Introduction
In the vast majority of cases, the only items of personal data that I will need from you (apart from your name) are your e-mail address, so that you and I can communicate and I can deliver your finished translation, plus, in due course, your invoicing address. I will not forward your e-mail address to anyone without your consent. Your invoicing address needs to be retained for accounting and tax purposes. Concerning the rare occasions where any further information that might identify you as a natural person (refer to Art. 4, 1 GDPR) is contained within your translated text, you have my assurance that I as a processor of that data will not divulge this information to any third parties. I will retain this information for only as long as I need to, until the business transaction is complete. After completion, I will delete all material pertaining to your translation from my storage device. All files and folders are saved on a storage device. My devices are secured against unauthorised access. Please feel free at any time to ask me what measures I have taken to safeguard your personal data.
Retention of your e-mail address (and other contact details, should these be used)
I will retain your contact details and our e-mail messages locally in my e-mail software for a period of two years. I will do this so that I can match the records of our contact (date of assignment, nature of assignment, date of delivery of your translation) to the invoice that I issue to you, for accounting and tax purposes. I will not pass on your contact details to any third parties, unless you ask me to do so.
For my web hosting and e-mail server I use a web host, with which I have signed a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) to ensure that it is GDPR-compliant.
Retention of any other personal data that identify you as a natural person
Unless you ask me to keep it for future reference, I will delete your text and the translation of it (and all material pertaining to the assignment) from my storage device as soon as the business transaction is complete. I will not pass on any of your personal data to any third parties. I do not store data in the Cloud.
Retention of the invoice that I issue to you. It will show your invoicing address
I am required by law in Germany to retain all invoices, printed on paper and kept in binders, for a period of 10 years. I also store invoices in PDF form on my storage device.
Apart from your invoicing address, the invoice will show the date of assignment (the date you asked me to do the translation), the date of delivery (the date I sent it back to you), a brief descriptor of the assignment (generally the file name), and the language combination (for example, German into English).
The only other person who will certainly see your invoicing address is my tax adviser. Tax advisers are subject to professional secrecy laws, so your invoicing address will remain confidential. It may also be the case that the tax authorities will ask to see the invoices that I retain. Nobody else will see the invoices.
When you pay the invoice that I issue to you
When you pay the invoice that I issue to you, I will make a record of this transaction. I am required by law in Germany to retain this record for a period of 10 years. Apart from your name, which is a personal data item, I note further, non-personal data items: date of payment, invoice number, and the amounts. No further details are required in this record.
Please feel free to ask what I do with your personal data
In compliance with Articles 15 – 18 GDPR, you can access, rectify, and ask for the deletion* or restriction* of any personal data that I may be holding concerning you, at any time.
*One exception: your invoicing address. Please see the paragraph above: When you pay the invoice that I issue to you
Alexandra Cox, 25 May 2018