Source: https://taxfix.de/en/privacy-statement-for-the-taxfix-app/
Timestamp: 2019-09-23 14:13:48
Document Index: 479466310

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 6', '§ 257', '§ 147', 'Art. 6', '§ 257', '§ 147', 'Art. 6', 'Art. 6', 'Art. 6', 'Art. 6']

Privacy Statement for the Taxfix app - Taxfix
Privacy Statement for the Taxfix app
This privacy statement informs you of the purposes for which we collect, process and use personal data when you use the app provided by Taxfix GmbH (hereinafter the ‚Taxfix app‘).
The provider of the Taxfix app is Taxfix GmbH, Schwedter Straße 36A, 10435 Berlin (hereinafter: “Taxfix” or “we”). Taxfix is also responsible for the collection, processing and use of personal data of users of the Taxfix app (hereinafter “you”) within the meaning of the EU Data Protection Ordinance (DSGVO).
For all questions regarding data protection in connection with the use of our Taxfix app, you can also contact our data protection officer at any time. This can be reached at the above postal address as well as at the previously given e-mail address.
If you provide us with tax information in the context of the app, we will only process and use it to provide you with the services described in the General Terms and Conditions in more detail, such as the preparation and, if necessary, submission of the tax return (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Taxfix Services”), to invoice these services in the case of chargeable services and to make the use of the Taxfix app more convenient and secure or to fulfil our statutory obligations if applicable.
3. Data processing when using our app
Download from an App Store. In order to download and install our app from an app store (Google Play, Apple AppStore), you must first register a user account with the provider of the respective app store and conclude an appropriate user contract. We have no influence on its content, in particular we are not a party to such a contract of use. When downloading and installing the app, the necessary information is transferred to the respective provider of the app store (Google or Apple), in particular your user name, your e-mail address and the customer number of your account, the time of download and the individual device identification number as well as, in the case of in-app purchases, payment information. We have no influence on this data collection and are not responsible for it. We only process the data provided if this is necessary for downloading and installing the app on your mobile device (e.g. iPhone, iPad or Android device). Beyond that, this data is no longer stored.
Using the app. When using the app we collect the following technical data in order to enable the various functions of the app. This data is automatically collected from your mobile device and transmitted to us when you use the app (said data is collectively referred to as user data henceforth):
– Your device name (for example Apple iPhone 7)
– System language configuration
– General device data, such as language and regional settings
– IP address of the mobile device
– Application ID to identify your App installation
Sign-up. When first launching the app, an introduction asks for your marital status, living situation, sources of income, whether alimony payments were made and whether you lived or had any income from abroad . You are also asked about any disabilities that may be relevant for tax purposes. We require this data in order to determine whether the Taxfix app is suitable for generating your tax return. We furthermore ask for your email address to set up your user account and possibly contact you. We require this to send you the documents and a copy of your tax return if you so wish. This data is collectively referred to as ‘Sign-Up data‘ henceforth.
You are then provided the opportunity to restrict access to the app from your device by way of a PIN code. If you are in possession of a suitable mobile device you may optionally use the intrasystem iOS function Touch ID in order to enable access to the app via fingerprint. Your fingerprint is not transmitted to Taxfix. Touch ID is configured to save your fingerprint exclusively on your device. Further information can be obtained via Apple’s information on Touch ID.The Touch ID function is designed so that your fingerprint is only stored on your device. For more information, see Apple’s Touch ID information. Newer Apple devices allow unlocking via the so-called Face ID. Also the Face ID data always remain on your device and are not transmitted to Taxfix. For more information, please refer to Apple’s Face ID information.
We use your Sign-Up data to create a Taxfix user account for you. We make use of technical services (e.g. servers) by Google Inc.. We strive to make sure that only the highest security standards are used and that data is principally stored in Europe (see point 7 for details). Due to technical reasons infrastructure may nonetheless be serviced out of the USA. Since we process sensitive data we strive for the highest transparency in this regard.
At the end of the introduction we ask you to take notice of our Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy. By clicking on the button ‘Confirm‘ you agree to the following:
I consent to Taxfix also collecting and processing any sensitive tax-relevant information on confession, health and, for example, membership of a trade union as above in order to be able to offer the Taxfix service. I can revoke this consent at any time for the future, but then the Taxfix service can no longer be used in full.
In order to verify your email account we will send you a confirmation email containing a corresponding confirmation link. Your sign-up is complete as soon as you verified your email address. You may change your PIN at any time by going to your account settings in the app.
The registration data will be stored for as long as the Taxfix user account exists and will be kept for another twelve months after the account is closed. Where information on payments made must be retained for accounting purposes, it shall be retained in connection with the registration data for a period of six years. The legal basis for this storage is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c DSGVO in conjunction with § 257 HGB and § 147 AO.
Entering tax informationThe app collects tax relevant data (referred to as ‚tax information‘ henceforth) via the question catalogue. It includes information on title, name, first name, marital status, employment, address, religious affiliation, occupation, employer, information from the annual wage tax statement or the most recent payroll, second household, responsible tax office, Tax identification number, education and vocational training, expenses for work equipment, job applications and professional associations, income from capital assets (if a bank statement is available), other income including income from sale of commodities but excluding income from pension schemes, insurance schemes of the user for themselves, their children or third parties, health expenses, whether the user is a surviving dependant, disabilities, nursed persons, personal information on children living in the same household (including costs, information on disabilities and whether they are surviving dependants), parents or other persons, donations, church tax, household expenses, expenses from pension schemes, permanent expenses or alimony paid to third parties and loss carryforward. The tax information can include particularly sensitive personal data on health, possible nursing costs, information on religious affiliation with regard to the church tax paid or information on trade union membership if these are relevant in each case. We explicitly point out that we process this tax information for provision of the Taxfix service exclusively. In order to provide the service we are required to utilize service providers as mentioned above.
Submission of the tax return. In order to submit the completed income tax return documents to the tax office a service contract with Taxfix needs to be concluded. Details concerning this can be found in the Terms of Service. The respective payment is, however made via in-app payment. Payment information is saved by Apple and Google exclusively. Taxfix does not acquire payment information and thus cannot save such information either. Taxfix only saves the incoming payment in connection with the Taxfix user account in order to be able to assign incoming payments. Information on payments made will be kept for six years for accounting purposes in connection with the registration data. The legal basis for this storage is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c DSGVO in conjunction with § 257 HGB and § 147 AO.
Tax returns received by the tax office (Elster PDF) are displayed to the user in the app and stored for this purpose by us in connection with your Taxfix user account for as long as the Taxfix user account exists or you separately request the deletion of the PDF. In this case, however, the relevant PDFs can no longer be displayed in the app. The legal basis for this data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b DSGVO.
Retrieval of the electronic tax return. For controlling and statistical purposes we retrieve your electronic tax return via the ELSTER Portal. This data is treated as strictly confidential and not disclosed to third parties. Storage and archiving of your electronic tax assessments are governed by Sections 3.6 and 3.2. This data retrieval is exclusively to determine any statistical differences between our forecast and the final amount of refunds in order for us to continually improve our services make them more efficient. The legal basis for this data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO based on our legitimate interests to further optimize our product.
Support. Should you have questions regarding the Taxfix services feel free to contact our customer support anytime. You can reach customer support via the button ‚Contact our support team‘ in your account settings. The support can help you with questions concerning use of the app, general understanding, identification or how circumstances are captured in the app. You may also point us to to errors or bugs in the app. We do, however, point out that we do not provide individual tax advice and cannot answer support inquiries in that regard. Please turn to your tax advisor for tax related questions that cannot be solved by the app. We also bring to your attention the fact that we our support ticket system is run by the external service provider Intercom, Inc. which means that for technical reasons the content of inquiries can be temporarily stored in the USA. We have entered into agreements with the provider that correspond to the European level of data protection. The service provider is also certified under the US-EU Privacy Shield. From a technical point of view, the support inquiries are transmitted using encryption. In order to prevent your tax information or sensitive facts from being processed in this way, they should not be communicated via support at all since we cannot provide tax advice as stated above. The legal basis for processing your support requests is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b DSGVO. We store the support requests addressed to us as well as our answers for the duration of 18 months after the end of the support case for purposes of proof. The data is then automatically made anonymous.
We use usage data analysis technologies to continuously improve and optimize the app, to statistically record and analyze general usage behavior and to offer you the best possible user experience. The data about the use of our app is stored exclusively pseudonymously, i.e. under a separate identifier and not using your name or other directly identifying information. The data will be kept in pseudonymised form for a period of 12 months and subsequently completely deleted or made anonymous. The legal basis for the analysis of usage data in the form of the data processing described below is Art. 6 Para. 1 S. 1 lit. f DSGVO, based on our legitimate interest in the demand-oriented design and continuous optimisation of our app and service. You can object to data collection for the purpose of usage data analysis (opt-out) by activating the slider at the end of this file
Adjust. We use a software solution from Adjust GmbH for usage analysis. The events and functions triggered in the app as well as the navigation in the app are collected and evaluated anonymously. The collected IP and Mac addresses and their unique device identification (so-called identifiers, e.g. in the form of the Apple AdvertisingID) are immediately anonymized by Adjust, so that no conclusion about your person is possible. The information is used to compile evaluations of the general, non-personal usage behavior in relation to the Taxfix app for us and thus to enable our own market research and the demand-oriented design and further development of our app. This statistical usage analysis is not used for advertising purposes and no advertising is controlled by this. You can object to the data processing described above by using the above opt-out option.
For more information about Adjust, see the following link: https://www.adjust.com/privacy-compliance/
Segment.io. We also use Segment.io, a service of Segment.io, Inc, (101 15th St, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA), (‚Segment‘) for usage analysis. The service helps us to collect, analyze and interpret by way of the technologies described in this section any technical usage data arising during the use of our app. We then use this to improve the user experience of our app. The collected usage data is processed in a pseudonymized way. IP addresses and IDFA or Google AdvertisingID respectively are shortened upon collection and are not used to connect user profiles to personal data. Any pseudonymized usage data concerning usage of our app are usually transmitted and stored to a Segment server in the USA. Segment explicitly contractually assures us of compliance with European data protection laws. You can object to the data processing described above by using the above opt-out option.
5. Requested permissions
Certain functions of the app require access to services and data of your mobile device. In order to use all functions of the app you must grant the required access permissions. In the following, we explain which permissions the Taxfix app requests and which functions they are required for.
Notifications / Push notifications. If you click ‘Enable’ after being asked ‘If you enable push-notifications, Taxfix will remind you about important tax deadlines.‘ you are giving the app permission to alert you to certain events and topics (especially filing deadlines and other tax relevant matters) by sending you push notifications even if the app is currently not open on your device. Notifications can be delivered through sounds, messages (for example screen banners) and/or symbols (a picture or number on top of the app icon). You can find further information on push notifications and your configuration options under point 6.
Camera and photo access. If you click ‘Enable‘ after being asked ‘Give us permission to access your camera‘ you are granting the app permission to your photo gallery for uploading an identification document. To take a photo of the document using your camera directly within the app we require permission to access your camera. You can grant this by going to your app settings (‘Settings‘, then ‘Privacy‘ and then ‘Camera‘). The app may send you an appropriate notification in case access is needed: ‘Please give us permission to access your camera‘. The permission to access your camera and photo gallery is used exclusively for the purpose of obtaining a picture for identification. Only the photo you supply or take pursuant to the Identification process described under point 3.4 is processed. The photo and camera function are not used further. Via your mobile devices’ settings (‘Settings‘, then ‘Privacy‘ and ‘Camera‘) you may revoke this permission at any time.
Google Play billing service (in-app purchases). This permission is required to use the payment feature of the Google Play Store. In-App purchases are only made if you explicitly select and confirm this in the app.
Save data sets to memory or SD cards. This authorization is required to enable the app to store or read the data for its tax return in the memory or, if necessary, in an auxiliary memory used on your mobile device. The app will only read out the data saved in connection with the use of the Taxfix app.
6. Configuring push notifications
To be reminded of certain events and topics (such as filing deadlines for your tax return) via push notifications (also called ‘notifications‘ by iOS) even when the app is closed on your device, you need to grant the necessary permission (see point 5.1). You will be asked for this permission when you open the app for the first time to sign up or log in. Without your consent, which you give by clicking the button ‘Enable‘ we cannot send you push notifications. You can change the permission regarding push notifications in your iOS settings and turn the notifications on or off at a later time.
Open the ‘settings‘ app in iOS and select ‘notifications‘ from the menu. In the following menu you will find an overview of all apps that are installed to your device and that have been granted permission to send you push notifications. Select the Taxfix app. You can now turn push notifications on or off. You also have the opportunity to adjust how push notifications are displayed by the Taxfix app.
When installing the app, you will be asked to grant permission to receive push messages so that you can receive push messages even if the app is not currently open. To prevent the app from displaying push messages, please open the “Settings” app in the main menu of your device and select “Apps” (or “Application Manager”) in the following menu item. There, you will find an overview of all apps installed on your device. Select the Taxfix App and then “Permissions”. You can then turn the push message function on or off using the switch.
We employ state-of-the-art technical measures to ensure the security of your data. Our security measures are constantly adapted to technological progress. When your mobile device is locked, all data stored on it are encrypted. Thus if you activated automatic locking on your device, it will be harder for unauthorized persons to access your data. Actual protection levels depend on the choice of your PIN and its length (four or six digits). Further information on hardware encryption can be obtained via Apple’s iOS security guidance. The data in the app can be protected from unauthorized access by means of a PIN or Touch ID as stated in 3.2. Apple also provides further information about Touch ID advanced security technology. For information about the security of your Android device, please refer to your manufacturer’s support pages. Communication between your mobile device and our servers is conducted using SSL encryption. We strictly monitor the service providers we use and are shown proof of compliance for the assured security standards via current certification. Your data is principally stored encrypted (AES-256-CTR) in a European computer center and in accordance with high security standards. The computer center employs state-of-the-art technical security measures and is certified under the ISO 27018 standard. As far as third countries are involved in the exceptional cases described in this privacy statement (in case of of server maintenance or support inquiries), technical levels of data security nonetheless correspond to European standards to full extent. In any case, any data processing in third countries shall be carried out in compliance with the guarantees provided for this purpose by law.
Version: 2.1 / As of June 2018