1. Preamble.
2. General Information.
   1. Controller 
   2. Data Protection Officer
3. The Processing Activities in Detail.
   1. Operation of our Services
   2. Google Maps
   3. Cookies
4. Data transfers.
   1. Merck Group
   2. Service Provider
   3. Public Authorities
5. Your Data Protection Rights.
   1. Exercise your data protection rights
   2. Withdrawal of consent

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 Group Data Protection Officer via privacy@merckgroup.com or the other contact details provided below.

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, the controller is

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. You may reach him/her as follows:

GROUP DATA PRIVACY OFFICER

Merck KGaA
Frankfurter Strasse 250
64293 Darmstadt, Germany
Phone: +49 6151 72-0
privacy@merckgroup.com

If you have any requests or questions, please feel free to contact our Deputy Information Officer:

Deputy Information Officer

1 Friesland Drive
Longmeadow Business Estate
Modderfontein
1645
South Africa
E-Mail:  elsa.moroney@merckgroup.com  or popiacompliancesa@merckgroup.com .

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

This section explains the different data processing activities in which Merck processes your personal data for the operation of our services and the provision of information and functionalities.
In general, you are neither contractually nor statutorily obliged to provide your personal data for the below purposes, however your decision to not provide your data may lead to negative consequences, such as reduced features and functionalities and/or, in rare cases, the impossibility to use our information and services offered in this context.

3.1. Operation of our Services

We process your personal data for the purpose of the operation of our services. 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 temporary IP address.
• The time and date 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 Merck website that you looked at.
• 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).

Your data is regularly deleted after a period of seven days, beginning from your use of our service.

No automated decision-making or profiling takes place.

3.2. Google Maps

Google Maps is available for you to search for clinics in a specific area.  The processing is based on your input in the searching functionality.  No data is captured.

3.3. 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:

3.3.1. 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:

• OptanonAlertBoxClosed: This cookie is set by websites using certain versions of the cookie law compliance solution from OneTrust.  It is set after visitors have seen a cookie information notice and in some cases only when they actively close the notice down.  It enables the website not to show the message more than once to a user.  The cookie has a one year lifespan and contains no personal information.
• OptanonConsent: This cookie is set by the cookie compliance solution from OneTrust. It stores information about the categories of cookies the site uses and whether visitors have given or withdrawn consent for the use of each category. This enables site owners to prevent cookies in each category from being set in the users browser, when consent is not given. The cookie has a normal lifespan of one year, so that returning visitors to the site will have their preferences remembered. It contains no information that can identify the site visitor.
• TEST_AMCV_COOKIE_WRITE: This cookie is used to test whether cookies are enabled in the browser. It is a temporary cookie used to determine if the browser accepts cookies.
• ak_bmsc: This cookie is associated with Akamai and is used to differentiate between traffic from humans and bots.
• bm_mi: This cookie is associated with Akamai. It is used to analyse traffic to determine if it is automated traffic generated by bots or a human user.
• bm_sv: This cookie is associated with Akamai and is used to differentiate between traffic from humans and bots.
• affinity: This cookie is used to maintain user sessions by setting an affinity cookie with a hash value containing the session details, ensuring subsequent requests with the affinity cookie are routed to the same backend server for maintaining stickiness.

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.

3.3.2. Functional Cookies

These type of 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).

• s_ips: This cookie is associated with Adobe Analytics. The cookie is used for measuring a visitor’s scroll activity to see how much of a page they view before moving on to another page.
• s_ppv: This cookie is associated with Adobe Analytics site tracking and is used to measure a user's scroll activity to see how much of a page they view before moving to another page.
• s_tp: This cookie is associated with Adobe Analytics. The cookie is used for measuring a visitor’s scroll activity to see how much of a page they view before moving on to another page.
• s_cc: This cookie is associated with the Adobe Site Catalyst. It determines whether cookies are enabled in the web browser.

3.3.3. Targeting Cookies

These cookies allow us to provide more comfort for you. For example, previously searched products or services can be reloaded again after revisiting our website and you won’t need to enter all the details again. We can also detect if you need assistance with using our website and therefore offer you direct customer support.

• demdex: This cookie helps Adobe Audience Manger perform basic functions such as visitor identification, ID synchronization, segmentation, modeling, reporting, etc.
• AMCV_xxxxxAdobeOrg: This cookie is used to identify a unique visitor for tracking purposes by Adobe Experience Cloud.This is a pattern type cookie name associated with Adobe Marketing Cloud. It stores a unique visitor identifier, and uses an organisation identifier to allow a company to track users across their domains and services.
• AMCVS_xxxxxAdobeOrg: This is a pattern type cookie name associated with Adobe Marketing Cloud. It stores a unique visitor identifier, and uses an organisation identifier to allow a company to track users across their domains and services.This is a pattern type cookie name associated with Adobe Marketing Cloud. It stores a unique visitor identifier, and uses an organisation identifier.

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.

This website uses Adobe Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Adobe Systems Software Ireland Limited ("Adobe") to store "analytical cookies" on your device.  This means that information about users and the use of our website is transmitted to Adobe and processed by us on our behalf for the purpose of compiling reports on website activity, measuring website visits and visitors and providing similar services to us. This includes the transmission of your IP address, but will not be merged with other Adobe data. In addition, it is pseudonymized prior to the geolocalization and replaced by a generic IP address before storage.  You can object to the processing of your data for statistical purposes by using the following link ("Use of Adobe Marketing Cloud by our business customers" section): http://www.adobe.com/de/privacy/opt-out.html.

3.3.4. 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.

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.

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, 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 November 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.