Data protection

Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz ensures that all information and data contained on its website (microsite) are accurate and up-to-date. However, no liability or guarantee is assumed for the timeliness, accuracy, or completeness of the information and data provided. Under no circumstances will liability be assumed for any damages resulting from the use of the information accessed. Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz reserves the right to make changes or additions to the information or data provided without prior notice.

The website of Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz is hosted as a microsite for the state capital of Mainz by

Hetzner Online GmbH

Industriestraße 25

91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany

exclusively on servers located in Germany. The State Capital of Mainz has contractually ensured that its data processor, Hetzner, processes users’ personal data exclusively in accordance with its instructions and in compliance with data protection laws and principles.

The Mainz Economic Development Agency has provided links to other websites on its site.

The following applies to all these links: Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz expressly emphasizes that it has no influence whatsoever on the design and content of the linked sites. Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz is not responsible for the content of websites accessed via a link.

Should the content of these sites infringe upon the rights of third parties, Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz expressly distances itself from the content of these sites. If users notify Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz of any infringing content on linked sites, Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz will immediately remove these links from its website.

The layout of the website, the graphics used, and the collection of articles are protected by copyright. The pages may be reproduced only for personal use; no changes may be made, and copies may not be distributed or used for public display. The reproduction of information or data—in particular the use of texts, portions of texts, or images—requires the prior consent of Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz.

The protection of your personal data and compliance with applicable national and European data protection regulations, in particular the European General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the Rhineland-Palatinate State Data Protection Act (“LDSG”), are of great importance to Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz. The following information explains how Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz handles personal data on the web, what anonymous user data Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz collects and analyzes, and how this information is used.

Normally, you can access our website without providing any personal information. In certain cases, however, we may require personal data from you. There may be a variety of reasons why you decide to provide us with your personal data. For example, you might decide to give us personal data such as your name, address, or email address so that we can correspond with you or provide a service. If you provide us with information about third parties, such as a spouse or relatives, we assume that you have obtained the necessary consent beforehand.

The following sections describe how we use the personal data you have transmitted to us via the Internet, whether and, if so, with whom we share it. You can also read in detail what anonymous visitor information we collect and analyze for statistical purposes, and how we do so.

Data Controller, Contact Information for the Data Protection Officer

The data controller is:

Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz

Industriestraße 70

55120 Mainz

Phone: +49 6131/97 15 - 0, Fax: +49 6131/97 15 -209

Email: wirtschaftsbetrieb.mainzstadt.mainzde

You can contact our Data Protection Officer by email: franziska.holzstadt.mainzde

Data collection via our website

Data collection for technical reasons

Each time you access our website, your web browser automatically transmits the following data to our web server for technical reasons:

• IP address of the requesting computer

• Date and time of access

• Name and URL of the file accessed

• Amount of data transferred

• Access status (file transferred, file not found, etc.)

• Identification data of the browser and operating system used

• Name of the provider of the user’s Internet access

• Website from which access is made

The collection, processing, and use of this data are carried out for the purpose of enabling the use of the website (establishing a connection), ensuring system security, and for the technical administration of the network infrastructure. No comparison with other data sets or disclosure to third parties, even in part, takes place. The legal basis for processing is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR in conjunction with § 3 LDSG.

Other Data Collection

We collect and process your personal data in other cases only if you access certain services and we require your data for this purpose, or if you have voluntarily provided us with your explicit consent to do so. The legal basis for processing is the processing necessary for the performance of a contract pursuant to Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR, your declaration of consent, to the extent that you have provided it to us pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, or processing for the performance of tasks carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority delegated by the City of Mainz or the Mainz Economic Development Agency pursuant to Art. 6(1)(e) GDPR in conjunction with § 3 LDSG.

You can do this, for example, when registering by filling out a corresponding form or sending us an email, ordering services, submitting inquiries to us, requesting materials, or completing a registration. Unless otherwise required by law, we use your personal data only for the purposes for which you have given your consent. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect.

Some sections of the website link users to corresponding portals of other authorities, such as the online portal of the Federal Office of Justice, or to other portals for communicating with authorities, such as the rlpDirekt citizen platform, the KFZOnline portal by emkom21, or the portals of the Special-Purpose Association for Information Technology and Data Processing of Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate. In these cases, the controllers named there are responsible, and the respective privacy notices apply.

Secure Data Transmission

Data that you enter directly on your computer into online forms (and only into these) is transmitted to the municipal agency in encrypted form. To protect personal data entered into these forms from unauthorized access by third parties, all information is transmitted using 128-bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. Emails are currently forwarded to the Mainz Economic Enterprise without additional encryption techniques. All information sent may therefore be viewed by third parties during transmission under certain circumstances. The integrity of the data is not yet guaranteed. However, we are currently preparing technical and organizational measures to ensure this in the future. For security reasons, you should therefore not send passwords, credit card numbers, or other information that you wish to keep confidential. In such cases, we recommend that you use other methods of transmission.

Data Storage Agreement

We process and use personal data in accordance with the provisions of data protection regulations.

To the extent that personal data is collected, processed, and used within the scope of specialized applications of municipal offices and agencies, the respective special statutory regulations and/or the LDSG apply.

We process and use your personal data outside of this service only to the extent necessary to fulfill the tasks falling under the jurisdiction of the municipal enterprise, as required by law, or if you have given your consent. The relevant legal bases are Art. 6(1)(b), (c), or (e) of the GDPR, § 3 of the LDSG, or Art. 6(1)(a) of the GDPR. We do not disclose the data to non-public entities.

Further information on data protection can be found on the website of the State Data Protection Commissioner (link at the end of the section “Rights of access and rectification, other rights regarding your stored data”).

Data Recipients

Within Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz, your data is received by those departments that require it to fulfill our contractual and legal obligations. We generally do not disclose the data to non-public entities. However, some data is disclosed under strict contractual and legal conditions:

Data processors

When service providers come into contact with your data, this generally occurs within the framework of what is known as the processing of personal data on behalf of a controller. This is expressly provided for by law. In this case as well, Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz remains responsible for the protection of your data—alongside the data processor, if applicable. The service provider operates exclusively in accordance with our instructions, which we ensure through strict contractual provisions, technical and organizational measures, and supplementary controls.

Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz engages service providers as data processors. These include service providers in the categories of IT services (e.g., for technical and administrative tasks and for usage analysis), telecommunications, advisory and consulting services, as well as sales and marketing.

The data protection requirements for the processing of personal data under our instructions are complied with.

Our Own Data Controllers

Various third-party applications are integrated within the mainz.de website. The collection and processing of personal data—to the extent that any is collected—is the sole responsibility of the respective third-party providers for these applications. We do not store this data on the mainz.de web server. Please refer to the respective privacy notices regarding the processing of your data in connection with these applications. This specifically concerns the following data controllers:

· Business directory: gewusst-wo.de/Verlag Beleke GmbH and Verlag Schmidt Römhild KG

· Donation portal: bezahllotse.de/TraffGo Road GmbH

· Apply for a certificate of good conduct: www.fuehrungszeugnis.bund.de/Bundesamt for Justice

· Information from the Central Trade Register: www.fuehrungszeugnis.bund.de/Bundesamt for the Ministry of Justice

· Specialized procedures of the Civil Registry, Legal Affairs, and Public Order Office: xsta.ewois.de/ZIDKOR - Association for Information Technology and Data Processing of Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate

· Specialized procedures of the Licensing Authority: kfzonline.ekom21.de/KommWis GmbH

· 3Q video portal: 3q.video/de

· Civento application and process platform (generally under our own responsibility; in individual cases, a data processing agreement applies)

Use of Cookies

We use cookies on our website. If you wish to opt out of the benefits of our cookies, you can consult your browser’s help function to learn how to configure your browser to prevent it from accepting new cookies or to delete existing cookies. There you will also find instructions on how to block all new cookies or which settings to adjust to receive a notification when new cookies are set.

The following cookies are used on the Mainz.de website and on the microsite of Wirtschaftsbetrieb Mainz:

PHPSESSID

This session cookie is used to store the anonymous user’s preferred settings so that they are immediately available upon a subsequent visit to the site. This cookie is primarily used in forms to temporarily store entered data, for example, in case the user makes an input error and receives an error message. This cookie is deleted as soon as the browser session ends. The legal basis for processing is Art. 6(1)(e) GDPR, §3 LDSG.

Retention Period

We store data for as long as is legally required, or as long as is necessary to provide a specific service you have requested from Mainz.de, or as specified in a corresponding consent.

The aggregated and anonymized statistics generated from the technical data (log files) are stored for 12 months.

Rights of access and rectification, other rights regarding your stored data

You may at any time request, free of charge, information regarding the scope, origin, and recipients of the stored data, as well as the purpose of storage; furthermore, in accordance with data protection regulations, you have the right to rectification, erasure, or restriction of the processing of your data, a right to object to the processing, and a right to data portability. Please note that you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The competent supervisory authority is the State Data Protection Commissioner of Rhineland-Palatinate.

For more information, please see the section “How We Handle Your Data and Your Rights.”

Withdrawal of Consent to the Use of Your Data

You have the right to withdraw your consent to the use of your data at any time. To do so, simply send an email to wirtschaftsbetrieb.mainzstadt.mainzde or a notice to the following address:

Mainz Economic Enterprise

- Public-law institution -

Industriestraße 70

55120 Mainz

Tel.: (06131) 97 15 - 196 or -197

Data processing based on your consent is lawful until such consent is revoked.

Validity of the General and Specific Privacy Notices

These General and Specific Privacy Notices are current and dated (February 24, 2026). We reserve the right to amend the Privacy Policy at any time with future effect, as necessary, particularly to adapt to further development of the website or the implementation of new technologies.

Analytics Data

We use the open-source software Matomo for the statistical evaluation and analysis of our websites. We have deactivated tracking cookies in Matomo so that no cookies are sent to your computer. Your IP address is sent to Matomo exclusively in anonymized form. 

Matomo collects only the data that your browser transmits to our web server for technical reasons (see above under “Data Collection by Our Websites”). The City of Mainz uses the analytics data to optimize the content and design of the website and thus better fulfill its informational mandate. The legal basis for the processing of personal data is Art. 6(1)(e) GDPR in conjunction with § 3 LDSG. 

You can object to this use here:

Privacy Settings

ReadSpeaker's text-to-speech feature

On mainz.de, we use the ReadSpeaker service provided by ReadSpeaker GmbH, Am Sommerfeld 7, 86825 Bad Wörishofen, Germany

ReadSpeaker reads the texts on mainz.de aloud to you. When you click the read-aloud button, the corresponding text is transmitted to the ReadSpeaker server via the user’s IP address, where an audio file is generated and streamed back to the user’s IP address. Immediately after the audio file is delivered, the transaction and the user’s IP address are deleted from the ReadSpeaker server. ReadSpeaker does not collect or store any data that can be used to identify an individual. All services are provided in Europe (Sweden).

When a user changes settings (highlighting, text size, etc.) in the player, ReadSpeaker stores this information in a cookie in the user’s browser. To maintain the user’s selected settings across all pages of the website, the cookie is linked to the website’s URL. The cookie expires after one week. ReadSpeaker generally collects statistical data on the use of the text-to-speech feature. However, the statistical data cannot be linked to individual users or their usage. ReadSpeaker only stores the total number of activations of the read-aloud button per webpage and language. ReadSpeaker stores the IP address for the activation. These are stored in standard web logs to enable appropriate security measures such as bot detection and the tracking of potential service failures. The logs are stored for only one month.

The purpose of processing your personal data through the service is to fulfill our informational obligations in an accessible manner. The legal basis for the processing is Art. 6(1)(e) GDPR in conjunction with § 3 LDSG.”

You can find ReadSpeaker’s privacy policy on the following website:

ReadSpeaker, Privacy Policy (opens in a new tab)

All rights of use and exploitation of the live stream and its recordings by the City of Mainz belong to the City of Mainz.

Any editing of the content, in particular distribution on video platforms, or the distortion, abridgment, or alteration of the audio and video material, is prohibited and will result in criminal and civil legal consequences.

Hosting via the 3Q video platform

Streams and recordings are hosted in compliance with the GDPR on the 3Q video platform (https://3q.video) with data storage within the EU.