Privacy Policy

The requirements of the EU Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter referred to as: GDPR) apply throughout Europe. Please read our privacy policy carefully.

The following data privacy information informs you about the nature and extent of the processing of so-called personal data by ISM International School of Management GmbH (hereinafter: ISM). Which data is processed in detail and how it is used depends largely on the services you have requested and have agreed upon. Therefore, not all parts of this data privacy information will apply to you. Personal data is information that can be directly or indirectly attributed to you.

Data processing by ISM can be divided into two main categories:

1. For the purpose of contract processing, all data required for the execution of a contract with ISM will be processed. If external service providers are also involved in the processing and execution of the contract, for instance transport companies, your data will be passed on to them to the extent necessary in each case.
2. When you access the ISM website/application, various information is exchanged between your end device and our server. This may also be personal data. The information collected in this way is used, among other things, to optimize our website or to display advertising in the browser of your end device.

In accordance with the provisions of GDPR, you have various rights which you can assert in relation to us. These include the right to raise an objection in relation to selected data processing, in particular data processing for advertising purposes. The option to object is available in print.

The ISM websites are hosted on external servers in Europe and are thus subject to applicable safety regulations applicable in Europe. The legal basis for this are the agreements on commissioned processing according to Article 28 of EU-GDPR.

If you have any questions about our data privacy policy, please feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This data privacy policy applies to data processing by ISM International School of Management GmbH, Otto-Hahn-Strasse 19, D-44227 Dortmund, and for the following websites and/or applications: www.ism.de, en.ism.de and blog.ism.de.

You have a right to free information about your personal data stored by us and, if applicable, a right to correction, blocking or deletion of this data. If you have any questions about the collection, processing or use of your personal data, for information, correction, blocking or deletion of data and revocation of consents granted or objection to a particular use of data, please contact us directly: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We have appointed Mr. Marc Althaus as our external company data protection officer, who continuously works to ensure compliance with data protection regulations and carries out regular checks. You can find the contact details here:

Contact form:
https://www.dsextern.de/anfragen

DS EXTERN GmbH
Dipl.-Kfm. Marc Althaus
Frapanweg 22
D-22589 Hamburg, Germany

When you access our website/application, the browser used on your end device automatically sends information to the server of our website/application and temporarily stores it in a so-called log file. We have no influence on this. The following information is collected without your intervention and stored until automatic deletion after seven days:

1. IP address of the requesting Internet-enabled device,
2. Date and time of access,
3. Name and URL of the file retrieved,
4. Website/Application from which the access was made (referrer URL),
5. Browser used and, if applicable, the operating system of your Internet-enabled computer
6. Name of your access provider
7. Language, country, city
8. Screen resolution
9. Demographic characteristics: age, gender
10. Search keyword

The legal basis is Article 6 (1)(f) GDPR. Our legitimate interest follows from the purposes of data collection listed below. At this point, we would like to point out that we are not able to draw any conclusions about your identity from the collected data and that we will not do so.

The IP address of your terminal device and the other data listed above are used by us for the following purposes:

1. Ensuring smooth connection establishment,
2. Ensuring a comfortable use of our website/app,
3. Evaluating system security and stability as well as
4. Other administrative purposes

Furthermore, we use so-called cookies, tracking tools and targeting methods for our website/application. The exact procedures involved and how your data is used for this purpose is explained in more detail below in section 3.3.4.

If you have consented to so-called geolocation in your browser or in the operating system or other settings on your terminal device, we do not use this function. However, you may receive individual services based on your current location through the search engines you use or other online service providers.

The object of ISM's activities is the provision of services and the distance sale of goods, retail trade within the scope of the permits issued by the authorities and the serial production of the goods to be offered. In this context, we process the data required for the conclusion, execution or termination of a contract. This includes:

1. Last name / Birth name
2. First name
3. Place of birth
4. Country of birth
5. Date of birth
6. Gender
7. Nationality
8. Address(es)
9. Email address(es)
10. Entry date
11. Billing and payment information
12. Phone number(s)
13. Study program
14. Other courses booked (e.g. pre-courses)
15. Registration for exams
16. Exam results
17. Study contract
18. If available, further supplementary documents to the study contract

The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1)(b) GDPR. Insofar as we do not use your contact data for advertising purposes (see 3.3. below), we store the data collected for the processing of the contract until the expiry of the statutory or possible contractual warranty and guarantee rights. After expiration of this period, we retain the information of the contractual relationship required by commercial and tax law for the periods determined by law. For this period (regularly ten years from the conclusion of the contract), the data is processed again solely in the event of an audit by the tax authorities.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned data will be forwarded to foreign partner universities as part of your mandatory semester abroad.

If necessary, we may verify your identity by using information from service providers. The legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(b) and (f) of GDPR. The authorization for this results from the protection of your identity and the prevention of fraud attempts at our expense. The circumstance and the result of our request will be added to your customer account or your guest account for the duration of the contractual relationship.

In the course of the ordering process, we also check your creditworthiness in order to be able to show you only the payment methods that can be used by you. For this purpose, we transmit the following types of data to so-called credit agencies cooperating with us: Name, address, date of birth. The legal basis for this is the following declaration of consent by you within the meaning of Article 6(1)(a) GDPR:

I hereby consent to the verification of my creditworthiness by ISM. I am aware that the check is already carried out at the beginning of the order process and that I can revoke my consent at any time.

You can revoke your consent at any time with effect for the future by sending a declaration to the address given under "Contact". The revocation of consent does not affect the lawfulness of the personal data processed until the revocation. If you do not want to give the above consent, please give us before you initiate the completion of your purchase a corresponding note or use the option of guest ordering. In this case, however, we can only offer you payment methods that are not associated with a credit risk for ISM. The circumstance and the result of our inquiry will be saved to your customer account for the duration of the contractual relationship.

If you have already made a purchase from us, the data we have stored about you may be supplemented by so-called score values. Scoring is the creation of a forecast of future events based on information collected and experience gained in the past. On the basis of the data stored about you, an assignment is made to statistical groups of people who have had similar entries in the past. The underlying method used is a well-founded mathematical-statistical method for forecasting risk probabilities that has been tried and tested in practice for a long time.

In the event of a delay in payment, we will transmit the necessary data to a company commissioned to enforce the claim if the other legal requirements are met. The legal bases for this are both Article 6(1)(b) and Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The assertion of a contractual claim is to be regarded as a legitimate interest within the meaning of the second-named provision. We also transmit information about the delay in payment or a possible bad debt to credit agencies cooperating with us if the other legal requirements are met. The legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The legitimate interest which this requires arises from our and third parties’ interest in reducing contract risks for future contracts.

In order to collect our outstanding receivables, we transfer this function to a collection agency and, in this context, pass on the necessary data to the collection agency commissioned by us. This company first checks the legitimacy of the receivables transferred for collection and then sends a reminder for the delinquent invoice in writing or, if necessary, by telephone. If payment is refused, the collection agency will initiate legal dunning proceedings if necessary. There is also the possibility of execution as well as the seizure of realizable objects.

ISM transmits the data collected during the application process for a study place (according to 3.2.1) as a curriculum vitae with attachments to qualified partner companies in order to support dual or part-time students in their search for a dual or partner in the run-up to their studies. The data will only be transmitted to partners exclusively for the application process. This data is deleted after completion of the application process or studies, unless longer legal retention periods exist.

Insofar as you have concluded a contract with us, we manage you as an existing customer. In this case, we process your contact data in order to send you information about new and similar products and services. From time to time, we transmit your postal contact data to contract partners selected by us with special care as service providers, so that they can inform you about new and similar products of ISM.

To ensure that you only receive information that is of supposed interest to you, we categorize and add further information to your customer profile. Statistical information as well as information about you (e.g. basic data of your customer profile) is used for this purpose. The aim is to send you advertising that is geared solely to your actual or perceived needs and, accordingly, not to bother you with useless advertising.

The legal basis for the aforementioned data processing is in each case Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. The processing of existing customer data in this way for our own advertising purposes or for the advertising purposes of third parties is to be regarded as legitimate interest.

You can object to data processing for the aforementioned purposes separately for the respective communication channel at any time and with effect for the future. For this purpose, it is sufficient to send an e-mail or a postal letter to the contact details mentioned under section 1.

If you object, the contact address concerned will be blocked for further data processing for advertising purposes. We would like to point out that in exceptional cases, advertising material may still be sent after receipt of your objection. This is due to technical reasons and does not mean that we will not implement your objection. Thank you for your understanding.

We use so-called cookies in our systems on the basis of Article 6 (1)(f) GDPR. Our interest in optimizing our website is to be regarded as legitimate in the sense of the aforementioned provision. Cookies are small files that are automatically created by your browser and stored on your end device (laptop, tablet, smartphone or similar) when you visit our site. Cookies do not cause any damage to your end device, do not contain viruses, Trojans or other malware. In the cookie, information is stored that arises in each case in connection with the specific end device used. However, this does not mean that we gain direct knowledge of your identity. The use of cookies serves to make the use of our offer more pleasant for you. For the purpose of user-friendliness, we use permanent cookies that are stored on your end device for a period of 30 days. If you visit our site again to use our services, it is automatically recognized that you have already been with us and what entries and settings you have made so that you do not have to enter them again.

On the other hand, we use cookies in order to statistically record the use of our website and to evaluate it for the purpose of optimising our offer and content for you as well as to display information tailored specifically to you. These cookies allow us to automatically recognize that you have already visited us when you visit our website again. These cookies are deleted automatically after a period of 30 days. Most internet browsers accept cookies automatically. However, you can configure your browser so that no cookies are stored on your computer or a message always appears before a new cookie is created. However, disabling cookies completely may mean that you cannot use all the features of our website. The storage period of cookies depends on their purpose and is not the same for all.

This website uses the cookie consent technology of Usercentrics to obtain your consent to store certain cookies on your terminal device or to use of certain technologies, and to document this consent in accordance with data protection law.

Operator of Usercentrics:
Usercentrics GmbH
Rosental 4
80331 Munich

Information about Usercentrics' privacy policy can be found here: https://usercentrics.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung/

When you enter our website, the following personal data is transferred to Usercentrics:

1. Your consent(s) or revocation of consent(s)
2. Information about your browser
3. Information about your terminal device
4. Time of your visit to the website

Furthermore, Usercentrics stores a cookie in your browser in order to be able to assign the consents granted to you or its revocation. The data collected in this way will be stored until you request us to delete it, delete the Usercentrics cookie yourself or the purpose for storing the data no longer applies. Mandatory legal storage obligations remain unaffected.

Usercentrics is used to obtain the legally required consent for the use of certain technologies. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 paragraph 1 p.1 lit.c GDPR.

If you want to prevent cookies from being set, you can - in addition to or instead of our cookie consent solution - set cookies on the website in a more general way:

Browser settings

Most browsers are set to accept cookies by default, but you can set your browser to reject cookies or ask for confirmation from you first. The help function in the menu bar of most web browsers explains how you can prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how you can have your browser notify you when you receive new cookies, or even how you can delete all cookies you have already received and have the browser block all others.

However, if you refuse cookies, this may result in the unavailability of part of our website (and services of other websites) and thus some functions can not be used. Also, cookies usually need to be enabled to object to the use of programs / uses (because of the setting of his objection (opt-out cookies).

For the purpose of needs-based design and ongoing optimization, we use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc ("Google"), on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. In this context, pseudonymized usage profiles are created and cookies are used. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website such as

1. Browser type/version,
2. Operating system used,
3. Referrer URL (the site previously visited),
4. Host name of the accessing computer (IP address),
5. Time of the server request,

are transferred to a Google server in the USA and stored there. The information is used to evaluate the use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services related to the use of the website and the Internet for the purposes of market research and demand-oriented design of these Internet pages. This information may also be transferred to third parties if this is required by law or if third parties process this data on our behalf. Under no circumstances will your IP address be merged with other Google data. The IP addresses are anonymized so that an assignment is not possible. The retention period of the data sent by you and linked to cookies, user IDs or advertising IDs is 14 months. With each new activity, the period is set to the current duration plus the retention period mentioned.

You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

This website uses Google Tag Manager. Operator of Google Tag Manager is:
Google LLC
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, California 94043, USA

Through this service, website tags can be managed through one interface. The Google Tag Manager only implements tags. This means that no cookies are used and no personal data is collected.

The Google Tag Manager is a tool for managing website tags. Google Tag Manager triggers other tags, which in turn may collect data. However, the Google Tag Manager does not access this data. If a deactivation has been made at the domain or cookie level, it remains in place for all tracking tags, insofar as these are implemented with the Google Tag Manager.

On our website, we use a Web Tracking Service of the company

Google Ireland Limited
Gordon House, Barrow Street 4
Dublin, Ireland

(hereinafter: Google Enhanced Conversion). With the help of Google Enhanced Conversions, ISM collects conversion data.

Google Enhanced Conversion Tracking is a feature that can increase the accuracy of our conversion measurement. It sends hashed first-party conversion data from our website to Google in a secure manner as part of an addendum to existing conversion tags. Customer information is not shared with other advertisers. Access controls and encryption are in place to prevent unlawful access. You can revoke the data collection and storage at any time with effect for the future.

The targeting measures listed below and used by us are carried out on the basis of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. By means of the targeting measures used, we want to ensure that you are only shown advertisements on your end devices that are based on your actual or presumed interests. It is in your interest as well as ours not to bother you with advertisements that are not interesting for you.

On our website, information is collected and analyzed using cookies to optimize advertising. This information contains, for example, details of which of our study programs you were interested in. The collection and evaluation is exclusively pseudonymous and does not allow us to identify you. In particular, the information is not combined with personal data about you. Based on the information, we can show you offers on our site that are specifically geared to your interests, as determined by your previous user behavior. The cookie is automatically deleted after 30 days.

We also use re-targeting technologies from ad servers. This enables us to make our online offer more interesting and tailored to you. For this purpose, a cookie is set with which interest data is collected using pseudonyms. Based on this information, you will be shown interest-related advertisements about our offers. No personal data is stored and no usage profiles are merged with personal data about you. The cookie is stored for a period of 30 days and then automatically deleted.

You can disable the targeting technologies described above by selecting the appropriate cookie setting in your browser (see also 3.3.4). Facebook custom audience can be deactivated under the following link: https://www.reachlocal.com/opt-out.

Hubspot is a company that offers a sales and customer relationship management (CRM) platform.

Hubspot Inc.
25 Street,

Cambridge, MA 02141, USA

Data transfer to the USA is based on the standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.hubspot.de/data-privacy/privacy-shield.

For more details, please see Hubspot's privacy policy: https://legal.hubspot.com/de/privacy-policy.

We use Hubspot CRM on this website.

Among other things, Hubspot CRM enables us to manage existing and potential customers as well as customer contacts. With the help of Hubspot CRM, we are able to record, sort, and analyze customer interactions via email, social media, or telephone across different channels. The personal data collected in this way can be evaluated and used for communication with the potential customer or for marketing measures (e.g. newsletter mailings). With Hubspot CRM, we are also able to record and analyze the user behavior of our contacts on our website.

The use of Hubspot CRM is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the most efficient customer management and customer communication possible.

Form is a Hubspot service for creating online forms. All forms on our website are created using this service.

Data collected:

1. User Agent Data,
2. IP address,
3. Browser type,
4. Internet service provider,
5. Company name,
6. HTML pages,
7. Information from third-party sources,
8. Device drive system,
9. Usage data,
10. Phone number,
11. Referrer URL,
12. Session duration,
13. Device type,
14. Visited pages,
15. Click path,
16. Domain name,
17. Contact information,
18. Date and time of visit,
19. Device identifier,
20. Geographical location,
21. E-mail address,
22. Data provided via forms on the website.

The use of Hubspot Form is based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

Place of processing is: United States of America.