Data Protection Notice for Using our Social Media Channels

1. General Information

  1. Introduction

    We, METRO AG, Metro-Straße 1, 40235 Düsseldorf, Germany (herein referred to as "METRO", "we", or "us"), are happy about your interest in our social media channels and our company. In the following, you will find information concerning which personal data we collect and how we process such data when using our social media channels and receiving the channels’ services and functions.


  2. Responsible Party

    METRO is partly responsible for the data processing described below and partly the platform provider of the respective social media channel. For individual data processing (e.g. Facebook Insights) the respective platform provider and we are joint controllers (Art. 26 GDPR). You will find further information on such responsibilities below.


  3. Social Media Channels

    We operate the following social media channels:

    1. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mpulse
    2. Giphy: https://giphy.com/metro_ag
    3. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/metro_mpulse/, https://www.instagram.com/metrocareers/, https://www.instagram.com/metro_chef/, https://www.instagram.com/metro_politics/, https://www.instagram.com/metro_professional/
    4. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/metro-ag, https://www.linkedin.com/company/metro-makro
    5. Tenor: https://tenor.com/official/metro_ag
    6. TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@metro_de
    7. X: https://x.com/METRO_News, https://x.com/METRO_Politics
    8. Xing: https://www.xing.com/pages/metro-ag
    9. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@metroag

  4. Data protection officer of METRO

    You can contact our data protection officer at any time at METRO AG, Data Protection Officer, Metro-Straße 1, 40235 Düsseldorf, Germany, E-Mail: datenschutz@metro.de.


  5. Data Protection Officers of the Platform Provider

    The contact details of the respective data protection officer can be found on the respective website:

    1. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation
    2. Giphy: https://support.giphy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032872931-GIPHY-Privacy-Policy
    3. Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/help/instagram/155833707900388
    4. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy
    5. Tenor: https://policies.google.com/privacy
    6. TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/privacy-policy/en
    7. Twitter: https://twitter.com/de/privacy
    8. Xing: https://privacy.xing.com/en/privacy-policy
    9. YouTube: https://policies.google.com/privacy

2. Information on the Processing of Personal Data

  1. Communication with us

    If you contact us, we use your name and further data provided by you to answer your query. In some cases, we share the content on our social media channel if this is a function of the social media channel and communicate via the channel. If you send us a query via the social media channel, we may, depending on the answer, also refer you to other, secure communication channels that guarantee confidentiality. Of course, you can always send your queries to our above-mentioned contact options. After processing your query, we delete your query and all related information, unless we require the information to pursue our legal interests or there are legal obligations to retain data. We assume the query to be processed if it can be concluded from the circumstances that the matter in question has been conclusively clarified. Legal basis for the processing is Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR.


  2. Community Features

    You can choose from different community features which we offer on our social media channels to interact with other users, such as posting a comment on our wall, leaving a comment, and liking or sharing a post. Please note that our social media channels are publicly accessible and any personal information you publish can be viewed by others. We cannot control how other users of our social media channels use this information. All data you provide for the community-features we process to ensure the correct functioning of these features. Without this data it is not possible to use the community features. The processing of this data is based on Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 b) GDPR, or Art. 6 para 1 sentence 1 f) GDPR in case it constitutes a legitimate interest, to make the use of our community features as easy and efficient as possible. Content posted in community areas can be stored for an unlimited period of time. If at any time you wish to have any content posted removed, please send us a message to that effect – e.g. by email – to the email address given above.


  3. Sweepstakes and other competitions

    From time to time we offer sweepstakes and other competitions on our social media channels. If you want to participate we will use the data provided by you (e.g. name, address, email address, METRO customer number) for the purpose of carrying out the sweepstake or competition, particularly for winner notifications. Your data will only be provided to third parties if this is necessary for processing the sweepstake or competition (e.g. delivery of the prize). If you have given your consent in course of the sweepstake or competition, you can withdraw this consent at any time for the future. Please note that some social media channels may also allow you to participate directly on the publicly accessible platform. If you act under a clear name or are recognizable via photos in your profile, your identification by other users cannot be excluded from our side. After completion of the sweepstake or competition, we will delete the data without undue delay, unless we are entitled to process certain data from you beyond the end of the sweepstake or competition on the basis of the agreement on your participation or as a result of your consent. You may find additional information in the conditions of participation or data protection notices for the respective sweepstake or competition, if present. The processing of data is legally based on Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit b) GDPR), or. In case you gave us your consent, on Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR.


  4. Invitation to events

    From time to time we announce events on our social media channels for which you may need to register. When registering online for events, the following data may be collected: Name, address, email address, telephone number(s) and METRO customer number. This data is required to process event registrations, manage events and to collect customer information. The legal basis for this processing is based on Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR. If a declaration of consent is required in the course of registration, the processing is based on Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a) GDPR. The data collected will be deleted after the event has been completed, unless we require the information to pursue our legal interests or there are legal obligations to retain data.


  5. Transfer of personal data

    In some cases, we share your content on our respective social media channel if this is a function of the social media channel and communicate via this channel. The recipient of the data is first of all the respective social media channel, where it may be passed on to third parties for their own purposes and under the responsibility of the respective social media channel. The recipient of publications is also the public – potentially everyone. We would like to point out that if data is processed by the platform providers, user data may be processed outside the area of the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA). This may result in risks, because it could make it more difficult to enforce rights. For details, please refer to the privacy policy of the respective platform provider. We do not transfer data to third countries outside the EU/EEA or to an international organization unless there are appropriate safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision of the European Commission. Further information or copies of these safeguards can be requested with a formless request addressed to our data protection officer using the contact details mentioned above.

3. Information regarding the processing of personal data by the Platform Provider

We would like to point out that you use the social media channel and its functions on your own responsibility. This applies in particular to the use of the interactive functions (e.g. sharing, liking). METRO has no influence on the type and scope of the data processed by the respective platform provider, the type of processing and use or the transfer of this data to third parties. We also have no effective means of control in this respect. The IT infrastructure is operated by the respective platform provider. These maintain their own privacy policies and own user relationship with you (provided you are a registered user). If you have any questions regarding the processing of your data in the context of the use of your user profile, please contact the platform provider. Further information on data processing by platform providers can be found in the privacy policy of the respective platform provider (see above).

4. Joint Controllers, Art. 26 GDPR

For the web tracking methods used by the respective platform providers, the platform provider and we act as joint controllers. The web tracking can also be carried out independently of whether you are logged in or registered on the social media platform. We can hardly influence the web tracking methods of the social media platform and in particular we cannot switch them off. We will only receive anonymized statistics – therefore we have no access to personal data which are being processed by the platform provider. The processing and use of your data is based on our legitimate interest in optimizing our social media channel (Art. 6 para 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR). The possibilities for exercising your rights to stop these web tracking methods can be found in the above listed data protection statements of the platform providers.

The relationship between TikTok and us otherwise depends on the type of Business Product Data being processed and the specific purpose of the processing in question. Details on the different responsibilities in each case can be found here: https://ads.tiktok.com/i18n/official/policy/jurisdiction-specific-terms.

5. Your Rights

As a data subject, you can contact our data protection officer at any time with a formless notification under the contact dates mentioned above to exercise your rights according to the GDPR. We will then check your request (e.g. request for information or objection) ourselves or, if necessary, forward it to the relevant platform provider, if your request concerns data processing by the platform provider.

These rights are the following:

  1. The right to receive information about the data processing and a copy of the processed data (right to access, Art. 15 GDPR),
  2. The right to demand the rectification of inaccurate data or the completion of incomplete data (right to rectification, Art. 16 GDPR),
  3. The right to demand the erasure of personal data and, in case the personal data have been made public, the information towards other controllers about the request of erasure (right to erasure, Art. 17 GDPR),
  4. The right to demand the restriction of the data processing (right to restriction of processing, Art. 18 GDPR),
  5. The right to receive the personal data concerning the data subject in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to request the transmittance of these data to another controller (right to data portability, Art. 20 GDPR), for social media channels, however, you can usually only claim this against the platform provider of the respective social media platform, since only the platform provider has access to your profile data,
  6. The right to withdraw a given consent at any time to stop a data processing that is based on your consent. The withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of the processing based on the consent before the withdrawal (right to withdraw consent, Art. 7 GDPR).
  7. The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you consider the data processing to be an infringement of the GDPR (right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, Art. 77 GDPR).

Information about your right to object acc. to Art. 21 GDPR

You have the right to object at any time to the processing of your data for marketing purposes (including profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing) on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR (data processing on the basis of a legitimate interests. If you object, we will no longer process your personal data. The objection can be made without formality and should be addressed to our data protection officer whose contact details above.

Due to possible changes in the data processing described above or in the laws governing it, it may be necessary to amend this privacy policy. In this case we will inform you about such changes. Insofar as the changes affect a processing operation based on your consent, we will ask you for a new consent if necessary.