine the usage of a site and can track an individual user, but only to the extent that it allows users to navigate through the site. They are not used to target ads, as the following type of cookies do.
• Advertising Cookies: Advertising cookies are specifically designed to gather information about you on your viewing device to send you advertising based on relevant topics of interest (cookies for selling).
• Plugin Cookies: Plugin cookies are generated when using content providers’ plugins and allow users to access third-party-provided content or services, such as Google Maps locations, connecting to social networks, or accessing YouTube.

The processing is based on our legitimate business interest to be able to provide our basic webservices in a secure and useful manner. Our website cannot function without these cookies and they can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.

No automated decision-making or profiling takes place.

3.5.2. Functional Cookies

These cookies enable the provision of advanced functionalities and are used for personalization. The cookies are set in particular in response to your actions and depend on your specific service requests (e.g. setting the language). More specifically, we set the following cookies:

• countryCode: This cookie stores the ISO country code of your (detected) country in order to display information related to your location (e.g. automatic language selection). It expires after two years or upon the withdrawal of your consent.
• cookiepopup: This cookie hides the “cookie” notification when you have closed this notification. It expires after two years or upon the withdrawal of your consent.
• wpEmojiSettingsSupports: This cookie is specific to WordPress and is used to check if the user’s browser supports emojis. It does not collect personal data and is purely functional to ensure that emojis are displayed correctly on the website.

The processing is based on your explicit consent you provided to us in the course of the subscription process. You either grant your consent by accepting all cookies in our cookie banner or by activating the cookie type you have selected. Your consent is voluntary, and you may revoke it at any time with effect for the future. You can revoke your consent by reopening our Cookie Center and deactivating the cookie type. If you do not grant your consent or revoke it, this will not result in any disadvantages for you. However, without your consent, the functions explained above will not be available to you.

No automated decision-making or profiling takes place.

3.5.3. Targeting Cookies

These cookies may be set to learn more about your interests and show you relevant ads on other websites. These cookies work by uniquely identifying your browser and device. By integrating these cookies, we aim to learn more about your interests and your surfing behavior and to be able to place our advertising in a targeted manner. More specifically, we set the following cookies:

• ga*: This is a Google Analytics cookie. It is used to distinguish users and track the performance of visits on the website. The cookie collects information anonymously and is mainly used to calculate visitor data, sessions, and campaigns.
• _ga: Similar to the previous cookie, this is another Google Analytics cookie. Its main function is to differentiate unique users by assigning them a unique identifier (ID). This cookie is essential for measuring how users interact with the website and allows generating reports on its performance.
• sbjs_migrations: This cookie is used to manage and record user migrations on the website. It can help track when a user switches from one traffic source to another, such as from an advertising campaign to direct navigation.
• sbjs_current_add: This cookie stores information about the current traffic source that brought the user to the website, such as the name of the advertising campaign or the search engine used. It is useful for understanding which channels are generating traffic to the website.
• sbjs_first_add: Similar to the previous cookie, this one stores the traffic source, but specifically the first source that brought the user to the website on their initial visit. This is useful for analyzing first-touch attribution.
• sbjs_current: This cookie stores information about the user’s current visit, including the traffic source and the time of the visit. It is useful for tracking the ongoing session.
• sbjs_first: It stores data about the user’s first visit to the website, including the traffic source and time. This helps analyze the initial origin of visitors and their behavior over time.
• sbjs_udata: This cookie collects anonymous user data, such as visit history and associated traffic sources. It is used for internal analysis and to improve the user experience on the website.
• sbjs_session: Similar to standard session cookies, this one maintains the user’s session while they navigate the site. It helps retain temporary data that enhances the user experience.

The processing is based on your explicit consent you provided to us in the course of the subscription process. You either grant your consent by accepting all cookies in our cookie banner or by activating the cookie type you have selected. Your consent is voluntary, and you may revoke it at any time with effect for the future. You can revoke your consent by reopening our Cookie Center and deactivating the cookie type. If you do not grant your consent or revoke it, this will not result in any disadvantages for you. However, without your consent, the functions explained above will not be available to you.

Please note that the use of Google Analytics has been extended by the plug-in “AnonymizeIP”, to ensure an anonymized collection of your IP address, so that we cannot relate your data to your person. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other data from Google.

3.5.4. Management and Deletion of Cookies

Some computer browsers automatically accept all cookies. In this case, you may not see the Cookie Center which allows you to manage your cookies individually. However, you can change your browser settings to block all cookies. You may also be able to configure your browser settings so that only certain types of cookies are blocked or so that you are notified as soon as a new cookie is to be stored on your computer. In this case, you can accept or reject cookies individually. If this function is available to you, you will find more detailed explanations in the help function of your browser. There you will also find information on how to delete all or certain cookies for which you have given us your consent. For more information on managing and deleting cookies for popular browsers, please see the following links: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari.

4. Data Transfers

We transfer your personal data as follows.

4.1. Merck Group

To our worldwide affiliates, to the extent that this is permissible within the framework of the purposes and legal bases stated under 3. In these cases, our group companies will use the personal data for the same purposes and under the same conditions as described in this privacy notice (e.g., answering your inquiry about a product that falls within the area of expertise of a foreign Merck affiliate). A list of our affiliated group companies and their contact details can be found here. If and to the extent we transfer your personal data in this context to a country outside the EU or the EEA and to which no adequacy decision of the European Commission exists, we safeguard an adequate level of data protection by entering into the EU standard contractual clauses with such affiliate. You may obtain these EU standard contractual clauses here.

4.2. Service Provider

We may also engage service providers (data processors) within (e.g. shared service centers) or outside the Merck Group (e.g. hosting providers, support service providers) to process personal data in accordance with our instructions. In these cases, we retain control over and remain fully responsible for your personal data. We will take all reasonable safeguards required by applicable law to ensure the integrity and security of your personal data when engaging such service providers and will, should these service providers process your personal data in a country outside the EU or the EEA, safeguard an adequate level of data protection by entering into the EU standard contractual clauses with such service provider. You may obtain these EU standard contractual clauses here.

4.3. Public Authorities

In certain cases, we are required by law to transfer data to a requesting public authority.

Upon submission of a court order, we may be obliged by national Copyright Acts to provide owners of copyright and ancillary copyrights with information about customers who are alleged to have infringed copyright laws. In these cases, we may be obliged to transfer your personal data, in particular your user ID of an IP address allocated at the time requested and, if known, your name and address.

In other respects, personal data will only be transferred to state institutions and public authorities within the framework of mandatory national legal provisions or if disclosure is necessary in the event of attacks on the network infrastructure for legal or criminal prosecution.

5. Your Data Protection Rights

You have or might have the following data protection rights:

• Right of access: You have the right to obtain information on the processing of your personal data and to receive a copy these data.
• Right to rectification: You have the right to request that we correct or complete your inadequate, incomplete or inaccurate personal data.
• Right to erasure: Under certain circumstances, you have the right to request that we delete your personal data.
• Right to restriction of processing: Under certain requirements, you may request us to restrict the processing of your personal data.
• Right to data portability: You might have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, common and machine-readable format and request that these data are transferred to another data controller, if applicable under the specific circumstances.
• Right to object: You might have the right to object to the processing of your personal data by us, in particular if the processing of your personal data is based on (i) the necessity of the performance of a task in the public interest, or (ii) legitimate interests. We will then stop the processing of your personal data unless we remain legally authorized to do so.
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: You might have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority against the processing of your personal data if you believe that the processing of your personal data violates data protection regulations.

5.1. Exercise your data protection rights

You may exercise your data protection rights by submitting a request in our Data Privacy Portal. We take our responsibility for the protection of your rights very seriously. Our privacy experts will examine your request and answer it as soon as possible.

5.2. Withdrawal of consent

In case you granted us your consent to process your personal data, you may withdraw this consent with effect for the future, depending on the specifications of the respective processing activity. We will then stop the processing of your personal data, unless we have a legal permission to do so. Please note that your withdrawal has effect for future processing operations only and does not make data processing operations, which we executed before such withdrawal, unlawful.

To withdraw your consent, you may send an email to service@merckgroup.com. If you withdraw your consent, you may no longer be able to use the services affected by the withdrawal. Apart from that, you will not suffer any further disadvantages.

If you do not specify your withdrawal to a specific processing operation, we will assume that you withdraw your consent regarding all processing of your personal data that is based on your consent.

This Data Privacy Statement is up-to-date and dates from September  2024. We reserve the right to amend the data privacy declaration at any time with effect for the future, in particular to adapt it to a further development of the website or the implementation of new technologies.