Terms of contract

1. By clicking the button "I agree" a usage contract ("contract with advertising") is concluded between you and us, Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH:

   We provide you with journalistic content together with personalized advertising, advertising tracking, usage analysis and external multimedia content. For this purpose, we enable you to use the freely available content of SZ.de (and insofar as you do not wish to access SZ Plus articles).

   For this purpose, you also provide certain personal data and allow its processing (information such as cookies, device identifier, IP address, etc.) for the following purposes:

   • Usage analysis and product optimization
   • Personalized content and marketing
   • Third party advertising (IAB)

2. We process your data provided for the contract with advertising based for the fulfillment of the contract as shown in these data protection notices. You may submit data protection declarations (objection) for this data processing at any time in accordance with § 327q Abs.1 BGB in the footer of www.sz.de.

3. You are generally entitled to a right of withdrawal for distance contracts (§ 356 BGB).

4. If you object to the data processing - this is possible in the footer of www.sz.de under readers without subscription the link "Objection" - we will terminate the contract with advertising without notice, as the continuation is economically unreasonable for us due to the omitted advertising opportunities. With the termination, the use of SZ.de ceases. You can make use of our SZ Plus subscriptions at any time or conclude a contract with advertising again.

5. You may terminate the contract with advertising at any time with immediate effect by selecting the link "Cancel contract with advertising" in the footer of www.sz.de under Readers without subscription and canceling on the confirmation page that opens. This will result in the immediate termination of the contract with advertising. Upon termination, the use of SZ.de will cease. You can take advantage of our SZ Plus subscriptions at any time or conclude a contract with advertising again.

6. If you want to use SZ.de on different devices, you must conclude a contract with advertising for each device. Also for an objection to the data processing and for the termination it is necessary that you do this with each device. It is not possible for us to identify you across devices, so we can neither assign the conclusion of contracts nor their termination to you based on the devices you use.

7. The use of programs that ensure that advertising contained on web pages is not displayed to the viewer (adblocker or advertising filters) violates these contractual conditions after the conclusion of the contract with advertising and entitles us to terminate the contract without notice.

8. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply exclusively to legal relationships between you and us. Should individual provisions of these Terms of Use be invalid, this shall not affect the remainder of the contract with Advertising.

These contract conditions can be retrieved and printed out by you above under "save as pdf" or collected from our SZ-Service Zentrum München, Fürstenfelder Str. 7, 80331 Munich, Germany, Mon. to Thurs. 10 am to 6 pm, Fri. 10 am to 4 pm.

Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH, Hultschiner Str. 8, D- 81677 München, Germany
Geschäftsführer: Dr. Christian Wegner (Vors.), Johannes Hauner, Dr. Karl Ulrich, Amtsgericht München HRB 73315.

Süddeutsche Zeitung Digitale Medien GmbH, Hultschiner Str. 8, D- 81677 München, Germany
Geschäftsführer: Johannes Hauner, Amtsgericht München HRB 129987.

Phone: +49 89 2183-0
Email: kontakt@sz.de
Email-privacy: datenschutz@sz.de

To further develop and improve its products, the publisher requires usage analysis. This evaluates visitor flows and includes information about behavior, interests, or demographic details of visitors, such as age group or gender, as pseudonymous values. This allows the publisher to identify when its digital offerings are most frequently used, which features are reused, and which areas require optimization.

For these purposes, profiles are created by compiling data from a usage process, and information is stored in or retrieved from a browser or device.

The collected data includes, in particular:

• Visited websites and the elements used there.
• Technical details such as the browser used, the computer system used, and usage times.

To enable users to quickly and directly discover content of interest to them within the publisher's digital offerings, the publisher analyzes which SZ offerings and products (editorial texts, podcasts, newsletters, quizzes, games, purchases, events, etc.) the user utilizes, reads, or orders. Based on this collected behavior, the publisher creates a profile and derives possible preferences and interests to:

• Recommend additional content and products to the user.
• Allow the user to personalize the digital offering for themselves.

The publisher advertises its products and offers its services on third-party websites. Naturally, these should align with the user's needs. For this purpose, the publisher uses the user's interests, which are derived from its usage analysis. The publisher can also determine whether its advertising is effective and measure its success.

The publisher's digital products, like its print products, adhere to the standards of credible and professional quality journalism. This incurs costs; therefore, the publisher—similar to advertisements in print products—offers selected third parties advertising space in its digital products for usage-based advertising.

To display content, the respective advertising partner uses its own technologies and cookies. Insights gained from user behavior allow for more targeted display of advertisements and content, improved user-friendliness of digital offerings, and the development of new products.

An up-to-date overview of these third parties can be found in the privacy settings. The publisher also aims to limit the number of third parties. These third parties are subject to constant review, meaning that new third parties may be added or existing ones removed. However, the user always has an up-to-date overview. The selection process for third parties and their use of advertising space for personalized ads does not change.

To manage this type of advertising in compliance with data protection regulations, the publisher uses the Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) of IAB Europe 2.2. This framework, developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe), an industry association for online marketing, defines and monitors the data protection-compliant display of advertising.

To manage advertising in compliance with data protection regulations, IAB Europe has defined the following purposes for processing data, including users' personal data:

Cookies, device identifiers, or similar online identifiers (e.g., login-based identifiers, randomly generated identifiers, network-based identifiers) can be stored on or retrieved from your device, along with other information (e.g., browser type and browser information, language, screen size, supported technologies, etc.), to recognize it each time it accesses an app or website. This is done for one or more of the processing purposes listed here.

Most of the processing purposes explained in this notice rely on storing or accessing information on your device when you use an app or visit a website. For example, it may be necessary for a provider or website operator to store a cookie on your device during your first visit to a website to recognize it during subsequent visits (by retrieving this cookie each time).

Advertisements presented to you on this service may be based on reduced data, such as the website or app you are currently using, your approximate location, your device type, or the content you interact with (or have interacted with) (e.g., to limit the frequency of ads shown to you).

Examples:

• A car manufacturer wants to advertise its electric vehicles to environmentally conscious users living in urban areas after business hours. The advertisement is displayed on a page with related content (e.g., an article about climate protection measures) after 6:30 PM to users whose approximate location suggests they are in an urban area.
• A major watercolor paint manufacturer wants to run an online advertising campaign for its latest watercolor range. The target audience is diversified to reach as many amateur and professional artists as possible, while avoiding displaying the ad alongside unrelated content (e.g., articles about house painting). The number of ads shown to you is determined and limited to avoid overexposure.

Information about your activities on this service (such as completed forms, viewed content) can be stored and combined with other information about you (e.g., information from your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This information is then used to create or enhance a profile about you (e.g., possible interests and personal characteristics). Your profile can be used (even at a later time) to present you with advertisements that are likely to be more relevant to you based on your possible interests.

Examples:

• If you read several articles about the best bicycle accessories in the market, this information can be used to create a profile about your interest in bicycle accessories. Such a profile can later be used on the same or another website or app to show you advertisements for a specific bicycle accessory brand.
• If you also use a configurator for a vehicle on the website of a luxury car manufacturer, this information can be combined with your interest in bicycles to refine your profile and suggest that you might be interested in luxury bicycle equipment.

Advertisements displayed to you on this service may be based on your advertising profile. This profile may include your activities (such as completed forms, viewed content) on this service or other websites or apps, possible interests, and personal characteristics.

Examples:

• An online retailer wants to announce a limited offer on running shoes. They aim to target users who have previously viewed running shoes in their mobile app. Tracking technologies could be used to recognize that you previously searched for running shoes in the app, so the corresponding advertisement is displayed to you in the app.
• A profile created for personalized advertising about a person who searched for bicycle accessories on a website can be used to display relevant advertisements for bicycle accessories in a mobile app of another company.

Information about your activities on this service (e.g., completed forms, viewed non-advertising content) can be stored and combined with other information about you (e.g., your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users.

This information is then used to create or enhance a profile about you (e.g., possible interests and personal characteristics). Your profile can be used (even at a later time) to display content that is likely to be more relevant to you based on your possible interests. For example, the order in which content is displayed to you may be changed to make it easier for you to find content that matches your interests.

Examples:

• You read several articles on a social media platform about how to build a treehouse. This information can be added to a profile to record your interest in outdoor activities and DIY guides. This enables content personalization, so you may be shown more blog posts and articles about treehouses and wooden cabins in the future.
• You have watched three videos about space exploration on various TV apps. An independent news platform that you have not used before creates a profile based on this usage behavior and identifies space exploration as a topic of potential interest for future videos.

Content presented to you on this service may be based on your personalized content profiles, which include your activities on this or other services (e.g., forms you submit, content you view), possible interests, and personal characteristics. For example, the order in which content is displayed to you may be adjusted to make it easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.

Examples:

• You read articles about vegetarian food on a social media platform and then use the cooking app of a company independent of the platform. The profile created about you on the social media platform is used to present vegetarian recipes on the homepage of the cooking app.
• You have watched three videos about rowing on various websites. When you use your TV app, a video-sharing platform independent of these websites recommends five more videos about rowing based on a profile created about you when you watched the online videos on those websites.

Information about which advertisements are presented to you and how you interact with them can be used to determine how engaging the advertisement was for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising campaign were achieved. This information includes, for example, whether you viewed an ad, clicked on it, or whether it prompted you to purchase a product or visit a website. These insights help assess the relevance of advertising campaigns.

Examples:

• You clicked on an advertisement for a "Black Friday" discount from an online shop on a website and purchased a product. Your click is linked to this purchase.
• Your interaction, along with that of other users, is measured to determine how many clicks on the ad resulted in a purchase.
• You are among the few users who clicked on an advertisement in an app for a discount related to a special event (e.g., "International Day of Recognition") from an online gift shop. The app operator wants statistics on how often a specific ad, particularly the one for the special event, was viewed or clicked by you and other users within the app. This helps the app operator and its partners (such as agencies) optimize ad placement.

Information about which content (non-advertising) is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the content reached its intended audience and matched your interests. This includes, for example, whether you read a specific article, watched a specific video, listened to a specific podcast, or viewed a specific product description, as well as how much time you spent on this service and the websites you visited. These insights help assess the relevance of the content displayed to you.

Examples:

• You read a blog post about hiking in a mobile app and clicked on a link to a recommended similar post. Your interactions are recorded to note that the first post about hiking was useful to you and successfully encouraged you to read the similar post. This information is measured to determine whether more posts about hiking should be created in the future and where they should be placed on the mobile app's homepage.
• You were shown a video about fashion trends but, like several other users, stopped watching after 30 seconds. This information is used to evaluate the appropriate length for future videos on fashion trends.

Based on the combination of datasets (such as user profiles, statistics, market research, and analytics data), reports about your interactions and those of other users with advertising or non-advertising content can be created to identify common characteristics (e.g., to determine which target groups are receptive to an advertising campaign or specific content).

Examples:

• The owner of an online bookstore wants an analysis of how many visitors accessed their website without making a purchase, how many visited to buy the latest celebrity biography of the month, the average age of visitors, and how many were male or female, broken down by category. Data about your navigation on the website and your personal characteristics are then used and combined with similar data to create these statistics.
• An advertiser wants to better understand the type of audience interacting with their ads. They commission a research institute to compare the characteristics of users who interacted with the ad with typical attributes of users on similar platforms across various devices. This comparison reveals that the advertiser's target audience primarily accesses the ads via mobile devices and is likely aged between 45 and 60 years.

Information about your activities on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can help improve products and offerings and develop new products and offerings based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This processing purpose does not include the development, enhancement, or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.

Examples:

• Information about your activities on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can help improve products and offerings and develop new products and offerings based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This processing purpose does not include the development, enhancement, or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
• An advertiser is looking for a way to display ads on a novel type of device. They collect information about how users interact with this new type of device to determine whether a new mechanism for displaying ads on this type of device can be developed.

Content presented to you on this service may be based on reduced data, such as the website or app you are using, your approximate location, your device type, or the content you interact with (or have interacted with). This can include limiting how often a video or article is shown to you.

Examples:

• A travel magazine publishes an article on its website about new online courses offered by a language school to enhance travel experiences abroad. Blog posts from the language school are directly embedded at the end of the page and selected based on your approximate location (e.g., blog posts featuring the curriculum for a language course that is not the language of your country).
• A mobile app for sports news introduces a new section with articles about the latest football matches. Each article contains video highlights of the games hosted by an external streaming platform. If you fast-forward through a video, this information may be used to play a shorter video afterward.

1. The use of our publications, in particular the journalistic content, is permitted exclusively for personal, non-commercial purposes, unless the user has applied for the right to commercial use on an individual basis when registering. Passing on the content to third parties is prohibited, regardless of the purpose and type of passing on. Any further use is prohibited without the express consent of the publisher, irrespective of any possible protection of this content under the German Copyright Act (UrhG) and irrespective of the scope of such legal protection. In particular, it is not permitted to use our publications, in whole or in part, for the purpose of producing, supporting, improving or operating other news and information offerings or for other (commercial) purposes a) using technical aids such as crawlers, spiders, by means of scraping or text and data mining; b) to edit or otherwise change, translate, reformulate, shorten or summarize with the help of artificial intelligence programs; or c) to publish or make available to defined groups of persons or individual third parties, whether in their original form or in edited, translated, reformulated, abridged, expanded or summarized form, regardless of the means of transmission (online or otherwise) in any form. Actions that are mandatorily permitted under copyright law remain unaffected by the above provisions. Uses that are not permitted under copyright law are not permitted by the above provisions, even in individual cases. Furthermore, it is not permitted to use our publications for the training, development and/or improvement of (generative) AI systems. In particular, the publisher expressly reserves the right to text and data mining within the meaning of Section 44b UrhG.

2. Further rights, in particular the right to commercial use of journalistic content (e.g. republication) as well as transferable rights of use, media monitoring and analysis, multi-user licenses or licenses for libraries and schools can be acquired via www.sz-archiv.de. Rights to create an electronic press review can be obtained from Presse-Monitor Deutschland GmbH (PMG) (www.pressemonitor.de).