Why is this study being conducted? 

• At the beginning, you can create a 6-digit code. This helps us to link your data with those of a voluntary follow-up survey without identifying you.
• The online survey takes about 20-30 minutes.
• There are no right or wrong answers – we are interested in your personal perspective.

At the end of the study, you may voluntarily provide your email address so that we can contact you for a follow-up survey in about 12 months. You may also choose to receive the study results at a later time. Your email address will be stored separately from your responses and will not be linked to your survey data. This ensures that your participation remains fully anonymous. After contacting you for the follow-up survey, your email address will be deleted. 

The data will be collected and used solely for the purpose of this study. The results will be published later in an anonymous form. 

We collect basic information about you (e.g., age, education, relationship status, income, size of place of residence) as well as about your health, sexuality, and ethnic background. These details are considered sensitive (Art. 9 GDPR). They will be: 

• collected anonymously (without your name)  
• accessible only to authorized persons  
• protected by special security measures 

• The survey is completely anonymous. No IP addresses, location data, or other personally identifiable data are stored. 
• Your responses are saved with a self-generated code (pseudonym).
• For the study team, your data are anonymous and will be collected as such. Re-identification is only possible if you share your personal code with us. 
• The code contains no personal information and only serves to link data from a later survey.
• The data will remain anonymous. It is not possible to trace the data back to you without your code.  
• Voluntarily provided email addresses are stored separately from all other data.
• Your data will be sent in an encrypted form only to the above-mentioned cooperation partners.
• Your self-generated code and your email address – if provided – will not be shared with our cooperation partners.

If you contact us later and provide your name or email address, theoretical re-identification could be possible. Please carefully consider whether you wish to share personal information.

All four participating institutions will have equal access to the anonymous data. They may: 

• jointly analyze the data and publish it anonymously
• use the data for their own scientific publications

Data processing is carried out exclusively in anonymous form and in accordance with current data protection regulations. According to these regulations, the data must be stored for 10 years and will then be completely deleted.

Some survey questions concern very personal topics such as your sexual behavior, substance use, or psychosocial burdens. For some participants, these topics may temporarily cause emotional stress or discomfort. If you feel distressed during the survey, you may discontinue participation at any time. At the end of the survey, you will also find references to nationwide counseling and support services. 

Despite all security measures, there remains a minimal risk that re-identification could be theoretically possible through the combination of your responses. You are therefore free to skip questions. In addition, all responsible parties assure that your information will be treated strictly confidentially and that any attempt at re-identification will be avoided. 

• You can only exercise your rights if you provide us with your personal code so that we can assign your dataset. Without this code, access is not possible – as we do not store any names. 
• You may withdraw your consent at any time without disadvantages to you. 
• Processing carried out until that point remains lawful. 
• You have the right to: 
  
  • Access your data 
  • Rectification, deletion, or restriction of processing
  • Data portability, if applicable

For questions regarding data processing and data protection compliance, please contact: 

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with any data protection supervisory authority. A list of supervisory authorities in Germany can be found at: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html

For this study, the competent supervisory authority is: