Privacy Policy

Table of contents

Privacy Policy Introduction and Overview

We have written this privacy policy (version 16.01.2026-113095759) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – process, will process in the future and what legal options you have. The terms used are to be considered gender-neutral.
In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about any of your personal data we process.

Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. However, this privacy policy is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. So long as it aids transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly manner, links to further information are provided and graphics are used. We are thus informing in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the context of our business activities if there is a legal basis for it. This is certainly not possible with brief, unclear and legal-technical statements, as is often standard on the internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative. Maybe you will also find some information that you have not been familiar with.
If you still have questions, we kindly ask you to contact the responsible body named below or in the imprint, follow the existing links and look at further information on third-party sites. You can of course also find our contact details in the imprint.

Scope

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

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

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

Legal bases

In the following privacy policy, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.
Whenever EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of April 27, 2016. You can of course access the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU online at EUR-Lex, the gateway to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679.

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

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

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

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

  • In Austria this is the Austrian Data Protection Act (Datenschutzgesetz), in short DSG.
  • In Germany this is the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz), in short BDSG.

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

Contact details of the data protection controller

If you have any questions about data protection or the processing of personal data, you will find below the contact details of the controller in accordance with Article 4(7) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
WB Production, Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Alexander Barendregt
Villacher Straße 120
9710 Feistritz / Drau
AUSTRIA

E-Mail: alex@wb-production.com
Phone: +43 4245 21637
Company details: https://wb-production.com/de/?option=com_sppagebuilder&view=page&id=166

Storage Period

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

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

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

Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation

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

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

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

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or your data protection rights have been violated in any other way, you can complain to the supervisory authority. For Austria, this is the data protection authority, whose website can be found at https://www.dsb.gv.at/. In Germany, there is a data protection officer for each federal state. For more information, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). The following local data protection authority is responsible for our company:

Austria Data protection authority

Manager:Dr. Matthias Schmidl
Address: Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Wien
Phone number.: +43 1 52 152-0
E-mail address: dsb@dsb.gv.at
Website: https://www.dsb.gv.at/

Data transfer to third countries

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

We explicitly point out that, according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently only an adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA if a US company processing personal data of EU citizens in the USA is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. More information can be found at: https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

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

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

Security of data processing operations

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

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

TLS encryption with https

The terms TLS, encryption and https sound very technical, which they are indeed. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to securely transfer data on the Internet.
This means that the entire transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – nobody can “listen in”.

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and meet privacy requirements through technology design Article 25 Section 1 GDPR). With the use of TLS (Transport Layer Security), which is an encryption protocol for safe data transfer on the internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential information.
You can recognise the use of this safeguarding tool by the little lock-symbol , which is situated in your browser’s top left corner in the left of the internet address (e.g. examplepage.uk), as well as by the display of the letters https (instead of http) as a part of our web address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend you to do a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to find good links to further information.

Communications

Communications Overview
👥 Affected parties: Anyone who communicates with us via phone, email or online form
🤝 Processed data: e. g. telephone number, name, email address or data entered in forms. You can find more details on this under the respective form of contact
📓 Purpose: handling communication with customers, business partners, etc.
📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the business case and the legal requirements
⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

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

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

Affected persons

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

Telephone

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

Email

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

Online forms

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

Legal bases

Data processing is based on the following legal bases:

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

Data Processing Agreement (DPA)

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

Who are the processors?

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

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

Data subject (you as a customer or interested party) → Controller (we as a company and contracting entity) → Processors (service providers such as web hosts or cloud providers)

Contents of a Data Processing Agreement

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

  • indication to us as the controller
  • 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
  • location of data processing

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

  • ensuring data security measures
  • taking possible technical and organisational measures to protect the rights of the data subject
  • maintaining a data processing record
  • cooperation with the data protection authority upon request
  • performing a risk analysis for any received personal data
  • subprocessors may only be appointed with the written consent of the controller

You can see an example of what a DPA looks like at https://gdpr.eu/data-processing-agreement/. This link shows a sample contract.

Cookies

Cookies Overview
👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: depending on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.
📓 Processed data: depends on the cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.
📅 Storage duration: can vary from hours to years, depending on the respective cookie
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are cookies?

Our website uses HTTP-cookies to store user-specific data.
In the following we explain what cookies are and why they are used, so that you can better understand the following privacy policy.

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

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

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

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

HTTP cookie interaction between browser and web server

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

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

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152113095759-9
Purpose: Differentiation between website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

A browser should support these minimum sizes:

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

Which types of cookies are there?

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

There are 4 different types of cookies:

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

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

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

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

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

If you want to learn more about cookies and do not mind technical documentation, we recommend https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265, the Request for Comments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) called “HTTP State Management Mechanism”.

Purpose of processing via cookies

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

Which data are processed?

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

Storage period of cookies

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

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

Right of objection – how can I erase cookies?

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

The so-called “cookie directive” has existed since 2009. It states that the storage of cookies requires your consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR). Within countries of the EU, however, the reactions to these guidelines still vary greatly. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 165 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (2021). In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this guideline was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG), which has been replaced by the Digital Services Act (DSA) since May 2024.

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

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

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

Application Data

Application Data Summary
👥 Affected Parties: Users applying for a job position with us
🤝 Purpose: Processing a job application procedure
📓 Processed Data: Name, address, contact details, email address, phone number, proof of qualifications (certificates), potentially data of special categories.
📅 Retention Period: For successful applications, data will be retained until the end of the employment relationship. Otherwise, the data will be deleted after the application process or stored for a certain period with your consent.
⚖️ Legal Basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent), legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract), Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR (processing special categories of data)

What is application data?

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

Why do we process application data?

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

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

What data is processed?

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

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

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

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

  • Name
  • Contact address
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Date of birth
  • Information from cover letters and resumes
  • Proof of qualifications (e.g., certificates)
  • Special category data (e.g., ethnic origin, health data, religious beliefs)
  • Usage data (visited websites, access data, etc.)
  • Metadata (IP address, device information)

How long is the data stored?

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

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

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

Legal Basis

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

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

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

Contact Form

Contact Form Summary
👥 Data Subjects: Website visitors who enter data into a contact form
🤝 Purpose: Processing inquiries and communication in the context of pre-contractual measures or existing interest in our services
📓 Processed Data: Name, email address, phone number (if provided), message content, IP address, technical metadata (e.g., timestamp, browser information)
📅 Storage Duration: Data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer necessary for processing the inquiry and no legal retention obligations apply.
⚖️ Legal Bases: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR), Legitimate Interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR), Contract or pre-contractual measures (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR)

What is a contact form?

A contact form is a web form you can fill out on our website to get in touch with us easily. Typically, personal data such as your name, email address, and your message are transmitted to us. This information helps us respond to your inquiries more effectively and contact you directly.

Why do we use a contact form?

We offer a contact form to make it quick and easy for you to communicate with us. Whether you have questions about our services, want to give feedback, or have other concerns – the contact form allows you to reach out directly. The information you provide will be used solely to process your inquiry and to contact you. If the inquiry leads to further steps, such as providing an offer or entering into a contract, we may also use the data for those purposes.

What data is processed?

The specific data we process depends on the information you provide in the contact form. In general, this includes:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Phone number (optional)
  • Message content
  • Date and time of submission
  • IP address and technical metadata (for security and traceability)

This information helps us understand and respond to your inquiry more efficiently.

How long is the data stored?

We store contact form data only as long as necessary to process your inquiry. If a business relationship arises, the same retention periods as for customer data apply. In certain cases (e.g., legal disputes), longer retention periods may be required. Of course, we do not share your data with third parties without your explicit consent.

Legal basis

The legal bases for processing your data via the contact form are Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent – by submitting the form), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (pre-contractual measures), and Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interest – efficient communication and organization of inquiries). If you voluntarily provide special categories of personal data, processing is based on Art. 9 para. 2 lit. a GDPR (explicit consent).

Customer Data

Customer Data Overview
👥Affected parties: Customers or business and contractual partners
🤝 Purpose: Performance of a contract for the provision of agreed services or prior to entering into such a contract, including associated communications.
📓 Data processed: name, address, contact details, email address, telephone number, payment information (such as invoices and bank details), contract data (such as duration and subject matter of the contract), IP address, order data
📅 Storage period: the data will be erased as soon as they are no longer required for our business purposes and there is no legal obligation to process them.
⚖️ Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR), Contract (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR)

What is customer data?

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

Why do we process customer data?

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

What data is processed?

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

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

  • Name
  • Contact address
  • Email address
  • Phone number
  • Your birthday
  • Payment data (invoices, bank details, payment history, etc.)
  • Contract data (duration, contents)
  • Usage data (websites visited, access data, etc.)
  • Metadata (IP address, device information)

How long is the data stored?

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

Legal Basis

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

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

Registration

Registration Overview
👥 Affected parties: Anyone who registers to create an account with us, and logs in to use the account.
📓 Processed data: Personal data such as email address, name, password and other data that is collected during registration, login and account use.
🤝 Purpose: For the provision of our services, as well as to communicate with clients or customers in the scope of our services.
📅Storage period: As long as the company account associated with the texts exists, plus a period of usually 3 years.
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter b GDPR (contract), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests)

If you register with us and provide any personal data, this data may be processed, possibly along with your IP address. Below you can explore what we mean by the rather broad term “personal data”.

Please only enter the data we need for the registration. In case you are registering on behalf of a third party, please only enter data for which you have the approval of the party you are registering for. If possible, use a secure password that you don’t use anywhere else and an email address that you check regularly.

In the following, we will inform you about the exact type of data processing we do. After all, we want you to feel at ease with the services we provide!

What is a registration?

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

Why do we process personal data?

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

Which data is processed?

Any data that you provided during registration or login and any data that you may enter as part of managing your account data.

During registration, we process the following types of data:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address
  • Company name
  • Street + house number
  • Residence
  • Postcode
  • Country

During your registration, we process any data you enter, such as your username and password, along with data that is collected in the background such as your device information and IP addresses.

When using your account, we process any data you enter while using the account, as well as any data that is created while you use our services.

Storage time

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

Right to object

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

Legal Basis

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

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

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

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

Registration with real names

Since business operations require us to know who our clients or customers are, registration is only possible with your real name (full name) and not with a pseudonym.

Registration with pseudonyms

You can use a pseudonym for the registration, which means you don’t have to register with your real name. This ensures that your real name cannot be processed by us.

Storage of the IP address

During registration, login and account use, we store your IP address for security reasons in order to be able to determine legitimate use.

Public Profile

User profiles are publicly visible, i.e. parts of the profiles can also be viewed on the Internet without the need to enter a username and password.

Two Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two Factor Authentication (2FA) offers additional security when logging in, as it prevents you from logging in without a smartphone, for example. This technical measure to secure your account protects you against the loss of data or unauthorised access, even if your username and password were leaked. During your registration process, login or within the account itself y ou can find out which 2FA is used.

Web hosting

Web hosting Overview
👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website
📓 Purpose: professional hosting of the website and security of operations
🤝 Processed data: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. You can find more details on this below or at the respective web hosting provider.
📅 Storage period: dependent on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web hosting?

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

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

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

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

Illustration:

Browser and Webserver

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of data processing are:

  1. Professional hosting of the website and operational security
  2. To maintain the operational as well as IT security
  3. Anonymous evaluation of access patterns to improve our offer, and if necessary, for prosecution or the pursuit of claims.li>

Which data are processed?

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

  • the full address (URL) of the accessed website (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/examplesubpage.html?tid=113095759)
  • browser and browser version (e.g. Chrome 87)
  • the operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)
  • the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL) (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/icamefromhere.html/)
  • the host name and the IP address of the device from the website is being accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
  • date and time
  • in so-called web server log files

How long is the data stored?

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

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

Legal basis

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

Webhosting Other

Contact data for our Webhosting:

schwarzkünstler oHG
Alfred-Kubin-Weg 10
50374 Erftstadt, Deutschland

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

Website Builders Introduction

Website Builders Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: service optimisation
📓 Data processed: The data that is being processed includes but is not limited to technical usage information, browser activity, clickstream activity, session heat maps, contact details, IP addresses or geographic locations. You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below as well as in the providers’ Privacy Policies.
📅 Storage duration: depends on the provider
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR (consent)

What are website builders?

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

Why do we use website builders for our website?

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

Which data are stored by website builders?

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

How long and where are the data stored?

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

Right to object

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

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

Legal Bases

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

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

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

Joomla! Privacy Policy

For our website, we use Joomla!, which is a modular website system or a content management system (CMS). The provider of this service is the German company J and Beyond Verein zur Förderung freier Content Management Systeme e.V. (J and Beyond Association for the Promotion of Free Content Management Systems) at Brüsseler Ring 67, c/o Robert Deutz Business Solution, 52074 Aachen, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed by using the Joomla! in their Privacy Policy at https://www.joomla.de/privacypolicy.

Email-Marketing

Email Marketing Overview
👥 Affected parties: newsletter subscribers
🤝 Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of events that are relevant to the system
📓 Processed data: data entered during registration, but at least the email address. You can find more details on this in the respective email marketing tool used.
📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the subscription
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Email-Marketing?

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

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

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

Why do we use Email-Marketing?

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

Which data are processed?

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

Duration of data processing

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

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

Withdrawal – how can I cancel my subscription?

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

Legal basis

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

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

Brevo Privacy Policy

Brevo Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: newsletter subscribers
🤝 Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of relevant events to the system
📓 Processed data: data that was entered during registration, but at least email addresses.
📅 Storage duration: for subscription duration
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Brevo?

On our website you can subscribe to our newsletter for free. For this to work, we use the Brevo email service for our newsletter. This is a service of the German company Sendinblue GmbH, Köpenicker street 126, 10179 Berlin. Brevo is an email marketing tool, among other things, that we can use to send you customised newsletters. With Brevo there is no need for us to install anything, all while we can still draw on a pool of really useful functions. In the following we will go into more detail about this email marketing service and inform you on the most important aspects that are relevant to data protection and privacy.

Why do we use Brevo?

The newsletter service also offers us helpful options for analysis purposes. This means that if we send a newsletter, we can for example find out whether and when you opened the newsletter. The software also detects and records which link you click in the newsletter. This information helps us enormously to adapt and optimise our service to your wishes and concerns. After all, we naturally want to offer you the best possible service. In addition to the data already mentioned above, data about your user behaviour is also stored.

Which data is processed by Brevo?

We are of course very pleased if you register for our newsletter. That way we can always let you know first-handedly what is going on in our company, so you can stay up to date. However, you should know that when you sign up for the newsletter, all data you enter (such as your email address or your first and last name) will be retained and managed on our server as well as at Brevo. This also applies to personal data. For example, in addition to the time and date of registration, your IP address is also stored. During registration, you also consent to being sent our newsletter. There will also be a reference to this Privacy Policy. Furthermore, data such as your click behaviour within the newsletter may also be processed.

How long and where are the data retained?

The data for the newsletter tool are stored on servers in Germany. Any retained data that could be used to identify you personally (i.e. personal data), are generally erased at Brevo no later than two years after our contractual relationship ends. You can also request the erasure of your data individually and at any time. Requests are processed within 30 days. Data that we collect and transmit to Brevo will be erased by us as soon as you unsubscribe from our newsletter.

Right to object

You have the option to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to your newsletter subscription. This normally only takes a few seconds or one or two clicks. Usually you will find a link at the end of every email to unsubscribe from the newsletter. If you genuinely cannot find the link in the newsletter, please email us and we will cancel your newsletter subscription immediately. After you unsubscribe, your personal data will be erased from our server as well as from Brevo’s servers located in Germany. You have the right to receive free information about your stored data and, where applicable, a right to erasure, restrict processing or rectification.

Legal basis

Our newsletter is sent by Brevo on the basis of your consent (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR). Thus, we are only authorised to send you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. If your consent is not required, the newsletter is sent to you on the basis of our  legitimate interest in direct marketing (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f), provided this is legally permitted. We record your registration process so we can prove compliance with the law at any time.

If you would like more information about data processing, we recommend the company’s Privacy Policy at https://www.brevo.com/legal/privacypolicy/.

Messenger & Communication Introduction

Messenger & Communication Privacy Statement Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: for contact requests and general communications between yourself and us
📓 Processed data: Data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, general content data, plus IP address if applicable
You can find more details on this under the respective tools used.
📅 Storage duration: depends on the messenger & communication functions
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contractual or pre-contractual obligations)

What are Messenger & Communication functions?

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

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

Why do we use Messenger & Communication functions?

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

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

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

Which data is processed?

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

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

How long is data stored?

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

Right to object

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

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

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the data processing and storage by integrated messenger & communication functions, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). We process your request and manage your data within the framework of contractual or pre-contractual relationships in order to fulfill our pre-contractual and contractual obligations or to answer inquiries. The basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 section 1 lit. b GDPR. In general, if you have given your consent, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in quick and smooth communication with you or other customers and business partners.

Facebook Messenger Privacy Policy

Facebook Messenger Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Affected parties: Facebook Messenger users
🤝 Purpose: Communication
📓 Processed data: Contact details, messages, media
📅 Storage duration: After account deletion
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Facebook Messenger?

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

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

Why do we use Facebook Messenger?

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

What data is processed by Facebook Messenger?

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

Follow these steps to delete your Facebook account entirely:

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

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

3) Now click on “Deactivation and Deletion.”

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

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

Legal basis

The use of Facebook Messenger requires your consent, which we obtained through our consent tool (popup). This consent forms the legal basis for processing personal data through Facebook Messenger according to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent).

In addition to consent, we also have a legitimate interest in improving our services. With the help of Facebook Messenger, we can communicate with you more quickly and effectively. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Facebook Messenger if you have given your consent.

Facebook also processes data in the USA. Facebook (Meta Platforms) is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found here: https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Facebook uses Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). SCCs are templates provided by the EU Commission to ensure that your data continues to meet European data protection standards, even when transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and SCCs, Facebook commits to maintaining European data protection standards when processing your data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an EU Commission decision. You can find the decision and corresponding SCCs here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de.

Facebook’s data processing terms, which refer to SCCs, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

For more information about the data processed by Facebook, you can refer to their Privacy Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA) Facebook Messenger

In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with Facebook. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.

This contract is required by law because Facebook processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that Facebook may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

WhatsApp Privacy Policy

WhatsApp Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Affected parties: WhatsApp users
🤝 Purpose: Communication
📓 Processed data: Contact details, messages, media
📅 Storage duration: After account deletion or deactivation
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is WhatsApp?

We use the instant messaging service WhatsApp on our website. The service provider is the American company WhatsApp Inc., a subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc. until October 2021). For the European region, the responsible entity is WhatsApp Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland.

You’re probably already familiar with WhatsApp. It’s quite likely that you use this popular messaging service on your smartphone yourself. Over the years, there have been criticisms regarding WhatsApp, and its parent company, Meta Platforms, concerning the handling of personal data. In recent years, the main concern has been about merging WhatsApp user data with Facebook. In response, Facebook adjusted its terms of service in 2021, stating that currently (as of 2021), no personal data from WhatsApp users is shared with Facebook.
Nevertheless, a significant amount of personal data is processed by WhatsApp when you use the service and have agreed to the data processing. This includes not only your phone number and chat messages but also sent photos, videos, and profile data. Photos and videos are reportedly stored only temporarily, and all messages and calls are end-to-end encrypted, meaning they should not be accessible even to Meta itself. Additionally, WhatsApp stores information from your address book and other metadata.

Why do we use WhatsApp?

We want to stay in touch with you, and WhatsApp is the best way to do that. On the one hand, the service works reliably, and on the other, WhatsApp is still the most widely used instant messaging tool in the world. The service is convenient and allows for quick and easy communication with you.

What data is processed by WhatsApp?

By using WhatsApp, various types of data, including personal data, can be processed. This includes account information such as your phone number, profile picture, username, or other information you provide to WhatsApp when creating and managing your WhatsApp account. Naturally, WhatsApp also stores the content of your messages (text, photos, videos, voice messages). WhatsApp also stores metadata, such as the date and time a message was sent or received. The phone numbers of the involved parties and technical data such as device type, operating system, or location data are also stored.

How long and where is the data stored?

In general, data is stored by WhatsApp for as long as it is necessary for legitimate purposes and to fulfill legal obligations. The exact storage duration cannot be specified here as it depends heavily on the type of data. Messages are typically stored by WhatsApp in encrypted form only during delivery and are deleted from the servers once a message is delivered. Messages are stored for longer only on your device. When media is sent, WhatsApp stores this data in encrypted form for up to 30 days to optimize delivery. Account data is stored as long as you have an active WhatsApp account. If you delete or deactivate your account, your account data is generally deleted. WhatsApp stores data on its own servers, which are distributed worldwide. To operate web-based WhatsApp services, data is also collected through the use of cookies.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

If you do not want cookies to be set and data stored when using the desktop version, you can prevent the setting of cookies in your browser. You can manage, disable, or delete cookies in your browser. How this works varies depending on the browser. You can find more details in our section on cookies.

Legal basis

The use of WhatsApp requires your consent, which we obtained through our consent tool (popup). This consent forms the legal basis for processing personal data through WhatsApp, according to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent).

In addition to consent, we also have a legitimate interest in improving our communication services. With WhatsApp, we can respond to your inquiries more quickly, send you important messages, and take our service to the next level. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use WhatsApp if you have given your consent.

WhatsApp also processes data in the USA. WhatsApp is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found here: https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, WhatsApp uses Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). SCCs are templates provided by the EU Commission to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and SCCs, WhatsApp commits to maintaining 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 EU Commission decision. You can find the decision and corresponding SCCs here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de.

Information on WhatsApp’s data transfer practices in compliance with SCCs can be found at https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/business-data-transfer-addendum-20210927.

We hope we have provided you with the most important information regarding the use and data processing by WhatsApp. For more information on the data processed by WhatsApp, you can refer to their Privacy Policy at https://www.whatsapp.com/privacy.

Social Media

Social Media Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Service presentation and optimisation, staying in contact with visitors, interested parties, etc. as well as advertising
📓 Processed data: data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, contact data, data on user behaviour, information about your device and your IP address.
You can find more details on this directly at the respective social media tool used.
📅 Storage period: depending on the social media platforms used
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Social Media?

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

Why do we use Social Media?

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

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

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

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

Which data are processed?

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

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

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right to object

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

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, provided you have given your consent, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in maintaining fast and good communication with you and other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have consented. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

Facebook Privacy Policy

Facebook Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: service optimisation
📓 Processed data: data such as customer data, data on user behaviour, device information and IP address.
You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below.
📅 Storage period: until the data no longer serves Facebook’s purposes
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are Facebook tools?

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

If your data is collected and forwarded via our embedded Facebook elements or via our Facebook page (fanpage), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. are responsible for this. However, should any further processing occur, then Facebook is solely responsible for this data. Our joint commitments were also set out in a publicly available agreement at https://www.facebook. com / legal / controller_addendum . It e.g. states that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our website. We are also responsible for ensuring that the tools are securely integrated into our website and are in accordance with the applicable privacy laws. Facebook, on the other hand, is e.g. responsible for the data security of Facebook’s products. If you have any questions about Facebook’s data collection and processing, you can contact the company directly. Should you direct the question to us, we are obliged to forward it to Facebook.

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

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

  • Facebook-Pixel
  • Social Plugins (e.g. the “Like” or “Share“ button)
  • Facebook Login
  • Account Kit
  • APIs (application programming interface)
  • SDKs (Softwart developmept kits)
  • Plattform-integrations
  • Plugins
  • Codes
  • Specifications
  • Documentations
  • Technologies and Services

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

Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?

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

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

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

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

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

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

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

How long and where are the data stored?

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

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

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

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

3) Now click on “Deactivation and deletion”.

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

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or Facebook’s cookie policy.

Facebook processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Facebook respectively Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Facebook uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Facebook commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

The Facebook Data Processing Term, which references the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

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

Facebook Social Plugins Privacy Policy

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

Facebook offers the following social plugins:

  • “Save” button
  • “Like” button, Share, Send and Quote
  • Page plugin
  • Comments
  • Messenger plugin
  • Embedded posts and video player
  • Group Plugin

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

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

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

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

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

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

Name: dpr
Value: no information
Purpose:This cookie is used to make the social plugins work on our website.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4113095759c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose:The cookie is also necessary for the plugins to function properly
Expiry date: after 3 months

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

If you are registered with Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements yourself at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. If you are not a Facebook user, you can go to https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/ and manage your usage-based online advertising. There you have the option to deactivate or activate providers.

If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend the company’s own data policies at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

Facebook Fanpage Privacy Policy

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

Facebook processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Facebook respectively Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Facebook uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Facebook commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

The Facebook Data Processing Term, which references the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

You can find out more about the data that is processed by using Facebook in their Privacy Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.

Instagram Privacy Policy

Instagram Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: optimising our service
📓 Processed data: includes data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address.
More details can be found in the privacy policy below.
📅 Storage period: until Instagram no longer needs the data for its purposes
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Instagram?

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

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

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

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

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

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

What data is stored by Instagram?

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

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

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

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

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

The following cookies were used in our test:

Name: csrftoken
Value: “”
Purpose: This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent falsifications of requests. We could not find out more information on it.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: mid
Value: “”
Purpose: Instagram places this cookie to optimise its own offers and services in- and outside of Instagram. The cookie allocates a unique user ID.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: fbsr_113095759124024
Value: no information
Purpose: This cookie stores the login request of Instagram app users.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: rur
Value: ATN
Purpose: This is an Instagram cookie which guarantees functionality on Instagram.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: urlgen
Value: “{”194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe113095759”
Purpose: This cookie serves Instagram’s marketing purposes.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

How long and where are these data stored?

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

And this is how an Instagram account can be deleted:

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

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

Instagram processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Instagram respectively Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Instagram uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Instagram commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Instagram. On https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
you can take a closer look at Instagram’s data guidelines.

LinkedIn Privacy Policy

LinkedIn Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: optimisation of our service
📓 Processed data: includes data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address.
More details can be found in the privacy policy below.
📅 Storage period: the data is generally deleted within 30 days
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is LinkedIn?

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

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

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

Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?

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

What data are stored by LinkedIn?

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

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

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

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

Name: bcookie
Value: =2&34aab2aa-2ae1-4d2a-8baf-c2e2d7235c16113095759-
Purpose: This cookie is a so-called “browser ID cookie” and stores your identification number (ID).
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: lang
Value: v=2&lang=en-gb
Purpose:This cookie saves your default or preferred language.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: lidc
Value: 1818367:t=1571904767:s=AQF6KNnJ0G113095759…
Purpose:This cookie is used for routing. Routing records how you found your way to LinkedIn and how you navigate through the website.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

Name: rtc
Value: kt0lrv3NF3x3t6xvDgGrZGDKkX
Purpose:No further information could be found about this cookie.
Expiry date: after 2 minutes

Name: JSESSIONID
Value: ajax:1130957592900777718326218137
Purpose: This is a session cookie that LinkedIn uses to maintain anonymous user sessions through the server.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: bscookie
Value: “v=1&201910230812…
Purpose: This cookie is a security cookie. LinkedIn describes it as a secure browser ID cookie.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: fid
Value: AQHj7Ii23ZBcqAAAA…
Purpose: We could not find any further information about this cookie.
Expiry date: after 7 days

Note: LinkedIn also works with third parties. That is why we identified the Google Analytics cookies _ga and _gat in our test.

How long and where are the data stored?

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

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

How to access account data in your LinkedIn profile:

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, your consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

LinkedIn processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. LinkedIn is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, LinkedIn uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, LinkedIn commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find more information about the standard contractual clauses at LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/customer-sccs.

You can find out more about the data that is processed by LinkedIn in their Privacy Policy at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA) LinkedIn

In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with LinkedIn. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.

This contract is required by law because LinkedIn processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that LinkedIn may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/dpa?.

X (formerly: Twitter) Privacy Policy

X (formerly: Twitter) Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: optimising our service
📓 Processed data: includes data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address.
More details can be found in the privacy policy below.
📅 Storage period: X deletes collected data of other websites after 30 days at most
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is X?

On our website, we have integrated features from X. These include embedded tweets, timelines, buttons, or hashtags, for example. X is a short messaging service and social media platform provided by the American company X Corp., located at 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. For the European region, Twitter International Unlimited Company (One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland) is responsible for processing personal data.

To our knowledge, in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, a mere integration of the X function does not transfer any personal data or data about your web activities to X. Only when you interact with the X functions, such as by clicking a button, data could be sent to X and get saved as well as processed there. We have no influence on this processing of data and do not bare any responsibility for it. Within this privacy statement, we want to give you an overview of what data X stores, what X does with this data and how you can largely protect yourself from data transmission.

For some, X is a news service, for others, a social media platform, and for others still it is a microblogging service. All these terms are justified and mean pretty much the same.

Both individuals as well as companies use X for communicating with interested people via short messages. X only allows 280 characters per message. These messages are called “tweets”. In contrast to Facebook, for example, the service does not focus on the expansion of a network of “friends”, but strives to be regarded as an open, worldwide news platform. On X you can also have an anonymous account and tweets can be deleted by both, either the company or the users themselves.

Why do we use X on our website?

Like many other websites and companies, we try to use different channels for offering our services and communicating with our customers. X is a truly useful “small” news service, which is why it has grown dear to us. We regularly tweet or retweet exciting, funny or interesting content. We understand that you do not have the time to follow every channel after channel, as you surely have enough other things to do. That is why we also have integrated X functions to our website. That way, you can experience our X activities “on site” or come to our X page via a direct link. With the integration, we want to strengthen the service and user-friendliness on our website.

What data is stored by X?

You will find integrated X functions on some of our subpages. If you interact with X content, such as by clicking a button, X may collect and save data. This can happen even if you don’t have a X account yourself. X calls this data “log data”. It includes demographic data, browser cookie IDs, your smartphone’s ID, hashed email addresses, and information on which pages you have visited on X and what actions you have taken there. Of course, X stores more data if you have a X account and are logged in. This retention is usually done via cookies. Cookies are small text files that are usually set in your browser and transmit various information to X.

We will now show you which cookies are placed if you are not logged in to X but visit a website with built-in X functions. Please consider this list as an example. We do not claim for this list to be extensive, since the array of cookies always changes and depends on your individual actions with X content.

The following cookies have been used in our test:

Name: personalization_id
Value: “v1_cSJIsogU51SeE113095759”
Purpose: This cookie stores information on how you use the website and what ad may have led you to X.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: lang
Value: en
Purpose: This cookie stores your default or preferred language.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: guest_id
Value: 113095759v1%3A157132626
Purpose: This cookie is set to identify you as a guest.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: fm
Value: 0
Purpose: Unfortunately, we could not find out the purpose of this cookie.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: external_referer
Value: 1130957592beTA0sf5lkMrlGt
Purpose: This cookie collects anonymous data, such as how often you visit X and how long you visit X.
Expiry date: after 6 days

Name: eu_cn
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie stores user activity and is used for X’s various advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: ct0
Value: c1179f07163a365d2ed7aad84c99d966
Purpose: Unfortunately we could not find any information on this cookie.
Expiry date: after 6 hours

Name: _twitter_sess
Value: 53D%253D–dd0248113095759-
Purpose: With this cookie you can use functions within X’s website.
Expiry date: after end of session

Note: X also works with third parties. Therefore, we have recognized the three Google Analytics cookies _ga, _gat, _gid in our test.

On the one hand, X uses the collected data for gaining better understand on user behaviour, and thus to improve their own services and advertising offers. On the other hand, the data are also used for internal security measures.

How long and where are the data stored?

When X collects data from other websites, after a maximum of 30 days, they will be deleted, summarised or otherwise concealed. X’s servers are in various server centres in the United States. Accordingly, it can be assumed that the gathered data will be collected and stored in America. In our research we could not clearly determine whether X also owns servers in Europe. Generally, X may keep collected data stored until either the data are no longer useful to the company, until you delete the data or until a potential legal deletion period has been reached.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

In their Privacy Policy, X repeatedly emphasise that they do not save data from external website visits, provided you or your browser are in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. However, if you interact directly with X, the company will of course store your data.

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

If you do not have a X account, you can go to twitter.com and click “Settings”. At “Personalisation and data” you can manage data that is collected on you.

As mentioned above, most data are stored via cookies, which you can manage, deactivate or delete in your browser. Please note that when changing cookie settings in your browser, the edits will only affect that very browser. This means that if you use another browser in the future, you will have to manage your cookie settings there again. In the following you will find instructions for managing cookies in the most popular browsers.

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

You can also set your browser to notify you about each individual cookie. This lets you decide individually whether you want to allow or deny a cookie.

X also uses the data for personalised advertising in-and outside of X. You can switch off personalised advertising in the settings under “Personalization and data”. If you use X on a browser, you can deactivate personalised advertising at http://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2&lang=EN.

Legal basis

If you have consented processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to also take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

X processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

X uses standard contractual clauses, which are approved by the EU Commission, as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfers there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige X to comply with the EU’s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

We hope we could give you a basic overview of X’s data processing. We do not receive any data from X and are not responsible for what X does with your data. If you have any further questions on this topic, we recommend you to read X’s privacy statement at https://twitter.com/en/privacy.

Blogs and Publication Media Introduction

Blogs and Publication Media Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimisation of our service, along with communication between website visitors, as well as security measures and administration
📓 Data processed: Data such as contact details, IP address and published content.
More details can be found under the tools used.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the tools used
⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contract)

What are blogs and publishing media?

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

Why do we use blogs and publication media?

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

Which data is processed?

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right to object

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

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

Legal Basis

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

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

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

Blog Posts and Comment Functions Privacy Policy

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

Online Marketing

Online Marketing Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information for website optimisation
📓 Processed data: Access statistics containing data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed. You can find more details on this from the respective Online Marketing tool.
📅 Storage period: depending on the Online Marketing tools used
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Online Marketing?

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

Why do we use Online Marketing tools?

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

Which data are processed?

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

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

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

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

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right of withdrawal

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

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of third-party providers, then this consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) , this consent is the legal basis for personal data processing, as may be done when data is collected by online marketing tools.

Moreover, we have a legitimate interest in measuring our online marketing activities in anonymised form, in order to use this data for optimising our offer and our Marketing. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) . Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent.

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

Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: economic success and service optimisation.
📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed.
📅 Storage period: Conversion cookies usually expire after 30 days and do not transmit any personal data
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Ads conversion tracking?

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

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

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

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

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

What data is stored with Google Ads conversion tracking?

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

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

Name: Conversion
Value: EhMI_aySuoyv4gIVled3Ch0llweVGAEgt-mr6aXd7dYlSAGQ113095759-3
Purpose: This cookie saves every conversion you make on our website after you came to us via a Google ad.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Name: _gac
Value: 1.1558695989.EAIaIQobChMIiOmEgYO04gIVj5AYCh2CBAPrEAAYASAAEgIYQfD_BwE
Purpose: This is a classic Google Analytics Cookie that records various actions on our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months

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

As soon as you complete an action on our website, Google identifies the cookie and saves your action as a so-called conversion. For as long as you surf our website, provided the cookie has not expired, both Google and us can determine that you found your way to us via a Google ad. Then, the cookie is read and sent back to Google Ads, together with the conversion data. Moreover, other cookies may also be used for measuring conversions. Google Ads‘ conversion tracking can be fine-tuned and improved with the aid of Google Analytics. Furthermore, ads which Google displays in various places across the web, might be placed under our domain with the name “__gads” or “_gac”.
Since September 2017, analytics.js retains various campaign information with the _gac cookie. This cookie stores data, as soon as you open one of our sites that has been set up for Google Ads’ auto-tagging. In contrast to cookies that are placed for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies when you are on our website. We do neither collect nor receive any personal data. We do obtain a report with statistical evaluations by Google. With the help thereof, we can not only see the total number of users who clicked our ad, but also what advertising measures were well received.

How long and where is the data stored?

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies at all, you can set up your browser to notify you whenever a potential cookie is about to be set. This lets you decide upon permitting or denying the cookie’s placement. By downloading and installing the browser plugin at https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996 you can also deactivate all “advertising cookies”. Please consider that by deactivating these cookies, you cannot prevent all advertisements, only personalised ads.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Ads Conversion Tracking, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent is the legal basis for personal data processing, as may be done when collected by Google Ads Conversion Tracking.

We also have legitimate interest in using Google Ads Conversion Tracking to optimise our online service and marketing measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Ads Conversion Tracking if you have consented to it.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at: https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

If you would like to find out more about data protection at Google, we recommend Google’s privacy policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

We also use the advertising tool Google Ads Similar Audiences. The service provider is the American company Google LLC. For the European region, the responsible entity is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland).

Google processes data from you, among others, in the USA. Google LLC is an active participant in the EU‑US Data Privacy Framework, which ensures the proper and secure transfer of personal data of EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found here:
https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

Furthermore, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR). These model clauses provided by the EU Commission are intended to ensure that your data continues to comply with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (for example, in the USA). Through the EU‑US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google undertakes to maintain the European level of data protection in the processing of your relevant data, even if that data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. The relevant implementation decision and the Standard Contractual Clauses can be found here:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en

Learn more about the data processed through the use of Google Ads Similar Audiences at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Content Delivery Networks

Content Delivery Networks Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Service performance optimisation (to increase website loading speeds)
📓 Processed data: data such as your IP address
You can find more details on this below as well as in the individual Privacy Policies.
📅 Storage period: most data is stored until it is no longer needed for the provision of the service.
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is a Content Delivery Network?

On our website we use a so-called content delivery network or CDN. This helps to load our website quickly and easily, regardless of your location. Moreover, your personal data will also be stored, managed and processed on the respective CDN provider’s servers. In the following, we will go into more general detail on this service and the data processing associated with it. You can find detailed information on how your data is handled in the provider’s Privacy Policy.

Each content delivery network (CDN) is a network of regionally distributed servers that are connected to each other via the internet. Through this network, website content (especially very large files) can be delivered quickly and smoothly, even when large loading peaks occur. To make this possible, CDNs create a copy of our website on their servers. The website can be delivered quickly because these servers are distributed all around the world. Any 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 lose your patience and click away before the website is fully loaded. But of course we want to avoid that. Therefore, to us a fast loading website is an obligatory part of our website offer. With the use of a content delivery network, our website loads significantly faster in your browser. Furthermore, CDNs are particularly helpful when you are abroad, as the website is always delivered from a server in your area.

Which data are processed?

If you access a website or its content and it gets cached in a CDN, the CDN forwards the request to the server closest to you which then delivers the content. Content delivery networks are built in a way that JavaScript libraries can be downloaded and hosted on npm and Github servers. Alternatively, WordPress plugins can also be loaded on most CDNs, provided they are hosted on WordPress.org. Moreover, your browser can send personal data to the content delivery network we use. This includes data such as IP addresses, browser type, browser version, the accessed website or the time and date of the page visit. This data is collected and stored by the CDN. Whether cookies are used for data storage depends on the network that is being used. For more information on this, please read the Privacy Policy of the respective service.

Right to object

If you want to prevent this data transfer altogether, you can use a JavaScript blocker (see for example https://noscript.net/) on your computer. However, our website can then of course no longer offer its usual service (such as a fast loading speeds).

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of a content delivery network, your consent represents the the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. a (consent) your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it can occur when collected by a content delivery network.

We also have a legitimate interest in using a content delivery network to optimise our online service and make it more secure. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use the tool if you have consented to it.

Provided this information is available, you can find out more about the particular content delivery networks in the following sections.

Cloudflare Privacy Policy

Cloudflare Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: service performance optimisation (to accelerate website loading times)
📓 Processed data: data such as IP address, contact and protocol information, security fingerprints and website performance data
You can find more details on this in the Privacy Policy below.
📅 Storage duration: most of the data is stored for less than 24 hours
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Cloudflare?

We use Cloudflare by the company Cloudflare, Inc. (101 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107, USA) on our website to enhance its speed and security. For this, Cloudflare uses cookies and processes user data. Cloudflare, Inc. is an American company that offers a content delivery network and various security services. These services take place between the user and our hosting provider. In the following, we will try to explain in detail what all this means.

A content delivery network (CDN), as provided by Cloudflare, is nothing more than a network of servers that are connected to each other. Cloudflare has deployed servers around the world, which ensure websites can appear on your screen faster. Simply put, Cloudflare makes copies of our website and places them on its own servers. Thus, when you visit our website, a load distribution system ensures that the main part of our website is delivered by a server that can display our website to you as quickly as possible. The CDN significantly shortens the route of the transmitted data to your browser. Thus, Cloudflare does not only deliver our website’s content from our hosting server, but from servers from all over the world. Cloudflare is particularly helpful for users from abroad, since pages can be delivered from a nearby server. In addition to the fast delivery of websites, Cloudflare also offers various security services, such as DDoS protection, or the web application firewall.

Why do we use Cloudflare on our website?

Of course, we want our website to offer you the best possible service. Cloudflare helps us make our website faster and more secure. Cloudflare offers us web optimisations as well as security services such as DDoS protection and a web firewall. Moreover, this includes a Reverse-Proxy and the content distribution network (CDN). Cloudflare blocks threats and limits abusive bots as well as crawlers that waste our bandwidth and server resources. By storing our website in local data centres and blocking spam software, Cloudflare enables us to reduce our bandwidth usage by about 60%. Furthermore, the provision of content through a data centre near you and certain web optimizations carried out there, cut the average loading time of a website in about half. According to Cloudflare, the setting “I’m Under Attack Mode” can be used to mitigate further attacks by displaying a JavaScript calculation task that must be solved before a user can access a website. Overall, this makes our website significantly more powerful and less susceptible to spam or other attacks.

What data is stored by Cloudflare?

Cloudflare generally only transmits data that is controlled by website operators. Therefore, Cloudflare does not determine the content, but the website operator themselves does. Additionally, Cloudflare may collect certain information about the use of our website and may process data we send or data which Cloudflare has received certain instructions for. Mostly, Cloudflare receives data such as IP addresses, contacts and protocol information, security fingerprints and websites’ performance data. Log data for example helps Cloudflare identify new threats. That way, Cloudflare can ensure a high level of security for our website. As part of their services, Cloudflare process this data in compliance with the applicable laws. Of course, this also includes the compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Furthermore, Cloudflare uses a cookie for security reasons. The cookie (__cfduid) is used to identify individual users behind a shared IP address, and to apply security settings for each individual user. The cookie is very useful, if you e.g. use our website from a restaurant where several infected computers are located. However, if your computer is trustworthy, we can recognise that with the cookie. Hence, you will be able to freely and carelessly surf our website, despite the infected PCs in your area. Another point that is important to know, is that this cookie does not store any personal data. The cookie is essential for Cloudflare’s security functions and cannot be deactivated.

Cookies by Cloudflare

Name: __cfduid
Value: d798bf7df9c1ad5b7583eda5cc5e78113095759-3
Purpose: Security settings for each individual visitor
Expiry date: after one year

Cloudflare also works with third party providers. They may however only process personal data after the instruction of Cloudflare and in accordance with the data protection guidelines and other confidentiality and security measures. Without explicit consent from us, Cloudflare will not pass on any personal data.

How long and where is the data stored?

Cloudflare stores your information primarily in the United States and the European Economic Area. Cloudflare can transfer and access the information described above, from all over the world. In general, Cloudflare stores domains’ user-level data with the Free, Pro and Business versions for less than 24 hours. For enterprise domains that have activated Cloudflare Logs (previously called Enterprise LogShare or ELS), data can be stored for up to 7 days. However, if IP addresses trigger security warnings in Cloudflare, there may be exceptions to the storage period mentioned above.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

Cloudflare only keeps data logs for as long as necessary and in most cases deletes the data within 24 hours. Cloudflare also does not store any personal data, such as your IP address. However, there is information that Cloudflare store indefinitely as part of their permanent logs. This is done to improve the overall performance of Cloudflare Resolver and to identify potential security risks. You can find out exactly which permanent logs are saved at https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/commitment-to-privacy/privacy-policy/privacy-policy/. All data Cloudflare collects (temporarily or permanently) is cleared of all personal data. Cloudflare also anonymise all permanent logs.

In their privacy policy, Cloudflare state that they are not responsible for the content you receive. For example, if you ask Cloudflare whether you can update or delete content, Cloudflare will always refer to us as the website operator. You can also completely prevent the collection and processing of your data by Cloudflare, when you deactivate the execution of script-code in your browser, or if you integrate a script blocker to your browser.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Cloudflare, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. a (Consent) your consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as can occur when it is collected by Cloudflare.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Cloudflare to optimise our online service and make it more secure. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Cloudflare if you have given your consent to it.

Cloudflare processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Cloudflare is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Cloudflare uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Cloudflare commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find out more about the standard contractual clauses and the data that is processed by Cloudflare at https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/privacypolicy/.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA) Cloudflare

In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with Cloudflare. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.

This contract is required by law because Cloudflare processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that Cloudflare may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://www.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-customer-dpa/.

Cookie Consent Management Platform Overview
👥 Affected parties: Website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Obtaining and managing consent to certain cookies and thus the use of certain tools
📓 Processed data: data for managing cookie settings such as IP address, time of consent, type of consent and individual consent. You can find more details on this directly with the tool that is being used.
📅 Storage period: depends on the tool used, periods of several years can be assumed
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is a cookie consent management platform?

We use a Consent Management Platform (CMP) software on our website that makes it easier for us and you to handle the scripts and cookies used correctly and securely. The software automatically creates a cookie pop-up, scans and controls all scripts and cookies, provides you with the cookie consent required under data protection law and helps you and us to keep track of all cookies. Most cookie consent management tools identify and categorize all existing cookies. As a website visitor, you then decide for yourself whether and which scripts and cookies you allow or not. The following graphic shows the relationship between browser, web server and CMP.

Consent Management Platform overview

Why do we use a cookie management tool?

Our goal is to offer you the best possible transparency in the area of ​​data protection. We are also legally obliged to do so. We want to inform you as well as possible about all tools and all cookies that can save and process your data. It is also your right to decide for yourself which cookies you accept and which you do not. In order to grant you this right, we first need to know exactly which cookies actually landed on our website. Thanks to a cookie management tool, which regularly scans the website for all cookies present, we know about all cookies and can provide you with GDPR-compliant information. You can then use the consent system to accept or reject cookies.

Which data are processed?

As part of our cookie management tool, you can manage each individual cookie yourself and have complete control over the storage and processing of your data. The declaration of your consent is stored so that we do not have to ask you every time you visit our website and we can also prove your consent if required by law. This is saved either in an opt-in cookie or on a server. The storage time of your cookie consent varies depending on the provider of the cookie management tool. Usually this data (e.g. pseudonymous user ID, time of consent, detailed information on the cookie categories or tools, browser, device information) is stored for up to two years.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of the data processing if we have further information. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. Data stored in cookies are stored for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted after you leave the website, others may be stored in your browser for a few years. The exact duration of the data processing depends on the tool used, in most cases you should be prepared for a storage period of several years. In the respective data protection declarations of the individual providers, you will usually receive precise information about the duration of the data processing.

Right of objection

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

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

Legal basis

If you agree to cookies, your personal data will be processed and stored via these cookies. If we are allowed to use cookies with your consent (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR), this consent is also the legal basis for the use of cookies and the processing of your data. In order to be able to manage the consent to cookies and to enable you to give your consent, a cookie consent management platform software is used. The use of this software enables us to operate the website in an efficient and legally compliant manner, which is a legitimate interest (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR).

Security & Anti-spam

Security & Anti-Spam Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: for cyber security
📓 Processed data: Data such as your IP address, name or technical data such as browser version
More details can be found below and in the individual privacy policies.
📅 Duration of storage: In most cases, data is stored until it is no longer required in order to provide the service
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Security & Anti-spam software?

So-called security & Anti-spam software can protect you and us from various spam or phishing emails and other potential cyber-attacks. Spam includes advertising emails from mass mailings that you did not sign up for yourself. Such emails are also called data garbage and can also cause costs. Other spam such as phishing emails, on the other hand, are messages that aim to gain trust via fake messages or websites in order to obtain personal information. Anti-spam software usually protects against unwanted spam messages or malicious emails that could inject viruses into our system. We also use general firewall and security systems that protect our devices from unwanted network attacks.

Why do we use Security & Anti-spam software?

We put great importance on our website’s security. After all, this is not just about our safety, but also about your safety. Unfortunately, cyber threats are now part of everyday life in the world of IT and the internet. Hackers e. g. often try to steal personal data from IT systems with the help of cyber attacks. And therefore a good defence system is absolutely necessary. A security system monitors all incoming and outgoing connections to our network or computer. In order to achieve even greater security against cyber attacks, we also use other external security services on our devices in addition to standardised security systems. Unauthorised data transmissions are thus better prevented and this is how we protect ourselves from cybercrime.

Which data are processed by Security & Anti-spam software?

The data that is collected and stored of course depends on the respective service. However, we always try to only use programs that collect data very sparingly or only store data that is necessary for the fulfilment of the offered service. In general, the service may store data such as name, address, IP address, email address and technical data such as browser type or browser version. Any performance and log data may also be collected in order to identify possible incoming threats in good time. This data will be processed as part of the provided services and in compliance with applicable laws. This also includes the GDPR for US providers (via the Standard Contractual Clauses). In some cases, security services also work with third parties who may store and/or process data under instructions and in accordance with privacy policies and other security measures. Data is usually stored using cookies.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. For example, security programs store data until you or we revoke data storage. In general, personal data is only stored for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of the services. Unfortunately, in many cases, we do not have precise information from the providers about their data storage periods.

Right to object

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

Since cookies may also be used with security services, we recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal Basis

We use security services mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in a good security system and protection against various cyber attacks.

Certain data processing requires your consent – in particular, the use of cookies and security functions. If you have agreed to the processing and storage of your data by integrated security services, your consent is the legal basis for data processing (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). Most of the services we use set cookies on your browser to store data. We, therefore, recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

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

Cloudflare Turnstile Privacy Policy

We also use the bot protection and captcha service Cloudflare Turnstile for our website. The service provider is the American company Cloudflare, Inc, 101 Townsend St., San Francisco, CA 94107, USA.

Cloudflare processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Cloudflare is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Cloudflare uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Cloudflare commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of Cloudflare Turnstile in the privacy policy on https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/.

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Service optimisation and protection against cyber attacks
📓 Processed data: data such as IP address, browser information, operating system, limited location and usage data
You can find more details on this in the Privacy Policy below.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the retained data
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is reCAPTCHA?

Our primary goal is to provide you an experience on our website that is as secure and protected as possible. To do this, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheater Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). With reCAPTCHA we can determine whether you are a real person from flesh and bones, and not a robot or a spam software. By spam we mean any electronically undesirable information we receive involuntarily. Classic CAPTCHAS usually needed you to solve text or picture puzzles to check. But thanks to Google’s reCAPTCHA you usually do have to do such puzzles. Most of the times it is enough to simply tick a box and confirm you are not a bot. With the new Invisible reCAPTCHA version you don’t even have to tick a box. In this privacy policy you will find out how exactly this works, and what data is used for it.

reCAPTCHA is a free captcha service from Google that protects websites from spam software and misuse by non-human visitors. This service is used the most when you fill out forms on the Internet. A captcha service is a type of automatic Turing-test that is designed to ensure specific actions on the Internet are done by human beings and not bots. During the classic Turing-test (named after computer scientist Alan Turing), a person differentiates between bot and human. With Captchas, a computer or software program does the same. Classic captchas function with small tasks that are easy to solve for humans but provide considerable difficulties to machines. With reCAPTCHA, you no longer must actively solve puzzles. The tool uses modern risk techniques to distinguish people from bots. The only thing you must do there, is to tick the text field “I am not a robot”. However, with Invisible reCAPTCHA even that is no longer necessary. reCAPTCHA, integrates a JavaScript element into the source text, after which the tool then runs in the background and analyses your user behaviour. The software calculates a so-called captcha score from your user actions. Google uses this score to calculate the likelihood of you being a human, before entering the captcha. reCAPTCHA and Captchas in general are used every time bots could manipulate or misuse certain actions (such as registrations, surveys, etc.).

Why do we use reCAPTCHA on our website?

We only want to welcome people from flesh and bones on our side and want bots or spam software of all kinds to stay away. Therefore, we are doing everything we can to stay protected and to offer you the highest possible user friendliness. For this reason, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google. Thus, we can be pretty sure that we will remain a “bot-free” website. Using reCAPTCHA, data is transmitted to Google to determine whether you genuinely are human. reCAPTCHA thus ensures our website’s and subsequently your security. Without reCAPTCHA it could e.g. happen that a bot would register as many email addresses as possible when registering, in order to subsequently “spam” forums or blogs with unwanted advertising content. With reCAPTCHA we can avoid such bot attacks.

What data is stored by reCAPTCHA?

reCAPTCHA collects personal user data to determine whether the actions on our website are made by people. Thus, IP addresses and other data Google needs for its reCAPTCHA service, may be sent to Google. Within member states of the European Economic Area, IP addresses are almost always compressed before the data makes its way to a server in the USA. Moreover, your IP address will not be combined with any other of Google’s data, unless you are logged into your Google account while using reCAPTCHA. Firstly, the reCAPTCHA algorithm checks whether Google cookies from other Google services (YouTube, Gmail, etc.) have already been placed in your browser. Then reCAPTCHA sets an additional cookie in your browser and takes a snapshot of your browser window.

The following list of collected browser and user data is not exhaustive. Rather, it provides examples of data, which to our knowledge, is processed by Google.

  • Referrer URL (the address of the page the visitor has come from)
  • IP-address (z.B. 256.123.123.1)
  • Information on the operating system (the software that enables the operation of your computers. Popular operating systems are Windows, Mac OS X or Linux)
  • Cookies (small text files that save data in your browser)
  • Mouse and keyboard behaviour (every action you take with your mouse or keyboard is stored)
  • Date and language settings (the language and date you have set on your PC is saved)
  • All Javascript objects (JavaScript is a programming language that allows websites to adapt to the user. JavaScript objects can collect all kinds of data under one name)
  • Screen resolution (shows how many pixels the image display consists of)

Google may use and analyse this data even before you click on the “I am not a robot” checkmark. In the Invisible reCAPTCHA version, there is no need to even tick at all, as the entire recognition process runs in the background. Moreover, Google have not given details on what information and how much data they retain.

The following cookies are used by reCAPTCHA: With the following list we are referring to Google’s reCAPTCHA demo version at https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api2/demo.
For tracking purposes, all these cookies require a unique identifier. Here is a list of cookies that Google reCAPTCHA has set in the demo version:

Name: IDE
Value: WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKnRNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-113095759-8
Purpose: This cookie is set by DoubleClick (which is owned by Google) to register and report a user’s interactions with advertisements. With it, ad effectiveness can be measured, and appropriate optimisation measures can be taken. IDE is stored in browsers under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: 1P_JAR
Value: 2019-5-14-12
Purpose: This cookie collects website usage statistics and measures conversions. A conversion e.g. takes place, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant adverts to users. Furthermore, the cookie can prevent a user from seeing the same ad more than once.
Expiry date: after one month

Name: ANID
Value: U7j1v3dZa1130957590xgZFmiqWppRWKOr
Purpose: We could not find out much about this cookie. In Google’s privacy statement, the cookie is mentioned in connection with “advertising cookies” such as “DSID”, “FLC”, “AID” and “TAID”. ANID is stored under the domain google.com.
Expiry date: after 9 months

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose: This cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to the use of various Google services. CONSENT also serves to prevent fraudulent logins and to protect user data from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years

Name: NID
Value: 0WmuWqy113095759zILzqV_nmt3sDXwPeM5Q
Purpose: Google uses NID to customise advertisements to your Google searches. With the help of cookies, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous ad interactions. Thus, you always receive advertisements tailored to you. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect users’ personal settings for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Name: DV
Value: gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAANbqc113095759-4
Purpose: This cookie is set when you tick the “I am not a robot” checkmark. Google Analytics uses the cookie personalised advertising. DV collects anonymous information and is also used to distinct between users.
Expiry date: after 10 minutes

Note: We do not claim for this list to be extensive, as Google often change the choice of their cookies.

How long and where are the data stored?

Due to the integration of reCAPTCHA, your data will be transferred to the Google server. Google have not disclosed where exactly this data is stored, despite repeated inquiries. But even without confirmation from Google, it can be assumed that data such as mouse interaction, length of stay on a website or language settings are stored on the European or American Google servers. The IP address that your browser transmits to Google does generally not get merged with other Google data from the company’s other services.
However, the data will be merged if you are logged in to your Google account while using the reCAPTCHA plug-in. Google’s diverging privacy policy applies for this.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

If you want to prevent any data about you and your behaviour to be transmitted to Google, you must fully log out of Google and delete all Google cookies before visiting our website or use the reCAPTCHA software. Generally, the data is automatically sent to Google as soon as you visit our website. To delete this data, you must contact Google Support at https://support.google.com/?hl=en-GB&tid=113095759.

If you use our website, you agree that Google LLC and its representatives automatically collect, edit and use data.

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google reCAPTCHA, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) your consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as can occur when processed by Google reCAPTCHA.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google reCAPTCHA to optimise our online service and make it more secure. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google reCAPTCHA if you have given your consent to it.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at: https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

You can find out a little more about reCAPTCHA on Google’s web developer page at https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/. Google goes into the technical development of the reCAPTCHA in more detail here, but you will look in vain for detailed information about data storage and data protection issues. A good overview of the basic use of data by Google can be found in the in-house data protection declaration at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Payment providers

Payment Providers Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: To enable and optimise the payment process on our website
📓 Processed data: data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address and contract data
You can find more details on this directly from the payment provider tool that is being used.
📅 Storage period: depending on the payment provider that is being used
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR (performance of a contract)

What is a payment provider?

On our website we use online payment systems, which enable us as well as you to have a secure and smooth payment process available. Among other things, personal data may also be sent to the respective payment provider, where it may also be stored and processed. Payment providers are online payment systems that enable you to place an order via online banking. The payment processing is carried out by the payment provider of your choice. We will then receive information about the payment. This method can be used by any user who has an active online banking account with a PIN and TAN. There are hardly any banks that do not offer or accept such payment methods.

Why do we use payment providers on our website?

With both our website and our embedded online shop, we of course want to offer you the best possible service, so you can feel comfortable on our site and take advantage of our offers. We know that your time is valuable and that payment processing in particular has to work quickly and smoothly. Thus, we offer various payment providers. You can choose your preferred payment provider and pay in the usual way.

Which data are processed?

What exact data that is processed of course depends on the respective payment provider. However, generally data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.) do get stored. This data is necessary for carrying out any transactions. In addition, any contract data and user data, such as when you have visited our website, what content you are interested in or which sub-pages you have clicked, may also be stored. Most payment providers also store your IP address and information about the computer you are using.

Your data is usually stored and processed on the payment providers’ servers. We, so the website operator, do not receive this data. We only get information on whether the payment has gone through or not. For identity and credit checks, it may happen for payment providers to forward data to the appropriate body. The business and privacy policy principles of the respective provider always apply to all payment transactions. Therefore, please always take a look at the general terms and conditions and the privacy policy of the payment provider. You e.g. also have the right to have data erased or rectified at any time. Please contact the respective service provider regarding your rights (right to withdraw, right of access and individual rights).

Duration of data processing

Provided we have further information on this, we will inform you below about the duration of the processing of your data. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for providing our services and products. This storage period may be exceeded however, if it is required by law, for example for accounting purposes. We keep any accounting documents of contracts (invoices, contract documents, account statements, etc.) for 10 years (Section 147 AO) and other relevant business documents for 6 years (Section 247 HGB).

Right to object

You always have the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can always contact the person that is responsible for the respective payment provider. You can find contact details for them either in our respective privacy policy or on the relevant payment provider’s website.

You can erase, deactivate or manage cookies in your browser, that payment providers use for their functions. How this works differs a little depending on which browser you are using. Please note, however, that the payment process may then no longer work.

Legal basis

For the processing of contractual or legal relationships (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR), we offer other payment service providers in addition to the conventional banking/credit institutions. In the privacy policy of the individual payment providers (such as Amazon Payments, Apple Pay or Discover) you will find a detailed overview of data processing and data storage. In addition, you can always contact the responsible parties should you have any questions about data protection issues.

Provided it is available, you can find information on the special payment providers in the following sections.

Apple Pay Privacy Policy

On our website we use Apple Pay, which is an online payment service. The provider of this service is the American company Apple Inc., Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014, USA.

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

Apple uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Apple to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of Apple Pay in their Privacy Policy at https://www.apple.com/ie/legal/privacy/en-ww/.

eps-Überweisung Privacy Policy

On our website we use eps-Überweisung, which is a service for online payment methods. The provider of this service is the Austrian company Stuzza GmbH, Frankgasse 10/8, 1090 Vienna, Austria. You can find out more about the data that is processed by using eps-Überweisung in their privacy policy at https://eservice.stuzza.at/de/datenschutzerklaerung.html.

Google Pay Privacy Policy

On our website we use the online payment provider Google Pay. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for all Google services in the European region is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

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

You can find out more about the data processed by using Google Pay in their Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

PayPal Check-Out Privacy Policy

We also use the web payment tools by Paypal Check-Out for our business. The service provider is the American company PayPal, Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Luxembourgian company PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, 2449 Luxembourg.

You can find out more about the data processed by using PayPal Check-Out in their privacy policy at https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full.

PayPal Privacy Policy

PayPal Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: optimising the payment process on our website
📓 Processed data: Data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address, and contract data can be processed. More details on this can be found further below in this privacy policy.
📅 Storage period: data is usually stored until the collaboration with PayPal is terminated
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract processing), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

What is PayPal?

We use the online payment service PayPal on our website. The service provider is the American company PayPal Inc. For the European region, the responsible entity is PayPal Europe (S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg).
With PayPal, all users can send and receive money electronically. The company was founded in 1998 and has since grown to become one of the most well-known and largest online payment service providers worldwide, boasting over 325 million active customers.

Why do we use PayPal for our website?

There are various reasons why we use and offer PayPal on our website. As one of the most recognized online payment providers, many of our website visitors use and trust this service. PayPal also provides high-security standards for digital money transfers, utilizing various encryption methods to protect your personal data. We also appreciate the user-friendly interface of PayPal and the ability to make international payments in different currencies. Transactions typically proceed quickly, benefiting both us and you as customers.

What data does PayPal process?

In its privacy policy, PayPal distinguishes various categories of personal data that may be processed through the use of the service. These include registration and contact details, identification and signature data, payment information, information about imported contacts, data from your account profile, device data such as your IP address, location data, and so-called derived data. Derived data includes information that can be derived from transactions or other data, such as purchasing habits, behavioral patterns, creditworthiness, or personal preferences.
Additionally, there are personal data collected by third parties (such as identity verification providers, fraud detection providers, or your bank). These data may include information from credit agencies, transaction data, information about legal regulations, technical usage data, location data, and derived data once again.

PayPal and its partners also use tracking technologies like cookies, pixel tags, web beacons, and widgets to recognize you as a user, customize content, and conduct analyses for interest-based advertising.

How long and where are the data stored?

In general, PayPal retains data for as long as necessary to fulfill its obligations and within the scope of the purpose. Personal data necessary for the customer relationship is kept for up to 10 years after the relationship ends. If PayPal is subject to a legal obligation, the retention period for personal data complies with the applicable law (e.g., insolvency law). PayPal also stores personal data for as long as necessary if retention is advisable for legal disputes.
As PayPal is a globally operating company, the service has data centers worldwide where your data may be stored. This means your data may be stored outside your country and outside the scope of the GDPR on PayPal servers.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access, correct, delete, and restrict the processing of your personal data at any time. You can also revoke your consent to data processing at any time.
If you want to disable, delete, or manage cookies in general, you can find the corresponding links to the instructions for the most popular browsers in the “Cookies” section.

Legal Basis

We have a legitimate interest in integrating PayPal as an external payment service to make our offer more attractive and improve it technically and economically. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (Legitimate interests). Please note that you can only use PayPal if you enter into a contractual relationship with PayPal. In this case, it may be necessary to provide additional data protection and contractual declarations (e.g., consent).
PayPal processes data from you, among other places, in the USA. We would like to inform you that, according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for the transfer of data to the USA. This may entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, especially in the USA) or data transfers to such countries, PayPal uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are model templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, PayPal undertakes to comply with the European data protection level in processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses, among other things, here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

For more information on Standard Contractual Clauses and the data processed by using PayPal, please refer to the privacy policy at https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full.

Unzer Privacy Policy

On our website we use the payment provider Unzer. The provider of this service is the German company Unzer GmbH, Vangerowstrasse 18, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed by using Unzer in their Privacy Policy at https://www.unzer.com/en/datenschutz/.

External Online Platforms Introduction

External Online Platforms Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors or visitors to the external online platforms
🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimisation of our service, as well as establishing contact with visitors & interested parties
📓 Data processed: data such as phone numbers, email addresses, contact details, user behaviour data, information about your device and your IP address.
More details can be found directly with the respective platform used.
📅 Storage duration: depends on the platforms used
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are external online platforms?

In order to be able to offer our services or products outside of our website, we also use external platforms. These are mostly online marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay. In addition to our responsibility for data protection, the data privacy regulations of the external platforms used also apply. This especially applies when our products are purchased via such a platform, i. e. if there is a payment process. Furthermore, most platforms also use your data to optimise their own marketing measures. For example, the platform can use the collected data to tailor advertisements to the interests of customers and website visitors.

Why do we use external online platforms?

In addition to our website, we also want to display our offer on other platforms in order to reach more customers. External online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay or Digistore24 offer large sales websites that show our products to people who may not know our website. Moreover, built-in elements on our site may also lead to an external online platform. Any data that is processed and stored by the respective online platform is used by the business to log the payment process and also to conduct web analyses.

The aim of these analyses is to enable the development of more precise and personal marketing and advertising strategies. Depending on your interaction with a platform, the evaluated data may be used to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests and to create a so-called user profile on you. This also allows the platforms to show customised advertisements or products to you. For this purpose, cookies are usually set in your browser in order to store data on your usage behaviour.

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

Which data is processed?

Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective external platform. But usually, it is data such as phone numbers, email addresses, data you enter in a contact form, along with user data (e. g. which buttons you click and which pages you view during your visit), as well as information about your device and IP address. In most cases, the majority of this data is stored in cookies. If you have a profile on an external platform and are logged in there, your data can be linked to any such profile. The collected data is stored on the servers of the platforms used, where it is processed. You can find out exactly how an external platform stores, manages and processes data in the respective privacy policy. If you have any questions about data storage and data processing, or if you want to assert corresponding rights, we recommend that you contact the platform directly.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. For example, Amazon stores data until it is no longer needed for its own purposes. Generally, we only process your personal data as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products.

Right to object

You also have the right and the opportunity to revoke your consent to the use of cookies at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via opt-out functions on the respective external platform. You can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing the cookies in your browser.

As cookies may be used, we also recommend our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective external platforms.

Legal Basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by external platforms, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In general, if you have consented, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in fast and good communication with you as well as other customers and business partners. If there are integrated elements of external platforms on our website, we only use them if you have given your consent.

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

Canva Privacy Policy

We use the online graphic design platform Canva for our website. The service provider is the Australian company Canva Pty Ltd., 110 Kippax Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010, Australia.

Data processing also takes place in Australia. Australia is a third country outside the scope of the GDPR. There is currently no adequacy decision for Australia pursuant to Art. 45 (1) GDPR. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

You can learn more about the data processed using Canva in the privacy policy at https://www.canva.com/policies/privacy-policy/.

ChatGPT Privacy Policy

ChatGPT Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Optimization of the website offering.
📓 Processed data: Depending on the inputs and previous settings. More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
📅 Storage period: Data is generally stored as long as it is necessary for the purpose of the service.
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

We use the AI-based chat platform ChatGPT for our website. The service provider is the American company OpenAI OpCo, LLC, 3180 18th Street, San Francisco, CA, USA.

What is ChatGPT?

You have probably heard of ChatGPT or even used it yourself. This tool is a language model developed by OpenAI specifically designed to engage in natural language interactions with humans. The tool uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to generate answers to questions asked. ChatGPT can also generate its own text, engage in conversations, and perform certain tasks.

Why do we use ChatGPT on our website?

We use ChatGPT on our website to provide you with a better and more interactive user experience. With the help of the tool, you can interact directly with our website and ask questions. If ChatGPT answers your questions satisfactorily, you will be helped quickly without having to wait for an email response from us. The tool is available to you at all times of the day and night, thereby improving our customer service.

What data is stored by ChatGPT?

The data stored always depends on your inputs. All text messages or inputs that you make in the tool are saved. ChatGPT stores your IP address in an anonymized form for a limited time. If you do not enter any personal data, these will not be stored (except for the IP address). All entered data is stored in an anonymized and encrypted form to protect your privacy as best as possible. The tool does not use cookies to store and process data. The entered data is used exclusively to improve the quality of the answers.

Here is an overview of the most commonly collected data by ChatGPT:

  • Information about the content of the chat conversations
  • Information about the type of questions asked
  • Information about device type, browser, and operating system
  • Information about the user’s IP address

How long and where are the data stored?

Generally, the entered data is stored in ChatGPT because the tool uses the data to train itself. However, there is also a function that allows you to disable the chat history so that the data cannot be used for training purposes. If you activate this function, ChatGPT or OpenAI will only store your data for 30 days.

If you decide to enter personal data such as your email address or name, this information can also be permanently stored in a database. However, your consent to data processing must be obtained before this happens.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under EU data protection law, you have the right to access your data, update, delete or restrict it. However, you can only prevent complete data storage by not interacting with ChatGPT.

Legal basis for the processing of personal data

If personal data is collected, the use of ChatGPT requires consent. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent), this consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data that may occur during the collection by ChatGPT.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in optimizing our service to improve our technical and economic offering. With the help of ChatGPT, we enhance your user experience on our website and expand our support services. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (Legitimate interests).

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

As the basis for data processing involving recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, especially the United States) or the transfer of data to such countries, OpenAI uses standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46(2) and (3) of the GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data is processed in compliance with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the United States). Through these clauses, OpenAI commits to complying with the European data protection level when processing your personal data, even if the data is stored, managed, or otherwise processed in the United States. We have also agreed on the applicability of the SCC within our contractual relationship with OpenAI. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the European Commission (Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914 of the Commission of June 4, 2021). You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses, among other things, here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en

We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information about the data processing of ChatGPT. You can find out more about data processing by ChatGPT in the privacy policy at https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy.

OpenAI Privacy Policy

OpenAI Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Optimization of the website offering.
📓 Processed data: Depending on the inputs and previous settings. More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
📅 Storage period: Data is generally stored as long as it is necessary for the purpose of the service.
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

We use the application programming interface (API) of the US-based company OpenAI for our website. The service provider is OpenAI OpCo, LLC, located at 3180 18th Street, San Francisco, CA, USA.

What is OpenAI?

OpenAI specializes in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The company was founded by a group of researchers and technology entrepreneurs, with the two most well-known founders being Elon Musk and Sam Altman. OpenAI’s mission is to promote the development of AI systems while ensuring that the technology has a societal benefit. OpenAI’s most well-known product is ChatGPT, but the company also offers other products that we can access through the API interface.

Why do we use OpenAI services on our website?

We use services from OpenAI on our website to provide you with a better and interactive user experience. With the help of OpenAI tools, you can directly interact with our website and ask questions, for example. If ChatGPT satisfactorily answers your questions, it provides you with quick assistance, saving you from waiting for an email response from us. The tool is available to you at any time, day or night, enhancing our customer service and improving your user experience on our website. We also utilize OpenAI products to develop our own solutions and applications for our company.

What data is stored by OpenAI products?

The data that is stored depends on your inputs and the specific AI tool being used. All inputs made in the tool are processed. OpenAI generally processes natural language, images, and other data formats that can be used to train machine learning models. This data is used to improve or train the capabilities of the respective tool. When using OpenAI products, your IP address is processed. However, as a general rule, unless you enter personal data, these data (except for the IP address) are not processed or stored. All entered data is anonymized and encrypted to protect your privacy to the best extent possible. The tool does not use cookies to store or process data without your consent. The entered data is solely used to improve the quality of the AI results.

Here is an overview of the most commonly collected data by OpenAI products:

  • Information about the content of the chat conversations
  • Information about the type of questions asked
  • Information about device type, browser, and operating system
  • Information about the user’s IP address
  • Audio recordings
  • Image inputs

How long and where are the data stored?

In general, the entered data is stored by OpenAI because the tools use the relevant data to train themselves. However, there is also a function that allows us to disable chat history, so that the data cannot be used for training purposes. If we activate this function, ChatGPT or OpenAI will only store your data for 30 days after it has been collected or entered by you.

If you choose to enter personal data such as your email address or name, these pieces of information may also be permanently stored in a database. However, before this happens, your consent for data processing must be obtained.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under the data protection law of the European Union, you have the right to access, update, delete, or restrict your data. However, you can only prevent complete data processing by not using OpenAI products.

Legal basis for the processing of personal data

If personal data is collected, the use of OpenAI products requires consent. According to Art. 6(1)(a) of the GDPR (Consent), this consent serves as the legal basis for the processing of personal data by OpenAI products.

In addition to consent, we also have a legitimate interest in optimizing our service to improve our offering technically and economically. With the help of OpenAI products, we enhance your user experience on our website and expand our support services. The legal basis for this is provided by Art. 6(1)(f) of the GDPR (Legitimate interests).

OpenAI processes your data, among other things, in the United States. We would like to inform you that, according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the United States. This may entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As the basis for data processing involving recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, especially the United States) or the transfer of data to such countries, OpenAI uses standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46(2) and (3) of the GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data is processed in compliance with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the United States). Through these clauses, OpenAI commits to complying with the European data protection level when processing your personal data, even if the data is stored, managed, or otherwise processed in the United States. We have also agreed on the applicability of the SCC within our contractual relationship with OpenAI. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the European Commission (Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914 of the Commission of June 4, 2021). You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses, among other things, here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en

We hope that we have provided you with the essential information about the data processing by OpenAI. You can learn more about the data processing by OpenAI in the privacy policy at https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy.

Audio & Video

Audio & Video Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: service optimisation
📓 Processed data: Data such as contact details, user behaviour, device information and IP addresses can be stored.
You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below.
📅 Storage period: data are retained for as long as necessary for the provision of the service
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are audio and video elements?

We have integrated audio and video elements to our website. Therefore, you can watch videos or listen to music/podcasts directly via our website. This content is delivered by service providers and is obtained from the respective providers’ servers.

Audio and video elements are integrated functional elements of platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo or Spotify. It is usually free of charge to use these portals, but they can also contain paid content. With the integrated elements, you can listen to or view any of their content on our website.

If you use audio or video elements on our website, your personal data may get transmitted to as well as processed and retained by service providers.

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

We of course 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 directly on our website. These are entertaining or informative, but ideally they are both. Our service therefore gets expanded and it gets easier for you to access interesting content. In addition to our texts and images, we thus also offer video and/or audio content.

Which data are retained by audio & video elements?

When you visit a page on our website with e.g. an embedded video, your server connects to the service provider’s server. Thus, your data will also be transferred to the third-party provider, where it will be stored. Certain data is collected and stored regardless of whether you have an account with the third party provider or not. This usually includes your IP address, browser type, operating system and other general information about your device. Most providers also collect information on your web activity. This e.g. includes the session duration, bounce rate, the buttons you clicked or information about the website you are using the service on. This data is mostly stored via cookies or pixel tags (also known as web beacons). Any data that is pseudonymised usually gets stored in your browser via cookies. In the respective provider’s Privacy Policy, you can always find more information on the data that is stored and processed.

Duration of data processing

You can find out exactly how long the data is stored on the third-party provider’s servers either in a lower point of the respective tool’s Privacy Policy or in the provider’s Privacy Policy. Generally, 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 providers’ servers for several years. Data can be retained for different amounts of time, especially when stored in cookies. Some cookies are deleted after you leave a website, while others may be stored in your browser for a few years.

Right to object

You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can e.g. also prevent data retention via cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser. The legality of the processing up to the point of revocation remains unaffected.

Since the integrated audio and video functions on our site usually also use cookies, we recommend you to also read our general Privacy Policy on cookies. You can find out more about the handling and storage of your data in the Privacy Policies of the respective third party providers.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated audio and video elements, your consent is considered the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in maintaining fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated audio and video elements if you have consented to it.

YouTube Privacy Policy

YouTube Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: optimising our service
📓 Processed data: Data such as contact details, data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address may be stored.
You can find more details on this in the privacy policy below.
📅 Storage period: data are generally stored for as long as is necessary for the purpose of the service
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is YouTube?

We have integrated YouTube videos to our website. Therefore, we can show you interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal, which has been a subsidiary company of Google LLC since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. When you visit a page on our website that contains an embedded YouTube video, your browser automatically connects to the servers of YouTube or Google. Thereby, certain data are transferred (depending on the settings). Google is responsible for YouTube’s data processing and therefore Google’s data protection applies.

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

On YouTube, users can watch, rate, comment or upload videos for free. Over the past few years, YouTube has become one of the most important social media channels worldwide. For us to be able to display videos on our website, YouTube provides a code snippet that we have integrated to our website.

Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?

YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and best content. We strive to offer you the best possible user experience on our website, which of course includes interesting videos. With the help of our embedded videos, we can provide you other helpful content in addition to our texts and images. Additionally, embedded videos make it easier for our website to be found on the Google search engine. Moreover, if we place ads via Google Ads, Google only shows these ads to people who are interested in our offers, thanks to the collected data.

What data is stored by YouTube?

As soon as you visit one of our pages with an integrated YouTube, YouTube places at least one cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged into your YouTube account, by using cookies YouTube can usually 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. Additional data can include contact details, potential ratings, shared content via social media or YouTube videos you added to your favourites.

If you are not logged in to a Google or YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier linked to your device, browser or app. Thereby, e.g. your preferred language setting is maintained. However, many interaction data cannot be saved since less cookies are set.

In the following list we show you cookies that were placed in the browser during a test. On the one hand, we show cookies that were set without being logged into a YouTube account. On the other hand, we show you what cookies were placed while being logged in. We do not claim for this list to be exhaustive, as user data always depend on how you interact with YouTube.

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y113095759-1
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video that was viewed.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

Name: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie registers your unique ID on mobile devices to track GPS locations.
Expiry date: after 30 minutes

Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 95Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie tries to estimate the user’s internet bandwith on our sites (that have built-in YouTube videos).
Expiry date: after 8 months

Further cookies that are placed when you are logged into your YouTube account:

Name: APISID
Value: zILlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7113095759-
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile on your interests. This data is then used for personalised advertisements.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose: The cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to the use of various Google services. CONSENT also provides safety measures to protect users from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years

Name: HSID
Value: AcRwpgUik9Dveht0I
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile on your interests. This data helps to display customised ads.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: LOGIN_INFO
Value: AFmmF2swRQIhALl6aL…
Purpose: This cookie stores information on your login data.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: SAPISID
Value: 7oaPxoG-pZsJuuF5/AnUdDUIsJ9iJz2vdM
Purpose: This cookie identifies your browser and device. It is used to create a profile on your interests.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI113095759-
Purpose: This cookie stores your Google Account ID and your last login time, in a digitally signed and encrypted form.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: SIDCC
Value: AN0-TYuqub2JOcDTyL
Purpose: This cookie stores information on how you use the website and on what advertisements you may have seen before visiting our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months

How long and where is the data stored?

The data YouTube receive and process on you are stored on Google’s servers. Most of these servers are in America. At https://datacenters.google/ you can see where Google’s data centres are located. Your data is distributed across the servers. Therefore, the data can be retrieved quicker and is better protected against manipulation.

Google stores collected data for different periods of time. You can delete some data anytime, while other data are automatically deleted after a certain time, and still other data are stored by Google for a long time. Some data (such as elements on “My activity”, photos, documents or products) that are saved in your Google account are stored until you delete them. Moreover, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser, or app, even if you are not signed into a Google Account.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

Generally, you can delete data manually in your Google account. Furthermore, in 2019 an automatic deletion of location and activity data was introduced. Depending on what you decide on, it deletes stored information either after 3 or 18 months.

Regardless of whether you have a Google account or not, you can set your browser to delete or deactivate cookies placed by Google. These settings vary depending on the browser you use. The following instructions will show how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies, you can set your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This will enable you to decide to either allow or permit each individual cookie.

Legal basis

If you have consented processing and storage of your data by integrated YouTube elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use integrated YouTube elements if you have given your consent. YouTube also sets cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at: https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

Since YouTube is a subsidiary company of Google, Google’s privacy statement applies to both. If you want to learn more about how your data is handled, we recommend the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

YouTube Subscribe Button Privacy Policy

We have integrated the YouTube subscribe button to our website, which you can recognise by the classic YouTube logo. The logo shows the words “Subscribe” or “YouTube” in white letters against a red background, with a white “Play” symbol on the left. The button may also be displayed in a different design.

Our YouTube channel consistently offers you funny, interesting or exciting videos. With the built-in “Subscribe” button you can subscribe to our channel directly via our website and do not need to go to YouTube’s website for it. With this feature, we want to make it as easy as possible for you to access our comprehensive content. Please note that YouTube may save and process your data.

If you see a built-in subscription button on our page, YouTube sets at least one cookie, according to Google. This cookie stores your IP address and our URL. It also allows YouTube to receive information about your browser, your approximate location and your default language. In our test the following four cookies were placed, without us being logged into YouTube:

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5113095759Y
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID, which stores statistics of the viewed video.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: PREF
Value: f1=50000000
Purpose:This cookie also registers your unique ID. Google uses PREF to get statistics on how you interact with YouTube videos on our website.
Expiry date: after 8 months

Name: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose:This cookie registers your unique ID on mobile devices to track your GPS location.
Expiry date: after 30 minutes

Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 11309575995Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie tries to estimate the user’s internet bandwith on our website (that contain built-in YouTube video).
Expiry date: after 8 months

Note: These cookies were set after a test, thus we do not claim for the list to be exhaustive.

If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube may store many of the actions and interactions you make on our website via cookies, to then assign them to your YouTube account. This gives YouTube information on e.g. how long you have been browsing our website, which browser type you use, which screen resolution you prefer or what actions you take.

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

YouTube-Video-Widget Privacy Policy

We also use the video widget by YouTube on our website. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Irish company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Irland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at: https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

You can find out more about Googles’ data processing in their privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US.

Video Conferencing & Streaming

Video Conferencing & Streaming Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: users of our video conferencing or streaming tools
🤝 Purpose: communication and presentation of content
📓 Processed data: Access statistics such as your name, address, contact details, email address, telephone number or IP address. You can find more details on this directly at the video conference or streaming tool that is being used.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the video conferencing or streaming tool
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract)

What are video conferences & streamings?

We use software programs that enable us to hold video conferences, online meetings, webinars and to utilise display sharing and/or streaming. In a video conference or a streaming, information is transmitted simultaneously via sound and moving images. With such video conference or streaming tools, we can communicate quickly and easily with customers, business partners, clients and employees via the Internet. Of course, when selecting the service provider, we consider the given legal framework.

Generally, third-party providers can process data as soon as you interact with the software program. Third-party video conference providers or streaming solutions use your data and metadata for different purposes. The data helps to e.g. make the tool more secure and to improve the service. Most of the time, the data may also be used for the respective third-party provider’s own marketing purposes.

Why do we use video conferencing & streaming on our website?

We want to communicate digitally, quickly, easily and securely with you, our customers and our business partners. This works best with video conferencing solutions that are very easy to use. Most tools also work directly in your browser and with just a few clicks you can get right to your video meeting. The tools also offer helpful additional features such as chat and screen sharing functions or the possibility of sharing content between meeting participants.

Which data are processed?

If you join our video conference or streaming, your data will also be processed and stored on the servers of the respective service provider.

The exact data that gets stored depends on the respective software. Each provider stores and processes data differently. Generally, however, most providers store your name, address, contact details such as your email address or telephone number and your IP address. Information about the device you are using may also get stored, along with usage data, such as which websites you visit, when you visit a website or which buttons you click. Data that is shared within the video conference (photos, videos, texts) may also be retained.

Duration of data processing

Below we will inform you about the duration of the data processing of the service that is being used, provided we have further information on this. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. Moreover, it is possible that the provider may store your data according to their own requirements, which we have no influence on.

Right to object

You always have the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can always contact the person responsible for the respective video conferencing or streaming tool. You can find contact details either in our specific privacy policy or on the website of the relevant provider.

In your browser you can erase, deactivate or manage cookies that providers use for their functions. This works slightly different, depending on which browser you are using. Please note, however, that functions may not keep working as usual after doing so.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by the respective video or streaming solution, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). We may also offer a video conference as part of our services, if there has been a contractual agreement with you in advance (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners, provided you have priorly given consent. Most video or streaming solutions also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

Provided it is available, you can find information on special video conference and streaming solutions in the following sections.

Microsoft Teams Privacy Policy

On our website we use Microsoft Teams, which is an online meeting and video conferencing service. The provider of this service is the American company Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399, USA.

Microsoft processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Microsoft is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Microsoft uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Microsoft commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find more information on the standard contractual clauses at Microsoft at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/regulatory/offering-eu-model-clauses .

You can find out more about the data that is processed by Microsoft in their Privacy Policy at https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-GB/privacystatement.

TeamViewer Privacy Policy

On our website we use TeamViewer, which is a service for web conferencing and remote maintenance. The provider of this service is the German company TeamViewer Germany GmbH, Bahnhofsplatz 2, 73033 Göppingen, Germany.

You can find out more about the data processed by using TeamViewer in the Privacy Policy at https://www.teamviewer.com/de/datenschutzinformation/.

Zoom Privacy Policy

Zoom Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: Zoom users
🤝 Purpose: an additional service for our website visitors
📓 Processed data: access statistics that contain data such as your name, address, contact details, email address, telephone number or IP address. You can find more details on this in the privacy policy below
📅 Storage period: Data is stored for as long as Zoom needs it for their service purposes
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract)

What is Zoom?

On our website we use the video conferencing tool Zoom by the American software company Zoom Video Communications. The company’s head office is in 55 Almaden Boulevard, 6th Floor, San Jose, CA 95113, California. Thanks to “Zoom”, we can easily hold video conferences with customers, business partners, clients, and employees without having to install any software. In this privacy policy we will go into more detail of the service and inform you on the most important data protection aspects.

Zoom is one of the world’s most well-known video conferencing solutions. With the “Zoom Meetings” service, we can hold an online video conference with you, our employees, or other users via a digital conference room. This allows us to easily get in touch digitally, exchange information on various topics, send text messages or even make calls. You can also use Zoom to share your screen, exchange files and to use a whiteboard.

Why do we use Zoom on our website?

It is important to us that we can communicate with you quickly and easily. And this is exactly what Zoom offers us. Moreover, the software program also works directly via a browser. This means we can simply send you a link for starting our video conference. In addition, Zoom’s further functions such as screen sharing, or file exchange are also very handy.

What data is stored by Zoom?

When you use Zoom, your data is collected so Zoom can provide its services. On the one hand, this is data that you deliberately make available to the company. This includes for example your name, telephone number or your email address. On the other hand, there is certain data which is automatically transmitted to Zoom where it is stored. This includes for example your browser’s technical data or your IP address. In the following, we will go into more detail on the specific data of yours which Zoom can collect and store:

If you provide data such as your name, username, email address or your telephone number, these data will be stored at Zoom. Any contents you upload while using Zoom are also retained. This can include files or chat logs for example.

In addition to the IP address as mentioned above, Zoom automatically stores technical data such as MAC addresses, further device IDs, device types, which operating system you use, what client you use, and also the type of your camera, microphone and speaker. Furthermore, your approximate location is also determined and stored. Additionally, Zoom store information on how you use the service. To give an example, this can include details on whether you “zoom” in or out via desktop or smartphone, whether you are using a telephone call or VoIP, whether you are participating with or without video or whether you request a password. What is more, Zoom also records so-called metadata such as the duration of the meeting or call, the start and end of your participation in it, as well as your meeting name and chat status.

In their privacy policy, Zoom mention that the company does not use advertising cookies or tracking technologies for its services. These tracking methods are only used on their marketing websites, such as www.zoom.us. Zoom neither sell personal data nor use them for advertising purposes.

How long and where is the data stored?

In this regard, Zoom do not specify a precise time frame, but they emphasise that the collected data remain stored for as long as it is necessary for both, to provide its services and for their own purposes. The data will only be retained for longer if required for legal reasons.

Zoom generally store collected data on American servers, but the data can make their way through different data centres across the globe.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

If you do not want any of your data to be stored during a zoom meeting, you have to do without the meeting. However, you always have both the option and the right to have all your personal data deleted. If you have a Zoom account, you can find instructions on how to delete your account at https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201363243-How-Do-I-Delete-Terminate-My-Account.

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by the respective video or streaming solution, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). We can also offer a video conference as part of our services if this has been contractually agreed with you in advance (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners, provided you have priorly given your consent.

Zoom processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Zoom is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Zoom uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Zoom commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

We hope we were able to give you an overview on Zoom’s data processing. Of course, it could always happen that the company’s data protection guidelines may change. Therefore, for more information we recommend you to read Zoom’s privacy policy at https://zoom.us/privacy.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA) Zoom

In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with Zoom. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.

This contract is required by law because Zoom processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that Zoom may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find more informations about the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with Zoom under https://sdpc.a4l.org/agreements/2023-02-27_2547_1974_signed_agreement_file.pdf.

Survey- and Poll Systems Overview

Survey- and Poll Systems Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of surveys on the site
📓 Processed data: contact details, device data, access duration and time, IP addresses. You can find more details directly at the respective survey and poll systems.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the tool that is used
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are survey and poll systems?

We are eager to conduct various surveys and polls via our website. These are always evaluated anonymously. A survey or poll system is a tool embedded on our website that can ask you questions (e.g. about our products or services) which you can answer if you would like to participate. Your answers will always be evaluated anonymously. However, after your consent to data processing, your personal data may also be stored and processed.

Why do we use survey and poll systems?

We aim to offer you the best products and services in our industry. With the help of surveys, we can get your valuable feedback and find out what you expect from us and our services. Based on these anonymous evaluations, we can adapt our products and services to your wishes and ideas. Furthermore, the information also helps us to direct our advertising and marketing measures towards people who are really interested in our offer.

Which data is processed?

First of all, your personal data will only be processed if it is either necessary for the technical implementation, or if you have consented to your data being processed. In the instance of your data being processed, e.g. your IP address will be stored, which enables the survey to be displayed in your browser. Cookies may also be used so you can easily continue your survey at a later point in time.

If you have consented to the data processing, your contact data such as email address or telephone number may be processed in addition to your IP address. Any data that you enter in an online form is also stored and processed for example. Some providers also store information about the web pages you visited (on our website), when you started and ended the survey, along with various technical information about your computer.

How long is data stored?

How long your data is processed and stored depends primarily on the tools we use. Below you can find out more about the data processing of individual tools. The Privacy Policies of the providers usually state exactly which data is stored and processed and for how long. In principle, personal data is only processed for as long as is necessary to provide our services. When data is stored in cookies, the storage period varies greatly. This data could be deleted immediately after leaving a website, but it could also be stored for several years. Therefore, if you want to know more about data storage, you should look at each individual cookie in detail. In most cases, you will also find information on the individual cookies in the respective providers’ Privacy Policies.

Right to object

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or embedded survey systems at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection by cookies if you manage, deactivate or erase the cookies in your browser.

Since cookies can be used in survey systems, we also recommend you to read our general Privacy Policy on cookies. You should read the Privacy Policies of the respective tools to find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed.

Legal Basis

The use of survey systems requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up. According to Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it may occur when collected by survey and poll systems.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in conducting surveys on our theme. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use these tools if you have given your consent.

Since cookies are used in survey systems, we also recommend you to read our general Privacy Policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the Privacy Policies of the respective tools.

You can find information on the individual survey systems – if available – in the following sections.

Google Form Privacy Policy

We use Google Forms for our website, which is a service for Google Cloud Forms. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for all Google services in the European area is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find Google Ads’ Data Processing Terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses as well as to Google forms at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

You can find out more about the data that is processed by Google in their Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA) Google forms

We have entered a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with Google in accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)” you can find out what a DPA is exactly and what it must contain.

This agreement is a legal requirement as Google processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that Google may only process any data they receive from us according to our instructions and in compliance with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) at https://workspace.google.com/terms/dpa_terms.html.

Review Platforms Overview

Review Platforms Overview
👥 Affected parties: Website or rating platform visitors
🤝 Purpose: Feedback on our products and/or services
📓 Processed data: IP address, email address and name, among other things. You can find more details below or directly on the respective review platforms.
📅 Storage duration: depends on the respective platform
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests),

What are review platforms?

You can rate our products or services on various review platforms. We are registered on some of these platforms so we can get feedback from you, which can help us to optimise our offer. If you rate us via a review platform, the Privacy Policy and the General Terms and Conditions of the respective review service apply. In many instances, you also have to register in order to submit a review. We may also have rating technologies (widgets) integrated into our website. By using such tools, data is transmitted to the relevant provider, where it is processed and stored.

Many of these integrated programs work on a similar principle. After you have ordered one of our products or used one of our services, you will be asked to submit a review via email or on the website. You will usually be redirected to a review page via a link, where you can quickly and easily create a review. Some review systems also offer an interface to various social media channels in order to make the feedback accessible to more people.

Why do we use review platforms?

Review platforms collect feedback and ratings about our offer. Your ratings help us to quickly receive appropriate feedback. We can use this valuable input to improve our products and/or services much more efficiently. Therefore, on the one hand, ratings help us to optimise our offers. On the other hand, they give you and all our future customers a good overview of the quality of our products and services.

Which data is processed?

If we have your consent, we transmit information about you and the services you have used to the relevant review platform. We do this to ensure that you have genuinely used one of our services. Only then can you give real feedback. The transmitted data is only used to identify the user. The exact data that is stored and processed of course depends on the providers used. Personal data such as IP address, email address or your name are usually also made available to the rating platforms. Specific order information such as the order number of a purchased item will also be forwarded to the appropriate platform after you have submitted your review. If your email address is transmitted, this is done in a form that allows the review platform to send you an email after purchasing a product. In order to integrate your review to our website as well, we also inform the providers that you have accessed our site. The respective review platform that is used is responsible for any personal data collected.

How long and where is the data stored?

You can find out more about the duration of data processing in the relevant Privacy Policy of the provider below, provided we have further information on this. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. Personal data that is mentioned in a review is usually anonymised by the respective platform’s employees and is therefore only visible to company administrators. The collected data is stored on the providers’ servers, while most providers erase it after the end of the order.

Right to object

You also have the right and the possibility 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 through cookies by managing, disabling or deleting cookies in your browser.

Legal Basis

If you have agreed that an evaluation platform may be used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a of the GDPR (consent) represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when it is collected by a review portal.

We also have a legitimate interest in using a review platform to optimise our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use any given review platform if you have consented to it.

We hope we could give you the most important general information about data processing at review platforms. You can find further information in the Privacy Policy texts below or in the linked Privacy Policies of the respective companies.

Google Reviews Privacy Policy

We also use the rating platform Google Reviews for our website. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for all Google services in the European area is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland).

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which reference the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/.

You can find out more about the data that is processed by Google in their Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/?hl=en.

Web Design Introduction

Web Design Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: improvement of user experience
📓 Processed data: depends heavily on the services used. Usually, data such as IP address, technical data, language settings, browser version, screen resolution and browser name are processed. You can find more details directly with the respective web design tools.
📅 Storage duration: depends on the tools used
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web design?

We use various tools on our website for the purpose of our web design. Contrary to common belief, web design is not just about making our website look nice, but rather also about functionality and performance. But of course, a good-looking website is also a major goal 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. Our aim with our web design is to improve your experience on our site. In web design jargon, this is called User Experience (UX) and usability. User Experience entails all impressions and experiences that website visitors come across on a website. What is more, usability is part of the User Experience, as it determines how user-friendly a website is. This includes the clear structuring of content, subpages or products, along with how quickly and easily the website enables you to find what you are looking for. In order to offer you the best possible experience on our website, we also use so-called third-party web design tools. Therefore, all tools and services that help improve our website’s design are classified under the category “web design”. This may, for example, include fonts, various plugins or other integrated web design functions.

Why do we use web design tools?

The way you absorb information on a website depends very much on its structure, functionality and visual perception. Therefore, good and professional web design has become increasingly important for us. We are constantly working on improving our site as a way of further extending our services for you as a website visitor. Furthermore, a beautiful and functioning website also has economic advantages for us. Needless to say, you will only visit it 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, any web design elements integrated into our pages may process your data. The exact data that is processed depends on the tools used. Below you can see exactly which tools we use for our website. For more information about data processing, we recommend you also read the respective privacy policy of the respective tools. There you can usually find out which data is processed, whether cookies are used and how long the data is stored. Moreover, fonts such as Google Fonts, for example, also automatically transmit information such as your language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name to Google’s servers.

Duration of data processing

Data processing times are very individual and depend on the web design elements used. For example, when cookies are used, the retention period can be as little as a minute, but it may also be a few years. Please make yourself familiar with this topic. You may for example read our general section on cookies as well as the Privacy Policies of the tools used. There you can likely find out exactly which cookies are used and what information is stored there. For example, Google Font files are stored for one year, in order to improve the loading speed of a website. In principle, data is only kept for as long as is necessary to provide the service. But legal requirements may require data to be stored for longer.

Right to object

You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. You can do this either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can also prevent cookies from collecting your data by managing, deactivating or deleting the cookies in your browser. However, among web design elements (typically fonts) there is also data that cannot be erased easily. This is the case whenever data is automatically collected as soon as a page is accessed and then directly transmitted to a third party (e.g. Google). In these cases, 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, this consent serves as the legal basis for the relevant data processing. According to Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it may 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 Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we strongly want to emphasise once more that we only use web design tools if you have given your consent.

You can find information on different web design tools – if available – in the following sections.

Adobe Fonts Privacy Policy

We use Adobe’s Typekit fonts on our website, which is a web font hosting service. The provider of this service 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 region.

Adobe processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Adobe is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Adobe uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Adobe commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find out more about the standard contractual clauses at Adobe at https://www.adobe.com/uk/privacy/eudatatransfers.html.

You can find out more about the data processed by using Adobe Fonts in the Privacy Policy at https://www.adobe.com/de/privacy.html.

Font Awesome Lokal Privacy Policy

We use the Font Awesome Local font and icon toolkit for our website. The service provider is the American company Fonticons, Inc, 307 S Main St Ste 202 Bentonville, AR, 72712-9214 , USA.

We have embedded the Font Awesome fonts locally, i.e. on our web server – not on Font Awesome’s servers. As a result, there is no connection to Font Awesome servers and thus no data transfer or storage to this company.

You can find out more about the data that is processed by Font Awesome Lokal in their Privacy Policy at https://fontawesome.com/privacy.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

Google Fonts Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: service optimisation
📓 Processed data: data such as IP address, CSS and font requests
You can find more details on this in the Privacy Policy below.
📅 Storage period: Google stores font files for one year
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are Google Fonts?

On our website we use Google Fonts, by the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA).

To use Google Fonts, you must log in and set up a password. Furthermore, no cookies will be saved in your browser. The data (CSS, Fonts) will be requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, all requests for CSS and fonts are fully separated from any other Google services. If you have a Google account, you do not need to worry that your Google account details are transmitted to Google while you use Google Fonts. Google records the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) as well as the utilised fonts and stores these data securely. We will have a detailed look at how exactly the data storage works.

Google Fonts (previously Google Web Fonts) is a directory with over 800 fonts that Google provides its users free of charge.

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

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

With Google Fonts we can use different fonts on our website and do not have to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important element which helps to keep the quality of our website high. All Google fonts are automatically optimised for the web, which saves data volume and is an advantage especially for the use of mobile terminal devices. When you use our website, the low data size provides fast loading times. Moreover, Google Fonts are secure Web Fonts. Various image synthesis systems (rendering) can lead to errors in different browsers, operating systems and mobile terminal devices. These errors could optically distort parts of texts or entire websites. Due to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN) there are no cross-platform issues with Google Fonts. All common browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) are supported by Google Fonts, and it reliably operates on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod). We also use Google Fonts for presenting our entire online service as pleasantly and as uniformly as possible.

Which data is stored by Google?

Whenever you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded by a Google server. Through this external cue, data gets transferred to Google’s servers. Therefore, this makes Google recognise that you (or your IP-address) is visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to reduce the usage, storage and gathering of end user data to the minimum needed for the proper depiction of fonts. What is more, API stands for „Application Programming Interface“ and works as a software data intermediary.

Google Fonts stores CSS and font requests safely with Google, and therefore it is protected. Using its collected usage figures, Google can determine how popular the individual fonts are. Google publishes the results on internal analysis pages, such as Google Analytics. Moreover, Google also utilises data of ist own web crawler, in order to determine which websites are using Google fonts. This data is published in Google Fonts’ BigQuery database. Enterpreneurs and developers use Google’s webservice BigQuery to be able to inspect and move big volumes of data.

One more thing that should be considered, is that every request for Google Fonts automatically transmits information such as language preferences, IP address, browser version, as well as the browser’s screen resolution and name to Google’s servers. It cannot be clearly identified if this data is saved, as Google has not directly declared it.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google saves requests for CSS assets for one day in a tag on their servers, which are primarily located outside of the EU. This makes it possible for us to use the fonts by means of a Google stylesheet. With the help of a stylesheet, e.g. designs or fonts of a website can get changed swiftly and easily.

Any font related data is stored with Google for one year. This is because Google’s aim is to fundamentally boost websites’ loading times. With millions of websites referring to the same fonts, they are buffered after the first visit and instantly reappear on any other websites that are visited thereafter. Sometimes Google updates font files to either reduce the data sizes, increase the language coverage or to improve the design.

How can I erase my data or prevent it being stored?

The data Google stores for either a day or a year cannot be deleted easily. Upon opening the page this data is automatically transmitted to Google. In order to clear the data ahead of time, you have to contact Google’s support at https://support.google.com/?hl=en-GB&tid=113095759. The only way for you to prevent the retention of your data is by not visiting our website.

Unlike other web fonts, Google offers us unrestricted access to all its fonts. Thus, we have a vast sea of font types at our disposal, which helps us to get the most out of our website. You can find out more answers and information on Google Fonts at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=113095759. While Google does address relevant elements on data protection at this link, it does not contain any detailed information on data retention.
It proofs rather difficult to receive any precise information on stored data by Google.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Fonts, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent) your consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as can occur when it is processed by Google Fonts.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Font to optimise our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Font if you have given your consent to it.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at: https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

You can find more information on which data is generally retained by Google and what this data is used at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

On our website we use Google Fonts, by the company Google Inc. The responsible entity for the European area is Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland). We have integrated Google fonts locally, i.e. on our web server and not on Google’s servers. This means that no connection to Google’s servers and therefore no data transfer or retention take place.

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts was previously called Google Web Fonts. It is an interactive list with over 800 fonts which Google offer for free use. With the use of Google Fonts, it is possible to utilise fonts without uploading them to your own server. In order to prevent any transfer of information to Google’s servers, we downloaded the fonts to our own server. This way we can comply with data privacy and do not transmit any data to Google Fonts.

Explanation of the terminology used

We always strive to make our privacy policy as clear and comprehensible as possible. However, this is not always easy, especially when it comes to technical and legal matters. It is often sensible to use legal terms (such as ‘personal data)’ or certain technical terms (such as ‘cookies’ or ‘IP address’). But we don’t want to use such terms without any explanation. This is why you will find an alphabetical list of important terms used below. These are terms we may not yet have sufficiently explained in the privacy policy. In case we have adopted any of these terms from the GDPR which are definitions, we will also list the GDPR texts here and add our own further explanations if necessary.

Processor

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“processor” means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller;

Explanation: As a company and a website owner, we are responsible for all your data we process (i. e. the ‘controller’). In addition to the controller, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person who processes personal data on our behalf. In addition to service providers such as tax consultants, processors can also be hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

Consent

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“consent” of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her;

Explanation: With websites, such consent is usually given via a cookie consent tool. You’ve most certainly come across these. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, you will usually be asked via a banner whether you agree or consent to the data processing. You can usually also make individual settings and thus decide for yourself which level of data processing you want to allow. If you do not give your consent, no personal data may be processed. Consent can of course also be given in writing, i.e. not via a tool.

Data concerning health

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“Data concerning health” means personal data related to the physical or mental health of a natural person, including the provision of health care services, which reveal information about his or her health status;

Explanation: Health data includes all stored information relating to your own health. It is often data that is also noted in patient files. This includes, for example, which medication you are using, X-rays, your entire medical history or your vaccination statuses.

Personal Data

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“personenal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

Explanation: Personal data is all data that can identify you as a person. This is usually data such as:

  • name
  • address
  • email address
  • postal address
  • phone number
  • birthday
  • identification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, ID card number or matriculation number
  • banking data such as account number, credit information, account balances and more.

According to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), your IP address is also personal data. IT experts can use your IP address to determine at least the approximate location of your device and subsequently your location as the connection owner. Therefore, storing an IP address also requires a legal basis within the scope of the GDPR. There are also so-called “special categories” of personal data, which are particularly worthy of protection. These include:

  • racial and ethnic origin
  • political opinions
  • religious or ideological beliefs
  • Union membership
  • genetic data such as data obtained from blood or saliva samples
  • biometric data (this is information about psychological, physical or behavioural characteristics that can identify an individual).
    health Data
  • Data relating to sexual orientation or sex life

Profiling

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“Profiling” means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements;

Explanation: Profiling collects various personal data about an individual in order to learn more about that individual. On the internet, profiling is often used for advertising purposes or for credit checks. Web and advertising analysis programs e. g. collect data about your behaviour and interests on a website. This results in a special user profile that can be used to target advertising to specific target groups.

 

Pseudonymisation

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“Pseudonymisation” means the processing of personal data in such a manner that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person;

Explanation: Our Privacy Policy often refers to pseudonymised data. Pseudonymised data means that this data can no longer be used to identify you as a person unless additional information is added. However, you should not confuse pseudonymisation with anonymisation. With anonymisation, there is no personal reference whatsoever, and the only way to reconstruct it would require a disproportionate amount of technical effort.

Controller

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“controller” means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law;

Explanation: In our example, we are responsible for the processing of your personal data and are therefore the “controller”. If we pass on collected data to other service providers for processing, they are considered “contract processors”. For this, a “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)” must be concluded.

 

Processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“processing” means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;

Note: When we talk about processing in our Privacy Policy, we talk about any type of data processing. As mentioned above in the original GDPR declaration, this includes not only the collection but also the storage and processing of data.

Closing Remarks

Congratulations! If you are reading these lines, you have most likely familiarised yourself with our entire Privacy Policy – or at least scrolled down here. As you can see from the scope of our Privacy Policy, we do not take the protection of your personal data lightly.
We find it important to inform you about the processing of your personal data to the best of our abilities. In doing so, we not only want to tell you which data is processed but also explain to you why we use various software programs. In general, Privacy Policies have very technical and legal jargon. However, since most of you are not web developers or solicitors, we wanted to take a different approach and explain the facts in simple and clear language. Of course, this is not always possible due to the subject matter. Therefore, you can also find a more detailed explanation of the most important terms at the end of the Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions about data protection on our website, please do not hesitate to contact us or the responsible body. We wish you all the best and hope to soon welcome you to our website again.

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