Data protection

Introduction and overview

We have written this data protection declaration (version 08/19/2022-121840838) in order to provide you with information in accordance with the requirements of General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws to explain which personal data (data for short) we as the responsible party - 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 understood as gender-neutral.
In short: We inform you comprehensively about data that we process about you.

Privacy statements usually sound very technical and use legal jargon. This data protection declaration, on the other hand, is intended to describe the most important things as simply and transparently as possible. As far as it is conducive to transparency, technical Terms explained in a reader-friendly way, links to further information and graphics put to use. We are thus informing you in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the course of our business activities if there is a corresponding legal basis. This is certainly not possible if you make the most concise, unclear and legal-technical statements possible, as they are often standard on the Internet when it comes to data protection. I hope that you find the following explanations interesting and informative and that you may find some information that you did not already know.
If you still have questions, we would like to ask you to contact the responsible person named below or in the imprint, to follow the links provided and to look at further information on third-party websites. Our contact details can of course also be found in the imprint.

scope of application

This data protection declaration applies to all personal data processed by us in the company and to all personal data that companies commissioned by us (processors) process. By personal data we mean information within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 1 GDPR such as a person's name, e-mail address and postal address. The processing of personal data ensures that we can offer and bill our services and products, whether online or offline. The scope of this privacy policy includes:

• all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate
• Social media appearances and email communication
• mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

In short: The data protection declaration applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in a structured manner in the company via the channels mentioned. If we enter into legal relationships with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately if necessary.

legal bases

In the following data protection declaration, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal basis of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.
As far as 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 read this EU General Data Protection Regulation online on EUR-Lex, the gateway to the EU -Right, under https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679 read.

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

1. 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 storing the data you entered on a contact form.
2. Contract (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR): In order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you, we process your data. For example, if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance.
3. Legal Obligation (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we process your data. For example, we are required by law to keep invoices for accounting purposes. These usually contain personal data.
4. Legitimate Interests (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your fundamental rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we need to process certain data in order to be able to operate our website securely and economically. This processing is therefore a legitimate interest.

Other conditions such as the perception of recordings in the public interest and the exercise of public authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually apply to us. If such a legal basis should be relevant, it will be shown in the appropriate place.

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

• In Austria is this the federal law on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data (Data Protection Act), short DSG.
• In Germany is that valid Federal Data Protection Act, short BDSG.

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

storage duration

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

If you wish your data to be deleted or revoke your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as quickly as possible and provided there is no obligation to store it.

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

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

In accordance with Articles 13 and 14 GDPR, we inform you about the following rights to which you are entitled so that data is processed fairly and transparently:

• According to Article 15 GDPR, you have a right to information as to whether we are processing your data. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to be informed of the following information:
  
  • for what purpose we carry out the 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 is stored;
  • the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
  • that you can complain to a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
  • the origin of the data if we did not collect it from you;
  • whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically evaluated in order to create a personal profile for you.
• According to Article 16 GDPR, you have the right to have the data corrected, which means that we have to correct data if you find any errors.
• According to Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"), which specifically means that you can request the erasure of your data.
• According to Article 18 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 GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we can provide you with your data in a common format upon request.
• According to Article 21 GDPR, you have a right of objection, which, after enforcement, will result in a change in processing.
  
  • If the processing of your data is based on Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter e (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f (legitimate interest), you can object to the processing. We will then check as quickly as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
  • If data is used to operate direct advertising, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for direct marketing after this.
  • If data is used to operate profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for profiling after this.
• According to Article 22 GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (e.g. profiling).
• According to Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

In short: You have rights - do not hesitate to contact the responsible person listed above!

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. This is the data protection authority for Austria, whose website you can find at https://www.dsb.gv.at/ find. 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) turn around. The following local data protection authority is responsible for our company:

Austria Data Protection Authority

leader: Mag. Dr. Andrea Jelinek
Address: Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna
Phone number.: +43 1 52 152-0
E-mail address: dsb@dsb.gv.at
site: https://www.dsb.gv.at/

Data transfer to third countries

We only transfer or process data to countries outside the EU (third countries) if you agree to this processing, if this is required by law or is contractually necessary and in any case only to the extent that this is generally permitted. In most cases, your consent is the most important reason that we have data processed in third countries. The processing of personal data in third countries such as the USA, where many software manufacturers offer services and have their server locations, may mean that personal data is processed and stored in unexpected ways.

We expressly point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. Data processing by US services (such as Google Analytics) may result in data not being processed and stored anonymously. In addition, US government authorities may have access to individual data. In addition, it may happen that collected data is linked to data from other services from the same provider, provided you have a corresponding user account. If possible, we try to use server locations within the EU, if this is offered.

We will inform you in more detail about data transfer to third countries at the appropriate points in this data protection declaration, if this applies.

security of data processing

In order to protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organizational measures. Where possible, we encrypt or pseudonymise personal data. In this way, we make it as difficult as possible for third parties to infer personal information from our data.

Art. 25 GDPR speaks here of “data protection through technology design and through data protection-friendly default settings” and means that one always thinks of security and corresponding security both with software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to the server room). measures. If necessary, we will go into specific measures below.

TLS encryption with https

TLS, encryption and https all sound very technical and they are. We use HTTPS (the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure stands for "secure hypertext transfer protocol") to transmit data securely on the Internet.
This means that the complete transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured - nobody can "eavesdrop".

We have thus introduced an additional security layer and comply with data protection by design (Article 25 paragraph 1 GDPR). By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data.
You can recognize the use of this protection for data transmission by the small lock symbol in the top left of the browser, to the left of the internet address (e.g. examplepage.de) and using the https scheme (instead of http) as part of our internet address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend a Google search for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki" to get good links to further information.

communication

If you contact us and communicate by telephone, e-mail or online form, personal data may be processed.

The data will be processed for the handling and processing of your question and the related business transaction. The data is stored for as long as the law requires.

Affected people

All those who seek contact with us via the communication channels provided by us are affected by the processes mentioned.

phone

If you call us, the call data will be stored pseudonymously on the respective end device and with the telecommunications provider used. In addition, data such as name and telephone number can then be sent by e-mail and saved to answer enquiries. The data will be deleted as soon as the business case has ended and legal requirements permit.

e-mail

If you communicate with us by e-mail, data may be stored on the respective end device (computer, laptop, smartphone,...) and data is stored on the e-mail server. The data will be deleted as soon as the business case has ended and legal requirements permit.

online forms

If you communicate with us using an online form, data will be stored on our web server and, if necessary, forwarded to an e-mail address from us. The data will be deleted as soon as the business case has ended and legal requirements permit.

legal bases

The processing of the data is based on the following legal bases:

• Article 6 paragraph 1 lit.
• Article 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract): There is a need to fulfill a contract with you or a processor, e.g. B. the telephone provider or we need the data for pre-contractual activities, such. B. the preparation of an offer, process;
• Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests): We want to conduct customer inquiries and business communication in a professional framework. These are certain technical facilities such. E-mail programs, exchange servers and mobile phone operators are necessary in order to be able to communicate efficiently.

Order processing contract (AVV)

In this section we would like to explain what a data processing agreement is and why it is needed. Because the word "order processing contract" is quite a tongue twister, we will often only use the acronym AVV here in the text. Like most companies, we do not work alone, but also use the services of other companies or individuals ourselves. By involving various 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 contract (AVV). The most important thing for you to know is that the processing of your personal data takes place exclusively according to our instructions and must be regulated by the AVV.

Who are processors?

As a company and website owner, we are responsible for all data that we process from you. In addition to those responsible, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person who processes personal data on our behalf. More precisely and according to the GDPR definition: any natural or legal person, authority, institution or other body that processes personal data on our behalf 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 understand, here is an overview of the three roles in the GDPR:

affected (You as a customer or prospect) → Responsible (we as company and client) → processor (Service providers such as web hosts or cloud providers)

Content of an order processing contract

As already mentioned above, we have concluded an AVV with our partners who act as processors. First and foremost, it states that the processor processes the data to be processed exclusively in accordance with the GDPR. The contract must be concluded in writing, although in this context the electronic conclusion of the contract is also considered “in writing”. The processing of personal data only takes place on the basis of the contract. The contract must contain the following:

• Binding to us as responsible
• Obligations and rights of the controller
• Categories of data subjects
• Type of personal data
• Type and purpose of data processing
• Subject and duration of data processing
• Place of execution of the data processing

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

• Measures to ensure data security
• take possible technical and organizational measures to protect the rights of the data subject
• to keep a data processing register
• to cooperate with the data protection supervisory authority upon request
• carry out a risk analysis in relation to the personal data received
• Sub-processors may only be commissioned with the written consent of the person responsible

You can find out what such a GCU looks like in concrete terms, for example, at https://www.wko.at/service/wirtschaftsrecht-gewerberecht/eu-dsgvo-mustervertrag-auftragsverarbeitung.html view. A sample contract is presented here.

cookies

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 data protection declaration.

Whenever you surf the Internet, you use a browser. Well-known browsers include Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

One thing cannot be denied: Cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. More precisely, they are HTTP cookies, as there are other cookies for other areas of application. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically stored in the cookie folder, which is basically the "brain" of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. When defining a cookie, one or more attributes must also be specified.

Cookies store certain user data from you, such as language or personal page settings. When you visit our site again, your browser transmits the "user-related" information back to our site. Thanks to the cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are used to. In some browsers each cookie has its own file, in others such as Firefox all cookies are stored in a single file.

The graphic below shows a possible interaction between a web browser such as B. Chrome and the web server. The web browser requests a website and receives a cookie from the server, which the browser uses 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, third-party cookies are created by partner websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie must be evaluated individually, since 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 "pests". Cookies also cannot access information on your PC.

For example, cookie data can look like this:

Surname: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152121840838-9
Purpose of use: Differentiation of website visitors
Expiry Date: after 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

• At least 4096 bytes per cookie
• At least 50 cookies per domain
• At least 3000 cookies in total

What types of cookies are there?

The question of which cookies we use in particular depends on the services used and is clarified in the following sections of the data protection declaration. At this point we would like to briefly discuss the different types of HTTP cookies.

There are 4 types of cookies:

Essential cookies
These cookies are necessary to ensure basic functions of the website. For example, these cookies are needed if a user puts a product in the shopping cart, then continues surfing on other pages and only goes to the checkout later. These cookies do not delete the shopping cart, even if the user closes their browser window.

Functional cookies
These cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages. In addition, these cookies are also used to measure the loading time and behavior of the website in different browsers.

Targeting cookies
These cookies ensure a better user experience. For example, entered locations, font sizes or form data are saved.

advertising cookies
These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to provide the user with individually tailored advertising. This can be very useful, but also very annoying.

Usually, when you visit a website for the first time, you will be asked which of these types of cookies you would like to allow. And of course this decision is also stored in a cookie.

If you want to know more about cookies and don't shy away from technical documentation, we recommend https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6265, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments called “HTTP State Management Mechanism”.

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the respective cookie. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

Which data are processed?

Cookies are little helpers for many different tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to generalize which data is stored in cookies, but we will inform you about the processed or stored data in the following data protection declaration.

Storage duration of cookies

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

You can also influence the storage period yourself. You can manually delete all cookies at any time via your browser (see also "Right of objection" below). Furthermore, cookies that are based on consent will be deleted at the latest after you withdraw your consent, whereby the legality of storage remains unaffected until then.

Right to object - how can I delete cookies?

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

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

Chrome: Delete, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing Cookies and Website Data with Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies to remove data websites have placed on your computer

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Deleting and managing cookies

If you generally do not want any cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. You can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow the cookie or not. The procedure differs depending on the browser. It is best to look for the instructions in Google with the search term “Delete cookies Chrome” or “Deactivate cookies Chrome” in the case of a Chrome browser.

legal basis

The so-called “Cookie Guidelines” have been in place since 2009. It states that storing cookies is a consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR) required of you. Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these directives. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 96 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). 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).

Absolutely necessary cookies exist, even if no consent has been given legitimate interests (Article 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to provide visitors to our website with a pleasant user experience and certain cookies are often strictly necessary for this.

If cookies that are not absolutely necessary are used, this will only happen with your consent. In this respect, the legal basis is Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR.

In the following sections you will be informed in more detail about the use of cookies if the software used uses cookies.

Web Hosting Introduction

What is web hosting?

When you visit websites today, 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 justification. By the way, by website we mean the entirety of all web pages on a domain, ie everything from the start page (home page) to the very last sub-page (like this one). By domain we mean, for example, example.de or example.com.

When you want to view a website on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, you use a program called a web browser to do so. You probably know a few web browsers by name: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari. We call it browser or web browser for short.

To view the website, the browser needs to connect to another computer where the website's code is stored: the web server. The operation of a web server is a complicated and time-consuming task, which is why this is usually taken on by professional providers, the providers. These offer web hosting and thus ensure reliable and error-free storage of website data. A whole lot of jargon, but please stay tuned, it gets even better!

Personal data may be processed when the browser on your computer (desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone) connects and during data transfer to and from the web server. On the one hand, your computer stores data, on the other hand, the web server also has to store data for a period of time in order to ensure proper operation.

A picture says more than a thousand words, so the following graphic shows the interaction between the browser, the Internet and the hosting provider.

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of data processing are:

1. Professional website hosting and operation security
2. to maintain operational and IT security
3. Anonymous evaluation of access behavior to improve our offer and, if necessary, for criminal prosecution or the pursuit of claims

Which data are processed?

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

• the complete internet address (URL) of the accessed website
• 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.beispielquellsite.de/vondabinichgekommen/)
• the hostname and IP address of the device being accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
• Date and Time
• in files, the so-called web server log files

How long is data stored?

As a rule, the above data is stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not pass on this data, but we cannot rule out that this data will be viewed by authorities in the event of illegal behavior.

In short: Your visit will be logged by our provider (company that runs our website on special computers (servers)), but we will not pass on your data without your consent!

legal basis

The legality of the processing of personal data in the context of web hosting results from Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (protection of legitimate interests), because the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary to make the company safe and user-friendly on the Internet present and to be able to pursue attacks and claims from this if necessary.

There is usually a contract between us and the hosting provider for order processing in accordance with Art. 28 f. GDPR, which ensures compliance with data protection and guarantees data security.

Web hosting provider external data protection declaration

Below you will find the contact details of our external hosting provider, where you can find out more about data processing, in addition to the information above:

webgo GmbH
Heidenkampsweg 81
DE-20097 Hamburg

You can find out more about data processing at this provider in the Data protection.

Website modular systems Introduction

What are website building blocks?

We use a modular website system for our website. Modular systems are special forms of a content management system (CMS). With a modular system, website operators can create a website very easily and without any programming knowledge. In many cases, web hosts also offer modular systems. By using a modular system, your personal data can also be collected, stored and processed. In this data protection text we give you general information about data processing by modular systems. You can find more information in the data protection declarations of the provider.

Why do we use website building blocks for our website?

The greatest advantage of a modular system is its ease of use. We want to offer you a clear, simple and well-arranged website that we can easily operate and maintain ourselves - without external support. A modular system now offers many helpful functions that we can use even without programming knowledge. This enables us to design our website according to our wishes and offer you an informative and pleasant time on our website.

What data is stored by a modular system?

Which data is stored exactly depends of course on the website building block system used. Each provider processes and collects different data from the website visitor. However, technical usage information such as the operating system, browser, screen resolution, language and keyboard settings, hosting provider and the date of your website visit are usually collected. Tracking data (e.g. browser activity, clickstream activities, session heat maps, etc.) can also be processed. In addition, personal data can also be recorded and stored. This is mostly contact information such as email address, telephone number (if you have provided it), IP address and geographic location data. You can find out exactly which data is stored in the data protection declaration of the provider.

How long and where is the data stored?

We will inform you below about the duration of the data processing in connection with the modular website system used, provided that we have further information on this. You will find detailed information about this in the provider's data protection declaration. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. It may be that the provider stores your data according to their own specifications, over which we have no influence.

Right to object

You always have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact those responsible for the modular website system used at any time. Contact details can be found either in our data protection declaration or on the website of the relevant provider.

You can delete, disable or manage cookies that providers use for their functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Please note, however, that not all functions may then work as usual.

legal basis

We have a legitimate interest in using a modular website system to optimize our online service and present it in an efficient and user-friendly way for you. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the modular system if you have given your consent.

Insofar as the processing of data is not absolutely necessary for the operation of the website, the data will only be processed on the basis of your consent. This applies in particular to tracking activities. In this respect, the legal basis is Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR.

With this data protection declaration, we have brought you closer to the most important general information about 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 data protection declaration of the provider.

WordPress.com Privacy Policy

We use WordPress.com, a website construction kit, for our website. Service provider is the American company Automattic Inc., 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.

WordPress also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

WordPress uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, WordPress undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Data Processing Agreements, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

You can find out more about the data processed by using WordPress.com in the data protection declaration https://automattic.com/de/privacy/.

Order processing agreement (AVV) WordPress.com

We have concluded an order processing contract (AVV) with WordPress.com in accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You can read about exactly what an AVV is and, above all, what must be contained in an AVV in our general section "Order Processing Agreement (AVV)".

This contract is required by law because WordPress.com processes personal data on our behalf. This clarifies that WordPress.com may only process data that you receive from us on our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. The link to the order processing contract (AVV) can be found under https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

Web Analytics Introduction

What is web analytics?

We use software on our website to evaluate the behavior of website visitors, referred to as web analytics or web analysis. In doing so, data is collected, which the respective analytical tool provider (also called tracking tool) stores, manages and processes. With the help of the data, analyzes of user behavior on our website are made and made available to us as the website operator. In addition, most tools offer various test options. For example, we can test which offers or content are best received by our visitors. For this we show you two different offers for a limited period of time. After the test (so-called A/B test), we know which product or content our website visitors find more interesting. For such test procedures, as well as for other analytics procedures, user profiles can also be created and the data stored in cookies.

Why do we run web analytics?

With our website we have a clear goal in mind: we want to deliver the best web offer on the market for our industry. In order to achieve this goal, on the one hand we want to offer the best and most interesting offer and on the other hand we want to make sure that you feel completely comfortable on our website. With the help of web analysis tools, we can take a closer look at the behavior of our website visitors and then improve our website for you and us accordingly. For example, we can see how old our visitors are on average, where they come from, when our website is visited the most or which content or products are particularly popular. All this information helps us to optimize the website and thus adapt it to your needs, interests and wishes in the best possible way.

Which data are processed?

Which data is stored exactly depends of course on the analysis tools used. As a rule, however, what is stored is, for example, what content you view on our website, which buttons or links you click on, when you call up a page, which browser you use, which device (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) you use Visit the website or what computer system you are using. If you agree that location data may also be collected, these can also be processed by the web analysis tool provider.

Your IP address will also be saved. According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), IP addresses are personal data. However, your IP address is usually stored in pseudonymised form (i.e. in an unrecognizable and shortened form). For the purposes of testing, web analysis and web optimization, no direct data such as your name, age, address or e-mail address is stored. All of this data, if collected, is stored pseudonymised. This way you cannot be identified as a person.

The following example schematically shows how Google Analytics works as an example for client-based web tracking with Java Script code.

How long the respective data is stored always depends on the provider. Some cookies only store data for a few minutes or until you leave the website, other cookies can store data for several years.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing if we have further information on this. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. If it is required by law, such as in the case of accounting, this storage period can also be exceeded.

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 deleting the cookies in your browser.

legal basis

The use of web analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when it is collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offer technically and economically. With the help of web analytics, we can identify errors on the website, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.

As web analytics tools use cookies, we also recommend that you read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly what data is stored and processed by you, you should read the data protection declarations of the respective tools.

Information on special web analytics tools, if available, can be found in the following sections.

Facebook Conversions API Privacy Policy

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

Facebook also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Facebook uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Facebook data processing terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

You can find out more about the data processed by using the Facebook Conversions API in the Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.

Facebook Automatic Advanced Matching Privacy Policy

We have also activated Automatic Advanced Matching as part of the Facebook pixel feature. This feature of the pixel allows us to send hashed email, name, gender, city, state, zip code and date of birth or phone number to Facebook as additional information, provided you have provided us with this information. This activation enables us to tailor advertising campaigns on Facebook even more precisely to people who are interested in our services or products.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

What is Google Analytics?

We use the Google Analytics (GA) analysis tracking tool from the American company Google Inc. on our website. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. For example, if you click on a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. The reports we receive from Google Analytics allow us to better tailor our website and service to your needs. In the following we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and, above all, inform you about which data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Google Analytics is a tracking tool used to analyze traffic on our website. In order for Google Analytics to work, a tracking code is built into the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various actions that you take on our website. As soon as you leave our website, this data is sent to the Google Analytics servers and stored there.

Google processes the data and we receive reports on your user behavior. These reports may include the following:

• Target group reports: With target group reports, we get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
• Ad reports: Ad reports make it easier for us to analyze and improve our online advertising.
• Acquisition Reports: Acquisition reports provide us with helpful information on how to attract more people to our service.
• Behavior Reports: Here we learn how you interact with our website. We can understand which path you take on our site and which links you click on.
• Conversion reports: Conversion is a process in which you perform a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a mere website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports enable us to learn more about how our marketing measures are resonating with you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
• Real-time reports: Here we always know immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

The statistically evaluated data give us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that interested people can find it more easily on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. We therefore know exactly what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also helps us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures more individually and cost-effectively. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who care.

What data is stored by Google Analytics?

Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID that is linked to your browser cookie. This is how Google Analytics recognizes you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a "returning" user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID. This makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles in the first place.

In order to be able to analyze our website with Google Analytics, a property ID must be included in the tracking code. The data is then stored in the corresponding property. For each newly created property, the Google Analytics 4 property is the default. Alternatively, you can also create the Universal Analytics property. Depending on the property used, data is stored for different lengths of time.

Identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs are used to measure your interactions on our website. Interactions are any type of action you take on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated via Google Analytics can be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not pass on Google Analytics data unless we as the website operator authorize this. Exceptions may arise if required by law.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Surname: _ga
Value: 2.1326744211.152121840838-5
Purpose of use: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it serves to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152121840838-1
Purpose of use: The cookie is also used to distinguish between website visitors
Expiry Date: after 24 hours

Surname: _gat_gtag_UA_
Value: 1
Purpose of use: Used to lower the request rate. If Google Analytics is provided via Google Tag Manager, this cookie will be named _dc_gtm_ .
Expiry Date: after 1 minute

Surname: AMP_TOKEN
Value: not specified
Purpose of use: The cookie has a token that can be used to retrieve a User ID from the AMP Client ID service. Other possible values indicate an opt-out, a request, or an error.
Expiry Date: after 30 seconds up to a year

Surname: __utma
Value: 1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to track your behavior on the website and measure performance. The cookie is updated each time information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: __utmt
Value: 1
Purpose of use: The cookie will be like _gat_gtag_UA_ used to throttle the request rate.
Expiry Date: after 10 minutes

Surname: __utmb
Value: 3.10.1564498958
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to determine new sessions. It is updated every time new data or information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry Date: after 30 minutes

Surname: __utmc
Value: 167421564
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to set new sessions for returning visitors. This is a session cookie and is only stored until you close the browser.
Expiry Date: After closing the browser

Surname: __utmz
Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
Purpose of use: The cookie is used to identify the source of traffic to our website. This means that the cookie stores where you came from on our website. That could have been another page or an advertisement.
Expiry Date: after 6 months

Surname: __utmv
Value: not specified
Purpose of use: The cookie is used to store custom user data. It is always updated when information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Annotation: This list cannot claim to be complete, since Google is constantly changing the choice of its cookies.

Here we show you an overview of the most important data that is collected with Google Analytics:

Heat maps: Google creates so-called heat maps. Heatmaps show exactly those areas that you click on. This is how we get information about where you are on our site.

Session duration: Google describes the session duration as the time you spend on our site without leaving the site. If you have been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.

bounce rate (Bounce rate): A bounce is when you only view one page on our website and then leave our website again.

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

IP address: The IP address is only shown in abbreviated form so that no clear assignment is possible.

Location: The country and your approximate location can be determined via the IP address. This process is also referred to as IP location determination.

Technical information: The technical information includes, among other things, your browser type, your Internet provider or your screen resolution.

Source of origin: Of course, Google Analytics or us are also interested in which website or which advertisement you came to our site from.

Other data are contact details, any ratings, playing media (e.g. if you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media or adding it to your favorites. The list does not claim to be complete and only serves as a general guide to data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has distributed their servers all over the world. Most of the servers are located in America and consequently your data is mostly stored on American servers. Here you can read exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed across different physical media. This has the advantage that the data can be called up more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. Every Google data center has emergency programs for your data. For example, if Google's hardware fails or natural disasters paralyze servers, the risk of a service interruption at Google remains low.

The retention period of the data depends on the properties used. When using the newer Google Analytics 4 properties, the retention period for your user data is fixed at 14 months. For other so-called event data, we have the option of choosing a retention period of 2 months or 14 months.

With Universal Analytics properties, Google Analytics has a standardized retention period of 26 months for your user data. Then your user data will be deleted. However, we have the option of choosing the retention period for user data ourselves. We have five options available for this:

• Deletion after 14 months
• Deletion after 26 months
• Deletion after 38 months
• Deletion after 50 months
• No automatic deletion

In addition, there is also the option that data will only be deleted if you no longer visit our website within the period of time chosen by us. In this case, the retention period will be reset each time you visit our website again within the specified period.

When the specified period has expired, the data will be deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data associated with cookies, user recognition 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 merging of individual data into a larger unit.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to access, update, delete or restrict your data. You can prevent Google Analytics from using your data by using the browser add-on to disable Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js). You can download the browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de download and install. Please note that this add-on only disables data collection by Google Analytics.

If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the corresponding links to the instructions for the most popular browsers under the “Cookies” section.

legal basis

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when it is collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, there is a legitimate interest on our part in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offer technically and economically. With the help of Google Analytics, we can identify errors on the website, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/.

We hope we were able to give you an understanding of the most important information about data processing by Google Analytics. If you want to learn more about the tracking service, we recommend these two links: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/de/ and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de.

Order processing contract (AVV) Google Analytics

We have concluded an order processing contract (AVV) with Google in accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You can read about exactly what an AVV is and, above all, what must be contained in an AVV in our general section "Order Processing Agreement (AVV)".

This contract is required by law because Google processes personal data on our behalf. This clarifies that Google may only process data that you receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. The link to the order data processing conditions can be found under https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/

Google Analytics reports on demographics and interests

We have activated the functions for advertising reports in Google Analytics. The Demographics and Interests reports include information about age, gender, and interests. This enables us to get a better picture of our users without being able to assign this data to individual persons. You can learn more about the advertising features at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=de_AT&utm_id=ad.

You can control the use of your Google Account activity and information under “Advertising Settings”. https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated exit via checkbox.

Google Analytics in consent mode

Depending on your consent, your personal data will be processed by Google Analytics in the so-called consent mode. You can choose whether or not to accept Google Analytics cookies. This also allows you to choose which data Google Analytics may process from you. This collected data is mainly used to measure user behavior on the website, to serve targeted advertising and to provide us with web analysis reports. As a rule, you consent to data processing by Google via a cookie consent tool. If you do not consent to data processing, only aggregated data will be collected and processed. This means that data cannot be assigned to individual users and therefore no user profile is created for you. You can also only agree to the statistical measurement. No personal data is processed and therefore not used for advertising or advertising measurement sequences.

Google Analytics IP anonymization

We have implemented Google Analytics IP address anonymization on this website. This function was developed by Google so that this website can comply with applicable data protection regulations and recommendations from local data protection authorities if they prohibit the storage of the full IP address. The IP is anonymized or masked as soon as the IP addresses arrive in the Google Analytics data collection network and before the data is stored or processed.

More information on IP anonymization can be found at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=de.

Google Optimize Privacy Policy

We use Google Optimize, a website optimization tool, on our website. The service provider is the American company Google Inc. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/.

You can find out more about the data processed by using Google Optimize in the Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Order processing agreement (AVV) Google Optimize

We have concluded an order processing contract (AVV) with Google in accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You can read about exactly what an AVV is and, above all, what must be contained in an AVV in our general section "Order Processing Agreement (AVV)".

This contract is required by law because Google processes personal data on our behalf. This clarifies that Google may only process data that you receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. The link to the order data processing conditions can be found under https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy

What is Google Site Kit?

We have integrated the WordPress plugin Google Site Kit from the American company Google Inc. into our website. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. With Google Site Kit, we can quickly and easily view statistics coming from various Google products such as Google Analytics directly in our WordPress dashboard. The tool or the tools integrated into Google Site Kit also collect personal data from you, among other things. In this data protection declaration, we explain why we use Google Site Kit, how long and where data is stored and which other data protection texts are relevant to you in this context.

Google Site Kit is a plugin for the WordPress content management system. With this plugin we can view important website analysis statistics directly in our dashboard. These are statistics collected by other Google products. Above all by Google Analytics. In addition to Google Analytics, the services Google Search Console, Page Speed Insight, Google AdSense, Google Optimize and Google Tag Manager can also be linked to Google Site Kit.

Why do we use Google Site Kit on our website?

As a service provider, it is our job to offer you the best possible experience on our website. We want you to feel comfortable on our website and find exactly what you are looking for quickly and easily. Statistical evaluations help us to get to know you better and to adapt our offer to your wishes and interests. We use various Google tools for these evaluations. Site Kit makes our work a lot easier in this regard because we can view and analyze the statistics of Google products right in the dashboard. We no longer have to register separately for the respective tool. Site Kit thus always offers a good overview of the most important analysis data.

What data is stored by Google Site Kit?

If you have actively consented to tracking tools in the cookie notice (also called script or banner), Google products such as Google Analytics will set cookies and your data, such as your user behavior, will be sent to Google, where it will be stored and processed. This also includes personal data such as your IP address.

For more detailed information on the individual services, we have separate text sections in this data protection declaration. For example, see our Google Analytics Privacy Policy. Here we go into the collected data very precisely. You can find out how long Google Analytics stores, manages and processes data, which cookies can be used and how you can prevent data storage. We also have our own data protection declarations with comprehensive information for other Google services such as Google Tag Manager or Google AdSense.

In the following we show you examples of Google Analytics cookies that can be set in your browser if you have given your consent to data processing by Google. Please note that these cookies are just a selection:

Surname: _ga
Value:2.1326744211.152121840838-2
Purpose of use: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it serves to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: _gid
Value:2.1687193234.152121840838-7
Purpose of use: This cookie is also used to distinguish between website visitors.
Expiry Date: after 24 hours

Surname: _gat_gtag_UA_
Value: 1
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to lower the request rate.
Expiry Date: after 1 minute

How long and where is the data stored?

Google stores collected data on its own Google servers, which are distributed worldwide. Most of the servers are located in the United States and therefore it is quite possible that your data will also be stored there. On https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de see exactly where the company deploys servers.

Data collected by Google Analytics is stored for a standardized period of 26 months. Your user data will then be deleted. The retention period applies to all data associated with cookies, user identification and advertising IDs.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You always have the right to receive information about your data, to have your data deleted, corrected or restricted. You can also deactivate, delete or manage cookies in your browser at any time.

If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the corresponding links to the instructions for the most popular browsers under the “Cookies” section.

legal basis

The use of Google Site Kit requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when it is collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, there is a legitimate interest on our part in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offer technically and economically. With the help of Google Site Kit, we can identify errors on the website, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Google Site Kit if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/

To find out more about data processing by Google, we recommend that you read Google's comprehensive data protection guidelines at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Social Media Introduction

What is social media?

In addition to our website, we are also active on various social media platforms. Data from users can be processed so that we can specifically address users who are interested in us via the social networks. In addition, elements of a social media platform may also be embedded directly into our website. This is the case, for example, if you click on a so-called social button on our website and are forwarded directly to our social media presence. So-called social media or social media refers to websites and apps through which registered members can produce content, exchange content openly or in certain groups and network with other members.

Why do we use social media?

For years, social media platforms have been where people communicate and connect online. With our social media appearances, we can bring our products and services closer to interested parties. The social media elements integrated into our website help you to be able to switch to our social media content quickly and without complications.

The data that is stored and processed as a result of your use of a social media channel is primarily intended to be able to carry out web analyses. The aim of these analyzes is to be able to develop more precise and personal marketing and advertising strategies. Depending on your behavior on a social media platform, the evaluated data can be used to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests and so-called user profiles can be created. It is also possible for the platforms to present you with customized advertisements. In most cases, cookies are set in your browser for this purpose, which store data on your usage behavior.

We generally assume that we remain responsible under data protection law, even if we use the services of a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has decided that in certain cases the operator of the social media platform can be jointly responsible with us within the meaning of Art. 26 DSGVO. If this is the case, we will point this out separately and work on the basis of a relevant agreement. The essence of the agreement is then reproduced below for the platform concerned.

Please note that when using the 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 not be able to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data as easily.

Which data are processed?

Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective provider of the social media platform. But usually it is data such as telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, data that you enter in a contact form, user data such as which buttons you click, who you like or follow, when you visited which pages, information about your device and your IP address. Most of this data is stored in cookies. Especially if you have a profile on the visited social media channel and are logged in, data can be linked to your profile.

All data collected via a social media platform is also stored on the providers' servers. This means that only the providers have access to the data and can give you the right information or make changes.

If you want to know exactly what data is stored and processed by the social media providers and how you can object to data processing, you should carefully read the company's data protection declaration. Even if you have questions about data storage and data processing or want to assert corresponding rights, we recommend that you contact the provider directly.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing if we have further information on this. For example, the social media platform Facebook stores data until it is no longer needed for its own purposes. Customer data that is compared with your own user data will be deleted within two days. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. If it is required by law, such as in the case of accounting, this storage period can also be exceeded.

Right to object

You also have the right and the ability to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers such as embedded social media elements 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 the cookies in your browser.

Since cookies can be used with social media tools, we also recommend our general data protection declaration on cookies. To find out exactly what data is stored and processed by you, you should read the data protection declarations of the respective tools.

legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest if you have given your consent (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy statement on cookies carefully and consult the privacy statement or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

Information on special social media platforms - if available - can be found in the following sections.

Facebook Privacy Policy

What are Facebook tools?

We use selected Facebook tools on our website. Facebook is a social media network of the company Meta Platforms Inc. or for the European area of the company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. These tools allow us to offer you and people who are interested in our products and services the best possible offer.

If data is collected and forwarded from you via our embedded Facebook elements or via our Facebook page (fan page), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. responsible for. Facebook is solely responsible for the further processing of this data. Our joint commitments were also included in a publicly available agreement https://www.facebook.com/legal/controller_addendum anchored. This states, for example, that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our site. Furthermore, we are also responsible for ensuring that the tools are securely integrated into our website in accordance with data protection law. Facebook, on the other hand, is responsible for the data security of Facebook products, for example. If you have any questions about data collection and data processing by Facebook, you can contact the company directly. If you address the question to us, we are obliged to forward it to Facebook.

Below we provide an overview of the various Facebook tools, what data is sent to Facebook and how you can delete this data.

In addition to many other products, Facebook also offers the so-called “Facebook Business Tools”. This is the official name of Facebook. But since the term is hardly known, we decided to just call them Facebook tools. These include, among others:

• Facebook pixel
• social plug-ins (such as the "Like" or "Share" button)
• Facebook login
• Account Kit
• APIs (programming interface)
• SDKs (collection of programming tools)
• Platform Integrations
• plugins
• codes
• specifications
• documentations
• Technologies and Services

Through these tools, Facebook expands its services and has the ability to receive information about 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 really interested in them. With the help of advertisements (Facebook ads) we can reach exactly these people. In order to be able to show users appropriate advertising, however, Facebook needs information about people's wishes and needs. Information about user behavior (and contact details) is made available to the company on our website. As a result, Facebook collects better user data and can show interested people appropriate advertising about our products or services. The tools thus enable tailor-made advertising campaigns on Facebook.

Facebook calls data about your behavior on our website “event data”. These are also used for measurement and analysis services. Facebook can thus create "campaign reports" on our behalf about the effect of our advertising campaigns. Furthermore, through analyzes we get a better insight into how you use our services, website or products. As a result, we use some of these tools to optimize your user experience on our website. For example, you can use the social plug-ins to share content on our site directly on Facebook.

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

By using individual Facebook tools, personal data (customer data) can be sent to Facebook. Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number and IP address can be sent.

Facebook uses this information to match the data with the data it has from you (if you are a Facebook member). Before customer data is transmitted to Facebook, so-called "hashing" takes place. This means that a data set of any size is transformed into a character string. This is also used to encrypt data.

In addition to the contact data, "event data" is also transmitted. "Event data" means the information that we receive about you on our website. For example, which subpages you visit or which products you buy from us. Facebook does not share the information it receives with third parties (such as advertisers) unless the company has explicit permission or is legally required to do so. "Event data" may also be linked to contact information. This allows Facebook to offer better personalized advertising. After the matching process already mentioned, Facebook deletes the contact data again.

In order to be able to deliver advertisements in an optimized manner, Facebook only uses the event data if it has been combined with other data (which was collected by Facebook in a different way). Facebook also uses this event data for security, protection, development and research purposes. Much of this data is transmitted to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are small text files that are used to store data or information in browsers. Depending on the tools used and whether you are a Facebook member, a different number of cookies will be created in your browser. In the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools, we go into more detail about individual 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 is the data stored?

In principle, Facebook stores data until it is no longer required for its own services and Facebook products. Facebook has servers all over the world where its data is stored. However, customer data will be deleted within 48 hours after it has been compared with your own user data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to information, correction, transferability and deletion of your data.

The data will only be completely deleted if you completely delete your Facebook account. And this is how deleting your Facebook account works:

1) Click Settings on the right side of Facebook.

2) Then click on "Your Facebook Information" in the left column.

3) Now click “Deactivation and Deletion”.

4) Now select “Delete Account” and then click “Next and Delete Account”

5) Now enter your password, click on "Next" and then on "Delete Account"

The data that Facebook receives via our site is stored, among other things, via cookies (e.g. in the case of social plugins). You can deactivate, delete or manage individual or all cookies in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

If you generally do not want any cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. You can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow it or not.

legal basis

If you have agreed that your data can be processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy statement on cookies carefully and consult Facebook's privacy policy or cookie policy.

Facebook also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Facebook uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Facebook data processing terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

We hope we have given you the most important information about the use and data processing by the Facebook tools. If you want to learn more about how Facebook uses your data, we recommend the data guidelines on https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Facebook Login Privacy Policy

We have integrated the practical Facebook login on our site. You can easily log in to us with your Facebook account without having to create another user account. If you decide to register via the Facebook login, you will be redirected to the social media network Facebook. There you can register using your Facebook user data. This login procedure saves data about you and your user behavior and transmits it to Facebook.

In order to save the data, Facebook uses various cookies. In the following we show you the most important cookies that are set in your browser or already exist when you log in to our site using the Facebook login:

Surname: fr
Value: 0jieyh4c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to ensure that the social plugin on our website works in the best possible way.
Expiry Date: after 3 months

Surname: datr
Value: 4Jh7XUA2121840838SEmPsSfzCOO4JFFl
Purpose of use: Facebook sets the "datr" cookie when a web browser accesses facebook.com, and the cookie helps identify login activity and protect users.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: _js_datr
Value: deleted
Purpose of use: Facebook sets this session cookie for tracking purposes, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are logged out.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Annotation: The cookies listed are just a small selection of the cookies available to Facebook. Other cookies are, for example, _ fbp, sb or wd. A complete list is not possible because Facebook has a large number of cookies and uses them variably.

On the one hand, the Facebook login offers you a quick and easy registration process, on the other hand we have the opportunity to share data with Facebook. This allows us to better tailor our offering and our promotions to your interests and needs. Data that we receive from Facebook in this way is public data such as

• your facebook name
• your profile picture
• a registered email address
• friend lists
• Button information (e.g. "Like" button)
• birthday date
• Language
• Residence

In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activities on our website. This includes information about the device you are using, which subpages you visit or which products you have purchased from us.

By using Facebook Login, you agree to the data processing. You can revoke this agreement at any time. If you want to find out more information about data processing by Facebook, we recommend the Facebook data protection declaration below https://www.facebook.com/policy.php?tid=121840838.

If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements under https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/advertisers/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen change yourself.

Facebook Social Plugins Privacy Policy

So-called social plug-ins from Meta Platforms Inc. are installed on our website. You can recognize these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, such as the "Like" button (the hand with the thumb raised) or by a clear "Facebook plug-in" label. A social plugin is a small piece of Facebook that is integrated into our site. Each plugin has its own function. The most used features are the familiar “Like” and “Share” buttons.

The following social plug-ins are offered by Facebook:

• “Save” button
• Like button, share, send and quote
• Page Plugin
• Comments
• Messenger plugin
• Embedded posts and video player
• Groups plugin

On https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins you will receive more detailed information on how the individual plug-ins are used. We use the social plug-ins on the one hand to offer you a better user experience on our site and on the other hand because Facebook can use them to optimize our advertisements.

If you have a Facebook account or https://www.facebook.com/ If you have visited before, Facebook has already set 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 site or interact with social plug-ins (e.g. the "Like" button).

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

In order to prevent Facebook from collecting a lot of data during your visit to our website and connecting it to Facebook data, you must log out of Facebook while you are visiting the website (log out).

If you are not logged into Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser will send less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. Nevertheless, data such as your IP address or which website you visit can be transmitted to Facebook. We would like to expressly point out that we do not know the exact content of the data. However, based on our current state of knowledge, we try to inform you as much as possible about data processing. You can also find out how Facebook uses the data in the company's data policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update read.

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

Surname: dpr
Value: not specified
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to make the social plugins work on our website.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Surname: fr
Value: 0jieyh4121840838c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose of use: The cookie is also necessary for the plug-ins to function properly.
Expiry Date:: after 3 months

Annotation: These cookies were set after a test, even if you are not a Facebook member.

If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements under https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/advertisers/ change yourself. If you are not a Facebook user, you can https://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/?tid=121840838 basically manage your usage-based online advertising. There you have the option of deactivating or activating providers.

If you want to learn more about Facebook's privacy policy, we recommend the company's own privacy policy https://www.facebook.com/policy.php?tip=121840838.

Facebook fan page privacy policy

We also have a Facebook fan page for our website. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. The company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible for the European area.

Facebook also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Facebook uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Facebook data processing terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

You can find out more about the data processed by using Facebook in the privacy policy https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.

Instagram Privacy Policy

What is Instagram?

We have integrated Instagram functions on our website. Instagram is a social media platform operated by Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA. Instagram has been a subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc. since 2012 and is one of the Facebook products. Embedding Instagram content on our website is called embedding. This enables us to show you content such as buttons, photos or videos from Instagram directly on our website. If you call up web pages on our website that have an integrated Instagram function, data will be transmitted to Instagram, stored and processed. Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook. Your data will thus be processed across all Facebook companies.

In the following we would like to give you a more detailed insight into why Instagram collects data, what data it is and how you can largely control the data processing. Since Instagram is owned by Meta Platforms Inc., we get our information from the Instagram policies on the one hand, but also from the Meta Privacy Policy on the other.

Instagram is one of the most well-known social media networks worldwide. Instagram combines the advantages of a blog with the advantages of audiovisual platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. You can upload photos and short videos to "Insta" (as many users casually call the platform), edit them with various filters and also share them on other social networks. And if you don't want to be active yourself, you can just follow other interesting users.

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

Instagram is the social media platform that has really taken off in recent years. And of course we also reacted to this boom. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website. Therefore, a varied preparation of our content is a matter of course for us. The embedded Instagram functions allow us to enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting content from the Instagram world. Since Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook, the data collected can also be useful for personalized advertising on Facebook. In this way, our advertisements only get to people who are really interested in our products or services.

Instagram also uses the collected data for measurement and analysis purposes. We get summarized statistics and thus more insight into your wishes and interests. It is important to note that these reports do not personally identify you.

What data is stored by Instagram?

When you come across one of our pages that has Instagram features (such as Instagram images or plugins) built in, your browser automatically connects to Instagram's servers. Data is sent to Instagram, stored and processed. This is regardless of whether you have an Instagram account or not. This includes information about our website, about your computer, about purchases made, about advertisements that you see and how you use our offer. Furthermore, the date and time of your interaction with Instagram are also saved. If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram stores significantly more data about you.

Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data. We assume that this is the case with Instagram as well. Customer data are, for example, name, address, telephone number and IP address. This customer data will only be transmitted to Instagram if it has been "hashed" beforehand. Hashing means converting a record into a string. This allows you to encrypt the contact data. In addition, the “event data” mentioned above are also transmitted. Facebook – and consequently also Instagram – understands “event data” to be data about your user behavior. It can also happen that contact data is combined with event data. The contact data collected will be compared with the data that Instagram already has from you.

The collected data is transmitted to Facebook via small text files (cookies), which are usually set in your browser. Depending on the Instagram functions used and whether you have an Instagram account yourself, different amounts of data are stored.

We assume that data processing works the same on Instagram as on Facebook. That means: if you have an Instagram account or www.instagram.com visited, Instagram has set at least one cookie. If this is the case, your browser sends information to Instagram via the cookie as soon as you come into contact with an Instagram function. This data will be deleted or made anonymous again after 90 days at the latest (after comparison). Although we have dealt intensively with Instagram's data processing, we cannot say exactly what data Instagram collects and stores.

In the following we show you cookies that are set in your browser at least when you click on an Instagram function (such as a button or an Insta image). In our test, we assume that you do not have an Instagram account. Of course, if you are logged in to Instagram, significantly more cookies will be set in your browser.

These cookies were used in our test:

Surname: csrftoken
Value: “”
Purpose of use: This cookie is set with high probability for security reasons to prevent falsification of requests. However, we could not find out more precisely.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: middle
Value: “”
Purpose of use: Instagram sets this cookie to optimize its own services and offers on and off Instagram. The cookie defines a unique user ID.
Expiry Date: after the end of the session

Surname: fbsr_121840838124024
Value: not specified
Purpose of use: This cookie stores the log-in request for users of the Instagram app.
Expiry Date: after the end of the session

Surname: right
Value: ATN
Purpose of use: This is an Instagram cookie that ensures functionality on Instagram.
Expiry Date: after the end of the session

Surname: holidays
Value: “{”194.96.75.33”:1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe121840838”
Purpose of use: This cookie is used for Instagram marketing purposes.
Expiry Date: after the end of the session

Annotation: We cannot claim completeness here. Which cookies are set in the individual case depends on the embedded functions and your use of Instagram.

How long and where is the data stored?

Instagram shares the information it receives between the Facebook companies with external partners and with people you connect with around the world. Data processing is carried out in compliance with our own data policy. For security reasons, among other things, your data is distributed across the world on Facebook servers. Most of these servers are located in the USA.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to information, transferability, correction and deletion of your data. You can manage your data in the Instagram settings. If you want to completely erase your data on Instagram, you need to permanently delete your Instagram account.

And this is how the Instagram account deletion works:

First, open the Instagram app. On your profile page, go down and click on "Help Center". You are now on the company's website. On the webpage, click "Manage Account" and then click "Delete Your Account".

If you delete your account entirely, Instagram will delete posts such as your photos and status updates. Information that other people have shared about you is not part of your account and consequently will not be deleted.

As already mentioned above, Instagram stores your data primarily via cookies. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies in your browser. Management always works a bit differently depending on your browser. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

You can also basically set up your browser so that you are always informed when a cookie is 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 your data being processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy statement on cookies carefully and consult the privacy statement or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

Instagram and Facebook also process data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Facebook uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). These clauses oblige Facebook to comply with EU data protection standards when processing relevant data outside of the EU. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here: https://germany.representation.ec.europa.eu/index_de.

We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Instagram. On https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
you can learn more about Instagram's data policies.

Pinterest Privacy Policy

What is Pinterest?

On our website we use buttons and widgets from the social media network Pinterest, from Pinterest Inc., 808 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. For the European area, the Irish company Pinterest Europe Ltd. (Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland) responsible for all data protection-related aspects.

Pinterest is a social network that specializes in graphics or photographs. The name is made up of the two words "pin" and "interest". Users can exchange information about various hobbies and interests via Pinterest and view the respective profiles with pictures openly or in defined groups.

Why do we use Pinterest?

Pinterest has been around for a few years now and this social media platform is still one of the most visited and valued platforms. Pinterest is particularly suitable for our industry because the platform is primarily known for beautiful and interesting pictures. That is why we are of course also represented on Pinterest and want to present our content appropriately away from our website. The data collected can also be used for advertising purposes, so that we can show advertising messages to precisely those people who are interested in our services or products.

What data does Pinterest process?

So-called log data can be stored. This includes information about your browser, IP address, the address of our website and the activities carried out on it (for example if you click the save or pin button), search histories, date and time of the request and cookie and device data. If you interact with an embedded Pinterest function, cookies that store various data can also be set in your browser. Most of the time, the above log data, language preferences and clickstream data are stored in cookies. Pinterest understands clickstream data as information about your website behavior.

If you have a Pinterest account yourself and are logged in, the information collected through our site may be added to your account and used for advertising purposes. If you interact with our integrated Pinterest functions, you will usually be redirected to the Pinterest page. Here you can see a sample selection of cookies that are then set in your browser.

Surname: _auth
Value: 0
Purpose of use: The cookie is used for authentication. For example, a value such as your “username” can be stored in it. 
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: _pinterest_referrer
Value: 1
Purpose of use: The cookie stores that you reached Pinterest via our website. So the URL of our website is saved.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Surname: _pinterest_sess
Value: …9HRHZvVE0rQlUxdG89
Purpose of use: The cookie is used to log into Pinterest and contains user IDs, authentication tokens and timestamps.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: _routing_id
Value: “8d850ddd-4fb8-499c-961c-77efae9d4065121840838-8”
Purpose of use: The cookie contains an assigned value that is used to identify a specific routing destination.
Expiry Date: after a day

Surname: cm_sub
Value: denied
Purpose of use: This cookie stores a user ID and timestamp.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: csrftoken
Value: 9e49145c82a93d34fd933b0fd8446165121840838-1
Purpose of use: This cookie is set with high probability for security reasons to prevent falsification of requests. However, we could not find out more precisely.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: sessionFunnelEventLogged
Value: 1
Purpose of use: We have not yet been able to find out any further information about this cookie.
Expiry Date: after a day

How long and where is the data stored?

Pinterest generally stores the collected data until it is no longer needed for the purposes of the company. As soon as data storage is no longer necessary, for example to comply with legal regulations, the data will either be deleted or made anonymous so that you can no longer be identified as a person. The data can also be stored on American servers.

Right to object

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers such as Pinterest 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 the cookies in your browser.

Since cookies can be used for embedded Pinterest elements, we also recommend our general data protection declaration on cookies. To find out exactly what data is stored and processed by you, you should read the data protection declarations of the respective tools.

legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tool if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy statement on cookies carefully and consult the privacy statement or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

Pinterest also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Pinterest uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Pinterest undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de.

You can find more information about the standard contractual clauses at Pinterest under https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy#section-residents-of-the-eea.

We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Pinterest. On https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy you can learn more about Pinterest's data policies.

Twitter Privacy Policy

What is Twitter?

We have integrated functions from Twitter on our website. These are, for example, embedded tweets, timelines, buttons or hashtags. Twitter is a short message service and social media platform operated by Twitter Inc., One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2 D02 AX07, Ireland.

As far as we know, in the European Economic Area and in Switzerland, the mere integration of the Twitter function does not transfer any personal data or data about your web activities to Twitter. Only when you interact with the Twitter functions, such as clicking on a button, can data be sent to Twitter, stored and processed there. We have no influence on this data processing and bear no responsibility. As part of this data protection declaration, we want to give you an overview of what data Twitter stores, what Twitter does with this data and how you can largely protect yourself from data transmission.

For some, Twitter is a news service, for others a social media platform, and still others speak of a microblogging service. All of these terms have their place and mean more or less the same thing.

Both private individuals and companies use Twitter to communicate with interested people via short messages. Twitter only allows 280 characters per message. These messages are called "tweets". Unlike Facebook, for example, the service does not focus on expanding a network for “friends”, but wants to be understood as a worldwide and open news platform. You can also have an anonymous account on Twitter and tweets can be deleted by the company on the one hand and by the users themselves on the other.

Why do we use Twitter on our website?

Like many other websites and companies, we try to offer our services and services through different channels and to communicate with our customers. Twitter, in particular, has become dear to us as a useful “small” news service. Again and again we tweet or retweet exciting, funny or interesting content. We realize that you cannot follow every channel separately. After all, you have other things to do as well. That is why we have also included Twitter functions on our website. You can experience our Twitter activity 'on the spot' or follow a direct link to our Twitter page. With the integration, we want to strengthen our service and user-friendliness on our website.

What data does Twitter store?

On some of our subpages you will find the built-in Twitter functions. If you interact with the Twitter content, such as clicking on a button, Twitter can collect and store data. Even if you don't have a Twitter account yourself. Twitter calls this data “log data”. This includes demographic data, browser cookie IDs, your smartphone ID, hashed email addresses, and information about which pages you have visited on Twitter and what actions you have taken. Of course, Twitter stores more data if you have a Twitter account and are logged in. This storage is mostly done via cookies. Cookies are small text files that are usually set in your browser and transmit various information to Twitter.

We will now show you which cookies are set if you are not logged in to Twitter but visit a website with built-in Twitter functions. Please consider this list as an example. Under no circumstances can we guarantee completeness here, since the choice of cookies is always changing and depends on your individual actions with the Twitter content.

These cookies were used in our test:

Surname: personalization_id
Value: “v1_cSJIsogU51SeE121840838”
Purpose of use: This cookie stores information about how you use the website and what advertisements you may have come to Twitter from.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: long
Value: en
Purpose of use: This cookie saves your default or preferred language.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Surname: guest_id
Value: 121840838v1157132626
Purpose of use: This cookie is set to identify you as a guest. 
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: FM
Value: 0
Purpose of use: Unfortunately, we were not able to find out the intended use of this cookie.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Surname: external_referer
Value: 1218408382beTA0sf5lkMrlGt
Purpose of use: This cookie collects anonymous data such as how often you visit Twitter and how long you visit Twitter.
Expiry Date: After 6 days

Surname: eu_cn
Value: 1
Purpose of use: This cookie stores user activity and is used for various advertising purposes by Twitter.
Expiry Date: After a year

Surname: ct0
Value: c1179f07163a365d2ed7aad84c99d966
Purpose of use: Unfortunately, we did not find any information about this cookie.
Expiry Date: after 6 hours

Surname: _twitter_sess
Value: 53D3D–dd0248121840838-
Purpose of use: With this cookie you can use functions within the Twitter website.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Annotation: Twitter also works with third parties. That's why we also recognized the three Google Analytics cookies _ga, _gat, _gid in our test.

On the one hand, Twitter uses the collected data to better understand user behavior and thus to improve its own services and advertising offers, on the other hand, the data is also used for internal security measures.

How long and where is the data stored?

If Twitter collects data from other websites, it will be deleted, aggregated or otherwise hidden after a maximum of 30 days. The Twitter servers are located at various server centers in the United States. It can therefore be assumed that the data collected will be collected and stored in America. After our research, we were not able to determine for sure whether Twitter also has its own servers in Europe. In principle, Twitter can store the collected data until it is no longer useful for the company, you delete the data or there is a legal deletion period.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

In its data protection guidelines, Twitter repeatedly emphasizes that it does not store any data from external website visits if you or your browser are located in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. However, if you interact directly with Twitter, Twitter will of course also store your data.

If you have a Twitter account, you can manage your information by clicking "More" under the "Profile" button. Then click on “Settings and data protection”. Here you can manage the data processing individually.

If you don't have a Twitter account, you can twitter.com and then click on "Personalization". You can manage the data you have collected under the item "Individualization and data".

As mentioned above, most data is stored via cookies and you can manage, deactivate or delete them in your browser. Please note that you only “edit” the cookies in the browser you have chosen. This means: if you use a different browser in the future, you will have to manage your cookies there again according to your wishes. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

You can also manage your browser so that you are informed of each individual cookie. Then you can always decide individually whether you allow a cookie or not.

Twitter also uses the data for personalized advertising inside and outside of Twitter. You can switch off personalized advertising in the settings under "Individualization and data". If you use Twitter on a browser, you can see personalized advertising at https://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2&lang=EN deactivate.

legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy statement on cookies carefully and consult the privacy statement or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

Twitter also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As a basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Twitter uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Twitter undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

You can find more information about the standard contractual clauses on Twitter at https://gdpr.twitter.com/en/controller-to-controller-transfers.html.

We hope we have given you a basic overview of data processing by Twitter. We do not receive any data from Twitter and are not responsible for what Twitter does with your data. If you have any further questions on this topic, we recommend that you read the Twitter data protection declaration at https://twitter.com/de/privacy.

XING data protection declaration

What is Xing?

On our website we use social plugins from the social media network Xing, the company Xing SE, Dammtorstraße 30, 20354 Hamburg, Germany. With these functions, you can, for example, share content directly on Xing via our website, log in via Xing or follow interesting content. You can recognize the plug-ins by the company name or the Xing logo. If you call up a website that uses a Xing plug-in, data can be transmitted to the "Xing server", stored and evaluated. In this data protection declaration, we want to inform you about what data is involved and how you can manage or prevent this data storage.

Xing is a social network headquartered in Hamburg. The company specializes in managing professional contacts. In other words, unlike other networks, Xing is primarily about professional networking. The platform is often used for job hunting or to find employees for your own company. In addition, Xing offers interesting content on various professional topics. The global counterpart to this is the American company LinkedIn.

Why do we use Xing on our website?

There is now a flood of social media channels and we are well aware that your time is very valuable. Not every social media channel of a company can be scrutinized closely. That's why we want to make your life as easy as possible so that you can share or follow interesting content directly from our website on Xing. With such "social plug-ins" we expand our service on our website. In addition, the data collected by Xing helps us to carry out targeted advertising measures on the platform. This means that our service is only shown to people who are really interested in it.

Which data is stored by Xing?

Xing offers the share button, the follow button and the log-in button as plugins for websites. As soon as you open a page where a Xing social plug-in is installed, your browser connects to servers in a data center used by Xing. In the case of the share button - according to Xing - no data should be stored that could derive a direct reference to a person. In particular, Xing does not store any of your IP addresses. Furthermore, no cookies are set in connection with the share button. This means that there is no evaluation of your user behavior. For more information, go to https://dev.xing.com/plugins/share_button/privacy_policy

With the other Xing plug-ins, cookies are only set in your browser when you interact with the plug-in or click on it. Personal data such as your IP address, browser data, date and time of your page view on Xing can be stored here. If you have a XING account and are logged in, the data collected will be assigned to your personal account and the data stored in it.

The following cookies are set in your browser if you click on the follow or log-in button and are not yet logged in to Xing. Please keep in mind that this is an example list and we cannot claim to be complete:

Surname: AMCVS_0894FF2554F733210A4C98C6AdobeOrg
Value: 1
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to create and store identification of website visitors.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Surname: c_
Value: 157c609dc9fe7d7ff56064c6de87b019121840838-8
Purpose of use: We were not able to find out any further information about this cookie.
Expiry Date: after a day

Surname: prevPage
Value: wbmWelcomelogin
Purpose of use: This cookie stores the URL of the previous website you visited.
Expiry Date: after 30 minutes

Surname: s_cc
Value: true
Purpose of use: This Adobe Site Catalyst cookie determines whether cookies are generally enabled in the browser.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Surname: s_fid
Value: 6897CDCD1013221C-39DDACC982217CD1121840838-2
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to identify a unique visitor.
Expiry Date: after 5 years

Surname: visitor_id
Value: fe59fbe5-e9c6-4fca-8776-30d0c1a89c32
Purpose of use: The visitor cookie contains a unique visitor ID and the unique identifier for your account.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname:_session_id
Value: 533a0a6641df82b46383da06ea0e84e7121840838-2
Purpose of use: This cookie creates a temporary session ID that is used as the in-session user ID. The cookie is absolutely necessary to provide the functions of Xing.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

As soon as you are logged in to Xing or are a member, further personal data will definitely be collected, processed and stored. Xing also passes on personal data to third parties if this is necessary for the fulfillment of our own business purposes, if you have given your consent or if there is a legal obligation.

How long and where is the data stored?

Xing stores the data on various servers in various data centers. The company stores this data until you delete the data or until a user account is deleted. Of course, this only applies to users who are already Xing members.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access and delete your personal data at any time. Even if you are not a Xing member, you can prevent possible data processing via your browser or manage it according to your wishes. Most data is stored via cookies. Depending on which browser you have, the administration works a little differently. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

You can also basically set up your browser in such a way that you are always informed when a cookie is 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 your data being processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy statement on cookies carefully and consult the privacy statement or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Xing. On https://privacy.xing.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung find out more about the data processing of the social media network Xing.

Online Marketing Introduction

What is online marketing?

Online marketing refers to all measures that are carried out online in order to achieve marketing goals such as increasing brand awareness or closing a deal. 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. Most of the time it is online advertising, content marketing or search engine optimization. Personal data is also stored and processed so that we can use online marketing efficiently and in a targeted manner. On the one hand, the data helps us to show our content only to those people who are interested in it and, on the other hand, we can 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 what we have to offer. We are aware that this is not possible without conscious measures. That's why we do online marketing. There are various tools that make it easier for us to work on our online marketing measures and, in addition, always provide suggestions for improvement via data. This allows us to target our campaigns more precisely to our target group. The purpose of these online marketing tools is ultimately to optimize our offer.

Which data are processed?

So that our online marketing works and the success of the measures can be measured, user profiles are created and data is stored, for example, in cookies (small text files). With the help of this data, we can not only place advertising in the classic way, but also display our content directly on our website in the way you prefer. There are various third-party tools that offer these functions and collect and store data from you accordingly. The named cookies store, for example, which web pages you visited on our website, how long you viewed these pages, which links or buttons you clicked or from which website you came to us. In addition, technical information can also be stored. For example, your IP address, which browser you use, which device you use to visit our website or the time when you accessed our website and when you left it again. If you have agreed that we may also determine your location, we can also store and process this.

Your IP address will be stored in pseudonymised form (i.e. abbreviated). Unique data that directly identifies you as a person, such as your name, address or email address, is only stored in a pseudonymised form as part of the advertising and online marketing process. So we cannot identify you as a person, we have only stored the pseudonymised, stored information in the user profiles.

The cookies may also be deployed, analyzed and used for advertising purposes on other websites that work with the same advertising tools. The data can then also be stored on the servers of the advertising tool providers.

In exceptional cases, unique data (name, e-mail address, etc.) can also be stored in the user profile. This storage occurs, for example, if you are a member of a social media channel that we use for our online marketing measures and the network connects previously received data with the user profile.

With all the advertising tools we use that store data from you on their servers, we only ever receive summarized information and never data that makes you identifiable as an individual. The data only show how well set advertising measures worked. For example, we can see what actions have persuaded you or other users to come to our website and purchase a service or product there. Based on the analyzes we can improve our advertising offer in the future and adapt it even more precisely to the needs and wishes of interested persons.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing if we have further information on this. 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 already deleted after leaving the website, others can be stored in your browser for several years. The respective data protection declarations of the individual providers usually provide you with precise information about the individual cookies that the provider uses.

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 deleting the cookies in your browser. The lawfulness of the processing up to the revocation remains unaffected.

Since cookies can usually be used with online marketing tools, we also recommend our general data protection declaration on cookies. To find out exactly what data is stored and processed by you, you should read the data protection declarations of the respective tools.

legal basis

If you have consented to the use of third-party providers, the legal basis for the relevant data processing is this consent. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected through online marketing tools.

We also have a legitimate interest in measuring online marketing measures in an anonymous form in order to use the data obtained to optimize our offer and our measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.

Information on special online marketing tools - if available - can be found in the following sections.

Facebook Custom Audiences Privacy Policy

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

Facebook also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Facebook uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Facebook data processing terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

You can find out more about the data processed by using Facebook Custom Audiences in the Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy . 

Google AdMob Privacy Policy

We use Google AdMob, a mobile advertising tool, on our website. The service provider is the American company Google Inc. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The data processing conditions for Google advertising products (Google Ads Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms), which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/.

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Google AdMob in the Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Google Marketing Platform (formerly: DoubleClick) Privacy Policy

We use Google Marketing Platform products on our website. These include various marketing tools such as Data Studio, Surveys, Campaign Manager 360, Display & Video 360 or Search Ads 360. The service provider is the American company Google Inc. For the European area, the company is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) responsible for all Google services.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/.

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Google Marketing Platform products in the Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Microsoft Advertising Privacy Policy

What is Microsoft Advertising?

For our online marketing measures, we also use the Microsoft Advertising advertising program from Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399, USA. With the help of Microsoft Advertising we want to draw the attention of many people to the high quality of our products and/or services. For this we use a technology (conversion tracking tool) from Microsoft on our website, which also stores data from you. In this data protection declaration we go into more detail about this service, show you which data is stored, managed and processed and how you can prevent this data storage.

You may be more familiar with Microsoft Advertising by its former name "Bing Ads". This is an advertising program from Microsoft that is based on a pay-per-click system. This means advertisers can place ads across the Bing and Yahoo! Place and pay only when a user clicks on the ad.

Why do we use Microsoft Advertising?

We are convinced of our offers and of course we want to present them to a broad public. With Microsoft Advertising, we can bring our products or services closer to exactly those people who are really interested in them. We want to present our products not only on the famous search engine Google, but also on Bing and Yahoo! With Microsoft Advertising, we also have the option of placing ads in the so-called "Microsoft Audience Network". For example, we can also place advertisements on LinkedIn. Through conversion tracking, we learn, for example, which advertisement you used to find us, which sub-pages you particularly like and what actions you take on our website. This data enables us to adapt our website, our advertisements and our offers much better to your needs.

What data does Microsoft Advertising store?

We have integrated a conversion tracking tag (i.e. a small code snippet) from Microsoft Advertising into our website. This is the so-called Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag. If you come to our website via a Microsoft advertisement, we can use this tracking tool to find out more about your user behavior on our website. For example, we learn about which keyword or ad you came to us from, what you click on on our website, how many people visit our website via Microsoft Ads and how long you stay on our website. All of this data relates to user behavior and not to personal data. We therefore only receive data or evaluations of your web behavior, but no personal information. Microsoft uses the data to optimize its own advertising and other services. If you have a Microsoft account yourself, the data collected can be linked to your account. It is also possible that Microsoft recognizes and stores your IP address. In order to save all this data on your user behavior, the following cookie is set in your browser after you have come to our website via a Microsoft ad:

Surname: MUIDB
Value: 08A53CA3313F6255044C307E353F61CD
Purpose of use: This cookie is set by our embedded Microsoft tag (UET tag) and is used for synchronization across Microsoft websites. This allows users to be recognized across different domains.
Expiry Date: after a year

However, if you reach our website via a Bing ad, other cookies may also be set in your browser. Here we show you a selection of other cookies:

Surname: ABDEF
Value: V=0&ABDV=0&MRNB=1594294373452&MRB=0121840838-7
Purpose of use: We were not able to find out any more detailed information about this cookie.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: SRCHD
Value: AF=NOFORM
Purpose of use: This cookie is responsible for the functionality of the tracking or the website.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: SRCHHPGUSR
Value: WTS=63729889193&HV=1594294374&CW=1920&CH=937&DPR=1&UTC=120&DM=0
Purpose of use: This cookie tracks and saves your user behavior on our website and the interaction of the Bing Map interface.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: SRCHUID
Value: V=2&GUID=157B20CCF36A43F3A4AE9790346EB7A7&dmnchg=1
Purpose of use: This cookie tracks and stores your user behavior on our website and the interaction of the Bing Map API.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: _EDGE_S
Value: mkt=de-at&SID=2EE7002D956A61511D280F2F9474607121840838-2
Purpose of use: This cookie collects and stores your user behavior across multiple websites. The aim of targeting is to better adapt the advertising measures to the interests of our target group.
Expiry Date: after the end of the browser session

Surname: _SS
Value: SID=2EE7002D956A61511D280F2F94746077121840838-9
Purpose of use: This cookie is used, among other things, to recognize how you as a user accessed our website. In other words, which advertisement led you to our website.
Expiry Date: after a year

How long and where is the data stored?

We have no influence on how Microsoft uses the collected user data. Microsoft has its own servers in operation worldwide. Most are located in the United States and therefore your data may also be stored, managed and processed on the American servers. Microsoft stores data (especially personal data) for as long as it is necessary to provide its services or products or for legal purposes. Microsoft also mentions that the actual retention period varies greatly and depends on the product in question.

For search queries via Bing, Microsoft deletes your saved search queries after 6 months by deleting your IP address. Cookie IDs that are generated via the MUID cookie, for example, are made unrecognizable after 18 months.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the option of not participating in Microsoft Ads conversion tracking at any time. If you do not wish to receive interest-based ads from Microsoft Advertising, you can do so via https://account.microsoft.com/privacy/ad-settings/signedout turn off this feature. You can also deactivate, manage or delete all cookies in your browser. Each browser works a little differently. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Microsoft Advertising, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by Microsoft Advertising.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Microsoft Advertising to optimize our online service and our marketing efforts. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Microsoft Advertising if you have given your consent.

Microsoft also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Microsoft uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Microsoft undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

More information about the standard contractual clauses at Microsoft can be found at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/regulatory/offering-eu-model-clauses.

We hope to have given you an overview of data processing through conversion tracking by Microsoft Ads. Of course, it is always possible that Microsoft's privacy policy will change. For more information and to stay up to date, we also recommend that you read Microsoft's privacy policy at https://privacy.microsoft.com/de-de/privacystatement.

Content Delivery Networks Introduction

What is a Content Delivery Network?

We use a so-called Content Delivery Network on our website. Most of the time, such a network is just called a CDN. A CDN helps us load our website quickly and smoothly, no matter your location. Your personal data will also be stored, managed and processed on the servers of the CDN provider used. In the following, we will go into more general detail about the service and its data processing. You can find detailed information about the handling of your data in the respective data protection declaration of the provider.

Each Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of regionally distributed servers, all connected to each other via the Internet. Content from websites (especially very large files) can be delivered quickly and smoothly via this network, even during large peak loads. For this purpose, the CDN creates a copy of our website on your servers. Since these servers are distributed worldwide, the website can be delivered quickly. The data transfer to your browser is therefore significantly shortened by the CDN.

Why do we use a content delivery network for our website?

A fast loading website is part of our service. Of course, we know how annoying it is when a website loads at a snail's pace. Most of the time you even lose patience and run away before the website is fully loaded. Of course we want to avoid that. Therefore, a fast-loading website is a matter of course for our website offer. With a content delivery network, our website loads much faster in your browser. Using the CDN is particularly helpful when you are abroad, because the website is delivered from a server near you.

Which data are processed?

If you request a website or the content of a website and it is cached in a CDN, the CDN forwards the request to the server closest to you and this serves the content. Content Delivery Networks are built to download JavaScript libraries and are hosted on npm and github servers. Alternatively, WordPress plugins can also be loaded on most CDNs if they are on WordPress.org be hosted. Your browser can send personal data to the content delivery network we use. This is data such as IP address, browser type, browser version, which website is loaded or the time and date of the page visit. This data is collected and also stored by the CDN. Whether cookies are used to store data depends on the network used. Please read the data protection texts of the respective service.

Right to object

If you want to completely prevent this data transfer, you can use a JavaScript blocker (see for example https://noscript.net/) install on your PC. Of course, our website can then no longer offer the service you are used to (such as fast loading speed).

legal basis

If you have consented to the use of a content delivery network, the legal basis for the relevant data processing is this consent. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by a content delivery network.

We also have a legitimate interest in using a content delivery network to optimize our online service and make it more secure. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the tool if you have given your consent.

Information on special Content Delivery Networks - if available - can be found in the following sections.

Cookie Consent Management Platform Introduction

What is a Cookie Consent Management Platform?

We use Consent Management Platform (CMP) software on our website, which 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, offers you cookie consent required by data protection law and helps us and you 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 want to 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 store and process data from you. It is also your right to decide which cookies you accept and which you do not. In order to grant you this right, we first need to know exactly which cookies landed on our website in the first place. Thanks to a cookie management tool, which regularly scans the website for all existing cookies, we know about all cookies and can provide you with GDPR-compliant information about them. You can then accept or reject cookies via the consent system.

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 will be saved so that we do not have to ask you each time you visit our website and we can also prove your consent if required by law. This is stored either in an opt-in cookie or on a server. Depending on the provider of the cookie management tool, the storage period of your cookie consent varies. This data (e.g. pseudonymous user ID, time of consent, detailed information on the cookie categories or tools, browser, device information) is usually stored for up to two years.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing if we have further information on this. 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 already deleted after leaving the website, others can be stored in your browser for several 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 to object

You also have the right and the opportunity 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 the cookies in your browser.

Information on special cookie management tools, if available, can be found in the following sections.

legal basis

If you agree to cookies, your personal data will be processed and stored via these cookies. If we through your consent (Article 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) may use cookies, this consent is also the legal basis for the use of cookies or 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 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR).

BorlabsCookie Privacy Policy

We use BorlabsCookie on our website, which is, among other things, a tool for storing your cookie consent. Service provider is the German company Borlabs – Benjamin A. Bornschein, Rübenkamp 32, 22305 Hamburg, Germany. You can find out more about the data processed using BorlabsCookie in the Privacy Policy https://de.borlabs.io/datenschutz/.

Audio & Video Introduction

What are audio and video elements?

We have included audio and video elements on our website so that you can watch videos or listen to music/podcasts directly from our website. Content is provided by service providers. All content is therefore also obtained from the corresponding servers of the providers.

These are integrated functional elements of platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo or Spotify. The use of these portals is usually free of charge, but content can also be published for a fee. With the help of these integrated elements, you can listen to or view the respective content via our website.

If you use audio or video elements on our website, your personal data may also be transmitted to the service providers, processed and stored.

Why do we use audio & video elements on our website?

Of course we want to provide you with the best offer on our website. And we are aware that content is no longer just conveyed in text and static images. Instead of just giving you a link to a video, we offer you audio and video formats right on our website that are entertaining or informative, and ideally both. This expands our service and makes it easier for you to access interesting content. Thus, in addition to our texts and images, we also offer video and/or audio content.

What Data is Stored by Audio & Video Elements?

When you visit a page on our website that has an embedded video, for example, your server connects to the service provider's server. Your data will also be transferred to the third-party provider and stored there. Some data is collected and stored regardless of whether you have an account with the third party or not. This usually includes your IP address, browser type, operating system and other general information about your device. Furthermore, most providers also collect information about your web activity. This includes session duration, bounce rate, which button you clicked or which website you use to use the service. All this information is usually stored via cookies or pixel tags (also called web beacons). Pseudonymized data is usually stored in cookies in your browser. You can always find out exactly which data is stored and processed in the data protection declaration of the respective provider.

Duration of data processing

You can find out exactly how long the data is stored on the servers of the third-party providers either below in the data protection text of the respective tool or in the data protection declaration of the provider. In principle, personal data is only processed for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services or products. This usually also applies to third-party providers. In most cases, you can assume that certain data will be stored on third-party servers for several years. Data can be stored for different lengths of time, especially in cookies. Some cookies are already deleted after leaving the website, others can be stored in your browser for several years.

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 deleting the cookies in your browser. The lawfulness of the processing up to the revocation remains unaffected.

Since the integrated audio and video functions on our site usually also use cookies, you should also read our general data protection declaration on cookies. You can find out more about the handling and storage of your data in the data protection declarations of the respective third-party providers.

legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated audio and video elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated audio and video elements if you have given your consent.

Vimeo Privacy Policy

What is Vimeo?

We also use videos from Vimeo on our website. The video portal is operated by Vimeo LLC, 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA. With the help of a plug-in, we can show you interesting video material directly on our website. Certain data can be transferred from you to Vimeo. In this data protection declaration, we will show you what data is involved, why we use Vimeo and how you can manage or prevent your data and data transmission.

Vimeo is a video platform that was founded in 2004 and has been providing HD quality video streaming since 2007. Since 2015 it has also been possible to stream in 4k Ultra HD. The portal can be used free of charge, but paid content can also be published. Compared to the market leader YouTube, Vimeo prioritises high-quality content. On the one hand, the portal offers a lot of artistic content such as music videos and short films, but on the other hand, it also contains interesting documentation on a wide variety of topics.

Why do we use Vimeo on our website?

The aim of our website is to provide you with the best possible content. And as easily accessible as possible. Only when we have managed that are we satisfied with our service. The video service Vimeo helps us to achieve this goal. Vimeo offers us the opportunity to present you with high-quality content directly on our website. Instead of just giving you a link to an interesting video, you can watch the video right away with us. This expands our service and makes it easier for you to access interesting content. In addition to our texts and images, we also offer video content.

What data is stored on Vimeo?

When you visit a page on our website that has an embedded Vimeo video, your browser connects to the Vimeo servers. This results in a data transfer. This data is collected, stored and processed on the Vimeo servers. Regardless of whether you have a Vimeo account or not, Vimeo collects data about you. This includes your IP address, technical information about your browser type, your operating system or very basic device information. Furthermore, Vimeo stores information about which website you use the Vimeo service and what actions (web activities) you perform on our website. These web activities include, for example, session duration, bounce rate or which button you clicked on our website with the built-in Vimeo function. Vimeo can track and store these actions using cookies and similar technologies.

If you are logged in to Vimeo as a registered member, more data can usually be collected because more cookies may have already been set in your browser. In addition, your actions on our website are linked directly to your Vimeo account. To prevent this, you must log out of Vimeo while "surfing" on our website.

Below we show you cookies that are set by Vimeo when you are on a website with an integrated Vimeo function. This list is not exhaustive and assumes you do not have a Vimeo account.

Surname: player
Value: “”
Purpose of use: This cookie saves your preferences before playing an embedded Vimeo video. This will bring you back to your preferred settings the next time you watch a Vimeo video.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: vuid
Value: pl1046149876.614422590121840838-4
Purpose of use:  This cookie collects information about your actions on websites that have embedded a Vimeo video.
Expiry Date:  after 2 years

Annotation: These two cookies are always set as soon as you are on a website with an embedded Vimeo video. If you watch the video and click on the button, for example to “share” or “like” the video, further cookies will be set. These are also third-party cookies such as _ga or _gat_UA-76641-8 from Google Analytics or _fbp from Facebook. Exactly which cookies are set here depends on your interaction with the video.

The following list shows an excerpt of possible cookies that are set when you interact with the Vimeo video:

Surname: _abexps
Value:
Purpose of use: This Vimeo cookie helps Vimeo to remember the settings you have made. This can be, for example, a preset language, a region or a user name. In general, the cookie stores data about how you use Vimeo.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: continuous_play_v3
Value: 1
Purpose of use: This cookie is a first-party cookie from Vimeo. The cookie collects information on how you use the Vimeo service. For example, the cookie saves when you pause and play a video again.
Expiry Date: after a year

Surname: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1522249635.1578401280121840838-7
Purpose of use: This cookie is a third-party cookie from Google. By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it serves to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: _gcl_au
Value: 1.1.770887836.1578401279121840838-3
Purpose of use: This third-party Google AdSense cookie is used to improve the effectiveness of advertisements on websites.
Expiry Date: after 3 months

Surname: _fbp
Value: fb.1.1578401280585.310434968
Purpose of use: This is a Facebook cookie. This cookie is used to display advertisements or advertising products from Facebook or other advertisers.
Expiry Date: after 3 months

Vimeo uses this data, among other things, to improve its own service, to communicate with you and to set its own targeted advertising measures. Vimeo emphasizes on its website that only first-party cookies (i.e. cookies from Vimeo itself) are used for embedded videos as long as you do not interact with the video.

How long and where is the data stored?

Vimeo is headquartered in White Plains, New York State (USA). However, the services are offered worldwide. The company uses computer systems, databases and servers in the USA and also in other countries. Your data can therefore also be stored and processed on servers in America. The data remains stored at Vimeo until the company no longer has any economic reason for storing it. Then the data will be deleted or made anonymous.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You always have the possibility to manage cookies in your browser according to your wishes. For example, if you do not want Vimeo to set cookies and thus collect information about you, you can delete or disable cookies at any time in your browser settings. This works a bit differently depending on the browser. Please note that after deactivating/deleting cookies, various functions may no longer be fully available. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

If you are a registered Vimeo member, you can also manage the cookies used in the Vimeo settings.

legal basis

If you have agreed that your data can be processed and stored by integrated Vimeo elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated Vimeo elements if you have given your consent. Vimeo also sets cookies in your browser to save data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy statement on cookies carefully and consult the privacy statement or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

Vimeo also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Vimeo uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Vimeo undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

More information about the standard contractual clauses at Vimeo can be found at https://vimeo.com/privacy#international_data_transfers_and_certain_user_rights.

You can find out more about the use of cookies on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/cookie_policy, Information on data protection at Vimeo can be found at https://vimeo.com/privacy read.

YouTube Privacy Policy

What is YouTube?

We have embedded YouTube videos on our website. This allows us to present you with interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal that has been a subsidiary of Google since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. If you call up a page on our website that has an embedded YouTube video, your browser automatically connects to the YouTube or Google servers. Various data are transmitted (depending on the settings). Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all data processing in Europe.

In the following we would like to explain to you in more detail which data is processed, why we have integrated YouTube videos and how you can manage or delete your data.

On YouTube, users can view videos, rate them, comment on them and upload them themselves free of charge. Over the past few years, YouTube has become one of the most important social media channels worldwide. In order for us to be able to display videos on our website, YouTube provides a code snippet that we have embedded on our site.

Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?

YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and the best content. We strive to offer you the best possible user experience on our website. And of course interesting videos should not be missing. With the help of our embedded videos, we provide you with additional helpful content in addition to our texts and images. In addition, our website can be found more easily on the Google search engine thanks to the embedded videos. Even if we place advertisements via Google Ads, thanks to the data collected, Google can really only show these advertisements to people who are interested in our offers.

Which data is stored by YouTube?

As soon as you visit one of our pages that has a YouTube video installed, YouTube sets at least one cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can mostly use cookies to associate your interactions on our website with your profile. This includes data such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, technical information such as browser type, screen resolution or your Internet provider. Other data can be contact details, any ratings, sharing content via social media or adding it to your favorites on YouTube.

If you are not signed into a Google account or a Youtube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier associated with your device, browser or app. For example, your preferred language setting is retained. But a lot of interaction data cannot be saved because fewer cookies are set.

In the following list we show cookies that were set in a test in the browser. On the one hand, we show cookies that are set without a registered YouTube account. On the other hand, we show cookies that are set with a logged-in account. The list cannot claim to be complete because the user data always depends on the interactions on YouTube.

Surname: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y121840838-1
Purpose of use: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video watched.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Surname: PREF
Value: f1=50000000
Purpose of use: This cookie also registers your unique ID. Google receives statistics from PREF on how you use YouTube videos on our website.
Expiry Date: after 8 months

Surname: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose of use: This cookie registers your unique ID on mobile devices to track GPS location.
Expiry Date: after 30 minutes

Surname: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 95Chz8bagyU
Purpose of use: This cookie attempts to estimate the user's bandwidth on our websites (with embedded YouTube video).
Expiry Date: after 8 months

Other cookies that are set when you are logged in to your YouTube account:

Surname: APISID
Value: zILLvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7121840838-
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to create a profile of your interests. The data is used for personalized advertisements.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose of use: The cookie stores the status of a user's consent to the use of various Google services. CONSENT is also used for security, to check users and protect user data from unauthorized attacks.
Expiry Date: after 19 years

Surname: HSID
Value: AcRwpgUik9Dveht0I
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to create a profile of your interests. This data helps to display personalized advertising.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: LOGIN_INFO
Value: AFmmF2swRQIhALL6aL…
Purpose of use: Information about your login data is stored in this cookie.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: SAPISID
Value: 7oaPxoG-pZsJuuF5/AnUdDUIsJ9iJz2vdM
Purpose of use: This cookie works by uniquely identifying your browser and device. It is used to create a profile of your interests.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI121840838-
Purpose of use: This cookie stores your Google account ID and your last login time in a digitally signed and encrypted form.
Expiry Date: after 2 years

Surname: SIDCC
Value: AN0-TYuqub2JOcDTyL
Purpose of use: This cookie stores information about how you use the website and what advertisements you may have seen before visiting our site.
Expiry Date: after 3 months

How long and where is the data stored?

The data that YouTube receives from you and processes is stored on the Google servers. Most of these servers are located in America. Under https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de  see exactly where the Google data centers are located. Your data is distributed on the servers. This means that the data can be called up more quickly and is better protected against manipulation.

Google stores the collected data for different lengths of time. You can delete some data at any time, others are automatically deleted after a limited period of time and others are stored by Google for a longer period of time. Some data (such as My Activity items, photos or documents, products) stored in your Google Account will remain stored until you delete it. Even if you're not signed into a Google Account, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser, or app.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

In principle, you can delete data in the Google account manually. With the automatic deletion of location and activity data introduced in 2019, information is stored for either 3 or 18 months and then deleted, depending on your decision.

Regardless of whether you have a Google account or not, you can configure your browser in such a way that Google cookies are deleted or deactivated. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

If you generally do not want any cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. You can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow it or not.

legal basis

If you have agreed that your data can be processed and stored by integrated YouTube elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) stored and processed in a fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated YouTube elements if you have given your consent. YouTube also sets cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy statement on cookies carefully and consult the privacy statement or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

YouTube also processes data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

YouTube uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). These clauses oblige YouTube to comply with EU data protection standards when processing relevant data outside of the EU. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here: https://germany.representation.ec.europa.eu/index_de.

Since YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, there is a common privacy policy. If you want to find out more about how your data is handled, we recommend the data protection declaration below https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

YouTube Subscribe Button Privacy Policy

We have installed the YouTube subscribe button on our website. You can usually recognize the button by the classic YouTube logo. The logo shows the words "Subscribe" or "YouTube" in white letters on a red background and the white "Play" symbol to the left of it. However, the button can also be shown in a different design.

Our YouTube channel always offers you funny, interesting or exciting videos. With the built-in "subscribe button" you can subscribe to our channel directly from our website and do not have to call up the YouTube website separately. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to access our extensive content. Please note that this allows YouTube to store and process data from you.

If you see a built-in subscribe button on our site, YouTube sets at least one cookie, according to Google. This cookie stores your IP address and our URL. YouTube can also find out information about your browser, your approximate location and your default language in this way. In our test, the following four cookies were set without being logged in to YouTube:

Surname: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5121840838Y
Purpose of use: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video watched.
Expiry Date: after the session ends

Surname: PREF
Value: f1=50000000
Purpose of use: This cookie also registers your unique ID. Google receives statistics from PREF on how you use YouTube videos on our website.
Expiry Date: after 8 months

Surname: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose of use: This cookie registers your unique ID on mobile devices to track GPS location.
Expiry Date: after 30 minutes

Surname: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 12184083895Chz8bagyU
Purpose of use: This cookie attempts to estimate the user's bandwidth on our websites (with embedded YouTube video).
Expiry Date: after 8 months

Annotation: These cookies were set after a test and cannot claim to be complete.

If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can store many of your actions/interactions on our website using cookies and assign them to your YouTube account. This gives YouTube information, for example, on how long you surf our site, what type of browser you use, what screen resolution you prefer or what actions you take.

YouTube uses this data on the one hand to improve its own services and offers and on the other hand to provide analyzes and statistics for advertisers (who use Google Ads).

Web design introduction

What is web design?

We use various tools on our website that serve our web design. Web design is not just about making our website look pretty, as is often assumed, but also about functionality and performance. But of course the right look of a website is also one of the major goals of professional web design. Web design is a part of media design and deals with the visual as well as the structural and functional design of a website. The aim is to improve your experience on our website with the help of web design. In web design jargon, one speaks of user experience (UX) and usability in this context. User experience is understood to mean all impressions and experiences that the website visitor experiences on a website. A sub-point of the user experience is usability. This is about the user-friendliness of a website. Above all, value is placed on the fact that content, subpages or products are clearly structured and that you can find what you are looking for quickly and easily. In order to offer you the best possible experience on our website, we also use so-called third-party web design tools. In this data protection declaration, all services that improve the design of our website fall under the category “web design”. This can be, for example, fonts, various plugins or other integrated web design functions.

Why do we use web design tools?

How you absorb information on a website depends very much on the structure, functionality and visual perception of the website. Therefore, a good and professional web design became more and more important for us. We are constantly working on improving our website and see this as an extended service for you as a website visitor. Furthermore, a beautiful and functioning website also has economic advantages for us. After all, you will only visit us and take advantage of our offers if you feel completely at ease.

What data is stored by web design tools?

When you visit our website, web design elements can be integrated into our pages, which can also process data. Which data is exactly depends on the tools used, of course. Below you can see exactly which tools we use for our website. For more information about data processing, we recommend that you also read the respective data protection declaration of the tools used. You can usually find out there which data is processed, whether cookies are used and how long the data is stored. Fonts such as Google Fonts also automatically transmit information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name to the Google servers.

Duration of data processing

How long data is processed is very individual and depends on the web design elements used. For example, if cookies are used, the retention period can be as little as a minute, but it can also be a few years. Please be smart about this. On the one hand, we recommend our general text section on cookies and the data protection declarations of the tools used. There you can usually find out exactly which cookies are used and what information is stored in them. For example, Google Font files are stored for one year. This is to improve the loading time of a website. In principle, data is only kept for as long as is necessary to provide the service. In the case of legal requirements, data can also be stored for longer.

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. You can also prevent data collection by cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting the cookies in your browser. However, among web design elements (typically fonts) there is some data that cannot be easily deleted. This is the case when data is automatically collected directly when a page is accessed and transmitted to a third party (e.g. Google). Then please contact the support of the respective provider. In the case of Google, you can reach support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de.

legal basis

If you have consented to the use of web design tools, the legal basis for the relevant data processing is this consent. According to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it can occur when it is collected by web design tools. We also have a legitimate interest in web design to improve on our website. After all, only then can we provide you with a beautiful and professional web offer. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use web design tools if you have given your consent. We definitely want to emphasize that again.

Information on special web design tools - if available - can be found in the following sections.

Adobe Fonts Privacy Policy

We use Adobe Fonts, a web font hosting service, on our website. The service provider is the American company Adobe Inc. The Irish company Adobe Systems Software Ireland Companies, 4-6 Riverwalk, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, Ireland, is responsible for the European area. 

Adobe also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

Adobe uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. With these clauses, Adobe undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

More information about the processed data and the standard contractual clauses at Adobe can be found at https://www.adobe.com/de/privacy/eudatatransfers.html.

Font Awesome Privacy Policy

What is Font Awesome?

We use Font Awesome from the American company Fonticons (307 S. Main St., Suite 202, Bentonville, AR 72712, USA) on our website. When you visit one of our websites, the Font Awesome web font (specifically icons) is loaded via the Font Awesome Content Delivery Network (CDN). The texts or fonts and icons are displayed appropriately on every device. In this data protection declaration we go into more detail about the data storage and data processing by this service.

Icons are playing an increasingly important role on websites. Font Awesome is a web font specially designed for web designers and web developers. With Font Awesome, for example, icons can be scaled and colored as desired using the style sheet language CSS. They replace old picture icons. Font Awesome CDN is the easiest way to upload icons or fonts to your website. All we had to do was embed a small line of code into our website.

Why do we use Font Awesome on our website?

Font Awesome allows content on our website to be better prepared. In this way, you can find your way around our website better and understand the content more easily. With the icons you can sometimes even replace whole words and save space. This is particularly useful when we optimize content specifically for smartphones. These icons are inserted as HTML code instead of as an image. This allows us to edit the icons with CSS exactly how we want. At the same time, with Font Awesome we also improve our loading speed because it's just HTML elements and not icon images. All these advantages help us to make the website even clearer, fresher and faster for you.

What data does Font Awesome store?

Font Awesome Content Delivery Network (CDN) is used to load icons and symbols. CDNs are networks of servers distributed around the world, making it possible to quickly load files locally. As soon as you call up one of our pages, the corresponding icons are provided by Font Awesome.

In order for the web fonts to be loaded, your browser must establish a connection to the Fonticons, Inc. servers. Your IP address will be recognized. Font Awesome also collects data about which icon files are downloaded and when. Technical data such as your browser version, screen resolution or the time the page was called up is also transmitted.

This data is collected and stored for the following reasons:

• to optimize content delivery networks
• to identify and fix technical errors
• to protect CDNs from abuse and attacks
• to charge fees from Font Awesome Pro customers
• to know the popularity of icons
• to know what computer and software you are using

If your browser does not allow web fonts, a standard font on your PC will be used automatically. According to the current state of our knowledge, no cookies are set. We're in contact with Font Awesome's privacy department and will let you know as soon as we find out more.

How long and where is the data stored?

Font Awesome also stores data about the use of the Content Delivery Network on servers in the United States of America. However, the CDN servers are located worldwide and store user data where you are located. In an identifiable form, the data is usually only stored for a few weeks. Aggregated statistics about usage of the CDNs may also be stored longer. Personal data are not included here.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

To the best of our knowledge, Font Awesome does not store any personal data via the content delivery networks. If you do not want data about the icons used to be saved, you will unfortunately not be able to visit our website. If your browser does not allow web fonts, no data will be transmitted or stored. In this case, the standard font of your computer is simply used.

legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Font Awesome, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by Font Awesome.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Font Awesome to optimize our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Font Awesome if you have given your consent.

We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. The data processing is essentially done by Font Awesome. This can mean that data may not be processed and stored anonymously. In addition, US government authorities may have access to individual data. It may also happen that this data is linked to data from other Font Awesome services where you have a user account.

If you want to learn more about Font Awesome and how they handle data, we recommend the privacy policy below https://fontawesome.com/privacy and the help page below https://fontawesome.com/support.

Getty Images Privacy Policy

We use the image portal Getty Images for our website. The service provider is the American company Getty Images Inc., 605 5th Avenue South Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104, USA.

We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. The data processing is essentially done by Getty Images. This can mean that data may not be processed and stored anonymously. In addition, US government authorities may have access to individual data. It may also happen that this data is linked to data from other Getty Images services where you have a user account.

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Getty Images in the Privacy Policy https://www.gettyimages.at/company/privacy-policy.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

What are Google Fonts?

We use Google Fonts on our website. These are the “Google fonts” from Google Inc. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe.

You do not need to register or enter a password to use Google fonts. Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser. The files (CSS, typefaces/fonts) are requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services. If you have a Google account, you don't have to worry about your Google account data being transmitted to Google while using Google Fonts. Google records the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this data securely. How the data storage looks exactly, we will look at in detail.

Google Fonts (formerly Google Web Fonts) is a directory of over 800 fonts that Google Make it available to your users for free.

Many of these fonts are released under the SIL Open Font License, while others are released under the Apache License. Both are free software licenses.

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

With Google Fonts we can use fonts on our own website and do not have to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important component in keeping the quality of our website high. All Google fonts are automatically optimized for the web and this saves data volume and is a great advantage especially for use with mobile devices. When you visit our site, the small file size ensures fast loading time. Furthermore, Google Fonts are secure web fonts. Different image synthesis systems (rendering) in different browsers, operating systems and mobile devices can lead to errors. Such errors can partially distort texts or entire websites. Thanks to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), there are no cross-platform problems with Google Fonts. Google Fonts supports all major browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) and works reliably on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod). So we use Google Fonts so that we can present our entire online service as beautifully and uniformly as possible.

Which data is stored by Google?

When you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded via a Google server. This external call transmits data to the Google servers. In this way, Google also recognizes that you or your IP address is visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was designed to reduce the use, storage and collection of end-user data to what is necessary for proper font delivery. Incidentally, API stands for "Application Programming Interface" and serves, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software sector.

Google Fonts securely stores CSS and font requests on Google and is therefore protected. The collected usage figures allow Google to determine how well the individual fonts are received. Google publishes the results on internal analysis pages, such as Google Analytics. Google also uses data from its own web crawler to determine which websites use Google fonts. This data is published in the Google Fonts BigQuery database. Entrepreneurs and developers use the Google web service BigQuery to examine and move large amounts of data.

It should be noted, however, that with each Google Font request, information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name are automatically transmitted to the Google servers. Whether this data is also stored cannot be clearly determined or is not clearly communicated by Google.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google stores requests for CSS assets for one day on its servers, which are mainly located outside the EU. This enables us to use the fonts using a Google style sheet. A style sheet is a template that you can use to change the design or font of a website, for example, quickly and easily.

The font files are stored by Google for one year. Google is thus pursuing the goal of fundamentally improving the loading time of websites. When millions of websites refer to the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and immediately reappear on all other websites visited later. Sometimes Google updates font files to reduce file size, increase language coverage, and improve design.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The data that Google stores for a day or a year cannot simply be deleted. The data is automatically transmitted to Google when the page is accessed. To be able to delete this data prematurely, you must contact Google support https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=121840838 to contact. In this case, you only prevent data storage if you do not visit our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unlimited access to all fonts. So we have unlimited access to a sea of fonts and thus get the best out of our website. You can find more about Google Fonts and other questions at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=121840838. Although Google addresses data protection issues there, it does not contain really detailed information about data storage. It is relatively difficult to get really precise information about stored data from Google.

legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Fonts, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by Google Fonts.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Font to optimize our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Google Fonts if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which also correspond to the standard contractual clauses for Google Fonts, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

You can also find out which data is generally collected by Google and what this data is used for https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/ read.

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

On our website we use Google Fonts from Google Inc. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for the European area. We have integrated the Google fonts locally, ie on our web server - not on Google's servers. As a result, there is no connection to Google servers and therefore no data transmission or storage.

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts used to be called Google Web Fonts. This is an interactive directory of over 800 fonts that Google provided free of charge. With Google Fonts, you could use fonts without uploading them to your own server. However, in order to prevent any transfer of information to Google servers in this regard, we have downloaded the fonts to our server. In this way, we act in compliance with data protection and do not send any data to Google Fonts.

Online Map Services Introduction

What are online map services?

We also use online map services for our website as an extended service. Google Maps is probably the service you are most familiar with, but there are other providers that specialize in creating digital maps. Such services make it possible to display locations, route maps or other geographical information directly via our website. Thanks to an integrated map service, you no longer have to leave our website, for example to view the route to a location. To ensure that the online map also works on our website, map sections are integrated using HTML code. The services can then display street maps, the earth's surface, or aerial or satellite imagery. If you use the built-in map offer, data will also be transferred to the tool used and stored there. This data may also include personal data.

Why do we use online map services on our website?

Generally speaking, it is our concern to offer you a pleasant time on our website. And of course your time will only be pleasant if you can easily find your way around our website and find all the information you need quickly and easily. We therefore thought that an online card system could be a significant optimization of our service on the website. Without leaving our website, you can use the map system to easily view route descriptions, locations or points of interest. Of course, it is also super practical that you can see at a glance where our company headquarters are, so that you can find us quickly and safely. As you can see, there are just a lot of advantages and we clearly consider online map services on our website to be part of our customer service.

What data is stored by online map services?

If you open a page on our website that has an online map function installed, personal data may be transmitted to the relevant service and stored there. This is usually your IP address, which can also be used to determine your approximate location. In addition to the IP address, data such as entered search terms and longitude and latitude coordinates are also stored. For example, if you enter an address for route planning, this data will also be saved. The data is not stored by us, but on the servers of the integrated tools. You can think of it like this: You may be on our website, but when you interact with a mapping service, that interaction is actually happening on their website. In order for the service to function properly, at least one cookie is usually set in your browser. For example, Google Maps also uses cookies to record user behavior and thus to optimize its own service and to be able to place personalized advertising. You can find out more about cookies in our "Cookies" section.

How long and where is the data stored?

Every online map service processes different user data. If we have further information, we will inform you about the duration of the data processing below in the corresponding sections on the individual tools. In principle, personal data is only kept for as long as is necessary to provide the service. Google Maps, for example, stores certain data for a specified period of time, but you must delete other data yourself. At Mapbox, for example, the IP address is kept for 30 days and then deleted. You see, each tool stores data for different lengths of time. We therefore recommend that you take a close look at the data protection declarations of the tools used.

The providers also use cookies to save data on your user behavior with the map service. You can find more general information about cookies in our "Cookies" section, but you can also find out which cookies can be used in the data protection texts of the individual providers. In most cases, however, this is only an exemplary list and is not complete.

Right to object

You always have the possibility and also the right to access your personal data and also to object to the use and processing. You can also revoke the consent you have given us at any time. This is usually easiest to do with the cookie consent tool. However, there are other opt-out tools that you can use. You can also manage, delete or deactivate any cookies that are set by the providers used yourself with just a few mouse clicks. However, it may then happen that some functions of the service no longer work as usual. How you manage cookies in your browser also depends on the browser you use. In the "Cookies" section you will also find links to the instructions of the main browsers.

legal basis

If you have agreed that an online map service may be used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit.

We also have a legitimate interest in using an online map service to optimize our service on our website. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use an online map service if you have given your consent. We definitely want to have this recorded again at this point.

You will find information on special online map services – if available – in the following sections.

Google Maps Privacy Policy

What is Google Maps?

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. on our website. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. With Google Maps we can show you locations better and thus adapt our service to your needs. By using Google Maps, data is transmitted to Google and stored on the Google servers. Here we want to go into more detail about what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Google Maps is an Internet map service from Google. With Google Maps, you can find the exact location of a city, attraction, lodging or business online using a PC, tablet or app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, additional information about the company is displayed in addition to the location. In order to show how to get there, map sections of a location can be integrated into a website using HTML code. Google Maps shows the earth's surface as a street map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to the Street View images and the high-quality satellite images, very precise representations are possible.

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

All of our efforts on this site aim to offer you a useful and meaningful time on our website. By integrating Google Maps, we can provide you with the most important information about various locations. You can see at a glance where we have our company headquarters. The route description always shows you the best or fastest way to us. You can get directions for routes by car, public transport, on foot or by bike. For us, providing Google Maps is part of our customer service.

What data is stored by Google Maps?

In order for Google Maps to be able to fully offer its service, the company must collect and store data from you. This includes, among other things, the search terms entered, your IP address and also the latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the start address entered will also be saved. However, this data storage happens on the Google Maps website. We can only inform you about this, but have no influence. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google sets at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behavior. Google uses this data primarily to optimize its own services and to provide you with individual, personalized advertising.

The following cookie is set in your browser due to the integration of Google Maps:

Surname: NID
Value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ121840838-5
Purpose of use: NID is used by Google to match advertisements to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. So you always get tailor-made advertisements. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiry Date: after 6 months

Annotation: We cannot guarantee the completeness of the stored data. Changes can never be ruled out, especially when using cookies. In order to identify the cookie NID, a separate test page was created, where only Google Maps was integrated.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google servers are located in data centers around the world. However, most of the servers are located in America. For this reason, your data is also increasingly stored in the USA. Here you can read exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Google distributes the data on different data carriers. This means that the data can be called up more quickly and is better protected against any attempts at manipulation. Each data center also has special emergency programs. If, for example, there are problems with the Google hardware or a natural disaster paralyzes the servers, the data will almost certainly remain protected.

Google stores some data for a fixed period of time. For other data, Google only offers the option of manually deleting it. The company also anonymizes information (such as advertising data) in server logs by deleting part of the IP address and cookie information after 9 and 18 months, respectively.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

With the automatic deletion of location and activity data introduced in 2019, information on location determination and web/app activity is stored for either 3 or 18 months – depending on your decision – and then deleted. You can also manually delete this data from the history at any time via the Google account. If you want to completely prevent your location tracking, you need to pause the "Web and app activity" section in the Google account. Click "Data and Personalization" and then click the "Activity Settings" option. Here you can switch the activities on or off.

You can also deactivate, delete or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this always works a little differently. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

If you generally do not want any cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. You can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow it or not.

legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Maps, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by Google Maps.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Maps to optimize our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Google Maps if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/.

If you want to learn more about data processing by Google, we recommend the company's own privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Content Search Provider Introduction

What is a content search provider?

In the meantime we have already published a lot of content on our website. And of course we don't want them to be forgotten just because they can't be found. That is why we use a content search provider on our website. You probably know big search engines like Google. The content search provider is basically also a search engine, but unlike Google, it doesn't search the entire web for content, just the website you are on. You can use a text field to enter terms that match the content you are looking for, and the search program will look for the posts you are looking for. If you use the integrated search function, your personal data can also be processed.

Why do we use a content search provider?

If you look around our website, you will quickly notice how much useful content we have already published over the years. There are real treasures there and we want you to find them quickly without having to click around for a long time. With a content search function directly on our website, you can quickly and easily find the content you are looking for with the help of keywords that match the topic you are looking for. This feature is really practical and we see it as our task to make your life on our website as pleasant and helpful as possible. That's why we decided to integrate a content search program into our website.

Which data are processed?

If you use the search function on our website, the integrated content search provider (such as Algolia Places or Giphy) may automatically receive and store data from you. This is technical data about your browser and data such as your IP address, device ID and the search terms you entered. Please note that IP addresses are personal data. The data protection declarations of the providers state that this information is collected and stored in order to increase security and improve their own services. The automatically recorded usage data, which does not include any personal data and is processed in an anonymous form, can also be used for analysis purposes. Some providers also pass on this anonymous data to third parties. In order to find out more about this, we recommend that you read the specific data protection declarations of the individual providers carefully. In order for the services to function properly, cookies are usually also set in your browser. You can find out more about cookies in our general section “Cookies”. You can find out whether and which cookies the individual search tools use - if available - below or in the corresponding data protection declarations of the integrated tools.

How long and where is the data stored?

Basically, every content search provider processes different data. Therefore, in this general section, the data processing of the individual tools cannot be specifically discussed. Usually, however, the services only store personal data for as long as this is necessary for the smooth functioning of the tools. Some services (e.g. Giphy) also keep personal data longer if this is necessary due to legal obligations. In depersonalized form, data is also kept longer by most providers. The content search providers can also use cookies to store various data. You can read more about this in our general section on cookies. If you want to know something about the specific cookies that a search provider uses, we recommend the data protection declaration of the providers we use. You will usually find an example list of the cookies used there.

Right to object

Always be aware: if you do not want to, no personal data may be processed about you. You always have the right to access your personal data and to object to its use. You can also withdraw your consent at any time using the cookie consent tool or other opt-out options. You can easily manage, delete or deactivate cookies yourself via your browser. If you delete cookies, some functions of the tool may no longer work. So please don't be surprised. How you manage cookies in your browser also depends on the browser you use. In the "Cookies" section you will also find links to the instructions of the main browsers.

legal basis

If you have consented to a content search provider being used, the legal basis for the relevant data processing is this consent. According to Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit.

We also have a legitimate interest in using a content search provider to improve our service on our website. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use a content search provider if you have given your consent. We definitely want to have this recorded again at this point.

Information on special content search providers - if available - can be found in the following sections.

Custom Google Search Privacy Policy

What is Google Custom Search?

We have integrated the Google plug-in for user-defined search on our website. Google is the largest and best-known search engine in the world and is operated by the US company Google Inc. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for the European area. The user-defined Google search can transfer data from you to Google. In this data protection declaration we inform you why we use this plug-in, which data is processed and how you can manage or prevent this data transmission.

The Google Custom Search plugin is a Google search bar right on our website. The search finds how to www.google.com Instead, the search results only focus on our content and products or on a limited search area.

Why do we use Google Custom Search on our website?

A website with a lot of interesting content is often so big that you can lose track of it. We have also accumulated a lot of valuable material over time and as part of our service we want you to find our content as quickly and easily as possible. Custom Google Search makes finding interesting content a breeze. The built-in Google plug-in improves the overall quality of our website and makes it easier for you to search.

What data is stored by the custom Google search?

The custom Google search only transfers data from you to Google if you actively use the Google search built into our website. This means that only when you enter a search term in the search bar and then confirm this term (e.g. click on "Enter") will your IP address and the search term be sent to Google, saved and processed there. Based on the set cookies (such as 1P_JAR) it can be assumed that Google also receives data on website usage. If you search for content during your visit to our website using the built-in Google search function and are logged in to your Google account at the same time, Google can also assign the data collected to your Google account. As the website operator, we have no influence on what Google does with the data collected or how Google processes the data.

The following cookies are set in your browser when you use Google Custom Search and are not logged in with a Google account:

Surname: 1P_JAR
Value: 2020-01-27-13121840838-5
Purpose of use: This cookie collects website usage statistics and measures conversions. A conversion occurs, for example, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant advertisements to users.
Expiry Date: after a month

Surname: CONSENT
Value: WP.282f52121840838-9
Purpose of use: The cookie stores the status of a user's consent to the use of various Google services. CONSENT is also used for security, to check users and protect user data from unauthorized attacks.
Expiry Date: after 18 years

Surname: NID
Value: 196=pwIo3B5fHr-8
Purpose of use: NID is used by Google to match advertisements to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. So you always get tailor-made advertisements.
Expiry Date: after 6 months

Annotation: This list cannot claim to be complete, since Google is constantly changing the choice of its cookies.

How long and where is the data stored?

The Google servers are distributed all over the world. Since Google is an American company, most of the data is stored on American servers. Under https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de see exactly where the Google servers are located.
Your data is distributed across different physical media. As a result, the data can be called up more quickly and is better protected against possible manipulation. Google also has corresponding emergency programs for your data. If, for example, there are internal technical problems at Google and servers are no longer working as a result, the risk of a service interruption and loss of data remains small.
Depending on which data is involved, Google stores it for different lengths of time. You can delete some data yourself, others are automatically deleted or made anonymous by Google. However, there is also data that Google stores longer if this is necessary for legal or business reasons.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to access, update, delete or restrict your data. There is some data that you can delete at any time. If you have a Google account, you can delete data about your web activity there or set it to be deleted after a certain period of time.
In your browser you also have the option of deactivating or deleting cookies or managing them according to your wishes and preferences. Under the "Cookies" section you will find the relevant links to the relevant instructions for the most popular browsers.

legal basis

If you have consented to the use of the custom Google search, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. This consent is loud Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by the custom Google search.

We also have a legitimate interest in using the custom Google search to optimize our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the custom Google search if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data also comply with European data protection standards if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementation decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the relevant Standard Contractual Clauses here, among others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/

We hope we were able to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Google. If you want to find out more about this, we recommend Google's extensive data protection declaration below https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Explanation of terms used

We always try to make our privacy policy as clear and understandable as possible. However, this is not always easy, especially when it comes to technical and legal issues. It often makes sense to use legal terms (such as personal data) or certain technical terms (such as cookies, IP address). But we don't want to use them without explanation. Below you will find an alphabetical list of important terms used, which we may not have sufficiently addressed in the previous data protection declaration. If these terms were taken from the GDPR and they are definitions, we will also list the GDPR texts here and add our own explanations if necessary.

processor

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

"Processor" a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body that processes personal data on behalf of the person responsible;

Explanation: As a company and website owner, we are responsible for all data that we process from you. In addition to those responsible, 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.

Information society service

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

"Service of the Information Society" a service as defined in point (1)(b) of Article 1 of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council (19);

Explanation: Basically, the term “information society” means a society based on information and communication technologies. As a website visitor in particular, you are familiar with all kinds of online services and most online services are classified as “information society services”. A classic example of this is an online transaction, such as buying goods over the Internet.

Cross-border processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“cross-border processing” either

a)

a processing of personal data that takes place in the course of the activities of establishments of a controller or a processor in the Union in more than one Member State, if the controller or processor is established in more than one Member State, or

b)

processing of personal data that takes place in the activities of a single establishment of a controller or processor in the Union, but which has or may have a significant impact on data subjects in more than one Member State;

Explanation: For example, if a company or other organization has branches in Spain and Croatia and personal data is processed in connection with the branch's activities, this constitutes “cross-border processing” of personal data. Even if the data is only processed in one country (as in this example in Spain), but the effects for the data subject are also recognizable in another country, one also speaks of "cross-border processing".

head office

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

"head office"

a)

in the case of a controller with establishments in more than one Member State, the place of its head office in the Union, unless the decisions regarding the purposes and means of the processing of personal data are made in another establishment of the controller in the Union and that establishment is authorized to have these decisions implemented; in this case, the branch making such decisions shall be deemed to be the main branch;

b)

in the case of a processor with establishments in more than one Member State, the location of its head office in the Union or, where the processor does not have a head office in the Union, the establishment of the processor in the Union where the processing activities are carried out within the framework of the activities of an establishment of a processor mainly take place if the processor is subject to specific obligations under this regulation;

Explanation: For example, Google is an American company that also processes data in the United States, but its European headquarters are in Ireland (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland). From a legal point of view, Google Ireland Limited is therefore an independent company and is responsible for all Google products offered in the European Economic Area. In contrast to a main office, there are also branches, but these do not function as legally independent branches and are therefore to be distinguished from subsidiaries. A head office is always the place where a company (trading company) has its center of operations.

Relevant and Reasonable Objection

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“Relevant and Reasoned Objection” an objection to a draft decision as to whether there has been a breach of this Regulation or whether intended action against the controller or processor is in accordance with this Regulation, where such objection clearly indicates the extent of the risks posed by the draft decision in relation to address the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects and, where appropriate, the free movement of personal data within the Union;

Explanation: If certain measures that we as controllers or our processors take are not in line with the GDPR, you can raise a so-called "relevant and reasoned objection". In doing so, you must explain the scope of the risks in relation to your fundamental rights and freedoms and possibly the free movement of your personal data in the EU.

pseudonymization

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

"Pseudonymization" the processing of personal data in such a way that the personal data can no longer be assigned to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that this additional information is stored separately and is subject to technical and organizational measures that ensure that the personal data is not identified or assigned to an identifiable natural person;

Explanation: Our data protection declaration often refers to pseudonymised data. Pseudonymized data means that you can no longer be identified as a person unless other information is added. However, you should not confuse pseudonymisation with anonymisation. With anonymization, there is no personal reference whatsoever, so that it can really only be reconstructed with a disproportionate amount of technical effort.

Pursue

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

"Company" a natural and legal person engaged in an economic activity, regardless of its legal form, including partnerships or associations that regularly engage in an economic activity;

Explanation: For example, we are a company and also carry out an economic activity through our website by offering and selling services and/or products. For every company there is a legal entity such as the GmbH or the AG as a formal characteristic.

group of companies

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

"Group of companies" a group consisting of a controlling company and its dependent companies;

Explanation: One speaks of a "group of companies" when several companies unite, are legally and financially connected to each other, but there is still a central, superordinate company. For example, while Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus VR or Facebook are mostly independent companies, they are all controlled by the parent company Meta Platforms, Inc.

Responsible

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

"Responsible" the natural or legal person, public authority, institution or other body that alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data; if the purposes and means of this processing are specified by Union law or the law of the Member States, the person responsible or the specific criteria for his naming can be provided for by Union law or the law of the Member States;

Explanation: In our case, we are responsible for the processing of your personal data and consequently the “controller”. If we pass on collected data to other service providers for processing, these are "processors". For this purpose, an "order processing contract (AVV)" must be signed.

processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

"Processing" any process or series of processes carried out with or without the aid of automated processes in connection with personal data, such as collecting, recording, organizing, organizing, storing, adapting or changing, reading out, querying, using, disclosing by transmission, distribution or any other form of making available, matching or linking, restricting, deleting or destroying;

Annotation: When we talk about processing in our data protection declaration, we mean 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.

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