Privacy Policy Introduction and Overview

We have written this privacy policy (version 27.03.2025-122970219) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the

General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679

and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – process, will process in the future and what legal options you have. The terms used are to be considered gender-neutral.

In short:

We provide you with comprehensive information about any of your personal data we process.

Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. However, this privacy policy is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. So long as it aids transparency, technical

terms are explained in a reader-friendly manner, links

to further information are provided and

graphics

are used. We are thus informing in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the context of our business activities if there is a legal basis for it. This is certainly not possible with brief, unclear and legal-technical statements, as is often standard on the internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative. Maybe you will also find some information that you have not been familiar with.

If you still have questions, we kindly ask you to contact the responsible body named below or in the imprint, follow the existing links and look at further information on third-party sites. You can of course also find our contact details in the imprint.

Scope

This privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by our company and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (processors). With the term personal data, we refer to information within the meaning of Article 4 No. 1 GDPR, such as the name, email address and postal address of a person. The processing of personal data ensures that we can offer and invoice our services and products, be it online or offline. The scope of this privacy policy includes:

all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operateSocial media presences and email communicationmobile apps for smartphones and other devices

In short:

This privacy policy applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in a structured manner by the company via the channels mentioned. Should we enter into legal relations with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately if necessary.

Legal bases

In the following privacy policy, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.

Whenever EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of April 27, 2016. You can of course access the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU online at EUR-Lex, the gateway to EU law, at

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679

.

We only process your data if at least one of the following conditions applies:

Consent(Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of data you entered into a contact form.Contract(Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR): We process your data in order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you. For example, if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance.Legal obligation(Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we will process your data. For example, we are legally required to keep invoices for our bookkeeping. These usually contain personal data.Legitimate interests(Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your basic rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we have to process certain data in order to be able to operate our website securely and economically. Therefore, the processing is a legitimate interest.

Other conditions such as making recordings in the interest of the public, the exercise of official authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually occur with us. Should such a legal basis be relevant, it will be disclosed in the appropriate place.

In addition to the EU regulation, national laws also apply:

InAustriathis is the Austrian Data Protection Act (Datenschutzgesetz), in shortDSG.InGermanythis is the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz), in shortBDSG.

Should other regional or national laws apply, we will inform you about them in the following sections.

Contact details of the data protection controller

If you have any questions about data protection or the processing of personal data, you will find below the contact details of the controller in accordance with Article 4(7) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

SFP-Media GmbH

Brunngasse 65, 2540 Gainfarn

Storage Period

It is a general criterion for us to store personal data only for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This means that we delete personal data as soon as any reason for the data processing no longer exists. In some cases, we are legally obliged to keep certain data stored even after the original purpose no longer exists, such as for accounting purposes.

If you want your data to be deleted or if you want to revoke your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as soon as possible, provided there is no obligation to continue its storage.

We will inform you below about the specific duration of the respective data processing, provided we have further information.

Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation

In accordance with Articles 13, 14 of the GDPR, we inform you about the following rights you have to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:

According to Article 15 DSGVO, you have the right to information about whether we are processing data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to know the following information:for what purpose we are processing;the categories, i.e. the types of data that are processed;who receives this data and if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;how long the data will be stored;the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;that you can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);the origin of the data if we have not collected it from you;Whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically evaluated to arrive at a personal profile of you.You have a right to rectification of data according to Article 16 GDPR, which means that we must correct data if you find errors.You have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) according to Article 17 GDPR, which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it further.According to Article 20 of the GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a standard format upon request.According to Article 21 DSGVO, you have the right to object, which entails a change in processing after enforcement.If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you may object to the processing. We will then check as soon as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.If data is used to conduct direct advertising, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may then no longer use your data for direct marketing.If data is used to conduct profiling, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for profiling thereafter.According to Article 22 of the GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example, profiling).You have the right to lodge a complaint under Article 77 of the GDPR. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the data processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

In short:

you have rights – do not hesitate to contact the responsible party listed above with us!

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or your data protection rights have been violated in any other way, you can complain to the supervisory authority. For Austria, this is the data protection authority, whose website can be found at

https://www.dsb.gv.at/

. In Germany, there is a data protection officer for each federal state. For more information, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for

Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI)

. The following local data protection authority is responsible for our company:

Austria Data protection authority

Manager:

Dr. Matthias Schmidl

Address:

Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Wien

Phone number.:

+43 1 52
152-0

E-mail address:
[email protected]

Website:
https://www.dsb.gv.at/

Data transfer to third countries

We only transfer or process data to countries outside the scope of the GDPR (third countries) if you consent to this processing or if there is another legal permission. This is particularly true when processing is legally required or necessary for the performance of a contractual relationship, and in any case, only to the extent permitted by law. Your consent is in most cases the primary reason for us to process data in third countries. Processing of personal data in third countries such as the USA, where many software providers offer services and have their server locations, may mean that personal data is processed and stored in unexpected ways.

We explicitly point out that, according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently only an adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA if a US company processing personal data of EU citizens in the USA is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. More information can be found at:

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

Data processing by US services that are not active participants in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework may result in data not being anonymized and processed, if applicable. Additionally, US government authorities may potentially have access to individual data. Furthermore, it may occur that collected data is linked with data from other services of the same provider, if you have a corresponding user account. Where possible, we try to use server locations within the EU, if offered.

We will inform you in the appropriate sections of this privacy policy in more detail about data transfers to third countries, if applicable.

Security of data processing operations

In order to protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organisational measures. We encrypt or pseudonymise personal data wherever this is possible. Thus, we make it as difficult as we can for third parties to extract personal information from our data.

Article 25 of the GDPR refers to “data protection by technical design and by data protection-friendly default” which means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to server rooms) appropriate safeguards and security measures shall always be placed. If applicable, we will outline the specific measures below.

TLS encryption with https

The terms TLS, encryption and https sound very technical, which they are indeed. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to securely transfer data on the Internet.

This means that the entire transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – nobody can “listen in”.

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and meet privacy requirements through technology design

Article 25 Section 1 GDPR

). With the use of TLS (Transport Layer Security), which is an encryption protocol for safe data transfer on the internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential information.

You can recognise the use of this safeguarding tool by the little lock-symbol

, which is situated in your browser’s top left corner in the left of the internet address (e.g. examplepage.uk), as well as by the display of the letters https (instead of http) as a part of our web address.

If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend you to do a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to find good links to further information.

Communications

Communications Overview

👥 Affected parties: Anyone who communicates with us via phone, email or online form

🤝 Processed data: e. g. telephone number, name, email address or data entered in forms. You can find more details on this under the respective form of contact

📓 Purpose: handling communication with customers, business partners, etc.

📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the business case and the legal requirements

⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

If you contact us and communicate with us via phone, email or online form, your personal data may be processed.

The data will be processed for handling and processing your request and for the related business transaction. The data is stored for this period of time or for as long as is legally required.

Affected persons

The above-mentioned processes affect all those who seek contact with us via the communication channels we provide.

Telephone

When you call us, the call data is stored in a pseudonymised form on the respective terminal device, as well as by the telecommunications provider that is being used. In addition, data such as your name and telephone number may be sent via email and stored for answering your inquiries. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Email

If you communicate with us via email, your data is stored on the respective terminal device (computer, laptop, smartphone, …) as well as on the email server. The data will be deleted as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Online forms

If you communicate with us using an online form, your data is stored on our web server and, if necessary, forwarded to our email address. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Legal bases

Data processing is based on the following legal bases:

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent): You give us your consent to store your data and to continue to use it for the purposes of the business case;Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract): For the performance of a contract with you or a processor such as a telephone provider, or if we have to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as preparing an offer;Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests): We want to conduct our customer inquiries and business communication in a professional manner. Thus, certain technical facilities such email programs, Exchange servers and mobile network operators are necessary to efficiently operate our communications.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA)

In this section, we would like to explain what a Data Processing Agreement is and why it is needed. As the term “Data Processing Agreement” is quite lengthy, we will often only use the acronym DPA here in this text. Like most companies, we do not work alone, but also use the services of other companies or individuals. By involving different companies or service providers, we may pass on personal data for processing. These partners then act as processors with whom we conclude a contract, the so-called Data Processing Agreement (DPA). Most importantly for you to know is that any processing of your personal data takes place exclusively according to our instructions and must be regulated by the DPA.

Who are the processors?

As a company and website owner, we are responsible for any of your data that is processed by us. In addition to the controller, there may also be so-called processors involved. This includes any company or person who processes your personal data. More precisely and according to the GDPR’s definition, this means: Any natural or legal person, authority, institution or other entity that processes your personal data is considered a processor. Processors can therefore be service providers such as hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

To make the terminology easier to comprehend, here is an overview of the GDPR’s three roles:

Data subject

(you as a customer or interested party) →

Controller

(we as a company and contracting entity) →

Processors

(service providers such as web hosts or cloud providers)

Contents of a Data Processing Agreement

As mentioned above, we have concluded a
DPA with our partners who act as processors. First and foremost, it states that the processor processes the data exclusively in accordance with the GDPR. The contract must be concluded in writing, although an electronic contract completion is also considered a “written contract”. Any processing of personal data only takes place after this contract is concluded. The contract must contain the following:

indication to us as the controllerobligations and rights of the controllercategories of data subjectstype of personal datatype and purpose of data processingsubject and duration of data processinglocation of data processing

Furthermore, the contract contains all obligations of the processor. The most important obligations are:

ensuring data security measurestaking possible technical and organisational measures to protect the rights of the data subjectmaintaining a data processing recordcooperation with the data protection authority upon requestperforming a risk analysis for any received personal datasubprocessors may only be appointed with the written consent of the controller

You can see an example of what a
DPA looks like at

https://gdpr.eu/data-processing-agreement/

. This link shows a sample contract.

Cookies

Cookies Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: depending on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.

📓 Processed data: depends on the cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

📅 Storage duration: can vary from hours to years, depending on the respective cookie

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are cookies?

Our website uses HTTP-cookies to store user-specific data.

In the following we explain what cookies are and why they are used, so that you can better understand the following privacy policy.

Whenever you surf the Internet, you are using a browser. Common browsers are for example, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text-files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

It is important to note that cookies are very useful little helpers. Almost every website uses cookies. More precisely, these are HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other uses. HTTP cookies are small files that our website stores on your computer. These cookie files are automatically placed into the cookie-folder, which is the “brain” of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. Moreover, to define a cookie, one or multiple attributes must be specified.

Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you re-open our website to visit again, your browser submits these “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are familiar to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, while in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in one single file.

The following graphic shows a possible interaction between a web browser such as Chrome and the web server. The web browser requests a website and receives a cookie back from the server. The browser then uses this again as soon as another page is requested.

There are both first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created directly by our site, while third-party cookies are created by partner-websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie must be evaluated individually, as each cookie stores different data. The expiry time of a cookie also varies from a few minutes to a few years. Cookies are not software programs and do not contain viruses, trojans or other malware. Cookies also cannot access your PC’s information.

This is an example of how cookie-files can look:

Name:

_ga

Value:

GA1.2.1326744211.152122970219-9

Purpose:

Differentiation between website visitors

Expiry date:

after 2 years

A browser should support these minimum sizes:

At least 4096 bytes per cookieAt least 50 cookies per domainAt least 3000 cookies in total

Which types of cookies are there?

The exact cookies that we use, depend on the used services, which will be outlined in the following sections of this privacy policy. Firstly, we will briefly focus on the different types of HTTP-cookies.

There are 4 different types of cookies:

Essential cookies

These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functions of a website. They are needed when a user for example puts a product into their shopping cart, then continues surfing on different websites and comes back later in order to proceed to the checkout. These cookies ensure the shopping cart does not get deleted, even if the user closes their browser window.

Purposive cookies

These cookies collect information about user behaviour and whether the user receives any error messages. Furthermore, these cookies record the website’s loading time as well as its behaviour in different browsers.

Target-orientated cookies

These cookies ensure better user-friendliness. Thus, information such as previously entered locations, fonts sizes or data in forms stay stored.

Advertising cookies

These cookies are also known as targeting cookies. They serve the purpose of delivering customised advertisements to the user. This can be very practical, but also rather annoying.

Upon your first visit to a website you are usually asked which of these cookie-types you want to accept. Furthermore, this decision will of course also be stored in a cookie.

If you want to learn more about cookies and do not mind technical documentation, we recommend

https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265

, the Request for Comments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) called “HTTP State Management Mechanism”.

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.

Which data are processed?

Cookies are little helpers for a wide variety of tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell which data is generally stored in cookies, but in the privacy policy below we will inform you on what data is processed or stored.

Storage period of cookies

The storage period depends on the respective cookie and is further specified below. Some cookies are erased after less than an hour, while others can remain on a computer for several years.

You can also influence the storage duration yourself. You can manually erase all cookies at any time in your browser (also see “Right of objection” below). Furthermore, the latest instance cookies based on consent will be erased is after you withdraw your consent. The legality of storage will remain unaffected until then.

Right of objection – how can I erase cookies?

You can decide for yourself how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of which service or website the cookies originate from, you always have the option of erasing, deactivating or only partially accepting cookies. You can for example block third-party cookies but allow all other cookies.

If you want to find out which cookies have been stored in your browser, or if you want to change or erase cookie settings, you can find this option in your browser settings:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in ChromeSafari: Manage cookies and website data in SafariFirefox: Clear cookies and site data in FirefoxInternet Explorer: Delete and manage cookiesMicrosoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser in a way to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This gives you the opportunity to manually decide to either permit or deny the placement of every single cookie. This procedure varies depending on the browser. Therefore, it might be best for you to search for the instructions in Google. If you are using Chrome, you could for example put the search term “delete cookies Chrome” or “deactivate cookies Chrome” into Google.

Legal basis

The so-called “cookie directive” has existed since 2009. It states that the storage of cookies requires your

consent

(Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR). Within countries of the EU, however, the reactions to these guidelines still vary greatly. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 165 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (2021). In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this guideline was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG), which has been replaced by the Digital Services Act (DSA) since May 2024.

For absolutely necessary cookies, even if no consent has been given, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to offer our visitors a pleasant user experience on our website. For this, certain cookies often are absolutely necessary.

This is exclusively done with your consent, unless absolutely necessary cookies are used. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (a) of the GDPR.

In the following sections you will find more detail on the use of cookies, provided the used software does use cookies.

Application Data

Application Data Summary

👥 Affected Parties: Users applying for a job position with us

🤝 Purpose: Processing a job application procedure

📓 Processed Data: Name, address, contact details, email address, phone number, proof of qualifications (certificates), potentially data of special categories.

📅 Retention Period: For successful applications, data will be retained until the end of the employment relationship. Otherwise, the data will be deleted after the application process or stored for a certain period with your consent.

⚖️ Legal Basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent), legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract), Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR (processing special categories of data)

What is application data?

You can apply for a job at our company via email, online form, or a recruiting tool. All data we receive and process as part of an application is considered application data. This includes personal data such as name, date of birth, address, and phone number.

Why do we process application data?

We process your data to carry out a proper selection process for the advertised position. Additionally, we may retain your application documents in our applicant archive. Often, we are impressed by a candidate and their application but cannot proceed with collaboration for various reasons. With your consent, we archive your documents so we can easily contact you for future opportunities in our company.

We assure you that we handle your data with the utmost care and always process it within the legal framework. Within our company, your data is only shared with individuals directly involved in your application process. In short: Your data is safe with us!

What data is processed?

For example, when you apply via email, we naturally receive personal data as mentioned above. Even the email address itself is considered personal data. During the application process, only data relevant to deciding whether we would like to welcome you to our team is processed.

The specific data processed depends primarily on the job listing. However, it usually includes your name, date of birth, contact details, and proof of qualifications. If you submit your application via an online form, the data is transmitted to us in encrypted form. If you send your application via email, this encryption does not occur, and we cannot take responsibility for the transmission method. Once the data is on our servers, we are responsible for its lawful handling.

During the application process, information about your health or ethnic origin may also be requested. This helps us comply with legal obligations related to labor law, social security, and social protection. These are considered special category data.

Here is a list of possible data we receive and process:

NameContact addressEmail addressPhone numberDate of birthInformation from cover letters and resumesProof of qualifications (e.g., certificates)Special category data (e.g., ethnic origin, health data, religious beliefs)Usage data (visited websites, access data, etc.)Metadata (IP address, device information)

How long is the data stored?

If you join our team, your data will be further processed for employment purposes and retained at least until the employment relationship ends. All application documents will then become part of your employee file.

If we do not offer you the position, you decline our offer, or withdraw your application, we may retain your data for up to 6 months after the application process ends under legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). After that, both electronic data and physical documents will be fully deleted or destroyed. We retain your data, for example, to answer follow-up questions or to provide evidence of the application in case of legal disputes. If a legal dispute arises and we need the data beyond the 6-month period, we will delete it only when there is no longer any reason to retain it. If there are statutory retention obligations, we must store the data longer than 6 months.

Furthermore, we may retain your data longer if you provide explicit consent. This might be the case if we see potential for future collaboration. In such cases, your data will be included in our applicant pool. Of course, you can withdraw your consent for extended retention at any time. If no withdrawal is made and no new consent is given, your data will be deleted after a maximum of 2 years.

Legal Basis

The legal bases for processing your data are Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract or pre-contractual measures), Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interests), and Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR (processing special categories of data).

If we include you in our applicant tool, it is based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). We emphasize that your consent to join our applicant pool is voluntary, does not affect the application process, and can be withdrawn at any time. The legality of processing until the point of withdrawal remains unaffected.

In cases where vital interests are at stake, data processing occurs under Art. 9(2)(c) GDPR. For purposes related to healthcare, occupational medicine, medical diagnosis, provision of health or social care, or the management of systems and services in health or social care, data is processed under Art. 9(2)(h) GDPR. If you voluntarily provide special category data, processing is based on Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR.

Sweepstakes

Sweepstakes Summary

👥 Affected parties: Users participating in our sweepstakes

🤝 Purpose: Conducting and handling the sweepstakes, notifying winners

📓 Processed data: Name, email address, phone number, address, in some cases also date of birth

📅 Storage duration: Until the completion of the sweepstakes and fulfillment of legal retention obligations, up to 7 years

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interest)

What are sweepstakes?

We also occasionally offer sweepstakes on our website or through our social media channels. These are promotions and competitions in which you can participate to win prizes. To do so, you usually need to perform a specific action. For example, you may have to answer a question. If you participate in one of our sweepstakes, personal data will also be collected. Depending on the sweepstakes, different data may be processed. Typically, it includes contact information or the date of birth if a minimum age is required to participate.

Why do we process data from sweepstakes?

We process the data so that we can manage the sweepstakes. We need the data, on the one hand, to determine and notify the winner, and on the other hand, to fulfill our legal obligations. If you have given your consent, we can also use the data for advertising and marketing purposes. For example, we may send you a newsletter about our service.

What data is processed?

Of course, the data processing depends on the type of sweepstakes, but generally, contact data such as name, email address, phone number, address, and date of birth are processed. In addition, your IP address is also processed as part of the sweepstakes. This usually happens automatically when you have consented to data processing and then visit our website and participate in the sweepstakes. We use the IP address to ensure the security of our system and obtain statistical evaluations.

It is also possible that our sweepstakes take place within a social media platform (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok) or are advertised via a social media platform. In this case, the privacy policies and terms of use of the respective social network also apply. Besides the platform, we as the organizer of the sweepstakes are also responsible for data processing. If you have any questions regarding the sweepstakes, please contact us directly.

How long is the data stored?

The data is stored until the sweepstakes are over and the winner has received the prize. Additionally, if there are legal retention obligations, such as tax-related obligations, your data may be stored for up to 7 years.

Legal basis

The legal bases for processing your data are Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract or pre-contractual measures), and Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), such as documentation and traceability of the sweepstakes process.

Customer Data

Customer Data Overview

👥Affected parties: Customers or business and contractual partners

🤝 Purpose: Performance of a contract for the provision of agreed services or prior to entering into such a contract, including associated communications.

📓 Data processed: name, address, contact details, email address, telephone number, payment information (such as invoices and bank details), contract data (such as duration and subject matter of the contract), IP address, order data

📅 Storage period: the data will be erased as soon as they are no longer required for our business purposes and there is no legal obligation to process them.

⚖️ Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR), Contract (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR)

What is customer data?

In order to be able to offer our services and contractual services, we also process data from our customers and business partners. This data always includes personal data. Customer data is all information that is processed on the basis of contractual or pre-contractual agreements so that the offered services can be provided. Customer data is therefore all the information we collect and process about our customers.

Why do we process customer data?

There are many reasons why we collect and process customer data. The main reason is that we simply need specific data to provide our services. Sometimes for example your email address may be enough. But if you purchase a product or service, we may e. g. also need data such as your name, address, bank details or other contract data. This data will subsequently be used for marketing and sales optimisation so that we can improve our overall service for our customers and clients. Another important reason for data processing is our customer service, which is very important to us. We want you to have the opportunity to contact us at any time with questions about our offers. Thus, we may need certain data such as your email address at the very least.

What data is processed?

Exactly which data is stored can only be shown by putting them in categories. All in all, it always depends on which of our services you receive. In some cases, you may only give us your email address so that we can e. g. contact you or answer your questions. In other instances, you may purchase one of our products or services. Then we may need significantly more information, such as your contact details, payment details and contract details.

Here is a list of potential data we may receive and process:

NameContact addressEmail addressPhone numberYour birthdayPayment data (invoices, bank details, payment history, etc.)Contract data (duration, contents)Usage data (websites visited, access data, etc.)Metadata (IP address, device information)

How long is the data stored?

We erase corresponding customer data as soon as we no longer need it to fulfill our contractual obligations and purposes, and as soon as the data is also no longer necessary for possible warranty and liability obligations. This can for example be the case when a business contract ends. Thereafter, the limitation period is usually 3 years, although longer periods may be possible in individual cases. Of course, we also comply with the statutory retention requirements. Your customer data will certainly not be passed on to third parties unless you have given your explicit consent.

Legal Basis

The legal basis for the processing of your data is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter b GDPR (contract or pre-contractual measures), Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f GDPR (legitimate interests) and in special cases (e. g. medical services) Art. 9 (2) lit. GDPR (processing of special categories).

In the case of protecting vital interests, data processing is carried out in accordance with Article 9 Paragraph 2 Letter c. GDPR. For the purposes of health care, occupational medicine, medical diagnostics, care or treatment in the health or social sectors or for the administration of systems and services in health or social sectors, the processing of personal data takes place in accordance with Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. h. GDPR. If you voluntarily provide data of these special categories, the processing takes place on the basis of Article 9 Paragraph 2 lit. a GDPR.

Registration

Registration Overview

👥 Affected parties:
Anyone who registers to create an account with us, and logs in to use the account.

📓 Processed data: Personal data such as email address, name, password and other data that is collected during registration, login and account use.

🤝 Purpose: For the provision of our services, as well as to
communicate with clients or customers in the scope of our services.

📅Storage period: As
long as the company account associated with the texts exists, plus a period of usually 3 years.

⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter b GDPR (contract), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests)If you register with us and provide any personal data, this data may be processed, possibly along with your IP address. Below you can explore what we mean by the rather broad term “personal data”.Please only enter the data we need for the registration. In case you are registering on behalf of a third party, please only enter data for which you have the approval of the party you are registering for. If possible, use a secure password that you don’t use anywhere else and an email address that you check regularly.In the following, we will inform you about the exact type of data processing we do. After all, we want you to feel at ease with the services we provide!

What is a registration?

When you register, we retain certain of your data in order to make it easy for you to log in with us online and use your account. An account with us has the advantage that you don’t have to re-enter everything every time. It saves time and effort and ultimately prevents any issues with the provision of our services.

Why do we process personal data?

In short, we process personal data to make account registration and usage possible for you.
If we didn’t do this, you would have to enter all your data each time, wait for our approval and then enter everything again. This strenuous process would probably not only irritate us a little, but also many of our dear clients and customers.

Which data is processed?

Any data that you provided during registration or login and any data that you may enter as part of managing your account data.During registration, we process the following types of data:

First nameLast nameEmail addressCompany nameStreet + house numberResidencePostcodeCountry

During your registration, we process any data you enter, such as your username and password, along with data that is collected in the background such as your device information and IP addresses.When using your account, we process any data you enter while using the account, as well as any data that is created while you use our services.

Storage time

We store the entered data for at least

as long as the account associated with the data exists with us and is in use – and as long as there are contractual obligations between you and us. In case the contract ends, we retain the data until the respective claims get time-barred. Moreover, we store your data as long as we are subject to legal storage obligations, if applicable. Following that, we keep any accounting records (invoices, contract documents, account statements, etc.) of the contract for 10 years (§ 147 AO) and other relevant business documents for 6 years (§ 247 HGB) after accrual.

Right to object

You have registered, entered data and want to revoke the data processing? Not a problem. As you can see above, you retain this right under the General Data Protection Regulation also at and after registration, login or account creation with us. Contact the Data Protection Officer above to exercise your rights. If you already have an account with us, you can easily view and manage your data and texts in your account.

Legal Basis

By completing the registration process, you enter into a pre-contractual agreement with us, with the intention to conclude a contract of use for our platform (although there is no automatic payment obligation). You invest time to enter data and register and in return, we offer you our services after you log on to our system and view your customer account. We also meet our contractual obligations. Finally, we need to be able to email registered users about important changes. Article 6(1)(b) GDPR (implementation of pre-contractual measures, fulfilment of a contract) applies.

Where applicable, we will ask for your consent, e.g. in case you voluntarily provide more data than is absolutely necessary, or in case we may ask you if we may send you advertising. Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) applies in this matter.

We also have a legitimate interest in knowing who who our clients or customers are, in order to get in touch if required. We also need to know who is using our services and whether they are being used in accordance with our terms of use, i.e. Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interests) applies in this matter.

Note: the following sections are to be ticked by users (as required):

Registration with real namesSince business operations require us to know who our clients or customers are, registration is only possible with your real name (full name) and not with a pseudonym.Registration with pseudonymsYou can use a pseudonym for the registration, which means you don’t have to register with your real name. This ensures that your real name cannot be processed by us.Storage of the IP addressDuring registration, login and account use, we store your IP address for security reasons in order to be able to determine legitimate use.Public ProfileUser profiles are publicly visible, i.e. parts of the profiles can also be viewed on the Internet without the need to enter a username and password.Two Factor Authentication (2FA)Two Factor Authentication (2FA) offers additional security when logging in, as it prevents you from logging in without a smartphone, for example. This technical measure to secure your account protects you against the loss of data or unauthorised access, even if your username and password were leaked. During your registration process, login or within the account itself you can find out which 2FA is used.

Web hosting

Web hosting Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

📓 Purpose: professional hosting of the website and security of operations

🤝 Processed data: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. You can find more details on this below or at the respective web hosting provider.

📅 Storage period: dependent on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web hosting?

Every time you visit a website nowadays, certain information – including personal data – is automatically created and stored, including on this website. This data should be processed as sparingly as possible, and only with good reason. By website, we mean the entirety of all websites on your domain, i.e. everything from the homepage to the very last subpage (like this one here). By domain we mean example.uk or examplepage.com.

When you want to view a website on a screen, you use a program called a web browser. You probably know the names of some web browsers: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.

The web browser has to connect to another computer which stores the website’s code: the web server. Operating a web server is complicated and time-consuming, which is why this is usually done by professional providers. They offer web hosting and thus ensure the reliable and flawless storage of website data.

Whenever the browser on your computer establishes a connection (desktop, laptop, smartphone) and whenever data is being transferred to and from the web server, personal data may be processed. After all, your computer stores data, and the web server also has to retain the data for a period of time in order to ensure it can operate properly.

Illustration:

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of data processing are:

Professional hosting of the website and operational securityTo maintain the operational as well as IT securityAnonymous evaluation of access patterns to improve our offer, and if necessary, for prosecution or the pursuit of claims.li>

Which data are processed?

Even while you are visiting our website, our web server, that is the computer on which this website is saved, usually automatically saves data such as

the full address (URL) of the accessed website (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/examplesubpage.html?tid=122970219)browser and browser version (e.g. Chrome 87)the operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL) (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/icamefromhere.html/)the host name and the IP address of the device from the website is being accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)date and timein so-called web server log files

How long is the data stored?

Generally, the data mentioned above are stored for two weeks and are then automatically deleted. We do not pass these data on to others, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed by the authorities in the event of illegal conduct.

In short:

Your visit is logged by our provider (company that runs our website on special computers (servers)), but we do not pass on your data without your consent!

Legal basis

The lawfulness of processing personal data in the context of web hosting is justified in Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (safeguarding of legitimate interests), as the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary to present the company in a safe and user-friendly manner on the internet, as well as to have the ability to track any attacks and claims, if necessary.

Webhosting Other

Contact data for our Webhosting:

GoDaddy Operating Company, LLC.

You can learn more about the data processing at this provider in their

Privacy Policy

.

World4You Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy Summary for World4You

👥 Data subjects: Website visitors

🤝 Purpose: Website storage and accessibility on the Internet

📓 Processed data: IP address, particularly technical data

📅 Storage duration: Logfiles are deleted after 14 days

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR (Legitimate interests)

What is World4You?

You may have heard of the web hosting provider World4You, especially if you are in Austria, where the web hoster enjoys great popularity. The service provider is the Austrian company World4You Internet Services GmbH, Hafenstraße 35, 4020 Linz, Austria.

Operating in the web hosting sector since 1998, the company from the Upper Austrian capital operates multiple data centers in Austria and relies on in-house technology. This ensures a reliable operation and a fast server connection. As mentioned in our web hosting introduction, data from you is transferred to and processed on World4You’s servers, primarily involving technical data such as browser version or operating system. Additionally, personal data, including your IP address, is processed.

Why do we use World4You?

For a website, we value reliability, speed, and security, likely similar to your preferences. Regardless of whether you access our website in the middle of the night or during peak visitor times, it must function flawlessly. Clicking on subpages should not take an eternity for the page to load completely. And in case of issues, a robust backup system should secure our content and protect all data. To achieve all of this to our satisfaction, we need a reliable web host. With World4You, we believe we have found a partner that meets our requirements. World4You operates its own data centers, ensuring a consistent bandwidth for fast website accessibility. Additionally, we appreciate the personal support provided by the company.

What data does World4You process?

World4You may process personal data from you. Our web server automatically stores data while you visit our website, including personal data such as your IP address, and technical data such as the internet address of the visited website, device information like browser version, operating system, and the URL of the previously visited website. The time of accessing our website and, if applicable, location data are also captured. The IP address can be used to enhance website security, identify potential errors, and conduct anonymous statistical analyses. Cookies may be used for data storage.

How long and where are the data stored?

The data is stored on World4You’s own servers. The exact retention period depends on the type of data and individual configurations. In general, World4You stores the data for as long as necessary to fulfill its obligations. Data collected solely for providing the website is deleted after the respective session ends. For data stored in log files, deletion occurs no later than 14 days. However, data may be stored for a longer period to serve as evidence in potential legal disputes.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access, correct, delete, and restrict the processing of your personal data at any time. You can also revoke your consent to data processing at any time.

If you do not want these cookies to be set and data to be stored, you can prevent the setting of cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, managing, disabling, or deleting cookies works slightly differently.

In the “Cookies” section, you will find the respective links to the instructions for the most popular browsers.

Legal basis

From our perspective, there is a legitimate interest in using World4You to offer our online service. The corresponding legal basis is Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR (Legitimate interests).

Feel free to use the support provided if you have specific questions about data protection at World4You. It is also recommended to review the website’s privacy policy at

https://www.world4you.com/en/company/data-privacy-statement

. The FAQs at

https://www.world4you.com/faq/en/dsgvo.html

have a dedicated GDPR section where you can find additional useful information.

Website Builders Introduction

Website Builders Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: service optimisation

📓 Data processed: The data that is being processed includes but is not limited to technical usage information, browser activity, clickstream activity, session heat maps, contact details, IP addresses or geographic locations. You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below as well as in the providers’ Privacy Policies.

📅 Storage duration: depends on the provider

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR (consent)

What are website builders?

We use a modular website builder for our website. This is a special form of Content Management System (CMS). Website builders enable website operators to create websites very easily and without any programming knowledge. In many cases, web hosts also offer website builders. Your personal data may be collected, stored and processed if a website builder is being used. In this Privacy Policy, you will find general information about data that is processed by such modular website builder systems. You can find more information in the respective provider’s Privacy Policy.

Why do we use website builders for our website?

The greatest advantage of modular website builders is their ease of use. We want to offer you a clear, simple and nicely designed website that we can easily operate and maintain by ourselves – without needing any external support. Nowadays website builders offer many helpful functions that we can use even without having any programming knowledge. This enables us to design our website according to our wishes and therefore, to give you an informative and pleasant experience on our website.

Which data are stored by website builders?

First of all, the exact data that is stored depends on the website builder that is being used. Each provider processes and collects different data from website visitors. However, technical usage information such as users’ operating system, browser, screen resolution, language and keyboard settings, hosting provider as well as the date of the website visit are usually collected. Moreover, tracking data (e. g. browser activity, clickstream activities, session heat maps, etc.) may also be processed. The same goes for personal data, since data such as contact information e. g. email address, telephone number (if you have provided it), IP address and geographic location data may also be processed and stored. In the respective provider’s Privacy Policy you can find out exactly which of your data is getting stored.

How long and where are the data stored?

Provided that we have any further information on this, we will inform you below about the duration of the data processing associated with the website builder we use. You can find detailed information on this in the provider’s Privacy Policy. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. The provider may store your data according to their own specifications, over which we have no influence.

Right to object

You always retain the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the responsible parties at the respective website builder system at any time. You can find the corresponding contact details either in our Privacy Policy or on the website of the respective provider.

What is more, in your browser you can clear, disable or manage cookies that providers use for their functions. Depending on the browser you use, this can be done in different ways. Please note, that this may lead to not all functions working as usual anymore.

Legal Bases

We have a legitimate interest in using a website builder system to optimise our online service and present it in an efficient and user-friendly way. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the website builder system if you have consented to it.

If the processing of data is not absolutely necessary for the operation of the website, your data will only be processed on the basis of your consent. This particularly applies to tracking activities. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR.

With this Privacy Policy, we have made you more familiar with the most important general information on data processing. If you want to find out more about this, you will find further information – if available – in the following section or in the Privacy Policy of the provider.

Web Analytics

Web Analytics Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimise the website.

📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. You can find more details on this from the respective web analytics tool directly.

📅 Storage period: depending on the respective web analytics tool used

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Web Analytics?

We use software on our website, which is known as web analytics, in order to evaluate website visitor behaviour. Thus, data is collected, which the analytic tool provider (also called tracking tool) stores, manages and processes. Analyses of user behaviour on our website are created with this data, which we as the website operator receive. Most tools also offer various testing options. These enable us, to for example test which offers or content our visitors prefer. For this, we may show you two different offers for a limited period of time. After the test (a so-called A/B test) we know which product or content our website visitors find more interesting. For such testing as well as for various other analyses, user profiles are created and the respective data is stored in cookies.

Why do we run Web Analytics?

We have a clear goal in mind when it comes to our website: we want to offer our industry’s best website on the market. Therefore, we want to give you both, the best and most interesting offer as well as comfort when you visit our website. With web analysis tools, we can observe the behaviour of our website visitors, and then improve our website accordingly for you and for us. For example, we can see the average age of our visitors, where they come from, the times our website gets visited the most, and which content or products are particularly popular. All this information helps us to optimise our website and adapt it to your needs, interests and wishes.

Which data are processed?

The exact data that is stored depends on the analysis tools that are being used. But generally, data such as the content you view on our website are stored, as well as e. g. which buttons or links you click, when you open a page, which browser you use, which device (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) you visit the website with, or which computer system you use. If you have agreed that location data may also be collected, this data may also be processed by the provider of the web analysis tool.

Moreover, your IP address is also stored. According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), IP addresses are personal data. However, your IP address is usually stored in a pseudonymised form (i.e. in an unrecognisable and abbreviated form). No directly linkable data such as your name, age, address or email address are stored for testing purposes, web analyses and web optimisations. If this data is collected, it is retained in a pseudonymised form. Therefore, it cannot be used to identify you as a person.

The following example shows Google Analytics’ functionality as an example for client-based web tracking with JavaScript code.

The storage period of the respective data always depends on the provider. Some cookies only retain data for a few minutes or until you leave the website, while other cookies can store data for several years.

Duration of data processing

If we have any further information on the duration of data processing, you will find it below. We generally only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide products and services. The storage period may be extended if it is required by law, such as for accounting purposes for example for accounting.

Right to object

You also have the option and the right to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data processing by cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser.

Legal basis

The use of Web Analytics requires your consent, which we obtained with our cookie popup. According to

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a of the GDPR (consent)

, this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as by collection through Web Analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors, which enables us to technically and economically improve our offer. With Web Analytics, we can recognise website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f of the GDPR (legitimate interests)

. Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent.

Since Web Analytics tools use cookies, we recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies. If you want to find out which of your data are stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

If available, information on special Web Analytics tools can be found in the following sections.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

Google Analytics Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimise the website.

📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as the location of access, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour and click behaviour. You can find more details on this in the privacy policy below.

📅 Storage period: Customizable, GA4 stores data for 14 months by default.

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Analytics?

On our website, we use the analytics tracking tool Google Analytics in the Google Analytics 4 (GA4) version provided by the American company Google Inc. For the European region, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. By combining various technologies such as cookies, device IDs, and login information, you can be identified as a user across different devices. This allows your actions to be analyzed across platforms as well.

For example, when you click on a link, this event is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. With the reports we receive from Google Analytics, we can better tailor our website and service to your needs. In the following, we will provide more information about the tracking tool and specifically inform you about the data processed and how you can prevent it.

Google Analytics is a tracking tool used for website traffic analysis. The basis for these measurements and analyses is a pseudonymous user identification number. This number does not include personally identifiable information such as name or address but is used to assign events to a device. GA4 utilizes an event-based model that captures detailed information about user interactions such as page views, clicks, scrolling, and conversion events. Additionally, GA4 incorporates various machine learning features to better understand user behavior and certain trends. GA4 employs modeling through machine learning capabilities, meaning that based on the collected data, missing data can be extrapolated to optimize the analysis and provide forecasts.

In order for Google Analytics to function properly, a tracking code is embedded in the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various events that you perform on our website. With GA4’s event-based data model, we, as website operators, can define and track specific events to obtain analyses of user interactions. This allows us to track not only general information such as clicks or page views but also specific events that are important for our business, such as submitting a contact form or making a purchase.

Once you leave our website, this data is sent to and stored on Google Analytics servers.

Google processes the data, and we receive reports on your user behavior. These reports can include, among others, the following:

Audience reports: Audience reports help us get to know our users better and gain a more precise understanding of who is interested in our service.Advertising reports: Advertising reports make it easier for us to analyze and improve our online advertising.Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports provide helpful information on how we can attract more people to our service.Behavior reports: Here, we learn about how you interact with our website. We can track the path you take on our site and which links you click on.Conversion reports: Conversion refers to an action you take as a result of a marketing message, such as going from being a website visitor to becoming a buyer or newsletter subscriber. Through these reports, we gain insights into how our marketing efforts resonate with you, with the aim of improving our conversion rate.Real-time reports: With real-time reports, we can see what is currently happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

In addition to the above-mentioned analysis reports, Google Analytics 4 also offers the following functions:

Event-based data model: This model captures specific events that can occur on our website, such as playing a video, making a purchase, or subscribing to our newsletter.Advanced analytics features: With these features, we can gain a better understanding of your behavior on our website or certain general trends. For example, we can segment user groups, conduct comparative analyses of target audiences, or track your path on our website.Predictive modeling: Based on the collected data, missing data can be extrapolated through machine learning to predict future events and trends. This can help us develop better marketing strategies.Cross-platform analysis: Data collection and analysis are possible from both websites and apps. This enables us to analyze user behavior across platforms, provided you have consented to data processing.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

Our goal with this website is clear: we want to provide you with the best possible service. The statistics and data from Google Analytics help us achieve this goal.

The statistically evaluated data gives us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On one hand, we can optimize our site to make it more easily found by interested people on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us better understand you as a visitor. We know exactly what we need to improve on our website in order to provide you with the best possible service. The data also helps us conduct our advertising and marketing activities in a more personalized and cost-effective manner. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

What data is stored by Google Analytics?

With the help of a tracking code, Google Analytics creates a random, unique ID associated with your browser cookie. This way, Google Analytics recognizes you as a new user, and a user ID is assigned to you. When you visit our site again, you are recognized as a “returning” user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID, making it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles.

To analyze our website with Google Analytics, a property ID must be inserted into the tracking code. The data is then stored in the corresponding property. For each newly created property, the default is Google Analytics 4 Property. The data storage duration varies depending on the property used.

Through identifiers such as cookies, app instance IDs, user IDs, or custom event parameters, your interactions, if you have consented, are measured across platforms. Interactions encompass all types of actions you perform on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated through Google Analytics can be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not disclose Google Analytics data unless we, as website operators, authorize it, except when required by law.

According to Google, IP addresses are not logged or stored in Google Analytics 4. However, IP address data is used by Google for deriving location data and is immediately deleted thereafter. All IP addresses collected from users in the EU are deleted before the data is stored in a data center or on a server.

Since GA4 focuses on event-based data, the tool uses significantly fewer cookies compared to previous versions such as Google Universal Analytics. However, there are still some specific cookies used by GA4. These can include:

Name: _ga

Value: 2.1326744211.152122970219-5

Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. It is used to distinguish website visitors.

Expiration: After 2 years

Name:

_gid

Value:

2.1687193234.152122970219-1

Purpose:

This cookie is also used to distinguish website visitors.

Expiration:

After 24 hours

Name:

gat_gtag_UA Value: 1

Purpose:

Used to reduce the request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie will be named dc_gtm .

Expiration:

After 1 minute

Note:

This list cannot claim to be exhaustive, as Google may change their choice of cookies from time to time. GA4 aims to improve data privacy and offers several options for controlling data collection. For example, we can determine the storage duration ourselves and control data.

Here we provide an overview of the main types of data collected by Google Analytics:

Heatmaps:

Google creates heatmaps to show the exact areas you click on. This provides us with information about your interactions on our site.

Session Duration:

Google refers to session duration as the time you spend on our site without leaving. If you are inactive for 20 minutes, the session automatically ends.

Bounce Rate:

Bounce rate refers to when you view only one page on our website and then leave.

Account Creation:

If you create an account or place an order on our website, Google Analytics collects this data.

Location:

IP addresses are not logged or stored in Google Analytics. However, location data is derived shortly before the IP address is deleted.

Technical Information:

Technical information includes your browser type, internet service provider, and screen resolution, among others.

Source of Origin:

Google Analytics is interested in the website or advertisement that brought you to our site.

Additional data may include contact information, reviews, media playback (e.g., if you play a video on our site), sharing of content via social media, or adding to favorites. This list is not exhaustive and serves only as a general guide to the data storage by Google Analytics.

Where and how long are the data stored?

Google has servers distributed worldwide. You can find precise information about the locations of Google data centers at:

https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=en

Your data is distributed across multiple physical storage devices. This ensures faster access to data and better protection against manipulation. Each Google data center has emergency programs in place for your data. In the event of hardware failure or natural disasters, the risk of service interruption at Google remains low.

The retention period of data depends on the properties used. The storage duration is always set separately for each individual property. Google Analytics offers us four options for controlling the storage duration:

2 months: This is the shortest storage period.14 months: By default, data is stored in GA4 for 14 months.26 months: Data can also be stored for 26 months.Data is only deleted manually.

In addition, there is also the option for data to be deleted only if you do not visit our website within the selected time period. In this case, the retention period is reset every time you revisit our website within the defined time frame.

Once the defined period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to data linked to cookies, user identification, and advertising IDs (e.g., cookies from the DoubleClick domain). Report results are based on aggregated data and are stored independently of user data. Aggregated data is a combination of individual data into larger units.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under the data protection laws of the European Union, you have the right to access, update, delete, or restrict your data. By using the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics JavaScript (analytics.js, gtag.js), you can prevent Google Analytics 4 from using your data. You can download and install the browser add-on at:

https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en

Please note that this add-on only disables data collection by Google Analytics.

If you want to disable, delete, or manage cookies in general, you can find the respective instructions for the most common browsers in the “Cookies” section.

Legal basis

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we obtained through our cookie popup. According to

Art. 6(1)(a) of the GDPR

, this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data that may occur during the collection by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we also have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors to improve our offering technically and economically. By using Google Analytics, we can identify website errors, detect attacks, and improve efficiency. The legal basis for this is

Art. 6(1)(f) of the GDPR

(legitimate interests). However, we only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at:

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

We hope we have provided you with the most important information regarding the data processing by Google Analytics. If you want to learn more about the tracking service, we recommend the following links:

https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/en/

and

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en

If you want to learn more about data processing, you can refer to the Google Privacy Policy at:

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

.

Google Analytics Reports on demographic characteristics and interests

We have turned on Google Analytics’ functions for advertising reports. These reports on demographic characteristics and interests contain details about age, gender and interests. Through them we can get a better picture of our users – without being able to allocate any data to individual persons. You can learn more about advertising functions at

auf https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=en&%3Butm_id=ad

.

You can terminate the use of your Google Account’s activities and information in “Ads Settings” at

https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated

via a checkbox.

Google Analytics Google Signals Privacy Policy

We have activated Google signals in Google Analytics. Through this, any existing Google Analytics functions (advertising reports, remarketing, cross-device reports and reports on interests and demographic characteristics) are updated, to result in the summary and anonymisation of your data, should you have permitted personalised ads in your Google Account.

The special aspect of this is that it involves cross-device tracking. That means your data can be analysed across multiple devices. Through the activation of Google signals, data is collected and linked to the Google account. For example, it enables Google to recognise when you look at a product on a smartphone and later buy the product on a laptop. Due to activating Google signals, we can start cross-device remarketing campaigns, which would otherwise not be possible to this extent. Remarketing means, that we can show you our products and services across other websites as well.

Moreover, further visitor data such as location, search history, YouTube history and data about your actions on our website are collected in Google Analytics. As a result, we receive improved advertising reports and more useful information on your interests and demographic characteristics. These include your age, the language you speak, where you live or what your gender is. Certain social criteria such as your job, your marital status or your income are also included. All these characteristics help Google Analytics to define groups of persons or target audiences.

Those reports also help us to better assess your behaviour, as well as your wishes and interests. As a result, we can optimise and customise our products and services for you. By default, this data expires after 26 months. Please consider, that this data is only collected if you have agreed to personalised advertisement in your Google Account. The retained information is always exclusively summarised and anonymous data, and never any data on individual persons. You can manage or delete this data in your Google Account.

Google Optimize Privacy Policy

On our website we use Google Optimize, which is a web optimisation tool. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Irish company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Irland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at:

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

You can find out more about Googles’ data processing in their privacy policy at

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US

.

Google Remarketing Privacy Policy

Google Remarketing Privacy Policy Summary

👥 Affected parties: Website visitors

🤝 Purpose: Economic success and optimization of our service performance.

📓 Processed data: Access statistics, including location data, device information, access duration and time, navigation behavior, and click behavior. Personal data such as IP addresses may also be processed.

📅 Storage duration: Conversion cookies usually expire after 30 days.

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Remarketing?

We use Google Remarketing as an online marketing measure to promote our products and services. Our goal is to make more people aware of the high quality of our offerings online. As part of our advertising measures, we use Google Remarketing provided by Google Inc. In Europe, the company responsible for all Google services is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland). This retargeting tool helps us better tailor and deliver our advertising to your interests and needs. In the following article, we will explain why we use Google Remarketing, what data is stored, and how you can prevent data storage.

Google Remarketing is a specialized online advertising method where targeted advertisements are displayed to users who have previously visited a specific website or app. This means that after visiting our website, the system recognizes which pages you viewed and your interests, enabling targeted online ads to be displayed based on this information. This works through the use of cookies and other tracking technologies that record your user behavior on our site and subsequently show relevant ads on other Google platforms (such as YouTube).

We are confident in the quality of our offerings and want as many people as possible to discover our website. In the online domain, Google Ads and its integrated Google Remarketing provide the best platform for this. Naturally, we also want a clear overview of the cost-effectiveness of our advertising campaigns, which is why we use Google Ads’ conversion tracking tool.

Why do we use Google Remarketing on our website?

We use Google Remarketing to highlight our offerings on other websites or Google platforms. The goal is to ensure our advertising campaigns reach only those genuinely interested in our offerings. With Google Remarketing, we can deliver targeted ads to you if you have previously visited our website and not completed a desired action. These ads aim to convince you that we have what you are looking for, thereby increasing the likelihood of further interaction or conversion. But what is a conversion? A conversion occurs when a purely interested website visitor becomes an acting visitor. This happens whenever you click on our ad and subsequently take another action, such as visiting our website.

This data helps us calculate our cost-effectiveness, measure the success of individual advertising efforts, and optimize our online marketing strategies. Additionally, the collected data allows us to make our website more engaging for you and customize our advertising offerings to your needs.

What data is stored by Google Remarketing?

We have integrated Google Remarketing into our website to analyze certain user actions better and display targeted ads. The data collected varies depending on the functions used and individual settings. Typically, information about which subpages you visit on our website, which products you view or purchase, how long you stay on a page, whether you abandon specific actions, or other conversions (purchase, button click, etc.) is collected.

As you can see, Google Remarketing primarily processes data related to your user behavior and does not process personal data such as names or email addresses. However, Google Remarketing processes your IP address, which is considered personal data under GDPR. Additionally, cookies or other tracking technologies may store information about your devices (browser, operating system, device type, etc.) and demographic data such as age or gender. All data is anonymized and aggregated to protect user privacy.

When you click on one of our Google Ads, the “Conversion” cookie is stored on your computer (usually in your browser) or mobile device. Cookies are small text files that store information on your computer.

Below are the details of the main cookies used for remarketing:

Name:

Conversion

Value:

EhMI_aySuoyv4gIVled3Ch0llweVGAEgt-mr6aXd7dYlSAGQ122970219-3

Purpose:

This cookie stores every conversion you make on our site after arriving via a Google Ad.

Expiration:

after 3 months

Name:

_gac

Value:

1.1558695989.EAIaIQobChMIiOmEgYO04gIVj5AYCh2CBAPrEAAYASAAEgIYQfD_BwE

Purpose:

This is a classic Google Analytics cookie used to record various actions on our website.

Expiration:

after 3 months

Note:

The _gac cookie appears only in conjunction with Google Analytics. The above list is not exhaustive, as Google regularly uses additional cookies for analytical purposes.

Once you complete an action on our website, Google recognizes the cookie and records your action as a conversion. As long as you browse our site and the cookie has not expired, we and Google can recognize that you returned to our site via a Google Ads ad. The cookie is read and the conversion data is sent back to Google Ads. Other cookies may also be used to measure conversions. Google Remarketing and the associated tracking can be further refined and enhanced with Google Analytics. For ads displayed by Google across the web, cookies named “__gads” or “_gac” may be set under our domain. Since September 2017, various campaign information from analytics.js has been stored in the _gac cookie. This cookie stores this data whenever you visit a page for which automatic tag labeling in Google Ads has been configured. Unlike cookies set for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies while you are on our website.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has servers distributed worldwide. You can read exactly where Google data centers are located here:

https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de

.

In general, Google processes data only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes and as required by law. Please note that we have no control over how Google uses the data it collects. According to Google, data is encrypted and stored on secure servers. Most conversion cookies expire after 30 days and do not transmit personal data. The cookies named “Conversion” and “_gac” (used with Google Analytics) have an expiration date of 3 months.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You can opt out of Google Remarketing. By disabling Google Remarketing in your browser, you block tracking. In this case, you will not be included in the tool’s statistics. You can also change your browser’s cookie settings at any time. Each browser functions slightly differently. Under the “Cookies” section, you will find the corresponding links to the instructions for the most popular browsers.

If you generally do not want cookies, you can configure your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is set. This way, you can decide whether to allow or block each cookie. By downloading and installing this browser plug-in from

https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996

, you can disable all “advertising cookies.” Please note that disabling these cookies does not prevent ads but only personalized advertising.

In your Google account settings, under “Ads” or “Advertising,” you can disable personalized ads based on Google Remarketing. If you do not consent to data processing through Google Remarketing via the consent management tool on our website, no data will be collected.

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Remarketing, the legal basis for this data processing is your consent. According to

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

, this consent serves as the legal basis for processing personal data, such as the IP address collected through Google Remarketing.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Remarketing to optimize our online services and marketing measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. However, we only use Google Remarketing if you have given your consent.

Google processes your data, among other places, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which ensures the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (= Art. 46 para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an EU Commission implementation decision. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

.

Google provides a data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR, which serves as the legal basis for our customer relationship with Google. This agreement refers to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. Here you can find the data processing terms:

https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/

.

Learn more about the data processed through the use of Google Remarketing in the privacy policy at

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de

.

Google Signals Privacy Policy

We also use the data analysis tool Google Signals for our business. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Irish company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Irland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at:

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

You can find out more about Googles’ data processing in their privacy policy at

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US

.

Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy

Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: Organisation of individual tracking tools

📓 Processed data: Google Tag Manager itself does not store any data. The data record tags of the web analytics tools used.

📅 Storage period: depending on the web analytics tool used

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Tag Manager?

We use Google Tag Manager by the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) for our website.

This Tag Manager is one of Google’s many helpful marketing products. With it, we can centrally integrate and manage code sections of various tracking tools, that we use on our website.

In this privacy statement we will explain in more detail, what Google Tag Manager does, why we use it and to what extent your data is processed.

Google Tag Manager is an organising tool with which we can integrate and manage website tags centrally and via a user interface. Tags are little code sections which e.g. track your activities on our website. For this, segments of JavaScript code are integrated to our site’s source text. The tags often come from Google’s intern products, such as Google Ads or Google Analytics, but tags from other companies can also be integrated and managed via the manager. Since the tags have different tasks, they can collect browser data, feed marketing tools with data, embed buttons, set cookies and track users across several websites.

Why do we use Google Tag Manager for our website?

Everybody knows: Being organised is important! Of course, this also applies to maintenance of our website. In order to organise and design our website as well as possible for you and anyone who is interested in our products and services, we rely on various tracking tools, such as Google Analytics.

The collected data shows us what interests you most, which of our services we should improve, and which other persons we should also display our services to. Furthermore, for this tracking to work, we must implement relevant JavaScript Codes to our website. While we could theoretically integrate every code section of every tracking tool separately into our source text, this would take too much time and we would lose overview. This is the reason why we use Google Tag Manager. We can easily integrate the necessary scripts and manage them from one place. Additionally, Google Tag Manager’s user interface is easy to operate, and requires no programming skills. Therefore, we can easily keep order in our jungle of tags.

What data is stored by Google Tag Manager?

Tag Manager itself is a domain that neither uses cookies nor stores data. It merely functions as an “administrator“ of implemented tags. Data is collected by the individual tags of the different web analysis tools. Therefore, in Google Tag Manager the data is sent to the individual tracking tools and does not get saved.

However, with the integrated tags of different web analysis tools such as Google Analytics, this is quite different. Depending on the analysis tool used, various data on your internet behaviour is collected, stored and processed with the help of cookies. Please read our texts on data protection for more information on the articular analysis and tracking tools we use on our website.

We allowed Google via the account settings for the Tag Manager to receive anonymised data from us. However, this exclusively refers to the use of our Tag Manager and not to your data, which are saved via code sections. We allow Google and others, to receive selected data in anonymous form. Therefore, we agree to the anonymised transfer of our website data. However, even after extensive research we could not find out what summarised and anonymous data it is exactly that gets transmitted. What we do know is that Google deleted any info that could identify our website. Google combines the data with hundreds of other anonymous website data and creates user trends as part of benchmarking measures. Benchmarking is a process of comparing a company’s results with the ones of competitors. As a result, processes can be optimised based on the collected information.

How long and where is the data stored?

When Google stores data, this is done on Google’s own servers. These servers are located all over the world, with most of them being in America. At

https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en

you can read in detail where Google’s servers are.

In our individual data protection texts on the different tools you can find out how long the respective tracking tools store your data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

Google Tag Manager itself does not set any cookies but manages different tracking websites’ tags. In our data protection texts on the different tracking tools you can find detailed information on how you can delete or manage your data.

Please note that when using this tool, your data may also be stored and processed outside the EU. Most third countries (including the USA) are not considered secure under current European data protection law. Data must not be transferred, stored and processed to insecure third countries, unless there are suitable guarantees (such as EU standard contractual clauses) between us and the non-European service provider.

Legal basis

The use of the Google Tag Manager requires your consent, which we obtained via our cookie popup. According to

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

, this consent is the legal basis for personal data processing, such as when it is collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors and thus technically and economically improving our offer. With the help of Google Tag Managers we can also improve profitability. The legal basis for this is

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. We only use Google Tag Manager if you have given us your consent.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at:

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

If you want to learn more about Google Tag Manager, we recommend their FAQs at

https://support.google.com/tagmanager/?hl=en#topic=3441530

.

Hotjar Privacy Policy

Hotjar Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: To evaluate visitor information for optimising user experience.

📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses.

📅 Storage period: the data will be deleted after one year

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Hotjar?

We use Hotjar of the company Hotjar Limited (Level 2, St Julian’s Business Centre, 3, Elia Zammit Street, St Julian’s STJ 1000, Malta) on our website, to statistically evaluate visitor data. Hotjar is a service which analyses the behaviour and feedback of you as a user of our website by combining analysis and feedback tools. We receive reports as well as visual displays from Hotjar, which show us how you move on our site. Personal data is anonymised automatically and never reaches Hotjar’s servers. This means you as the website user are not personally identified, while we can still learn much about your user behaviour.

As mentioned in the above paragraph, Hotjar helps us analyse the behaviour of our site visitors. Some of the tools Hotjar offers are e.g. heatmaps, conversion funnels, visitor recording, incoming feedback, feedback polls and surveys (you can find more information about it at

https://www.hotjar.com/

). Therewith, Hotjar helps us to provide you a better user experience as well as an improved service. On the one hand it offers good analysis of online behaviour and on the other hand it gives us good feedback on our website’s quality. Besides the analytical aspects we of course also want to know your opinion about our website. This is possible thanks to the feedback tool.

Why do we use Hotjar on our website?

Within the last years the importance of websites’ user experience has gained in importance. And justifiably so – a website should be structured in a way that makes the user feel comfortable and is easy to navigate. Thanks to Hotjar’s analysis and the feedback tools, we can make our website and our offer more attractive. To us, Hotjar’s Heatmaps has proven particularly valuable, as it helps with presenting and visualising data. In that sense, Hotjar’s Heatmaps e.g. helps us see what you like to click on and where you scroll to.

What data is stored by Hotjar?

Hotjar automatically collects information on your user behaviour while you surf our website. In order to be able to collect this information, we implemented a tracking code. We integrated a tracking code, to be able to collect this information. The following data can be gathered via your computer or your browser:

Your computer’s IP address (is collected and saved in an anonymous format)Screen sizeBrowser information (which browser and version etc.)Your location (but only the country)Your language preferenceVisited websites (subpages)Date and time of access to one of our subpages (websites)

Moreover, cookies also save data that have been placed on your computer (mostly your browser), although no personal data is collected. Generally, Hotjar does not pass collected data to third parties. However, Hotjar explicitly emphasises that it is sometimes necessary to share data with Amazon Web Services. _ parts of your information is saved on its servers. Nonetheless, Amazon is bound to a confidentiality obligation and cannot disclose these data.

Only a limited number of people (employees of Hotjar) have access to the stored information. Furthermore, Hotjar’s servers are protected by firewalls and IP restrictions (only authorised IP addresses have access). Firewalls are security systems which protect computers from unwanted network accesses. They serve as barriers between Hotjar’s secure internal network and the internet. Moreover, Hotjar also uses third-party companies for their services, such as Google Analytics or Optimizely. These firms can also save information that your browser sends to our website.

The following cookies are used by Hotjar. Since we refer to the cookie list in Hotjar’s privacy statement at

https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/cookie-information

, not every cookie has a sample value. The list shows examples of utilised Hotjar cookies and does not claim to be exhaustive.

Name

: ajs_anonymous_id

Value:

%2258832463-7cee-48ee-b346-a195f18b06c3%22122970219-5

Purpose:

This cookie is generally used for analysis purposes and helps with counting our website’s visitors by tracking whether they have been to the website before.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name

: ajs_group_id

Value:

0

Purpose:

This cookie collects data on user behaviour. Based on the similarities between website visitors, the data can then be assigned to a specific visitor group.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name

: _hjid

Value:

699ffb1c-4bfb-483f-bde1-22cfa0b59c6c

Purpose:

This cookie is used to maintain a Hotjar user ID, which is unique for the website in the browser. That way, upon the next website visits, the user behaviour can be assigned to the same user ID.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name:

_hjMinimizedPolls

Value:

462568122970219-8

Verwendungszweck:

Every time you minimise a feedback poll widget, Hotjar sets this cookie. It ensures that the widget stays minimised when you surf our sites.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name:

_hjIncludedInSample

Value:

1

Purpose:

This session cookie is used to inform Hotjar if you are part of the selected individuals (sample), who are used for the creation of funnels.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name

: _hjClosedSurveyInvites

Purpose:

This cookie is set when you see an invitation to a feedback poll in a popup window. It is used to ensure that this invitation appears to you only once.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name:

_hjDonePolls

Purpose:

This cookie is set in your browser whenever you finish a round of questions for feedback in a poll widget. Therewith, Hotjar prevents you from receiving the same polls in the future.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name:

_hjDoneTestersWidgets

Purpose:

This cookie is used when you enter your data in the “recruit user tester” widget. With this widget we want to engage you as a tester. The cookie is used to prevent the form from reappearing repeatedly.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name:

_hjMinimizedTestersWidgets

Purpose:

This cookie is set to keep the “recruit user tester“ widget minimised accross all our pages. The cookie is set upon you minimising this widget once.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name:

_hjShownFeedbackMessage

Purpose:

This cookie is set if you minimise or amend the given feedback. This is done so the feedback is instantly loaded as minimised when you navigate to another page, on which it is displayed.

Expiry date:

after one year

How long and where is the data stored?

We integrated a tracking code to our website, which is transmitted to Hotjar’s servers in Ireland (EU). This tracking code contacts Hotjar’s servers and sends a script to your computer or any terminal device with which you are accessing our website. The script collects certain data concerning your interaction with our website. Then, the data is sent to Hotjar’s servers for processing. Moreover, Hotjar imposed a limit of retaining data for up to 365 days on itself. This means that all data collected by Hotjar which is over one year old are deleted automatically.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

Hotjar saves none of your personal data for its analysis. The company even advertises with the slogan “We track behaviour, not individuals“. In addition, it is always possible for you to prevent the collection of your data. For this you simply need to visit Hotjar’s “

Opt-out page

“ and click on “deactivate Hotjar”. Please note that deleting cookies, using your browser’s private mode or utilising a different browser will result in the collection of data again. Furthermore, you can activate the “Do Not Track” button in your browser. To do this in Chrome for example, you must click on the three bars and select “Settings”. In the section “Data Protection“ you will find the option “Send a ‘Do Not Track’ request with your browsing traffic”. Finally, you must click on this button and no data will be collected by Hotjar.

Legal basis

The use of Hotjar requires your consent, which we obtained via our cookie popup. According to

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

, this consent represents the legal basis for personal data processing , such as when it is collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors, and thus technically and economically improving our offer. With the help of Hotjar, we can recognise website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is

Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. Nevertheless, we only use Hotjar if you have given us your consent.

You can find more details on the privacy policy and on what data Hotjar uses and how it is utilised at

https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy?tid=122970219

.

Meta Conversions API Privacy Policy

Meta Conversions API Privacy Policy Summary

👥 Affected parties: Website visitors

🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our service performance

📓 Processed data: Data such as customer information, user behavior, device information, and your IP address.

More details can be found below in the privacy policy.

📅 Storage duration: Until the data is no longer useful for Meta’s purposes

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is the Meta Conversions API?

We use Meta Conversions API on our website, a server-side event tracking tool. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. For the European region, the responsible company is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland).

The Meta Conversions API is a tool or function that can measure the performance of our advertising campaigns in real time. The API is an interface that connects our website with Meta and thus measures certain actions on our website. A conversion occurs when you, as a visitor to a website, perform a desired action. This can be, for example, clicking a button or filling out a registration form. This conversion tracking method is an alternative to the Meta Pixel and aims to optimize conversion tracking through precision and reliability. The API sends data directly from our server to Meta server-side. Personal data may also be processed in the process. In this privacy policy, we delve deeper into the data processing by us and Meta.

Why do we use the Meta Conversions API on our website?

We use the Meta Conversions API to improve the quality of our website, our offerings, and our advertising campaigns. Our goal is to provide you with the best possible service. We want you to feel comfortable on our website and get exactly what you expect. To achieve this, we need to tailor our offerings as closely as possible to your needs and preferences. The Meta Conversions API helps us adapt to this effectively and customize content and offers. This flexibility allows us to consider various needs while improving our online presence. The data also helps us conduct our advertising measures more economically and individually. We aim to present our offerings only to people who are genuinely interested in them.

What data is stored by the Meta Conversions API?

Using the Meta Conversions API, we can collect and provide Meta with various data on events occurring on our website. The specific data stored and processed depends on our individual settings and the specific events and parameters. Generally, event data, user data, device data, and the time at which an event (e.g., button click) occurred are recorded and sent to Meta. Event data includes actions such as registration, product purchase, page views, or button clicks on our website. User data may include personal information such as IP address, name, address, or email address. Device data refers to your device type, operating system, browser, and screen resolution.

How long and where is the data stored?

In general, Meta stores data until it is no longer needed for its own services and Meta products. Meta has servers distributed worldwide where data is stored. Customer data, however, is deleted within 48 hours after being matched with its user data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right and opportunity to access your personal data at any time and object to its use and processing. You can also file a complaint with a government supervisory authority at any time. You can generally prevent data storage by not consenting to data processing via the Consent Management Tool. Meta Conversions API operates server-side, making data deletion different from client-side methods. Nevertheless, you can review and adjust the privacy and security settings in your browser and, if possible, block tracking resources (pixels, cookies, scripts).

Legal Basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by the Meta Conversions API, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR)

. Your data is also generally stored and processed based on our legitimate interest

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR)

in effective and efficient communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the Meta Conversions API if you have given your consent.

Metaprocesses your data in the USA, among other places. Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which governs the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Meta also uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (= Art. 46 para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission to ensure that your data also complies with European data protection standards when transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Meta commits to complying with the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an EU Commission implementation decision. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

.

You can find Meta’s data processing terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at

https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing

.

Learn more about the data processed through the use of the Meta Conversions API in the privacy policy at

https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy

.

Meta-Pixel Privacy Policy

We use Facebook’s Meta pixel on our website. For that, we have implemented a code on our website. The Meta pixel is a segment of a JavaScript code, which, in case you came to our website via Facebook ads, loads an array or functions that enable Facebook to track your user actions. For example, if you buy a product on our website, the Facebook pixel is triggered and stores your actions on our website in one or more cookies. These cookies enable Facebook to match your user data (customer data such as IP address, user ID) with the data of your Facebook account. After that, Facebook deletes your data again. The collected data is anonymous as well as inaccessible and can only be used for ad placement purposes. If you are a Facebook user and you are logged in, your visit to our website is automatically assigned to your Facebook user account.

We exclusively want to show our products or services to persons, who are interested in them. With the aid of the Meta pixel, our advertising measures can get better adjusted to your wishes and interests. Therefore, Facebook users get to see suitable advertisement (if they allowed personalised advertisement). Moreover, Facebook uses the collected data for analytical purposes and for its own advertisements.

In the following we will show you the cookies, which were set on a test page with the Meta pixel integrated to it. Please consider that these cookies are only examples. Depending on the interaction that is made on our website, different cookies are set.

Name:

_fbp

Value:

fb.1.1568287647279.257405483-6122970219-7

Purpose:

Facebook uses this cookie to display advertising products.

Expiration date:

after 3 months

Name:

fr

Value:

0aPf312HOS5Pboo2r..Bdeiuf…1.0.Bdeiuf.

Purpose:

This cookie is used for Meta pixels to function properly.

Expiration date:

after 3 months

Name:

comment_author_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062122970219-3

Value:

Name of the author

Purpose:

This cookie saves the text and name of a user who e.g. leaves a comment.

Expiration date:

after 12 months

Name:

comment_author_url_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062

Value:

https%3A%2F%2Fwww.testseite…%2F (URL of the author)

Purpose:

This cookie saved the URL of the website that the user types into a text box on our website.

Expiration date:

after 12 months

Name:

comment_author_email_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062

Value:

email address of the author

Purpose:

This cookie saves the email address of the user, if they provided it on the website.

Expiration date:

after 12 months

Note:

The above-mentioned cookies relate to an individual user behaviour. Moreover, especially concerning the usage of cookies, changes at Facebook can never be ruled out.

If you are registered on Facebook, you can change the settings for advertisements yourself at

https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen

. If you are not a Facebook user, you can manage your user based online advertising at

https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices

. You have the option to activate or deactivate any providers there.

Facebook processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Facebook respectively Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Facebook uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Facebook commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

The Facebook Data Processing Term, which references the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at

https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing

.

If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend you the view the company’s in-house data policies at

https://www.facebook.com/policy.php

.

Privacy Policy for Facebook‘s Automatic Advanced Matching

Along with Facebook’s pixel function, we have also activated Automatic Advanced Matching. This function allows us to send hashed emails, names, genders, cities, states, postcodes and dates of birth or telephone numbers as additional information to Facebook, provided you have made them available to us. This activation gives us the opportunity to customise advertising campaigns even better to persons who are interested in our services or products.

Email-Marketing

Email Marketing Overview

👥 Affected parties: newsletter subscribers

🤝 Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of events that are relevant to the system

📓 Processed data: data entered during registration, but at least the email address. You can find more details on this in the respective email marketing tool used.

📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the subscription

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Email-Marketing?

We use email marketing to keep you up to date. If you have agreed to receive our emails or newsletters, your data will be processed and stored. Email marketing is a part of online marketing. In this type of marketing, news or general information about a company, product or service are emailed to a specific group of people who are interested in it.

If you want to participate in our email marketing (usually via newsletter), you usually just have to register with your email address. To do this, you have to fill in and submit an online form. However, we may also ask you for your title and name, so we can address you personally in our emails.

The registration for newsletters generally works with the help of the so-called “double opt-in procedure”. After you have registered for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an email, via which you can confirm the newsletter registration. This ensures that you own the email address you signed up with, and prevents anyone to register with a third-party email address. We or a notification tool we use, will log every single registration. This is necessary so we can ensure and prove, that registration processes are done legally and correctly. In general, the time of registration and registration confirmation are stored, as well as your IP address. Moreover, any change you make to your data that we have on file is also logged.

Why do we use Email-Marketing?

Of course, we want to stay in contact with you and keep you in the loop of the most important news about our company. For this, we use email marketing – often just referred to as “newsletters” – as an essential part of our online marketing. If you agree to this or if it is permitted by law, we will send you newsletters, system emails or other notifications via email. Whenever the term “newsletter” is used in the following text, it mainly refers to emails that are sent regularly. We of course don’t want to bother you with our newsletter in any way. Thus, we genuinely strive to offer only relevant and interesting content. In our emails you can e.g. find out more about our company and our services or products. Since we are continuously improving our offer, our newsletter will always give you the latest news, or special, lucrative promotions. Should we commission a service provider for our email marketing, who offers a professional mailing tool, we do this in order to offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our email marketing is to inform you about new offers and also to get closer to our business goals.

Which data are processed?

If you subscribe to our newsletter via our website, you then have to confirm your membership in our email list via an email that we will send to you. In addition to your IP and email address, your name, address and telephone number may also be stored. However, this will only be done if you agree to this data retention. Any data marked as such are necessary so you can participate in the offered service. Giving this information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will prevent you from using this service. Moreover, information about your device or the type of content you prefer on our website may also be stored. In the section “Automatic data storage” you can find out more about how your data is stored when you visit a website.
We record your informed consent, so we can always prove that it complies with our laws.

Duration of data processing

If you unsubscribe from our e-mail/newsletter distribution list, we may store your address for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests, so we can keep proof your consent at the time. We are only allowed to process this data if we have to defend ourselves against any claims.

However, if you confirm that you have given us your consent to subscribe to the newsletter, you can submit an individual request for erasure at any time. Furthermore, if you permanently object to your consent, we reserve the right to store your email address in a blacklist. But as long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course keep your email address on file.

Withdrawal – how can I cancel my subscription?

You have the option to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to the newsletter subscription. This usually only takes a few seconds or a few clicks. Most of the time you will find a link at the end of every email, via which you will be able to cancel the subscription. Should you not be able to find the link in the newsletter, you can contact us by email and we will immediately cancel your newsletter subscription for you.

Legal basis

Our newsletter is sent on the basis of your

consent

(Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). This means that we are only allowed to send you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. Moreover, we may also send you advertising messages on the basis of Section 7 (3) UWG (Unfair Competition Act), provided you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your email address for direct mail.

If available – you can find information on special email marketing services and how they process personal data, in the following sections.

Messenger & Communication Introduction

Messenger & Communication Privacy Statement Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: for contact requests and general communications between yourself and us

📓 Processed data: Data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, general content data, plus IP address if applicable

You can find more details on this under the respective tools used.

📅 Storage duration: depends on the messenger & communication functions

⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contractual or pre-contractual obligations)

What are Messenger & Communication functions?

We offer you various options on our website to communicate with us (e.g. messenger and chat functions, online or contact forms, email, telephone). With the use of these functions, your data will be processed and stored insofar as it is necessary to answer your inquiry and conduct any of our subsequent measures.

In addition to classic means of communication such as email, contact forms or telephone, we also use chats or messengers. The most commonly used messenger function at the moment is WhatsApp, but of course, there are many different providers who offer messenger functions for websites. If content is end-to-end encrypted, it will be indicated in our individual privacy policies or in the privacy policy of the respective provider. End-to-end encryption means that the content of a message is not visible to the provider themselves. However, information about your device, location settings and other technical data can still be processed and stored.

Why do we use Messenger & Communication functions?

The ability to communicate with you is very important to us. After all, we want to keep the conversation with you going and answer any questions you may have about our service as best we can. Needless to say, smooth communication is an important part of our service. With our practical messenger & communication functions, you always have the option to choose the ones you prefer most. In exceptional cases, however, we may not be able to answer certain questions via chat or messenger. This may be the case for internal contractual matters, for example. For matters like these, we recommend you to use other communication options such as email or telephone.

We generally assume our responsibility under data protection law, even if we use the services of any social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has decided that in certain cases the operator of the social media platform be jointly responsible alongside us in the scope of Art. 26 GDPR. Should this be the case, we will point it out separately and work on the basis of a relevant agreement. You will find the essence of the agreement for the respective platforms below.

Please note that when using our integrated elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, since many providers, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, are American companies. As a result, you may not be able to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data as easily.

Which data is processed?

Exactly which data is retained and processed depends on the respective messenger & communication function provider. In general, it is data such as your name, address, telephone number, email address and content data such as any information you enter into a contact form. In most cases, information about your device and IP address are also stored. Moreover, data that are transmitted via a messenger & communication function are also stored on the providers’ servers.

If you want to know exactly which data is stored and processed by the respective providers and how you can object to the data processing, you please carefully read the respective privacy policy of the company in question.

How long is data stored?

How long data is processed and stored depends primarily on the tools we use. Below you can find out more about the data processing of individual tools. The providers’ privacy policies usually state exactly which data is stored and processed and for how long. In general, we only process personal data for as long as necessary to provide our services. When data is stored in cookies, the storage period varies greatly. Data may e.g. be deleted immediately after leaving a website, or they may be stored for several years. Therefore, you should study each individual cookie in detail if you want to know more about data storage. In most cases, you will also find helpful information about individual cookies in the privacy policies of the individual providers.

Right to object

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection by cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting the cookies in your browser. For more information, we recommend you to read the Consent section.

Since cookies may be in use with messenger & communication functions, we recommend you to read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, please read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the data processing and storage by integrated messenger & communication functions, this consent is the legal basis for data processing

(Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR)

. We process your request and manage your data within the framework of contractual or pre-contractual relationships in order to fulfill our pre-contractual and contractual obligations or to answer inquiries. The basis for this is

Art. 6 Para. 1 section 1 lit. b GDPR

. In general, if you have given your consent, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest

(Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)

in quick and smooth communication with you or other customers and business partners.

Facebook Messenger Privacy Policy

Facebook Messenger Privacy Policy Summary

👥 Affected parties: Facebook Messenger users

🤝 Purpose: Communication

📓 Processed data: Contact details, messages, media

📅 Storage duration: After account deletion

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Facebook Messenger?

We use the instant messaging service Facebook Messenger on our website. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. For the European region, the responsible entity is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland).

Facebook Messenger is a chat messaging feature developed by Facebook, allowing you to send and receive text messages, voice and video calls, photos, and other media files with other Facebook users. When you use Facebook Messenger, personal data such as your phone number, chat messages, sent photos, videos, profile data, address, and location can be processed and stored on Facebook servers.

Why do we use Facebook Messenger?

We want to stay in touch with you, and the best way to do that is through messaging services like Facebook Messenger. Not only does the service work reliably, but Facebook also remains one of the most well-known social media platforms. The service is convenient and allows for quick and easy communication with you.

What data is processed by Facebook Messenger?

When using Facebook Messenger, various types of data, including personal data, may be processed. This includes account information such as your phone number, profile picture, username, or other information you provide to Facebook when creating and managing your account. Facebook also stores the contents of your messages (text, photos, videos, voice messages). Additionally, Facebook stores metadata, such as the date and time messages were sent or received. Facebook Messenger can also access your contacts to enable communication. Moreover, technical data such as device type, operating system, or location data is also stored.

How long and where is the data stored?

In general, Facebook stores data for as long as it is needed for its services and products. Facebook has servers distributed worldwide where data is stored. However, customer data is deleted within 48 hours after it has been reconciled with user data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict the processing of your personal data at any time. You can also withdraw your consent to data processing at any time. Full deletion of data only occurs when you delete your Facebook account.

Follow these steps to delete your Facebook account entirely:

1) Log in to Facebook and click on “Settings” at the top right.

2) Then, click on “Your Facebook Information” in the left column.

3) Now click on “Deactivation and Deletion.”

4) Select “Delete Account” and then click “Continue to Account Deletion.”

5) Enter your password, click “Continue,” and then click “Delete Account.”

Legal basis

The use of Facebook Messenger requires your consent, which we obtained through our consent tool (popup). This consent forms the legal basis for processing personal data through Facebook Messenger according to

Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

.

In addition to consent, we also have a legitimate interest in improving our services. With the help of Facebook Messenger, we can communicate with you more quickly and effectively. The legal basis for this is

Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. However, we only use Facebook Messenger if you have given your consent.

Facebook also processes data in the USA. Facebook (Meta Platforms) is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found here:

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Facebook uses Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). SCCs are templates provided by the EU Commission to ensure that your data continues to meet European data protection standards, even when transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and SCCs, Facebook commits to maintaining European data protection standards when processing your data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an EU Commission decision. You can find the decision and corresponding SCCs here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

.

Facebook’s data processing terms, which refer to SCCs, can be found at

https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing

.

For more information about the data processed by Facebook, you can refer to their Privacy Policy at

https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy

.

Chatbots Overview

Chatbots Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: for contact requests and general communications between you and ourselves

📓 Processed data: Data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, general content data, IP address if applicable

You can find more details on this under the respective tools used.

📅 Storage duration: depending on the chatbots & chat functions used

⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contractual or pre-contractual obligations)

What are chatbots?

You can communicate with us also via chatbots or similar chat functions. A chat offers the possibility to write or talk to one another with only a very small time delay. A chatbot is software that tries to answer your question and, if necessary, informs you about any news. By using these means of communication, your personal data may also be processed and stored.

Why do we use chatbots?

Our ability to communicate with you is important to us. After all, we want to talk to you and answer any questions about our service in the best possible way. Thus, well-functioning communication is an important part of our service. Chatbots have the great advantage that they can automatically answer frequently asked questions. This saves us time and you will still receive detailed and helpful answers. If the chatbot cannot help, you can of course contact us directly at any time.

Please note that when using our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, since many providers are American companies. As a result, you may not be able to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data as easily.

What data is processed?

You may also use the chat services on other websites/platforms. In this case, your user ID will also be stored on the servers of this website. We may also be informed about which user used the chat at what time. The chat content is also stored. Exactly which data is stored depends on the respective service. As a rule, however, it is contact data such as your email address or telephone number, IP address and various usage data.

If you have consented to the use of the chat function, this consent will also be stored or retained along with any registration. We do this so that we can also show your registration or consent if required by law.

The provider of a chat platform can also find out when you are chatting and also receive technical information about the device you are using. Exactly what information is stored and processed also depends on your PC settings. In many cases, data about your approximate location may be collected. This is done to optimise the chat services and to ensure more security. Furthermore, the information may also be used to set personalised advertising and marketing measures.

If you agree that a chatbot can send you messages, you can deactivate this activation at any time. The chatbot also serves as a help for this and shows you how to unsubscribe from this function. All your relevant data will then be deleted from the recipient directory.

We use the above data to be able to address you personally via the chat, to be able to answer your questions and inquiries or to send you any content. It also allows us to fundamentally improve our chat services.

How long is data stored?

How long the data is processed and stored depends primarily on the tools we use. Below you can find out more about the data processing of individual tools. The privacy policies of the providers usually state exactly which data is stored and processed for how long. Generally, personal data is only processed for as long as is necessary to provide our services. When data is stored in cookies, the storage period varies greatly. Data can be erased immediately after leaving a website, but it may also be stored for several years. You should therefore research every single cookie in detail if you want to know more about data retention. In most cases, you will also find helpful information about the individual cookies in the privacy policies of the individual providers.

Right to object

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection by cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing the cookies in your browser.

Since cookies can be used for chat services, we also recommend our Privacy Policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal Basis

Via a pop-up window, we ask for your permission to process your data within the framework of the chat services. If you consent, this consent is also the legal basis

(Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR)

for data processing. In addition, we process your inquiries and manage your data within the framework of contractual or pre-contractual relationships in order to fulfill our pre-contractual and contractual obligations or to answer inquiries. The basis for this is

Art. 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR

. In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest

(Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)

in quick and smooth communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.

Social Media

Social Media Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: Service presentation and optimisation, staying in contact with visitors, interested parties, etc. as well as advertising

📓 Processed data: data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, contact data, data on user behaviour, information about your device and your IP address.

You can find more details on this directly at the respective social media tool used.

📅 Storage period: depending on the social media platforms used

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Social Media?

In addition to our website, we are also active on various social media platforms. For us to be able to target interested users via social networks, user data may be processed. Additionally, elements of social media platforms may be embedded directly in our website. This is e.g. the case if you click a so-called social button on our website and are forwarded directly to our social media presence. So-called social media are websites and apps on which registered members can produce and exchange content with other members, be it openly or in certain groups and networks.

Why do we use Social Media?

For years, social media platforms have been the place where people communicate and get into contact online. With our social media presence, we can familiarise interested people better with our products and services. The social media elements integrated on our website help you switch to our social media content quickly and hassle free.

The data that is retained and processed when you use a social media channel is primarily used to conduct web analyses. The aim of these analyses is to be able to develop more precise and personal marketing and advertising strategies. The evaluated data on your behaviour on any social media platform can help to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests. Moreover, so-called user profiles can be created. Thus, the platforms may also to present you with customised advertisements. For this, cookies are usually placed in your browser, which store data on your user behaviour.

We generally assume that we will continue to be responsible under Data Protection Law, even when using the services of a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that, within the meaning of Art. 26 GDPR, in certain cases the operator of the social media platform can be jointly responsible with us. Should this be the case, we will point it out separately and work on the basis of a related agreement. You will then find the essence of the agreement for the concerned platform below.

Please note that when you use social media platforms or our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, as many social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, are American companies. As a result, you may no longer be able to easily claim or enforce your rights regarding your personal data.

Which data are processed?

Exactly which data are stored and processed depends on the respective provider of the social media platform. But usually it is data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, data you enter in contact forms, user data such as which buttons you click, what you like or who you follow, when you visited which pages, as well as information about your device and IP address. Most of this data is stored in cookies. Should you have a profile on the social media channel you are visiting and are logged in, data may be linked to your profile.

All data that are collected via social media platforms are also stored on the providers’ servers. This means that only the providers have access to the data and can provide you with appropriate information or make changes for you.

If you want to know exactly which data is stored and processed by social media providers and how you can object to the data processing, we recommend you to carefully read the privacy policy of the respective company. We also recommend you to contact the provider directly if you have any questions about data storage and data processing or if you want to assert any corresponding rights.

Duration of data processing

Provided we have any further information on this, we will inform you about the duration of the data processing below. The social media platform Facebook example stores data until they are no longer needed for the company’s own purposes. However, customer data that is synchronised with your own user data is erased within two days. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This storage period can also be exceeded however, if it is required by law, such as e.g. in the case of accounting.

Right to object

You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers such as embedded social media elements at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can e.g. also prevent data collection via cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser.

Since cookies may be used with social media tools, we also recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies. If you want to find out which of your data is stored and processed, we advise you to read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR)

. Generally, provided you have given your consent, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR)

in maintaining fast and good communication with you and other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have consented. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

in the following section you can find information on special social media platforms – provided this information is available.

Facebook Privacy Policy

Facebook Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: service optimisation

📓 Processed data: data such as customer data, data on user behaviour, device information and IP address.

You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below.

📅 Storage period: until the data no longer serves Facebook’s purposes

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are Facebook tools?

We use selected Facebook tools on our website. Facebook is a social media network of the company Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2 Ireland. With the aid of this tool we can provide the best possible offers to you and anyone interested in our products and services.

If your data is collected and forwarded via our embedded Facebook elements or via our Facebook page (fanpage), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. are responsible for this. However, should any further processing occur, then Facebook is solely responsible for this data. Our joint commitments were also set out in a publicly available agreement at

https://www.facebook. com / legal / controller_addendum

. It e.g. states that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our website. We are also responsible for ensuring that the tools are securely integrated into our website and are in accordance with the applicable privacy laws. Facebook, on the other hand, is e.g. responsible for the data security of Facebook’s products. If you have any questions about Facebook’s data collection and processing, you can contact the company directly. Should you direct the question to us, we are obliged to forward it to Facebook.

In the following we will give you an overview on the different Facebook tools, as well as on what data is sent to Facebook and how you can erase this data.

Along with many other products, Facebook also offers so called “Facebook Business Tools”. This is Facebook’s official name for its tools, but it is not very common. Therefore, we decided to merely call them “Facebook tools”. They include the following:

Facebook-PixelSocial Plugins (e.g. the “Like” or “Share“ button)Facebook LoginAccount KitAPIs (application programming interface)SDKs (Softwart developmept kits)Plattform-integrationsPluginsCodesSpecificationsDocumentationsTechnologies and Services

With these tools Facebook can extend its services and is able to receive information on user activities outside of Facebook.

Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?

We only want to show our services and products to people who are genuinely interested in them. With the help of advertisements (Facebook Ads) we can reach exactly these people. However, to be able to show suitable adverts to users, Facebook requires additional information on people’s needs and wishes. Therefore, information on the user behaviour (and contact details) on our website, are provided to Facebook. Consequently, Facebook can collect better user data and is able to display suitable adverts for our products or services. Thanks to the tools it is possible to create targeted, customised ad campaigns of Facebook.

Facebook calls data about your behaviour on our website “event data” and uses them for analytics services. That way, Facebook can create “campaign reports” about our ad campaigns’ effectiveness on our behalf. Moreover, by analyses we can get a better insight in how you use our services, our website or our products. Therefore, some of these tools help us optimise your user experience on our website. With the social plugins for instance, you can share our site’s contents directly on Facebook.

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

With the use of Facebook tools, personal data (customer data) may be sent to Facebook. Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number and IP address may be transmitted.

Facebook uses this information to match the data with the data it has on you (if you are a Facebook member). However, before the customer data is transferred to Facebook, a so called “Hashing” takes place. This means, that a data record of any size is transformed into a string of characters, which also has the purpose of encrypting data.

Moreover, not only contact data, but also “event data“ is transferred. These data are the information we receive about you on our website. To give an example, it allows us to see what subpages you visit or what products you buy from us. Facebook does not disclose the obtained information to third parties (such as advertisers), unless the company has an explicit permission or is legally obliged to do so. Also, “event data“ can be linked to contact information, which helps Facebook to offer improved, customised adverts. Finally, after the previously mentioned matching process, Facebook deletes the contact data.

To deliver optimised advertisements, Facebook only uses event data, if they have been combined with other data (that have been collected by Facebook in other ways). Facebook also uses event data for the purposes of security, protection, development and research. Many of these data are transmitted to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are little text files, that are used for storing data or information in browsers. Depending on the tools used, and on whether you are a Facebook member, a different number of cookies are placed in your browser. In the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools we will go into more detail on Facebook cookies. You can also find general information about the use of Facebook cookies at

https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies

.

How long and where are the data stored?

Facebook fundamentally stores data, until they are no longer of use for their own services and products. Facebook has servers for storing their data all around the world. However, customer data is cleared within 48 hours after they have been matched with their own user data.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you have the right of information, rectification, transfer and deletion of your data.

The collected data is only fully deleted, when you delete your entire Facebook account. Deleting your Facebook account works as follows:

1) Click on settings in the top right side in Facebook.

2) Then, click “Your Facebook information“ in the left column.

3) Now click on “Deactivation and deletion”.

4) Choose “Permanently delete account“ and then click on “Continue to account deletion“.

5) Enter your password, click on “continue“ and then on “Delete account“.

The retention of data Facebook receives via our site is done via cookies (e.g. with social plugins), among others. You can deactivate, clear or manage both all and individual cookies in your browser. How this can be done differs depending on the browser you use. The following instructions show, how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in ChromeSafari: Manage cookies and website data in SafariFirefox: Clear cookies and site data in FirefoxInternet Explorer: Delete and manage cookiesMicrosoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies at all, you can set up your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This gives you the opportunity to decide upon the permission or deletion of every single cookie.

Legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent is the legal basis for data processing

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR)

. Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR)

to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or Facebook’s cookie policy.

Facebook processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Facebook respectively Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Facebook uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Facebook commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

The Facebook Data Processing Term, which references the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at

https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing

.

We hope we could give you an understanding of the most important information about the use of Facebook tools and data processing. If you want to find out more on how Facebook use your data, we recommend reading the data policies at

https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update

.

Facebook Lookalike Audience Privacy Policy

We also use the advertising tool Facebook Lookalike Audience. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. For the European area, the company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible.

Meta Platforms processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Meta Platforms uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Meta Platforms commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

The Facebook Data Processing Terms, which reference the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at

https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing

.

You can learn more about the data processed through the use of Facebook Lookalike Audience in the Privacy Policy at

https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy

.

Facebook Social Plugins Privacy Policy

We installed so-called social plugins from Facebook Inc. to our website. You can recognise these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, the “Like” button (hand with raised thumb) or by a “Facebook plugin” label. A social plugin is a small part of Facebook that is integrated into our page. Each plugin has its own function. The most used functions are the well-known “Like” and “Share” buttons.

Facebook offers the following social plugins:

“Save” button“Like” button, Share, Send and QuotePage pluginCommentsMessenger pluginEmbedded posts and video playerGroup Plugin

At

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins

you will find more information on how the individual plugins are used. On the one hand, we use the social plug-ins to offer you a better user experience on our site, and on the other hand because Facebook can optimise our advertisements with it.

If you have a Facebook account or have already visited

facebook.com

, Facebook has already placed at least one cookie in your browser. In this case, your browser sends information to Facebook via this cookie as soon as you visit our website or interact with social plugins (e.g. the “Like” button).

The received information will be deleted or anonymised within 90 days. According to Facebook, this data includes your IP address, the websites you have visited, the date, time and other information relating to your browser.

In order to prevent Facebook from collecting much data and matching it with your Facebook data during your visit to our website, you must log out of Facebook while you visit our website.

If you are not logged in to Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser sends less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. Nevertheless, data such as your IP address or which website you are visiting can be transmitted to Facebook. We would like to explicitly point out that we do not know what exact data is collected. However, based on our current knowledge, we want to try informing you as best we can about data processing. You can also read about how Facebook uses the data in the company’s data policy at

https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update

.

At least the following cookies are set in your browser when you visit a website with social plugins from Facebook:

Name:

dpr

Value:

no information

Purpose:

This cookie is used to make the social plugins work on our website.

Expiry date:

after end of session

Name:

fr

Value:

0jieyh4122970219c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j

Purpose:

The cookie is also necessary for the plugins to function properly

Expiry date:

after 3 months

Note:

These cookies were set after our test and may be placed even if you are not a Facebook member.

If you are registered with Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements yourself at

https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen

. If you are not a Facebook user, you can go to

https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/

and manage your usage-based online advertising. There you have the option to deactivate or activate providers.

If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend the company’s own data policies at

https://www.facebook.com/policy.php

.

Instagram Privacy Policy

Instagram Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: optimising our service

📓 Processed data: includes data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address.

More details can be found in the privacy policy below.

📅 Storage period: until Instagram no longer needs the data for its purposes

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Instagram?

We have integrated functions of Instagram to our website. Instagram is a social media platform of the company Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA. Since 2012, Instagram is a subsidiary company of Facebook Inc. and is a part of Facebook’s products. The inclusion of Instagram’s contents on our website is called embedding. With this, we can show you Instagram contents such as buttons, photos or videos directly on our website. If you open websites of our online presence, that have an integrated Instagram function, data gets transmitted to, as well as stored and processed by Instagram. Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook. Therefore, your data will be processed across all Facebook firms.

In the following, we want to give you a more detailed insight on why Instagram collects data, what data these are and how you can control data processing. As Instagram belongs to Facebook Inc., we have, on the one hand received this information from the Instagram guidelines, and on the other hand from Facebook’s Data Policy.

Instagram is one of the most famous social media networks worldwide. Instagram combines the benefits of a blog with the benefits of audio-visual platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. To “Insta“ (how the platform is casually called by many users) you can upload photos and short videos, edit them with different filters and also share them to other social networks. Also, if you do not want to be active on Instagram yourself, you can just follow other interesting users.

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

Instagram is a social media platform whose success has skyrocketed within recent years. Naturally, we have also reacted to this boom. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website. Therefore, we attach great importance to diversified contents. With the embedded Instagram features we can enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting Instagram contents. Since Instagram is a subsidiary company of Facebook, the collected data can also serve us for customised advertising on Facebook. Hence, only persons who are genuinely interested in our products or services can see our ads.

Instagram also uses the collected data for tracking and analysis purposes. We receive summarised statistics and therefore more insight to your wishes and interests. It is important to mention that these reports do not identify you personally.

What data is stored by Instagram?

Whenever you land on one of our sites, which have Instagram functions (i.e. Instagram photos or plugins) integrated to them, your browser automatically connects with Instagram’s servers. Thereby, data is sent to, as well as saved and processed by Instagram. This always happens, whether you have an Instagram account or not. Moreover, it includes information on our website, your computer, your purchases, the advertisements you see and on how you use our offer. The date and time of your interaction is also stored. If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram saves significantly more data on you.

Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data. We assume this is also the case for Instagram. Customer data are for example names, addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses. These data are only transmitted to Instagram, if they have been “hashed” first. Thereby, a set of data is transformed into a string of characters, which encrypts any contact data. Moreover, the aforementioned “event data“ (data on your user behaviour) is transmitted as well. It is also possible, that contact data may get combined with event data. The collected data data is matched with any data Instagram already has on you.

Furthermore, the gathered data are transferred to Facebook via little text files (cookies) which usually get set in your browser. Depending on the Instagram function used, and whether you have an Instagram account yourself, the amount of data that gets stored varies.

We assume data processing on Instagram works the same way as on Facebook. Therefore, if you have an account on Instagram or have visited

www.instagram.com

, Instagram has set at least one cookie. If this is the case, your browser uses the cookie to send information to Instagram, as soon as you come across an Instagram function. No later than 90 days (after matching) the data is deleted or anonymised. Even though we have studied Instagram’s data processing in-depth, we cannot tell for sure what exact data Instagram collects and retains.

In the following we will show you a list of the least cookies placed in your browser when click on an Instagram function (e.g. button or an Insta picture). In our test we assume you do not have an Instagram account, since if you would be logged in to your Instagram account, your browser would place significantly more cookies.

The following cookies were used in our test:

Name:

csrftoken

Value:

“”

Purpose:

This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent falsifications of requests. We could not find out more information on it.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name:

mid

Value:

“”

Purpose:

Instagram places this cookie to optimise its own offers and services in- and outside of Instagram. The cookie allocates a unique user ID.

Expiry date:

after end of session

Name:

fbsr_122970219124024

Value:

no information

Purpose:

This cookie stores the login request of Instagram app users.

Expiry date:

after end of session

Name:

rur

Value:

ATN

Purpose:

This is an Instagram cookie which guarantees functionality on Instagram.

Expiry date:

after end of session

Name:

urlgen

Value:

“{”194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe122970219”

Purpose:

This cookie serves Instagram’s marketing purposes.

Expiry date:

after end of session

Note:

We do not claim this list to be exhaustive. The cookies that are placed in each individual case, depend on the functions embedded as well as on your use of Instagram.

How long and where are these data stored?

Instagram shares the information obtained within the Facebook businesses with external partners and persons you are globally connected with. Data processing is done according to Facebook’s internal data policy. Your data is distributed to Facebook’s servers across the world, partially for security reasons. Most of these servers are in the USA.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right of information, rectification, transfer and deletion of your data. Furthermore, you can manage your data in Instagram’s settings. If you want to delete your data on Instagram completely, you will have to delete your Instagram account permanently.

And this is how an Instagram account can be deleted:

First, open the Instagram app. Then, navigate to your profile page, select the three bars in the top right, choose “Settings” and then click “Help”. Now, you will be redirected to the company’s website, where you must click on “Managing Your Account” and then “Delete Your Account”.

When you delete your account completely, Instagram deletes posts such as your photos and status updates. Any information other people shared about you are not a part of your account and do therefore not get deleted.

As mentioned before, Instagram primarily stores your data via cookies. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, managing them varies a bit. We will show you the instructions of the most relevant browsers here.

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in ChromeSafari: Manage cookies and website data in SafariFirefox: Clear cookies and site data in FirefoxInternet Explorer: Delete and manage cookiesMicrosoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

Generally, you can set your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. Then you can individually decide upon the permission of every cookie.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR)

. Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR)

to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

Instagram processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Instagram respectively Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Instagram uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Instagram commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Instagram. On

https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875

you can take a closer look at Instagram’s data guidelines.

Instagram Lookalike Audience Privacy Policy

We also use the advertising tool Instagram Lookalike Audience. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. For the European area, the company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible.

Meta Platforms processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Meta Platforms uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Meta Platforms commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

The Instagram Data Processing Terms, which reference the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at

https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing

.

You can learn more about the data processed through the use of Instagram Lookalike Audience in the Privacy Policy at

https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy/

.

LinkedIn Privacy Policy

LinkedIn Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: optimisation of our service

📓 Processed data: includes data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address.

More details can be found in the privacy policy below.

📅 Storage period: the data is generally deleted within 30 days

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is LinkedIn?

On our website we use social plugins from the social media network LinkedIn, of the LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Social plugins can be feeds, content sharing or a link to our LinkedIn page. Social plugins are clearly marked with the well-known LinkedIn logo and for example allow sharing interesting content directly via our website. Moreover, LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company Wilton Place in Dublin is responsible for data processing in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.

By embedding these plugins, data can be sent to, as well as stored and processed by LinkedIn. In this privacy policy we want to inform you what data this is, how the network uses this data and how you can manage or prevent data retention.

LinkedIn is the largest social network for business contacts. In contrast to e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn focuses exclusively on establishing business connections. Therefore, companies can present services and products on the platform and establish business relationships. Many people also use LinkedIn to find a job or to find suitable employees for their own company. In Germany alone, the network has over 11 million members. In Austria there are about 1.3 million.

Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?

We know how busy you are. You just cannot keep up with following every single social media channel. Even if it would really be worth it, as it is with our channels, since we keep posting interesting news and articles worth spreading. Therefore, on our website we have created the opportunity to share interesting content directly on LinkedIn, or to refer directly to our LinkedIn page. We consider built-in social plugins as an extended service on our website. The data LinkedIn collects also help us to display potential advertising measures only to people who are interested in our offer.

What data are stored by LinkedIn?

LinkedIn stores no personal data due to the mere integration of social plugins. LinkedIn calls the data generated by plugins passive impressions. However, if you click on a social plugin to e.g. share our content, the platform stores personal data as so-called “active impressions”. This happens regardless of whether you have a LinkedIn account or not. If you are logged in, the collected data will be assigned to your account.

When you interact with our plugins, your browser establishes a direct connection to LinkedIn’s servers. Through that, the company logs various usage data. These may include your IP address, login data, device information or information about your internet or cellular provider. If you use LinkedIn services via your smartphone, your location may also be identified (after you have given permission). Moreover, LinkedIn can share these data with third-party advertisers in “hashed” form. Hashing means that a data set is transformed into a character string. This allows data to be encrypted, which prevents persons from getting identified.

Most data on of your user behaviour is stored in cookies. These are small text files that usually get placed in your browser. Furthermore, LinkedIn can also use web beacons, pixel tags, display tags and other device recognitions.

Various tests also show which cookies are set when a user interacts with a social plug-in. We do not claim for the information we found to be exhaustive, as it only serves as an example. The following cookies were set without being logged in to LinkedIn:

Name:

bcookie

Value:

=2&34aab2aa-2ae1-4d2a-8baf-c2e2d7235c16122970219-

Purpose:

This cookie is a so-called “browser ID cookie” and stores your identification number (ID).

Expiry date:

after 2 years

Name:

lang

Value:

v=2&lang=en-gb

Purpose:

This cookie saves your default or preferred language.

Expiry date:

after end of session

Name:

lidc

Value:

1818367:t=1571904767:s=AQF6KNnJ0G122970219…

Purpose:

This cookie is used for routing. Routing records how you found your way to LinkedIn and how you navigate through the website.

Expiry date:

after 24 hours

Name:

rtc

Value:

kt0lrv3NF3x3t6xvDgGrZGDKkX

Purpose:

No further information could be found about this cookie.

Expiry date:

after 2 minutes

Name:

JSESSIONID

Value:

ajax:1229702192900777718326218137

Purpose:

This is a session cookie that LinkedIn uses to maintain anonymous user sessions through the server.

Expiry date:

after end of session

Name:

bscookie

Value:

“v=1&201910230812…

Purpose:

This cookie is a security cookie. LinkedIn describes it as a secure browser ID cookie.

Expiry date:

after 2 years

Name:

fid

Value:

AQHj7Ii23ZBcqAAAA…

Purpose:

We could not find any further information about this cookie.

Expiry date:

after 7 days

Note:

LinkedIn also works with third parties. That is why we identified the Google Analytics cookies ga and gat in our test.

How long and where are the data stored?

In general, LinkedIn retains your personal data for as long as the company considers it necessary for providing its services. However, LinkedIn deletes your personal data when you delete your account. In some exceptional cases, LinkedIn keeps some summarised and anonymised data, even account deletions. As soon as you delete your account, it may take up to a day until other people can no longer see your data. LinkedIn generally deletes the data within 30 days. However, LinkedIn retains data if it is necessary for legal reasons. Also, data that can no longer be assigned to any person remains stored even after the account is closed. The data are stored on various servers in America and presumably also in Europe.

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

You have the right to access and delete your personal data at any time. In your LinkedIn account you can manage, change and delete your data. Moreover, you can request a copy of your personal data from LinkedIn.

How to access account data in your LinkedIn profile:

In LinkedIn, click on your profile icon and select the “Settings & Privacy” section. Now click on “Privacy” and then on the section “How LinkedIn uses your data on”. Then, click “Change” in the row with “Manage your data and activity”. There you can instantly view selected data on your web activity and your account history.

In your browser you also have the option of preventing data processing by LinkedIn. As mentioned above, LinkedIn stores most data via cookies that are placed in your browser. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies. Depending on which browser you have, these settings work a little different. You can find the instructions for the most common browsers here:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in ChromeSafari: Manage cookies and website data in SafariFirefox: Clear cookies and site data in FirefoxInternet Explorer: Delete and manage cookiesMicrosoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

You can generally set your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. Then you can always decide individually whether you want to allow the cookie or not.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, your consent is the legal basis for data processing

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR)

. Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR)

to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

LinkedIn processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. LinkedIn is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, LinkedIn uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, LinkedIn commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

You can find more information about the standard contractual clauses at LinkedIn here:

https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/customer-sccs

.

You can find out more about the data that is processed by LinkedIn in their Privacy Policy at

https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy

.

TikTok Privacy Policy

TikTok Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: optimising our service

📓 Processed data: your IP address and browser data, as well as the date and time of your page view

More details can be found in the privacy policy below.

📅 Storage period: varies depending on settings

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is TikTok?

On our website, we use TikTok integration. The service provider is the Chinese company Beijing Bytedance Technology Ltd. For the European region, the responsible entity is the Irish company TikTok Technology Limited, 10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, D02 T380, Ireland. TikTok is a popular social media platform, especially among young people, where users can create, share, and view short video clips.

In this privacy policy, we inform you about the data processed by TikTok, how long the data is stored, and how you can manage your privacy settings.

Why do we use TikTok on our website?

We have incorporated TikTok into our website so that you can watch TikTok videos if you wish and potentially interact with the videos. TikTok is known for its funny and creative content, and naturally, we don’t want to withhold such content from you. After all, we also enjoy watching creative TikTok videos ourselves.

What data is processed by TikTok?

When you watch TikTok videos on our website or interact with them, TikTok may collect information about your usage behavior and your device. This may include data such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, location, and other technical information. TikTok may also use cookies and similar technologies to collect information and personalize your user experience.

If you have a TikTok account, additional information may be collected and processed. This includes user information (such as name, birthdate, or email address) and data about your communication with other TikTok users.

How long and where are the data stored?

The storage duration and locations of the data collected by TikTok can vary significantly and are subject to TikTok’s privacy policies. TikTok may also store data on servers in the United States and other countries. The storage duration typically complies with applicable legal requirements and internal policies. However, we have not been able to determine the exact duration of data storage. We will inform you as soon as we have more information on this matter.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

If you have a TikTok account, you can manage your privacy settings directly on TikTok. For example, in the settings of your TikTok account, you can specify which information can be shared and which cannot. Additionally, you can manage and disable cookies in your web browser to limit data collection. This is also possible without a TikTok account. However, please note that this may affect the functionality of our website and your TikTok experience.

Legal basis

If you have consented to TikTok processing and storing your data, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In general, your data is also stored and processed based on our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in effective and efficient communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use embedded social media elements if you have given your consent. TikTok may also set cookies in your browser to store data. Therefore, we recommend that you read our cookie privacy text carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie policies of the respective service provider.

TikTok processes data from you, including in the United States. We would like to inform you that, according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the United States. This may entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing with recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, especially in the United States) or data transfers to such countries, TikTok uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (= Art. 46 para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are model templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the United States). Through these clauses, TikTok commits to maintaining the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even when the data is stored, processed, and managed in the United States. These clauses are based on an implementing decision by the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en

For more information about TikTok’s privacy policy and data collection by TikTok, please visit the TikTok website at

https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/privacy-policy/en

and the general information about TikTok at

https://www.tiktok.com/en/

.

Blogs and Publication Media Introduction

Blogs and Publication Media Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimisation of our service, along with communication between website visitors, as well as security measures and administration

📓 Data processed: Data such as contact details, IP address and published content.

More details can be found under the tools used.

📅 Storage duration: depending on the tools used

⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contract)

What are blogs and publishing media?

We use blogs or other means of communication on our website through which we can communicate with you – and through which you can communicate with us. Your data may also be stored and processed by us. This may be necessary in order for us to display content appropriately, make communication work smoothly and increase security. In this privacy policy, we will show you general information on which of your data may be processed. The exact information on data processing, however, always depends on the tools and functions used. You will find detailed information about data processing in the privacy policies of the individual providers.

Why do we use blogs and publication media?

Our greatest motivation for our website is to offer you interesting and exciting content. At the same time, your opinions and your content are important to us. That’s why we want to create a good interactive exchange between you and ourselves. With various blogs and publication options, we can achieve exactly that. You can e. g. post comments about our content, reply to others’ comments or, in some cases, make posts yourself.

Which data is processed?

Exactly which data is processed always depends on the communication functions we use. Very often IP address, username and published content are stored. This is done primarily to ensure security protection, prevent spam, and for us to be able to take action against any illegal content. What is more, cookies may also be used for data retention. They are small text files that are stored as information in your browser. You can find more details about the collected and stored data in our individual sections and in the privacy policies of the respective providers.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. For example, post and comment functions store data until you revoke data storage. In general, personal data is only stored for as long as is absolutely necessary for us to provide you with our services.

Right to object

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party communication tools at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing the cookies in your browser.

Since cookies can also be used in publication media, we also recommend you read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal Basis

We use this means of communication mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in fast and good communication with you or other customers, business partners and visitors. Provided the use serves to process or initiate contractual relationships, the legal basis also extends to Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 lit. b. GDPR.

Certain types of processing require your consent – in particular the use of cookies and comment or message functions. Provided you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated publication media, this consent is the legal basis for any data processing (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). Most communication features we use set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

Information on specific tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.

Blog Posts and Comment Functions Privacy Policy

There are various online communication tools that we may use on our website. For example, we use blog posts and comment functions. This gives you the possibility to comment on our content or to write articles. If you make use of this function, your IP address may be stored for security reasons. This is how we protect ourselves from illegal content such as insults, unauthorised advertising or prohibited political propaganda. In order to recognise whether any comments are spam, we can also store and process user information on the basis of our legitimate interests. If we start a survey, we will also store your IP address for the duration of the survey so we can be sure that everyone who takes part only votes once. Moreover, cookies may also be used for storage purposes. All data that we store about you (such as content or information about you) will be stored until you object.

Online Marketing

Online Marketing Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information for website optimisation

📓 Processed data: Access statistics containing data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed. You can find more details on this from the respective Online Marketing tool.

📅 Storage period: depending on the Online Marketing tools used

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Online Marketing?

Online Marketing refers to all measures that are carried out online to achieve marketing goals, such as increasing brand awareness or doing business transactions. Furthermore, our Online Marketing measures aim to draw people’s attention to our website. In order to be able to show our offer to many interested people, we do Online Marketing. It mostly is about online advertising, content marketing or search engine optimisation. For this, personal data is also stored and processed, to enable us to use Online Marketing efficiently and targeted. On the one hand, the data help us to only show our content to people who are interested in it. On the other hand, it helps us to measure the advertising success of our Online Marketing measures.

Why do we use Online Marketing tools?

We want to show our website to everyone who is interested in our offer. We are aware that this is not possible without conscious measures being taken. That is why we do Online Marketing. There are various tools that make working on our Online Marketing measures easier for us. These also provide suggestions for improvement via data. Thus, we can target our campaigns more precisely to our target group. The ultimate purpose of these Online Marketing tools is to optimise our offer.

Which data are processed?

For our Online Marketing to work and to measure its success, user profiles are created and data are e.g. stored in cookies (small text files). With the help of this data, we can not only advertise in the traditional way, but also present our content directly on our website in the way you prefer. There are various third-party tools that offer these functions and thus collect and store your data accordingly. The aforementioned cookies e.g. store the pages you visit on our website, how long you view these pages, which links or buttons you click or which website you came from. What is more, technical information may also be stored. This may include e.g. your IP address, the browser and device you use to visit our website or the time you accessed our website as well as the time you left. If you have agreed for us to determine your location, we can also store and process it.

Your IP address is stored in pseudonymised form (i.e. shortened). What is more, distinct data that directly identify you as a person, such as your name, address or email address, are only stored in pseudonymised for advertising and Online Marketing purposes. With this data we cannot identify you as a person and only retain the pseudonymised information that is stored in your user profile.

Under certain circumstances, cookies may also be utilised, analysed and used for advertising purposes on other websites that use the same advertising tools. Thus, your data may then also be stored on the servers of the respective provider of the advertising tool.

In rare exceptions, unique data (name, email address, etc.) may also be stored in the user profiles. This can happen, if you are for example a member of a social media channel that we use for our Online Marketing measures and if the network connects previously received data with the user profile.

We only ever receive summarised information from the advertising tools we use that do store data on their servers. We never receive data that can be used to identify you as an individual. What is more, the data only shows how well-placed advertising measures have worked. For example, we can see what measures have caused you or other users to visit our website and purchase a service or product. Based on these analyses we can improve our advertising offer in the future and adapt it more precisely to the needs and wishes of people who are interested.

Duration of data processing

Below we will inform you on the duration of data processing, provided we have this information. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. Data stored in cookies are retained for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted after you leave a website, while others may be stored in your browser for a number of years. However, in the respective privacy policies of the respective provider, you will usually find detailed information on the individual cookies this provider uses.

Right of withdrawal

You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can for example also prevent data collection by cookies if you manage, deactivate or erase cookies in your browser. The legality of the processing remains unaffected to the point of revocation.

Since Online Marketing tools usually use cookies, we also recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies. If you want to find out which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of third-party providers, then this consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

, this consent is the legal basis for personal data processing, as may be done when data is collected by online marketing tools.

Moreover, we have a legitimate interest in measuring our online marketing activities in anonymised form, in order to use this data for optimising our offer and our Marketing. The corresponding legal basis for this is

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent.

Information on special online marketing tools can be found in the following sections, provided this information is available.

Google Ad Manager Audience Extension Privacy Policy

We also use the advertising strategy tool Google Ad Manager Audience Extension for our business. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Irish company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Irland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at:

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

You can find out more about Googles’ data processing in their privacy policy at

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US

.

Google AdMob Privacy Policy

On our website, we use Google AdMob, a tool for mobile advertising. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Irish company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Irland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

The data processing agreement, which refers to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

.

You can find out more about Googles’ data processing in their privacy policy at

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US

.

Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy

Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: economic success and service optimisation.

📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed.

📅 Storage period: Conversion cookies usually expire after 30 days and do not transmit any personal data

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Ads conversion tracking?

We use Google Ads (previously Google AdWords) as an online marketing measure, to advertise our products and services. Thus, we want to draw more people’s attention on the internet to the high quality of our offers. As part of our advertising measures with Google Ads, we use the conversion tracking of Google LLC., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”) on our website. With the aid of this free tracking tool we can tailor our advertising offer better to your interests and needs. In the following article we will explain, why we use conversion tracking, what data gets saved and how you can prevent this data retention.

Google Ads (previously Google AdWords) is the internal online advertising sxstem of the company Google LLC. We are convinced of our offer‘s quality and would like as many people as possible to discover our website. For this, Google Ads offers the best platform within the online environment. Of course, we also want to get an overview of the cost-benefit factor of our advertising campaigns. Thence, we use Google Ads’ conversion tracking tool.

But what is a conversion actually? A conversion occurs, when you turn from an interested visitor into an acting website visitor. This happens every time you click on our ad and then make another action, such as paying a visit to our website. With Google’s conversion tracking tool, we can understand what happens after a user clicks our Google ad. It shows us for instance if products get bought, services are used or whether users have subscribed to our newsletter.

Why do we use Google Ads conversion tracking on our website?

We use Google Ads to show our offer also across other websites. Our aim is for our advertising campaigns to reach only those people, who are interested in our offers. With the conversion tracking tool, we see what keywords, ads, ad groups and campaigns lead to the desired customer actions. We see how many customers interact with our ads on a device, to then convert. With this data we can calculate our cost-benefit-factor, measure the success of individual ad campaigns and therefore optimise our online marketing measures. With the help of the obtained data we can give our website a more interesting design and customise our advertising offer better to your needs.

What data is stored with Google Ads conversion tracking?

For a better analysis of certain user actions, we have integrated a conversion tracking tag, or code snippet to our website. Therefore, if you click one of our Google ads, a Google domain stores the cookie “conversion” on your computer (usually in the browser) or on your mobile device. Cookies are little text files that save information on your computer.

Here are data of the most significant cookies for Google’s conversion tracking:

Name:

Conversion

Value:

EhMI_aySuoyv4gIVled3Ch0llweVGAEgt-mr6aXd7dYlSAGQ122970219-3

Purpose:

This cookie saves every conversion you make on our website after you came to us via a Google ad.

Expiry date:

after 3 months

Name:

_gac

Value:

1.1558695989.EAIaIQobChMIiOmEgYO04gIVj5AYCh2CBAPrEAAYASAAEgIYQfD_BwE

Purpose:

This is a classic Google Analytics Cookie that records various actions on our website.

Expiry date:

after 3 months

Note:

The cookie _gac only appears in connection with Google Analytics. The above list does not claim to be exhaustive, as Google repeatedly change the cookies they use for analytical evaluation.

As soon as you complete an action on our website, Google identifies the cookie and saves your action as a so-called conversion. For as long as you surf our website, provided the cookie has not expired, both Google and us can determine that you found your way to us via a Google ad. Then, the cookie is read and sent back to Google Ads, together with the conversion data. Moreover, other cookies may also be used for measuring conversions. Google Ads‘ conversion tracking can be fine-tuned and improved with the aid of Google Analytics. Furthermore, ads which Google displays in various places across the web, might be placed under our domain with the name “__gads” or “_gac”.

Since September 2017, analytics.js retains various campaign information with the _gac cookie. This cookie stores data, as soon as you open one of our sites that has been set up for Google Ads’ auto-tagging. In contrast to cookies that are placed for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies when you are on our website. We do neither collect nor receive any personal data. We do obtain a report with statistical evaluations by Google. With the help thereof, we can not only see the total number of users who clicked our ad, but also what advertising measures were well received.

How long and where is the data stored?

At this point we want to reiterate, that we have no influence on how Google use the collected data. According to Google, the data are encrypted and stored on a secure server. In most cases, conversion cookies expire after 30 days, and do not transmit any personalised data. The cookies named “conversion“ and “_gac“ (which is used with Google Analytics) have an expiry date of 3 months.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

You have the possibility to opt out of Google Ads’ conversion tracking. The conversion tracking can be blocked by deactivating the conversion tracking cookie via your browser. If you do this, you will not be considered for the statistic of the tracking tool. You can change the cookie settings in your browser anytime. Doing so, works a little different in every browser. Hence, in the following you will find an instruction on how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in ChromeSafari: Manage cookies and website data in SafariFirefox: Clear cookies and site data in FirefoxInternet Explorer: Delete and manage cookiesMicrosoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies at all, you can set up your browser to notify you whenever a potential cookie is about to be set. This lets you decide upon permitting or denying the cookie’s placement. By downloading and installing the browser plugin at

https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996

you can also deactivate all “advertising cookies”. Please consider that by deactivating these cookies, you cannot prevent all advertisements, only personalised ads.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Ads Conversion Tracking, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

, this consent is the legal basis for personal data processing, as may be done when collected by Google Ads Conversion Tracking.

We also have legitimate interest in using Google Ads Conversion Tracking to optimise our online service and marketing measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. Nevertheless, we only use Google Ads Conversion Tracking if you have consented to it.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at:

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

If you would like to find out more about data protection at Google, we recommend Google’s privacy policy at:

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB

.

Google Ads Similar Audiences Privacy Policy

We also use the advertising tool Google Ads Similar Audiences. The service provider is the American company Google LLC. For the European region, the responsible entity is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland).

Google processes data from you, among others, in the USA. Google LLC is an active participant in the EU‑US Data Privacy Framework, which ensures the proper and secure transfer of personal data of EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found here:

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

Furthermore, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR). These model clauses provided by the EU Commission are intended to ensure that your data continues to comply with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (for example, in the USA). Through the EU‑US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google undertakes to maintain the European level of data protection in the processing of your relevant data, even if that data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. The relevant implementation decision and the Standard Contractual Clauses can be found here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en

Learn more about the data processed through the use of Google Ads Similar Audiences at

https://policies.google.com/privacy

.

Google AdSense Privacy Policy

Google AdSense Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: economic success and service optimisation.

📓 Processed data: Access statistics containing data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed.

📅 Storage duration: depending on the cookies used and on the retained data

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google AdSense?

We use Google AdSense on this website. It is an advertising program of the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). With Google AdSense we can show advertisements that fit our theme. Thus, we can offer you adverts that ideally give you added value. In this privacy statement on Google AdSense we will explain to you, why we use Google AdSense on our website and which of your data is processed and saved, as well as how you can prevent this data retention.

The advertising program Google AdSense has been around since 2003. As opposed to Google Ads (previously: Google AdWords) it is not possible to advertise on Google AdSense oneself. Google AdSense displays advertisements on websites, such as ours. The biggest advantage of this web service compared to some others, is that Google AdSense only shows ads to you which match our website’s contents. Google has its own algorithm which calculates what ads are shown to you. Of course, we only want to show you ads that interest you and provide you added value. Google checks which advertisements are suitable for our users, considering your interests, your user behaviour and our offer. At this point we want to mention that we are not responsible for the choice of the ads. We merely offer advertising space on our website, while Google selects the displayed ads. Moreover, since August 2013 the ads are customised to the respective user interface. This means, that no matter if you visit our website with your smartphone, your PC or your laptop, the ads adjust to your terminal device.

Why do we use Google AdSense on our website?

The operation of a high-quality website requires tremendous dedication and commitment. We are essentially never finished with working on our website. This is, because we continuously maintain and keep our website up to date. Of course, we want to achieve economic success with this work. Therefore, we decided for to use advertisements as a source of revenue. It is most important to us however, that we do not disrupt your visit to our website with these advertisements. Thence, with the aid of Google AdSense, only adverts that are tailored to you and our themes are shown.

Like with Google’s indexation for a website, a bot examines both, the matching content and the offers on our website. Then, the ads are adapted to and presented on the website. Alongside the contextual overlaps between the ads and website offer, AdSense also supports interest-based targeting. This means, that Google also uses your data to offer advertising that is tailored to you. That way you receive ads that ideally offer you added value, and it gives us a higher chance of earning a bit.

What data is stored by Google AdSense?

Google AdSense uses cookies to display ads that are customised to you. Cookies are little text files, that store certain information on your computer.

Cookies are supposed to enable improved advertisements in AdSense. They do not contain any personally identifiable data. However, it should be considered that Google does not view data such as “Pseudonymous Cookie-IDs” (name or other identification feature is replaced with a pseudonym) or IP addresses as personally identifiable information. Although, within the framework of the GDPR, this data can be classified as personal data. Following every impression (every time you see an ad), every click and any other activity that leads to a call on its servers, Google AdSense sends a cookie to the browser. The cookie is then saved in the browser, provided the browser accepts it.

Under certain circumstances, third parties can place cookies in your browser, and read them or use web beacons, to store data they receive through the display of ads on the website. Web beacons are little graphics that analyse and a record the log file. This analysis allows a statistical evaluation for the online marketing.

Through this cookie, Google can collect certain information on your user behaviour on our website. These include:

Information on how you interact with an ad (clicks, impressions, mouse movements)Information if an ad has already been displayed in your browser. This data helps to prevent an ad from showing multiple times.

Thereby, Google evaluates and analyses data on the displayed advertising material along with your IP address. Primarily, Google uses the data to measure the effectiveness of an ad and improve the advertising offer. Moreover, the data does not get linked to your personal data which Google might have received via other Google services.

In the following we will introduce you to the cookies that Google AdSense uses for tracking purposes. Please note, that we will refer to a test website, which only has Google AdSense installed to it:

Name:

uid

Value:

891269189122970219-8

Purpose:

The cookie is stored under the domain adform.net. It provides a uniquely assigned user ID that is generated automatically and collects data on the activity on our website.

Expiry date:

after 2 months

Name:

C

Value:

1

Purpose:

This cookie identifies if your browser accepts cookies. The cookie is stored under the domain track.adform.net.

Expiry date:

after 1 month

Name:

cid

Value:

8912691894970695056,0,0,0,0

Purpose:

This cookie is saved under the domain track.adform.net. It stands for the client ID and is used to offer you improved advertisements. It can forward more relevant adverts to the user and helps to improve reports on campaign performance.

Expiry date:

after 2 months

Name:

IDE

Value:

zOtj4TWxwbFDjaATZ2TzNaQmxrU122970219-1

Purpose:

The cookie is stored under the domain doubleclick.net. It serves the purpose of registering your actions following an impression or a click on the ad. Thus, it can be measured how our visitors like an ad.

Expiry date:

after 1 month

Name:

test_cookie

Value:

not specified

Purpose:

With the „test_cookies“ it can be verified, if your browser even supports cookies. The cookie is saved under the domain doubleclick.net.

Expiry date:

after 1 month

Name:

CT592996

Value:

733366

Purpose:

It is saved under the domain adform.net. The cookie is placed upon your click on an ad. We could not find any further information on the use of this cookie.

Expiry date:

after one hour

Note:

This list does not claim to be exhaustive, as Google frequently change the choice of their cookies.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google retains your IP address, as well as various activities you perform on the website. Cookies store this information with the interactions on our website. According to Google, the company collects and saves the given information securely on its internal servers in the USA.

If you do not have a Google account or are not logged in, Google usually stores the collected data on your browser with a unique identification (ID). The IDs saved in cookies serve e.g. for providing personalised advertisements. If you are logged into a Google account, Google can gather personal information.

You can delete certain data that is saved by Google anytime (see next section). Much of the information saved in cookies get automatically deleted after a specific time. However, there are also data which are retained by Google for a longer period. This is the case, when Google must store certain data for an undefined, longer period due to economical or legal necessities.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

You can always clear or deactivate cookies that are on your computer. How exactly this can be done depends on the browser.

Here you can find an instruction on how you can manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in ChromeSafari: Manage cookies and website data in SafariFirefox: Clear cookies and site data in FirefoxInternet Explorer: Delete and manage cookiesMicrosoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies, you can set your browser to notify you whenever a potential cookie is about to be set. This lets you decide to either permit or deny the placement of every single cookie. By downloading and installing the browser plugin at

https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996

, any advertising cookies get deactivated as well. Please note, that deactivating these cookies does not stop advertisements, it only inhibits personalised adverts.

If you have a Google account, you can deactivate personalised adverts on the website

https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated

. You will continue to see ads, but they will stop being customised to your interests. Nevertheless, the ads are displayed based on a few factors, such as your location, the browser type and the used search terms.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google AdSense, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to

Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. a (Consent)

your consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when collected by Google AdSense.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google AdSense to optimise our online service and our marketing measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. Nevertheless, we only use Google AdSense if you have given your consent to it.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which reference the standard contractual clauses, can be found at

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

.

You can learn more about what data Google generally collects and what they are used for at

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB

.

Google Campaign Manager 360 Privacy Policy

We also use the marketing tool Google Campaign Manager 360 for our business. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Irish company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Irland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at:

https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

You can find out more about Googles’ data processing in their privacy policy at

https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US

.

Affiliate Programs Introduction

Affiliate Programs Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: economic success and the optimisation of our service.

📓 Data processed: Access statistics, including data such as access locations, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as your name or email address may also be processed.

📅 Duration of storage: personal data is usually stored by affiliate programs until it is no longer needed

⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are affiliate programs?

We use affiliate programs of different providers on our website. By using an affiliate program, your data may be transferred to the respective affiliate program provider, where it can be stored and processed. In this privacy policy, we will give you a general overview of data processing by partner programs and show you how you can prevent or revoke this data transmission. Every affiliate program (also called partner program) is based on the principle of commission. For this, a link or an advertisement with a link is placed on our website and if you are interested, click on it and purchase a product or service this way, we receive a commission for this (reimbursement of advertising costs)

Why do we use affiliate programs on our website?

Our goal is to provide you with a pleasant time with lots of helpful content. We put a lot of work and time into the development of our website. With the help of partner programs, we have the opportunity to be paid a little for our efforts. Every partner link is of course always related to our theme and shows offers that might interest you.

Which data is processed?

In order to trace whether you have clicked on one of our placed links, the affiliate program provider needs to know that it was you who followed the link via our website. Any affiliate program links used must therefore be correctly assigned to the following actions (business deal, purchase, conversion, impression, etc.). Only then can the allocation of the commission take place.

For this mapping to work, a value may be appended to a link (in the URL) or certain information may be stored in cookies. This may for example be, data on which page you came from (referrer), when you clicked on the link, an identifier for our website, which offer it is as well a specific user identifier.

Therefore, whenever you interact with an affiliate program’s products and services, the provider also retains your data. Exactly which data is stored depends on the individual providers. For example, the Amazon affiliate program distinguishes between active and automatic data. Active data include name, email address, phone number, age, payment information, or location information. In the case of the Amazon affiliate program, automatically stored data include user behaviour, IP address, device information and the URL.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. In general, personal data is only processed for as long as is necessary to provide the services and products. Data stored in cookies are retained for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, while others may be stored in your browser for several years if they are not actively erased. The exact duration of data processing depends on the provider used. But in most cases you should account for a storage period of several years. In the respective privacy policies of the individual providers, you will most probably find precise information about the duration of data processing.

Right to object

You always have the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the person responsible for the partner program provider used at any time. Contact details can be found either in our specific data protection declaration or on the website of the relevant provider.

You can erase, disable or manage cookies that providers use for their functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this can be done in different ways.

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the use of the affiliate program, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to

Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when collected by an affiliate program.

We also have a legitimate interest in using an affiliate program to optimise our online service and our marketing activities. The corresponding legal basis for this is

Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. However, we only use the partner program if you have given your consent.

Information on special affiliate programs, if available, can be found in the following sections.

Amazon Associates Program Privacy Policy

Amazon Affiliate Program Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: economic success and the optimisation of our service.

📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address can also be processed.

📅 Storage period: personal data is stored by Amazon until it is no longer needed

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is the Amazon Associates Program?

We use the Amazon Associates Program of the company Amazon.com Inc on our website. The responsible bodies for the privacy statement are Amazon Europe Core S.à.r.l., Amazon EU S.à.r.l, Amazon Services Europe S.à.r.l. as well as Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., which are based at 5, Rue Plaetis, L-2338 Luxemburg, along with Amazon Instant Video Germany Ltd., which is located at Domagkstraße 28, 80807 Munich. Thereby, Amazon Germany Services Ltd. at Marcel-Breuer-Straße 12, 80807 Munich is responsible for data processing. Due to the use of the Amazon Associates Program, Amazon can receive, store and process your data.

In this privacy statement we will inform you on what data this can be, why we use the program and how you can manage or prevent the data transmission.

The Amazon Associates Program is an affiliate marketing program of the online shipping company

Amazon.co.uk

. Like any affiliate program, the Amazon Associates Program is also based on the principle of intermediation commissions. Amazon (or we) place advertisements or partner links on our website, which let us receive a reimbursement of advertising costs (commission) if you click on them and buy a product on Amazon.

Why do we use the Amazon Associates Program on our website?

Our aim is to provide you a pleasant time with extensive, helpful content. Therefore, we put a lot of work and energy into the development of our website. With the aid of the Amazon Associates Program, we can receive a little remuneration for our work. Of course, every affiliate link to Amazon is related with our theme and shows offers that may interest you.

What data is stored by the Amazon Associates Program?

As soon as you interact with the products and services of Amazon, the company collects your data. Amazon differentiates between information you actively gave to the business and information that is collected and retained automatically. “Active information” include name, email address, telephone number, age, payment details or location information. So-called “automatic information” are primarily saved by cookies. This includes information, user behaviour, IP address, device information (browser type, operating systems) or the URL. Moreover, Amazon also saves the clickstream, which is the path (order of pages) you make as a user in order to get to a product. Amazon also stores cookies in your browser to retrace the origin of an order. This enables the company to identify if you clicked an Amazon ad or an affiliate link on our website.

If you have an Amazon account and are logged in to it while you surf our website, the collected data can be allocated to your account. You can prevent this by logging out of Amazon before surfing our website.

In the following we will show you exemplary cookies that are placed in your browser when you click an Amazon link on our website.

Name

: uid

Value:

3230928052675285215122970219-9

Purpose:

This cookie stores a unique user ID and collects information on your website activity.

Expiry date:

after 2 months

Name

: ad-id

Value:

AyDaInRV1k-Lk59xSnp7h5o

Purpose:

This cookie is provided by amazon-adsystem.com and serves the company regarding various advertising purposes.

Expiry date:

after 8 months

Name

: uuid2

Value:

8965834524520213028122970219-2

Purpose:

This cookie allows targeted and interest-based advertising via the AppNexus platform. By the IP address it collects and retains anonymous data on what ads you clicked and which sites you opened.

Expiry date:

after 3 months

Name

: session-id

Value:

262-0272718-2582202122970219-1

Purpose:

This cookie stores a unique user ID that the server assigns to you for the duration of a website visit (session). If you visit the site again, the information saved in there gets retrieved again.

Expiry date:

after 15 years

Name

: APID

Value:

UP9801199c-4bee-11ea-931d-02e8e13f0574

Purpose:

This cookie stores information on how you use a website, and on what ads you looked at before your visit to the website.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name

: session-id-time

Value:

tb:s-STNY7ZS65H5335FZEVPE|1581329862486&t:1581329864300&adb:adblk_no

Purpose:

This cookie records the time you spend on a website with a unique cookie ID.

Expiry date:

after 2 years

Name

: csm-hit

Value:

2082754801l

Purpose:

We could not find any detailed information on this cookie.

Expiry date:

after 15 years

Note:

Please note, that this list merely shows examples of cookies and does not claim to be exhaustive.

Amazon use the obtained information to better tailor their advertisements to their users’ interests.

How long and where is my data stored?

Amazon saves personal data for as long as it is required for both Amazon’s business services, and for legal reasons. As the company’s headquarters are in the USA, any collected data is stored on American servers.

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

You always have the right to access your personal data and clear it. If you have an Amazon account, you can manage or delete many of the collected data.

Furthermore, your browser offers another option for managing Amazon’s processing and retention of data according to your preferences. There you can manage, clear or delete cookies. This works a little different on every browser. Here you can find instructions for the most common browsers:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in ChromeSafari: Manage cookies and website data in SafariFirefox: Clear cookies and site data in FirefoxInternet Explorer: Delete and manage cookiesMicrosoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of the Amazon Associates Program, then your consent is the the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

, this consent represents the legal basis for personal data processing, as may be done when it is collected by the Amazon Associates program.

We also have legitimate interest in using the Amazon Associates Program to optimise our online service and marketing measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is

Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

. Nevertheless, we only use the Amazon Associates Program if you have consented to it.

Amazon processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Amazon is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Amazon uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Amazon commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

The Amazon data processing terms and conditions (Data Processing Addendum), which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at

https://d1.awsstatic.com/legal/aws-gdpr/AWS_GDPR_DPA.pdf

.

We hope we have brought you the most important information about data transfer by the Amazon Affiliate Program. You can find more information on this at

https: // www.amazon.de/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201909010

.

Digistore24 Affiliate Programme Privacy Policy

We use the affiliate programme Digistore24 for our website. The provider of this service is the German company Digistore24 GmbH, St.-Godehard-Strasse 32, 31139 Hildesheim, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of Digistore24 in their Privacy Policy at

https://www.digistore24.com/page/privacy

.

Cookie Consent Management Platform

Cookie Consent Management Platform Overview

👥 Affected parties: Website visitors

🤝 Purpose: Obtaining and managing consent to certain cookies and thus the use of certain tools

📓 Processed data: data for managing cookie settings such as IP address, time of consent, type of consent and individual consent. You can find more details on this directly with the tool that is being used.

📅 Storage period: depends on the tool used, periods of several years can be assumed

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is a cookie consent management platform?

We use a Consent Management Platform (CMP) software on our website that makes it easier for us and you to handle the scripts and cookies used correctly and securely. The software automatically creates a cookie pop-up, scans and controls all scripts and cookies, provides you with the cookie consent required under data protection law and helps you and us to keep track of all cookies. Most cookie consent management tools identify and categorize all existing cookies. As a website visitor, you then decide for yourself whether and which scripts and cookies you allow or not. The following graphic shows the relationship between browser, web server and CMP.

Why do we use a cookie management tool?

Our goal is to offer you the best possible transparency in the area of ​​data protection. We are also legally obliged to do so. We want to inform you as well as possible about all tools and all cookies that can save and process your data. It is also your right to decide for yourself which cookies you accept and which you do not. In order to grant you this right, we first need to know exactly which cookies actually landed on our website. Thanks to a cookie management tool, which regularly scans the website for all cookies present, we know about all cookies and can provide you with GDPR-compliant information. You can then use the consent system to accept or reject cookies.

Which data are processed?

As part of our cookie management tool, you can manage each individual cookie yourself and have complete control over the storage and processing of your data. The declaration of your consent is stored so that we do not have to ask you every time you visit our website and we can also prove your consent if required by law. This is saved either in an opt-in cookie or on a server. The storage time of your cookie consent varies depending on the provider of the cookie management tool. Usually this data (e.g. pseudonymous user ID, time of consent, detailed information on the cookie categories or tools, browser, device information) is stored for up to two years.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of the data processing if we have further information. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. Data stored in cookies are stored for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted after you leave the website, others may be stored in your browser for a few years. The exact duration of the data processing depends on the tool used, in most cases you should be prepared for a storage period of several years. In the respective data protection declarations of the individual providers, you will usually receive precise information about the duration of the data processing.

Right of objection

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection by cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser.

Information on special cookie management tools can be found – if available – in the following sections.

Legal basis

If you agree to cookies, your personal data will be processed and stored via these cookies. If we are allowed to use cookies with your

consent

(Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR), this consent is also the legal basis for the use of cookies and the processing of your data. In order to be able to manage the consent to cookies and to enable you to give your consent, a cookie consent management platform software is used. The use of this software enables us to operate the website in an efficient and legally compliant manner, which is a

legitimate interest

(Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR).

ccm19 Privacy Policy

On our website we use ccm19, which is a cookie consent manager tool. The provider of this service is the German company Papoo Software & Media GmbH, Auguststr. 4, 53229 Bonn, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed by using ccm19 in their Privacy Policy at

https://www.ccm19.de/en/privacyclarification.html.

Payment providers

Payment Providers Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: To enable and optimise the payment process on our website

📓 Processed data: data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address and contract data

You can find more details on this directly from the payment provider tool that is being used.

📅 Storage period: depending on the payment provider that is being used

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR (performance of a contract)

What is a payment provider?

On our website we use online payment systems, which enable us as well as you to have a secure and smooth payment process available. Among other things, personal data may also be sent to the respective payment provider, where it may also be stored and processed. Payment providers are online payment systems that enable you to place an order via online banking. The payment processing is carried out by the payment provider of your choice. We will then receive information about the payment. This method can be used by any user who has an active online banking account with a PIN and TAN. There are hardly any banks that do not offer or accept such payment methods.

Why do we use payment providers on our website?

With both our website and our embedded online shop, we of course want to offer you the best possible service, so you can feel comfortable on our site and take advantage of our offers. We know that your time is valuable and that payment processing in particular has to work quickly and smoothly. Thus, we offer various payment providers. You can choose your preferred payment provider and pay in the usual way.

Which data are processed?

What exact data that is processed of course depends on the respective payment provider. However, generally data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.) do get stored. This data is necessary for carrying out any transactions. In addition, any contract data and user data, such as when you have visited our website, what content you are interested in or which sub-pages you have clicked, may also be stored. Most payment providers also store your IP address and information about the computer you are using.

Your data is usually stored and processed on the payment providers’ servers. We, so the website operator, do not receive this data. We only get information on whether the payment has gone through or not. For identity and credit checks, it may happen for payment providers to forward data to the appropriate body. The business and privacy policy principles of the respective provider always apply to all payment transactions. Therefore, please always take a look at the general terms and conditions and the privacy policy of the payment provider. You e.g. also have the right to have data erased or rectified at any time. Please contact the respective service provider regarding your rights (right to withdraw, right of access and individual rights).

Duration of data processing

Provided we have further information on this, we will inform you below about the duration of the processing of your data. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for providing our services and products. This storage period may be exceeded however, if it is required by law, for example for accounting purposes. We keep any accounting documents of contracts (invoices, contract documents, account statements, etc.) for 10 years (Section 147 AO) and other relevant business documents for 6 years (Section 247 HGB).

Right to object

You always have the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can always contact the person that is responsible for the respective payment provider. You can find contact details for them either in our respective privacy policy or on the relevant payment provider’s website.

You can erase, deactivate or manage cookies in your browser, that payment providers use for their functions. How this works differs a little depending on which browser you are using. Please note, however, that the payment process may then no longer work.

Legal basis

For the processing of contractual or legal relationships

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR)

, we offer other payment service providers in addition to the conventional banking/credit institutions. In the privacy policy of the individual payment providers (such as

Amazon Payments

,

Apple Pay

or

Discover

) you will find a detailed overview of data processing and data storage. In addition, you can always contact the responsible parties should you have any questions about data protection issues.

Provided it is available, you can find information on the special payment providers in the following sections.

PayPal Check-Out Privacy Policy

We also use the web payment tools by Paypal Check-Out for our business. The service provider is the American company PayPal, Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Luxembourgian company PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, 2449 Luxembourg.

You can find out more about the data processed by using PayPal Check-Out in their privacy policy at

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

.

PayPal Privacy Policy

PayPal Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: optimising the payment process on our website

📓 Processed data: Data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address, and contract data can be processed. More details on this can be found further below in this privacy policy.

📅 Storage period: data is usually stored until the collaboration with PayPal is terminated

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract processing), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

What is PayPal?

We use the online payment service PayPal on our website. The service provider is the American company PayPal Inc. For the European region, the responsible entity is PayPal Europe (S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg).

With PayPal, all users can send and receive money electronically. The company was founded in 1998 and has since grown to become one of the most well-known and largest online payment service providers worldwide, boasting over 325 million active customers.

Why do we use PayPal for our website?

There are various reasons why we use and offer PayPal on our website. As one of the most recognized online payment providers, many of our website visitors use and trust this service. PayPal also provides high-security standards for digital money transfers, utilizing various encryption methods to protect your personal data. We also appreciate the user-friendly interface of PayPal and the ability to make international payments in different currencies. Transactions typically proceed quickly, benefiting both us and you as customers.

What data does PayPal process?

In its privacy policy, PayPal distinguishes various categories of personal data that may be processed through the use of the service. These include registration and contact details, identification and signature data, payment information, information about imported contacts, data from your account profile, device data such as your IP address, location data, and so-called derived data. Derived data includes information that can be derived from transactions or other data, such as purchasing habits, behavioral patterns, creditworthiness, or personal preferences.

Additionally, there are personal data collected by third parties (such as identity verification providers, fraud detection providers, or your bank). These data may include information from credit agencies, transaction data, information about legal regulations, technical usage data, location data, and derived data once again.

PayPal and its partners also use tracking technologies like cookies, pixel tags, web beacons, and widgets to recognize you as a user, customize content, and conduct analyses for interest-based advertising.

How long and where are the data stored?

In general, PayPal retains data for as long as necessary to fulfill its obligations and within the scope of the purpose. Personal data necessary for the customer relationship is kept for up to 10 years after the relationship ends. If PayPal is subject to a legal obligation, the retention period for personal data complies with the applicable law (e.g., insolvency law). PayPal also stores personal data for as long as necessary if retention is advisable for legal disputes.

As PayPal is a globally operating company, the service has data centers worldwide where your data may be stored. This means your data may be stored outside your country and outside the scope of the GDPR on PayPal servers.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access, correct, delete, and restrict the processing of your personal data at any time. You can also revoke your consent to data processing at any time.

If you want to disable, delete, or manage cookies in general, you can find the corresponding links to the instructions for the most popular browsers in the “Cookies” section.

Legal Basis

We have a legitimate interest in integrating PayPal as an external payment service to make our offer more attractive and improve it technically and economically. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (Legitimate interests). Please note that you can only use PayPal if you enter into a contractual relationship with PayPal. In this case, it may be necessary to provide additional data protection and contractual declarations (e.g., consent).

PayPal processes data from you, among other places, in the USA. We would like to inform you that, according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for the transfer of data to the USA. This may entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, especially in the USA) or data transfers to such countries, PayPal uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are model templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, PayPal undertakes to comply with the European data protection level in processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses, among other things, here:

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

For more information on Standard Contractual Clauses and the data processed by using PayPal, please refer to the privacy policy at

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

.

Paypal Express Privacy Policy

We also use the web payment tools by PayPal Express for our business. The service provider is the American company PayPal, Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Luxembourgian company PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, 2449 Luxembourg.

PayPal also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

PayPal uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige PayPal to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

You can find out more about the data processed by using PayPal Express in their privacy policy at

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

.

Paypal Plus Privacy Policy

We also use the web payment tools by PayPal Plus for our business. The service provider is the American company PayPal, Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Luxembourgian company PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, 2449 Luxembourg.

PayPal also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

PayPal uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige PayPal to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

You can find out more about the data processed by using PayPal Plus in their privacy policy at

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full

.

Stripe Privacy Policy

Stripe Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: optimising the payment process on our website

📓 Processed data: data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address and contract data

You can find more details on this in the privacy policy below

📅 Storage period: data is stored until the collaboration with Stripe is terminated

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract processing), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

What is Stripe?

On our website we use a payment tool by Stripe, an American technology company and online payment service. Stripe Payments Europe (Europe Ltd., 1 Grand Canal Street Lower, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, Ireland) is responsible for customers within the EU. Therefore, if you choose Stripe as your payment method, your payment will be processed via Stripe Payments. Hence, the data required for the payment process is forwarded to Stripe where it is then stored. In this privacy policy we will give you an overview of Stripe’s data processing and retention. Moreover, we will explain why we use Stripe on our website.

The technology company Stripe offers payment solutions for online payments. Stripe enables us to accept credit and debit card payments in our webshop while it handles the entire payment process. A major advantage of Stripe is that you never have to leave our website or shop during the payment process. Moreover, payments are processed very quickly via Stripe.

Why do we use Stripe on our website?

We of course want to offer the best possible service with both our website and our integrated online shop. After all, we would like you to feel comfortable on our site and take advantage of our offers. We know that your time is valuable and therefore, payment processing in particular must work quickly and smoothly. In addition to our other payment providers, with Stripe we have found a partner that guarantees secure and fast payment processing.

What data are stored by Stripe?

If you choose Stripe as your payment method, your personal data (transaction data) will be transmitted to Stripe where it will be stored. These data include the payment method (i.e. credit card, debit card or account number), bank sort code, currency, as well as the amount and the payment date. During a transaction, your name, email address, billing or shipping address and sometimes your transaction history may also be transmitted. These data are necessary for authentication. Furthermore, Stripe may also collect relevant data for the purpose of fraud prevention, financial reporting and for providing its services in full. These data may include your name, address, telephone number as well as your country in addition to technical data about your device (such as your IP address).

Stripe does not sell any of your data to independent third parties, such as marketing agencies or other companies that have nothing to do with Stripe. However, data may be forwarded to internal departments, a limited number of Stripe’s external partners or for legal compliance reasons. What is more, Stripe uses cookies to collect data. Here is a selection of cookies that Stripe may set during the payment process:

Name:

m

Value:

edd716e9-d28b-46f7-8a55-e05f1779e84e040456122970219-5

Purpose:

This cookie appears when you select your payment method. It saves and recognises whether you are accessing our website via a PC, tablet or smartphone.

Expiry date:

after 2 years

Name:

__stripe_mid

Value:

fc30f52c-b006-4722-af61-a7419a5b8819875de9122970219-1

Purpose:

This cookie is required for carrying out credit card transactions. For this purpose, the cookie stores your session ID.

Expiry date:

after one year

Name:

__stripe_sid

Value:

6fee719a-c67c-4ed2-b583-6a9a50895b122753fe

Purpose:

This cookie also stores your ID. Stripe uses it for the payment process on our website.

Expiry date

: after end of the session

How long and where are the data stored?

Generally, personal data are stored for the duration of the provided service. This means that the data will be stored until we terminate our cooperation with Stripe. However, in order to meet legal and official obligations, Stripe may also store personal data for longer than the duration of the provided service. Furthermore, since Stripe is a global company, your data may be stored in any of the countries Stripe offers its services in. Therefore, your data may be stored outside your country, such as in the USA for example.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

Please note that when you use this tool, your data may also be stored and processed outside the EU. Most third countries (including the USA) are not considered secure under current European data protection law. Data must not simply be transferred to, as well as stored and processed in insecure third countries, unless there are suitable guarantees (such as EU standard contractual clauses) between us and the respective non-European service provider.

You always reserve the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. Should you have any questions, you can contact the Stripe team at

https://support.stripe.com/contact/email

.

You can erase, deactivate or manage cookies in your browser that Stripe uses for its functions. This works differently depending on which browser you are using. Please note, however, that if you do so the payment process may no longer work. The following instructions will show you how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in ChromeSafari: Manage cookies and website data in SafariFirefox: Clear cookies and site data in FirefoxInternet Explorer: Delete and manage cookiesMicrosoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

Legal basis

For the processing of contractual or legal relationships

(Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR)

, we
offer the payment service provider Sofortüberweisung in addition to the conventional bank/credit institutions. Successful use of the service also requires your

consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR)

, provided the use of cookies is necessary for it.

Stripe processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Stripe is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at

https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

.

Additionally, Stripe uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Stripe commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

.

We have now given you a general overview of Stripe’s data processing and retention. If you want more information, Stripe’s detailed privacy policy at

https://stripe.com/privacy

is a good source.

External Online Platforms Introduction

External Online Platforms Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors or visitors to the external online platforms

🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimisation of our service, as well as establishing contact with visitors & interested parties

📓 Data processed: data such as phone numbers, email addresses, contact details, user behaviour data, information about your device and your IP address.

More details can be found directly with the respective platform used.

📅 Storage duration: depends on the platforms used

⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are external online platforms?

In order to be able to offer our services or products outside of our website, we also use external platforms. These are mostly online marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay. In addition to our responsibility for data protection, the data privacy regulations of the external platforms used also apply. This especially applies when our products are purchased via such a platform, i. e. if there is a payment process. Furthermore, most platforms also use your data to optimise their own marketing measures. For example, the platform can use the collected data to tailor advertisements to the interests of customers and website visitors.

Why do we use external online platforms?

In addition to our website, we also want to display our offer on other platforms in order to reach more customers. External online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay or Digistore24 offer large sales websites that show our products to people who may not know our website. Moreover, built-in elements on our site may also lead to an external online platform. Any data that is processed and stored by the respective online platform is used by the business to log the payment process and also to conduct web analyses.

The aim of these analyses is to enable the development of more precise and personal marketing and advertising strategies. Depending on your interaction with a platform, the evaluated data may be used to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests and to create a so-called user profile on you. This also allows the platforms to show customised advertisements or products to you. For this purpose, cookies are usually set in your browser in order to store data on your usage behaviour.

Please note that when using the platforms or our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, since online platforms such as Amazon or eBay are American companies. As a result, you may not be able to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data as easily.

Which data is processed?

Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective external platform. But usually, it is data such as phone numbers, email addresses, data you enter in a contact form, along with user data (e. g. which buttons you click and which pages you view during your visit), as well as information about your device and IP address. In most cases, the majority of this data is stored in cookies. If you have a profile on an external platform and are logged in there, your data can be linked to any such profile. The collected data is stored on the servers of the platforms used, where it is processed. You can find out exactly how an external platform stores, manages and processes data in the respective privacy policy. If you have any questions about data storage and data processing, or if you want to assert corresponding rights, we recommend that you contact the platform directly.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. For example, Amazon stores data until it is no longer needed for its own purposes. Generally, we only process your personal data as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products.

Right to object

You also have the right and the opportunity to revoke your consent to the use of cookies at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via opt-out functions on the respective external platform. You can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing the cookies in your browser.

As cookies may be used, we also recommend our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective external platforms.

Legal Basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by external platforms, this

consent

is the legal basis for data processing

(Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR).

In general, if you have consented, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our

legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)

in fast and good communication with you as well as other customers and business partners. If there are integrated elements of external platforms on our website, we only use them if you have given your consent.

Information on specific external platforms – if available – can be found in the following sections.

Canva Privacy Policy

We use the online graphic design platform Canva for our website. The service provider is the Australian company Canva Pty Ltd., 110 Kippax Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia.

Data processing also takes place in Australia. Australia is a third country outside the scope of the GDPR. There is currently no adequacy decision for Australia pursuant to Art. 45 (1) GDPR. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

You can learn more about the data processed using Canva in the privacy policy at

https://www.canva.com/policies/privacy-policy/

.

Digistore24 Privacy Policy

We use the online sales platform Digistore24. The provider of this service is the German company Digistore24 GmbH, St.-Godehard-Strasse 32, 31139 Hildesheim, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed by Digistore24 in their Privacy Policy at

https://www.digistore24.com/page/privacy.

Explanation of the terminology used

We always strive to make our privacy policy as clear and comprehensible as possible. However, this is not always easy, especially when it comes to technical and legal matters. It is often sensible to use legal terms (such as ‘personal data)’ or certain technical terms (such as ‘cookies’ or ‘IP address’). But we don’t want to use such terms without any explanation. This is why you will find an alphabetical list of important terms used below. These are terms we may not yet have sufficiently explained in the privacy policy. In case we have adopted any of these terms from the GDPR which are definitions, we will also list the GDPR texts here and add our own further explanations if necessary.

Processor

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“processor”
means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller;Explanation:

As a company and a website owner, we are responsible for all your data we process (i. e. the ‘controller’). In addition to the controller, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person who processes personal data on our behalf. In addition to service providers such as tax consultants, processors can also be hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

Consent

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“consent” of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her;Explanation:

With websites, such consent is usually given via a cookie consent tool. You’ve most certainly come across these. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, you will usually be asked via a banner whether you agree or consent to the data processing. You can usually also make individual settings and thus decide for yourself which level of data processing you want to allow. If you do not give your consent, no personal data may be processed. Consent can of course also be given in writing, i.e. not via a tool.

Data concerning health

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“Data concerning health”
means personal data related to the physical or mental health of a natural person, including the provision of health care services, which reveal information about his or her health status;Explanation:

Health data includes all stored information relating to your own health. It is often data that is also noted in patient files. This includes, for example, which medication you are using, X-rays, your entire medical history or your vaccination statuses.

Personal Data

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“personenal data”
means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;Explanation:

Personal data is all data that can identify you as a person. This is usually data such as:

nameaddressemail addresspostal addressphone numberbirthdayidentification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, ID card number or matriculation numberbanking data such as account number, credit information, account balances and more.

According to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), your

IP address is also personal data

. IT experts can use your IP address to determine at least the approximate location of your device and subsequently your location as the connection owner. Therefore, storing an IP address also requires a legal basis within the scope of the GDPR. There are also so-called

“special categories”

of personal data, which are particularly worthy of protection. These include:

racial and ethnic originpolitical opinionsreligious or ideological beliefsUnion membershipgenetic data such as data obtained from blood or saliva samplesbiometric data (this is information about psychological, physical or behavioural characteristics that can identify an individual).health DataData relating to sexual orientation or sex life

Profiling

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“Profiling”
means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements;Explanation:

Profiling collects various personal data about an individual in order to learn more about that individual. On the internet, profiling is often used for advertising purposes or for credit checks. Web and advertising analysis programs e. g. collect data about your behaviour and interests on a website. This results in a special user profile that can be used to target advertising to specific target groups.

Controller

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“controller”
means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law;Explanation:

In our example, we are responsible for the processing of your personal data and are therefore the “controller”. If we pass on collected data to other service providers for processing, they are considered “contract processors”. For this, a “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)” must be concluded.

Processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“processing”
means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;Note:

When we talk about processing in our Privacy Policy, we talk about any type of data processing. As mentioned above in the original GDPR declaration, this includes not only the collection but also the storage and processing of data.

All texts are copyrighted.