TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction and overview
Scope of application
Legal basis
Contact details of the person responsible
Storage period
Rights according to the General Data Protection Regulation
Data transfer to third countries
Security of data processing
Communication
Contract processing agreement (AVV)
Cookies
Application data
Customer data
Registration
Web hosting introduction
Website modular systems introduction
Web analytics introduction
Email marketing introduction
Push messages introduction
Messenger & communication introduction
Chatbots introduction
Social media introduction
Blogs and publication media introduction
Online marketing introduction
Partner programs introduction
Content delivery networks introduction
Cookie consent management platform introduction
Security & anti-spam
Payment providers introduction
Single sign-on registrations introduction
Web design introduction
Miscellaneous introduction
Explanation of terms used
Conclusion

SUBSCRIPTION POLICY MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT

BY SIGNING UP FOR OUR SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES PROGRAM’S MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS:

1. SUBSCRIPTION FEES:

YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL INVOLVE AN INITIAL AND RECURRING PAYMENT FEE AT THE CURRENT SUBSCRIPTION RATE. YOU ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ALL RECURRING CHARGES, INCLUDING ALL CHARGES CHARGED BY GROIMPACT AFTER THE EXPIRATION DATE OF YOUR PAYMENT CARD, UNTIL CANCELLATION

2. AUTOMATIC RENEWAL:

FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS SUBJECT TO AUTOMATIC RENEWAL, GROIMPACT IS AUTHORIZED TO CHARGE YOUR SELECTED PAYMENT METHOD ON A PERIODIC BASIS WITHOUT FURTHER AUTHORIZATION. THIS AUTHORIZATION WILL REMAIN UNTIL YOU NOTIFY US IN ADVANCE TO CANCEL OR CHANGE YOUR PAYMENT METHOD. SUCH NOTICE WILL NOT AFFECT ANY CHARGES SUBMITTED BEFORE GROIMPACT CAN REASONABLY ACT.

3. AUTOMATIC MONTHLY RENEWAL:

YOUR SUBSCRIPTION WILL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW FOR CONSECUTIVE MONTHLY PERIODS. YOUR PAYMENT METHOD WILL BE CHARGED FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT MONTHLY PERIOD AT THE CURRENT SUBSCRIPTION RATE UNTIL YOU CANCEL THE MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL.

4. CANCELLATION POLICY FOR MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS:

TO CANCEL YOUR MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL, SEND A CANCELLATION REQUEST TO Info@groimpact.com AT LEAST TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE AND WE WILL PROMPTLY CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION. THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING GROIMPACT.

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

We have written this privacy policy (version 01.12.2023-312681648) to explain to you, in accordance with the requirements 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 understood as gender-neutral. In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about the data we process about you. Data protection declarations usually sound very technical and use legal terms. This privacy policy, on the other hand, is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. As far as it is conducive to transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly manner, links to further information are provided and graphics are used. We are thus informing you in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the context of our business activities if there is an appropriate legal basis. This is certainly not possible if you provide explanations that are as brief, unclear and legal and technical as possible, as is often standard on the Internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative and perhaps there is some information there that you did not know before. If you still have any questions, we would like to 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 websites. You can of course also find our contact details in the imprint.

SCOPE OF APPLICATION

This privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by us in the company and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (contract processors). By personal data we mean information within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 1 GDPR, such as a person’s name, email address and postal address. The processing of personal data ensures that we can offer and bill for our services and products, whether online or offline. The scope of application 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: The privacy policy applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in a structured manner in the company via the channels mentioned. If we enter into legal relationships with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately if necessary.

LEGAL BASIS

In the following data protection declaration, 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. As far as EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of April 27, 2016. You can of course read this EU General Data Protection Regulation online on EUR-Lex, the access to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679. We only process your data if at least one of the following conditions applies:

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

Other conditions such as the taking of recordings in the public interest and the exercise of public authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not generally occur with us. If such a legal basis should be applicable, it will be indicated in the appropriate place. In addition to the EU regulation, national laws also apply:

In Austria, this is the Federal Law on the Protection of Natural Persons with regard to the Processing of Personal Data (Data Protection Act), or DSG for short.

In Germany, the Federal Data Protection Act, or BDSG for short, applies.

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

CONTACT DETAILS OF THE RESPONSIBLE PERSON

If you have any questions about data protection or the processing of personal data, you will find the contact details of the responsible person or body below: Entries referred to § 5 TMG IGBS Einzelfirma Zwisslerstraße 20 D-71640 Ludwigsburg Represented by: Dennis Heinz Contact: Telephone: 01727923997 Email: info@groimpact.com Value added tax-ID: VAT identification number according to §27a of the Sales Tax Law: DE322089753 Authorized representative: Dennis Heinz Email: info@groimpact.com Telephone: +491727923997 Imprint: https://groimpact.com/imprint

STORAGE PERIOD

The fact that we only store personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products is a general criterion for us. This means that we delete personal data as soon as the reason for the data processing no longer exists. In some cases, we are legally obliged to store certain data even after the original purpose no longer applies, for example for accounting purposes. If you wish your data to be deleted or withdraw your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as quickly as possible and provided there is no obligation to store it. We will inform you about the specific duration of the respective data processing below, provided we have further information on this.

RIGHTS ACCORDING TO THE GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION

In accordance with Articles 13 and 14 of the GDPR, we inform you of the following rights to which you are entitled in order to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:

According to Article 15 of the GDPR, you have a right to information about whether we process your data. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to be informed of the following information:

for what purpose we carry out the processing;

the categories, i.e. the types of data that are processed;

who receives this data and if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;

how long the data is stored;
the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;

that you can complain to a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);

the origin of the data if we did not collect it from you;

whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically evaluated in order to create a personal profile of you.

According to Article 16 GDPR, you have the right to rectification of data, which means that we must correct data if we find errors.

According to Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”), which specifically means that you can request that your data be erased.

According to Article 18 GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we can only store the data but not use it any further.

According to Article 20 GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a common format upon request.

According to Article 21 GDPR, you have the right to object, which, if enforced, entails a change in the processing.

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 can object to the processing. We will then check as quickly as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.

If data is used to conduct direct advertising, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for direct marketing after that.

If data is used to conduct profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for profiling after that.

According to Article 22 GDPR, you may have the right not to be subjected to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example profiling).

According to Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

In short: you have rights – do not hesitate to contact the responsible body listed above! If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that your data protection rights have been violated in any other way, you can complain to the supervisory authority. This is the data protection authority for Austria, whose website you can find at https://www.dsb.gv.at/. 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:

BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG DATA PROTECTION AUTHORITY

State Commissioner for Data Protection: Prof. Dr. Tobias Keber Address: Lautenschlagerstraße 20, 70173 Stuttgart Telephone number: 07 11/61 55 41-0 Email address: poststelle@lfdi.bwl.de Website: https://www.baden-wuerttemberg.datenschutz.de/

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 applies in particular if the processing is required by law or necessary to fulfill a contractual relationship and in any case only to the extent that this is generally permitted. In most cases, your consent is the most important reason why we have data processed in third countries. The processing of personal data in third countries such as the USA, where many software manufacturers offer services and have their server locations, can mean that personal data is processed and stored in unexpected ways. We expressly point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, an adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA currently only exists if a US company that processes personal data of EU citizens in the USA is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. You can find more information 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 processed and stored anonymously. Furthermore, US government authorities may have access to individual data. In addition, it may happen that data collected is linked to data from other services of the same provider, provided you have a corresponding user account. Where possible, we try to use server locations within the EU, if this is offered. We will provide you with more detailed information about data transfers to third countries, if applicable, at the appropriate points in this privacy policy.

SECURITY OF DATA PROCESSING

In order to protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organizational measures. Where possible, we encrypt or pseudonymize personal data. In this way, we make it as difficult as possible for third parties to derive personal information from our data. Art. 25 GDPR speaks here of “data protection through technical design and through data protection-friendly default settings” and means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to the server room) are always considered and appropriate measures are taken. In the following, we will go into more detail about specific measures if necessary.

COMMUNICATION

Communication Summary 👥 Affected parties: All those who communicate with us by telephone, email or online form 📓 Data processed: e.g. telephone number, name, email address, form data entered. You can find more details about this in the contact type used 🤝 Purpose: Handling communication with customers, business partners, etc. 📅 Storage period: Duration of the business case and the legal regulations ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

If you contact us and communicate by telephone, email or online form, personal data may be processed. The data will be processed to handle and process your question and the related business transaction. The data will be stored for as long as the law requires.

AFFECTED PERSONS

The processes mentioned affect everyone who tries to contact us via the communication channels we provide.

TELEPHONE

When you call us, the call data is stored pseudonymously on the respective end device and with the telecommunications provider used. In addition, data such as name and telephone number can then be sent by email and stored to answer the query. The data is deleted as soon as the business case has been completed and legal requirements allow it.

E-MAIL

If you communicate with us by email, data may be stored on the respective end device (computer, laptop, smartphone, …) and data is stored on the email server. The data is deleted as soon as the business case has been completed and legal requirements allow it.

ONLINE FORMS

If you communicate with us using an online form, data is stored on our web server and may be forwarded to an email address of ours. The data is deleted as soon as the business case has been completed and legal requirements allow it.

LEGAL BASIS

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

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 related to the business case;

6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract): There is a need to fulfill a contract with you or a processor such as the telephone provider or we have to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as preparing an offer;

6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests): We want to handle customer inquiries and business communication in a professional context. For this, certain technical facilities such as e-mail programs, exchange servers and mobile phone operators are necessary in order to be able to operate the communication efficiently.

ORDER PROCESSING AGREEMENT (AVV)

In this section we would like to explain to you what an order processing contract is and why it is needed. Because the word “order processing agreement” is quite a tongue twister, we will often use the acronym AVV in this text. Like most companies, we do not work alone, but also use the services of other companies or individuals. By involving various companies or service providers, we may pass on personal data for processing. These partners then act as order processors with whom we conclude a contract, the so-called order processing agreement (AVV). The most important thing for you to know is that the processing of your personal data is carried out exclusively in accordance with our instructions and must be regulated by the AVV.

WHO ARE PROCESSORS?

As a company and website owner, we are responsible for all data that we process from you. In addition to the responsible parties, there can also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person that processes personal data on our behalf. To be more precise and according to the GDPR definition: any natural or legal person, authority, institution or other body that processes personal data on our behalf is considered a processor. Processors can therefore be service providers such as hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft. To make the terminology easier to understand, here is an overview of the three roles in the GDPR: Data subject (you as a customer or interested party) → Responsible party (we as a company and client) → Processor (service provider such as web host or cloud provider)

CONTENT OF A PROCESSING AGREEMENT

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

Binding to us as the controller
Duties and rights of the controller
Categories of data subjects
Type of personal data
Type and purpose of data processing
Subject matter and duration of data processing
Place of data processing

The contract also contains all of the processor’s duties. The most important obligations are:

to ensure data security measures

to take possible technical and organizational measures to protect the rights of the data subject

to maintain a data processing register

to cooperate with the data protection supervisory authority upon request

to carry out a risk analysis in relation to the personal data received

sub-processors may only be commissioned with the written permission of the controller

You can see what a data protection agreement looks like in concrete terms at https://www.wko.at/service/wirtschaftsrecht-gewerberecht/eu-dsgvo-mustervertrag-auftragsverarbeitung.html. A sample contract is presented here.

COOKIES

Cookies Summary 👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: depends on the respective cookie. You can find more details below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📓 Data processed: depends on the cookie used in each case. You can find more details below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📅 Storage period: depends on the respective cookie, can vary from hours to years ⚖️ 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. Below 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 use a browser. Well-known browsers include Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text files in your browser. These files are called cookies. One thing cannot be denied: cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. To be more precise, they are HTTP cookies, as there are other cookies for other areas of application. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically stored in the cookie folder, the “brain” of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. When defining a cookie, one or more attributes must also be specified. Cookies store certain user data from you, such as language or personal page settings. When you visit our site again, your browser sends the “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are used to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file. The 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, which the browser uses again as soon as another page is requested. There are both first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created directly by our site, third-party cookies are created by partner websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie must be evaluated individually, as each cookie stores different data. The expiration 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 information on your PC. For example, cookie data can look like this: Name: _ga Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152312681648-9 Purpose: Differentiation of website visitors Expiry date: after 2 years A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

At least 4096 bytes per cookie

At least 50 cookies per domain

At least 3000 cookies in total

WHAT TYPES OF COOKIES ARE THERE?

The question of which cookies we use in particular depends on the services used and is clarified in the following sections of the privacy policy. At this point we would like to briefly explain the different types of HTTP cookies. There are 4 types of cookies: Essential cookies These cookies are necessary to ensure basic functions of the website. For example, these cookies are needed when a user puts a product in the shopping cart, then continues browsing on other pages and only later goes to the checkout. These cookies do not delete the shopping cart, even if the user closes their browser window. Functional cookies These cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages. These cookies are also used to measure the loading time and behavior of the website in different browsers. Targeted cookies These cookies ensure better user-friendliness. For example, entered locations, font sizes or form data are saved. Advertising cookies These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to provide the user with individually tailored advertising. This can be very practical, but also very annoying. Usually, when you visit a website for the first time, you are asked which of these types of cookies you would like to accept. And of course, this decision is also saved in a cookie. If you would like to know more about cookies and are not afraid of technical documentation, we recommend https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6265, the Request for Comments from 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 more details below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

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

STORAGE PERIOD OF COOKIES

The storage period depends on the cookie in question and is specified below. Some cookies are deleted after less than an hour, others can remain stored on a computer for several years. You also have an influence on the storage period yourself. You can manually delete all cookies at any time via your browser (see also “Right of objection” below). Furthermore, cookies based on consent are deleted at the latest after you revoke your consent, whereby the legality of storage remains unaffected until then.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION – HOW CAN I DELETE COOKIES?

You decide how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of which service or website the cookies come from, you always have the option of deleting, deactivating or only partially allowing cookies. For example, you can block third-party cookies but allow all other cookies. If you want to find out which cookies have been stored in your browser, if you want to change or delete cookie settings, you can find this in your browser settings:

Chrome: Delete, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies Microsoft

Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you don’t want cookies at all, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is about to be set. This way you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow the cookie or not. The procedure varies depending on the browser. The best thing to do is to search for the instructions in Google using the search term “delete cookies Chrome” or “deactivate cookies Chrome” in the case of a Chrome browser.

LEGAL BASIS

The so-called “cookie guidelines” have been in place since 2009. They state that storing cookies requires your consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a of GDPR). However, there are still very different reactions to these guidelines within the EU countries. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 96 Paragraph 3 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). In Germany, the cookie guidelines were not implemented as national law. Instead, this directive was largely implemented in Section 15 Paragraph 3 of the Telemedia Act (TMG). For absolutely necessary cookies, even if no consent has been given, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f of GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to give visitors to the website a pleasant user experience and certain cookies are often absolutely necessary for this. If cookies that are not absolutely necessary are used, this only happens if you have given your consent. The legal basis in this respect is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a of GDPR. In the following sections you will be informed in more detail about the use of cookies, provided that the software used uses cookies.

APPLICATION DATA

Application data summary 👥 Affected parties: Users who apply for a job with us 🤝 Purpose: Processing an application process 📓 Data processed: Name, address, contact details, email address, telephone number, proof of qualifications (certificates), possibly special category data. 📅 Storage period: if the application is successful, until the end of the employment relationship. Otherwise, the data will be deleted after the application process or stored for a certain period of time with your consent. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract), Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. a. GDPR (processing of special categories)

WHAT ARE APPLICATION DATA?

You can apply for a job in our company by email, online form or via a recruiting tool. All data that we receive and process from you as part of an application counts as application data. In doing so, you always disclose personal data such as name, date of birth, address and telephone number.

WHY DO WE PROCESS APPLICATION DATA?

We process your data so that we can conduct a proper selection process for the advertised position. In addition, we are also happy to keep your application documents in our application archive. It often happens that a collaboration for the advertised position does not work out for a variety of reasons, but we are impressed by you and your application and can very well imagine working together in the future. If you give us your consent, we will archive your documents so that we can easily contact you for future tasks in our company. We guarantee that we will handle your data with particular care and only process your data within the legal framework. Within our company, too, your data will only be passed on to people who are directly involved with your application. In short: your data is safe with us!

WHICH DATA ARE PROCESSED?

If, for example, you apply to us by email, we will of course also receive personal data, as mentioned above. Even the email address is considered personal data. However, only the data that is relevant to our decision as to whether or not we want to welcome you to our team is processed during the application process. The exact data that is processed depends primarily on the job advertisement. However, it is usually name, date of birth, contact details and proof of qualifications. If you submit the application via an online form, the data is passed on to us in encrypted form. If you send us the application by email, this encryption does not take place. We cannot therefore accept any responsibility for the method of transmission. However, as soon as the data is on our servers, we are responsible for the lawful handling of your data. During an application process, in addition to the data mentioned above, information about your health or ethnic origin may also be requested so that we and you can exercise the rights in relation to employment law, social security and social protection and at the same time comply with the corresponding obligations. This data is special category data. Here is a list of possible data that we receive and process from you:

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

HOW LONG WILL THE DATA BE STORED?

If we take you on as a team member in our company, your data will be further processed for the purpose of the employment relationship and will be kept with us at least until the employment relationship ends. All application documents will then be placed in your employee file. If we do not offer you the job, you reject our offer or withdraw your application, we can keep your data for up to 6 months after the application process has been completed due to legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR). After that, both your electronic data and all data from physical application documents will be completely deleted or destroyed. We keep your data, for example, so that we can answer any queries or so that we can provide evidence of the application in the event of a legal dispute. If a legal dispute arises and we may still need the data after the 6 months have expired, we will only delete the data when there is no longer any reason to keep it. If there are legal retention obligations to be met, we must generally store the data for longer than 6 months. We can also store your data for longer if you have given your specific consent. We do this, for example, if we can imagine working with you in the future. Then it is helpful to have your data archived so that we can reach you easily. In this case, the data goes into our applicant pool. Of course, you can revoke your consent to store your data for a longer period at any time. If you do not revoke your consent and do not give your new consent, your data will be deleted after 2 years at the latest.

LEGAL BASIS

The legal basis for processing your data is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract or pre-contractual measures), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) and Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. a. GDPR (processing of special categories). If we include you in our applicant tool, this happens on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). We would like to point out that your consent to our application pool is voluntary, has no influence on the application process and you have the option of revoking your consent at any time. The legality of the processing up to the time of revocation remains unaffected. In the event of the protection of vital interests, data processing takes place in accordance with Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. c. GDPR. For the purposes of healthcare, occupational medicine, medical diagnostics, care or treatment in the health or social sector or for the administration of systems and services in the health or social sector, personal data is processed in accordance with Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. h. GDPR. If you voluntarily provide special category data, processing takes place on the basis of Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. a. GDPR.

CUSTOMER DATA

Customer data summary 👥 Affected parties: Customers or business and contractual partners 🤝 Purpose: Provision of the contractually or pre-contractually agreed services including associated communication 📓 Data processed: Name, address, contact details, email address, telephone number, payment information (such as invoices and bank details), contract data (such as term and subject of the contract), IP address, order data 📅 Storage period: the data is deleted as soon as it is no longer required to fulfill our business purposes and there is no legal obligation to retain it. ⚖️ Legal basis: Legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR), contract (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR)

WHAT IS CUSTOMER DATA?

So that we can offer our service or our 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 a contractual or pre-contractual collaboration in order to be able to provide the services offered. Customer data is therefore all information collected that 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 most important is that we simply need various data to provide our services. Sometimes your email address is enough, but if you purchase a product or service, for example, we also need data such as your name, address, bank details or contract details. We also subsequently use the data for marketing and sales optimization so that we can improve our service for our customers overall. Another important point is our customer service, which is always very important to us. We want you to be able to come to us at any time with questions about our offers and for this we need at least your email address.

WHAT DATA IS PROCESSED?

The exact data that is stored can only be shown here based on categories. This always depends on the services you receive from us. In some cases, you only give us your email address so that we can, for example, contact you or answer your questions. In other cases, you purchase a product or service from us and for this we need significantly more information, such as your contact details, payment details and contract details. Here is a list of possible data that we receive and process from you:

Name
Contact address
Email address
Telephone number
Date of birth
Payment details (invoices, bank details, payment history, etc.)
Contract data (term, content)
Usage data (websites visited, access data, etc.)
Metadata (IP address, device information)

HOW LONG IS THE DATA STORED?

As soon as we no longer need the customer data to fulfill our contractual obligations and purposes and the data is also not necessary for possible warranty and liability obligations, we delete the corresponding customer data. This is the case, for example, when a business contract ends. After that, the limitation period is usually 3 years, although longer periods are possible in individual cases. Of course, we also adhere to the statutory retention periods. Your customer data will definitely not be passed on to third parties unless you have explicitly given your consent.

LEGAL BASIS

The legal basis for the processing of your data is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract or pre-contractual measures), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) and in special cases (e.g. for medical services) Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. a. GDPR (processing of special categories). In the case of the protection of vital interests, data processing takes place in accordance with Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. c. GDPR. For the purposes of healthcare, occupational medicine, medical diagnostics, care or treatment in the health or social sector or for the administration of systems and services in the health or social sector, personal data is processed in accordance with Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. h. GDPR. If you voluntarily provide data from the special categories, processing takes place on the basis of Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. a. GDPR.

REGISTRATION

Registration Summary 👥 Affected parties: All persons who register, create an account, log in and use the account. 📓 Data processed: Email address, name, password and other data collected during registration, login and account use. 🤝 Purpose: Provision of our services. Communication with customers in connection with the services. 📅 Storage period: As long as the company account associated with the texts exists and then usually 3 years. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)
If you register with us, personal data may be processed if you enter data with personal reference or data such as the IP address is recorded during processing. You can read what we mean by the rather cumbersome term “personal data” below. Please only enter data that we need for registration and for which you have the approval of a third party if you are registering on behalf of a third party. If possible, use a secure password that you do not use anywhere else and an email address that you check regularly. Below we will inform you about the exact type of data processing, because we want you to feel comfortable with us!

WHAT IS REGISTRATION?

When you register, we receive certain data from you and then enable you to easily log in online and use your account with us. An account with us has the advantage that you do not have to enter everything again every time. Saves time, effort and ultimately prevents errors when providing our services.

WHY DO WE PROCESS PERSONAL DATA?

In short, we process personal data to enable the creation and use of an account with us. If we didn’t do that, you would have to enter all the data every time, wait for approval from us and enter everything again. We and many, many customers wouldn’t like that. How would you feel about that?

WHAT DATA IS PROCESSED?

All the data you provided during registration, enter when logging in or enter when managing your data in your account. When you register, we process the following types of data:

First name
Last name
Email address
Company name
Street + house number
Place of residence
Postal code
Country

When you register, we process the data you enter when you register, such as your user name and password, and data collected in the background, such as device information and IP addresses. When you use your account, we process data that you enter during account use and which is created when you use our services.

STORAGE PERIOD

We store the data entered at least for as long as the account linked to the data exists and is used with us, as long as contractual obligations exist between us and, when the contract ends, until the respective claims arising from it have expired. In addition, we store your data as long as and to the extent that we are subject to legal obligations to store it. After that, we keep accounting documents related to the contract (invoices, contract documents, account statements, etc.) and other relevant business documents for the legally prescribed period (usually a few years).

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

Have you registered, entered data and would like to revoke the processing? No problem. As you can read above, the rights according to the General Data Protection Regulation also apply during and after registration, login or account with us. Contact the person responsible for data protection listed above to exercise your rights. If you already have an account with us, you can easily view or manage your data and texts in your account.

LEGAL BASIS

By completing the registration process, you are approaching us pre-contractually to conclude a user agreement via our platform (although this does not automatically result in a payment obligation). You invest time to enter data and register, and we offer you our services after logging into our system and viewing your customer account. We also fulfill our contractual obligations. Finally, we must keep registered users up to date by email about important changes. This means that Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (implementation of pre-contractual measures, fulfillment of a contract) applies. If necessary, we will also obtain your consent, e.g. if you voluntarily provide more data than is absolutely necessary or if we are allowed to send you advertising. Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) therefore applies. We also have a legitimate interest in knowing who we are dealing with in order to get in touch in certain cases. We also need to know who is using our services and whether they are being used as our terms of use stipulate, so Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f of GDPR (Legitimate Interests) applies. Note: Users must tick the following sections (as required): Registration with real name Since in business operations we need to know who we are dealing with, registration is only possible with your real name (real name) and not with pseudonyms. Registration with pseudonyms Pseudonyms can be used when registering, i.e. you do not have to register with us with your real name. This ensures that we cannot process your name. Storage of the IP address During registration, login and account use, we store the IP address in the background for security reasons in order to be able to determine lawful use. Public profile The user profiles are publicly visible, i.e. parts of the profile can be seen on the Internet without entering a user name and password. 2-factor authentication (2FA) Two-factor authentication (2FA) offers additional security when logging in, as it prevents people from logging in without a smartphone, for example. This technical measure to secure your account protects you from the loss of data or unauthorized access, even if your user name and password are known. You can find out which 2FA is used when you register, log in, and in the account itself.

WEB HOSTING INTRODUCTION
Web hosting summary 👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: professional hosting of the website and securing operations 📓 Data processed: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. You can find more details below or from the web hosting provider used. 📅 Storage period: depends on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS WEB HOSTING?

When you visit websites these days, certain information – including personal data – is automatically created and stored, including on this website. This data should be processed as sparingly as possible and only with justification. By website, by the way, we mean the totality of all web pages on a domain, i.e. everything from the start page (homepage) to the very last subpage (like this one). By domain we mean, for example, example.de or musterbeispiel.com. When you want to view a website on a computer, tablet or smartphone, you use a program called a web browser. You probably know some web browsers by name: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari. We call them browsers or web browsers for short. To display the website, the browser must connect to another computer where the website code is stored: the web server. Operating a web server is a complicated and time-consuming task, which is why it is usually done by professional providers. They offer web hosting and thus ensure that website data is stored reliably and error-free. A lot of technical terms, but please stay tuned, it gets better! When the browser connects to your computer (desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone) and during data transfer to and from the web server, personal data may be processed. On the one hand, your computer stores data, on the other hand, the web server also has to store data for a while to ensure proper operation. A picture is worth a thousand words, so the following graphic illustrates the interaction between the browser, the Internet and the hosting provider.

WHY DO WE PROCESS PERSONAL DATA?

The purposes of data processing are:

Professional hosting of the website and securing operations

To maintain operational and IT security

Anonymous evaluation of access behavior to improve our offering and, if necessary, for criminal prosecution or the pursuit of claims

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

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

the complete Internet address (URL) of the website accessed
browser and browser version (e.g. Chrome 87)
the operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)
the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL) (e.g. https://www.beispielquellsite.de/vondabinichgekommen/)
the host name and IP address of the device from which access is made (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
date and time
in files, the so-called web server log files

HOW LONG IS DATA STORED?

As a rule, the above data is stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not pass this data on, but cannot rule out that this data will be viewed by authorities in the event of illegal behavior. 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 legality of the processing of personal data in the context of web hosting arises from Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (protection of legitimate interests), because the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary in order to present the company on the Internet in a secure and user-friendly manner and to be able to pursue attacks and claims arising from this if necessary. There is usually a contract for order processing between us and the hosting provider in accordance with Art. 28 f. GDPR, which ensures compliance with data protection and guarantees data security.

WEBSITE CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS INTRODUCTION

Website construction kit systems data protection declaration summary 👥 Affected parties: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our service 📓 Data processed: Data such as technical usage information such as browser activity, clickstream activities, session heatmaps as well as contact details, IP address or your geographical location. You can find more details about this further down in this data protection declaration and in the data protection declaration of the providers. 📅 Storage period: depends on the provider ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

WHAT ARE WEBSITE CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS?

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

WHY DO WE USE WEBSITE MODULAR SYSTEMS FOR OUR WEBSITE?

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

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY A MODULAR SYSTEM?

Exactly which data is stored depends, of course, on the website modular system used. Each provider processes and collects different data from website visitors. However, technical usage information such as operating system, browser, screen resolution, language and keyboard settings, hosting provider and the date of your website visit are usually collected. Tracking data (e.g. browser activity, clickstream activities, session heatmaps, etc.) can also be processed. Personal data can also be collected and stored. This usually includes contact details such as email address, telephone number (if you have provided this), IP address and geographical location data. You can find out exactly which data is stored in the provider’s privacy policy.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below in connection with the website modular system used, provided we have further information about it. You can find detailed information about this in the provider’s privacy policy. In general, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. The provider may store your data according to its own specifications, over which we have no influence.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You always have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the person responsible for the website modular system used at any time. You can find contact details either in our privacy policy or on the website of the relevant provider. You can delete, deactivate or manage cookies that providers use for their functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Please note, however, that not all functions may then work as usual.

LEGAL BASIS

We have a legitimate interest in using a website modular system to optimize our online service and to present it to you in an efficient and user-friendly manner. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the modular system if you have given your consent. If the processing of data is not absolutely necessary for the operation of the website, the data will only be processed on the basis of your consent. This particularly applies to tracking activities. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a of GDPR. With this data protection declaration, we have provided you with the most important general information about data processing. If you would like to find out more about this, you will find further information – if available – in the following section or in the provider’s data protection declaration.

WEB ANALYTICS INTRODUCTION

Web Analytics Data Protection Statement Summary 👥 Affected parties: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offering. 📓 Data processed: Access statistics that contain data such as locations of access, device data, duration and time of access, navigation behavior, click behavior and IP addresses. You can find more details in the web analytics tool used. 📅 Storage period: depends on the web analytics tool used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS WEB ANALYTICS?

We use software on our website to evaluate the behavior of website visitors, known as web analytics or web analysis for short. Data is collected that the respective analytic tool provider (also known as tracking tool) stores, manages and processes. The data is used to create analyses of user behavior on our website and make them available to us as website operators. In addition, most tools offer various testing options. For example, we can test which offers or content are most popular with our visitors. To do this, we show you two different offers for a limited period of time. After the test (so-called A/B test), we know which product or content our website visitors find more interesting. For such testing procedures, as for other analytics procedures, user profiles can also be created and the data stored in cookies.

WHY DO WE OPERATE WEB ANALYTICS?

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

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

The exact data that is stored depends, of course, on the analysis tools used. However, as a rule, for example, what content you view on our website, what buttons or links you click on, when you access a page, what browser you use, what device (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) you use to visit the website or what computer system you use is stored. If you have agreed that location data may also be collected, this can also be processed by the web analysis tool provider. Your IP address is also stored. According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), IP addresses are personal data. However, your IP address is usually stored pseudonymously (i.e. in an unrecognizable and shortened form). For the purposes of testing, web analysis and web optimization, no direct data, such as your name, age, address or email address, is stored. All of this data, if collected, is stored pseudonymously. This means that you cannot be identified as a person. The following example shows schematically how Google Analytics works as an example of client-based web tracking with Java script code. How long the respective data is stored always depends on the provider. Some cookies only store data for a few minutes or until you leave the website again, other cookies can store data for several years.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

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

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

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

LEGAL BASIS

The use of web analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected using web analytics tools. In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offering technically and economically. With the help of web analytics, we can detect errors on the website, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Since web analytics tools use cookies, we also recommend that 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. Information on special web analytics tools can be found in the following sections, if available.

FACEBOOK CONVERSIONS API PRIVACY POLICY

We use Facebook Conversions API, a server-side event tracking tool, on our website. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. The company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible for the European area. Facebook processes your data in the USA, among other places. Facebook or 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. You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en. Facebook also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Facebook data processing conditions, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing. You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Facebook Conversions API in the Privacy Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS PRIVACY POLICY

Google Analytics Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offering. 📓 Data processed: Access statistics that contain data such as locations of access, device data, duration and time of access, navigation behavior and click behavior. You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: individually adjustable, by default Google Analytics 4 stores data for 14 months ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS GOOGLE ANALYTICS?

We use the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics in version Google Analytics 4 (GA4) from the American company Google Inc. on our website. For the European region, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. By combining various technologies such as cookies, device IDs and login information, you as a user can be identified across different devices. This also allows your actions to be analyzed across platforms. For example, if you click on a link, this event is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. With the help of the reports we receive from Google Analytics, we can better adapt our website and our service to your needs. Below we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and inform you in particular about which data is processed and how you can prevent this. Google Analytics is a tracking tool that is used to analyze the traffic on our website. The basis for these measurements and analyses is a pseudonymous user identification number. This number does not contain any personal data such as name or address, but is used to assign events to a device. GA4 uses an event-based model that records detailed information on user interactions such as page views, clicks, scrolling, and conversion events. In addition, various machine learning functions have been built into GA4 to better understand user behavior and certain trends. GA4 uses machine learning functions to model. This means that missing data can also be extrapolated based on the data collected in order to optimize the analysis and also to make forecasts. In order for Google Analytics to work in principle, a tracking code is built into the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various events that you carry out on our website. With GA4’s event-based data model, we as website operators can define and track specific events in order to obtain analyses of user interactions. This means that in addition to general information such as clicks or page views, special events that are important to our business can also be tracked. Such special events can be, for example, submitting a contact form or purchasing a product. As soon as you leave our website, this data is sent to the Google Analytics servers and stored there. Google processes the data and we receive reports on your user behavior. These can include the following reports:

Audience reports: Audience reports help us get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.

Advertisement reports: Advertisement reports help us analyze and improve our online advertising more easily.

Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports give us useful information about how we can get more people interested in our service.

Behavioral reports: Here we learn how you interact with our website. We can see which path you take on our site and which links you click on.

Conversion reports: Conversion is a process in which you perform a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a pure website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us learn more about how our marketing measures are received by you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
Real-time reports: Here we always find out immediately what is currently happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

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

Event-based data model: This model records very specific events that can take place on our website. For example, playing a video, buying a product or signing up for our newsletter.

Advanced analysis functions: With these functions, we can understand your behavior on our website or certain general trends even better. For example, we can segment user groups, make comparative analyses of target groups or track your route or path on our website.

Predictive modeling: Based on the data collected, machine learning can be used to extrapolate missing data that predicts future events and trends. This can help us develop better marketing strategies.

Cross-platform analysis: Data can be collected and analyzed from both websites and apps. This gives us the opportunity to analyze user behavior across platforms, provided, of course, that you have consented to data processing.

WHY DO WE USE GOOGLE ANALYTICS ON OUR WEBSITE?

Our goal with this website is clear: we want to offer you the best possible service. The statistics and data from Google Analytics help us achieve this goal. The statistically evaluated data shows us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that it is easier for interested people to find on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. We therefore know exactly what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also helps us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures in a more personalized and cost-effective manner. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY GOOGLE ANALYTICS?

Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID that is linked to your browser cookie. This allows Google Analytics to recognize you as a new user and assign you a user ID. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a “returning” user. All data collected is stored together with this user ID. This makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles. In order to analyze our website with Google Analytics, a property ID must be inserted into the tracking code. The data is then stored in the corresponding property. The Google Analytics 4 property is the default for each newly created property. Depending on the property used, data is stored for different lengths of time. Using identifiers such as cookies, app instance IDs, user IDs or user-defined event parameters, your interactions are measured across platforms, provided you have consented. Interactions are all types of actions that you perform on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated through Google Analytics may be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not share Google Analytics data unless we as the website operator approve this. Exceptions may apply if required by law. According to Google, no IP addresses are logged or stored in Google Analytics 4. However, Google uses the IP address data to derive location data and deletes it immediately afterwards. All IP addresses collected from users in the EU are therefore deleted before the data is stored in a data center or on a server. Since Google Analytics 4 focuses on event-based data, the tool uses significantly fewer cookies compared to previous versions (such as Google Universal Analytics). However, there are some specific cookies used by GA4. These include, for example: Name: _ga Value: 2.1326744211.152312681648-5 Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish between website visitors. Expiry date: after 2 years Name: _gid Value: 2.1687193234.152312681648-1 Purpose: The cookie is also used to distinguish between website visitors Expiry date: after 24 hours Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id> Value: 1 Purpose: Used to reduce the request rate. If Google Analytics is provided via the Google Tag Manager, this cookie is given the name _dc_gtm_ <property-id>. Expiry date: after 1 minute Note: This list cannot claim to be complete, as Google continually changes its choice of cookies. The aim of GA4 is also to improve data protection. The tool therefore offers a number of options for controlling data collection. For example, we can set the storage period ourselves and also control data collection. Here we show you an overview of the most important types of data collected with Google Analytics: Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heatmaps. Heatmaps show exactly the areas you click on. This gives us information about where you are on our site. Session duration: Google defines the session duration as the time you spend on our site without leaving the site. If you have been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically. Bounce rate: A bounce occurs when you only view one page on our website and then leave our website again. Account creation: When you create an account or place an order on our website, Google Analytics collects this data. Location: IP addresses are not logged or stored in Google Analytics. However, shortly before the IP address is deleted, derivations for location data are used. Technical information: The technical information includes your browser type, your internet provider or your screen resolution. Source: Google Analytics and we are of course also interested in which website or advertisement you came to our site from. Other data includes contact details, any ratings, the playback of media (e.g. when you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media or adding to your favorites. The list is not exhaustive and only serves as a general guide to data storage by Google Analytics.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

Google has distributed its servers around the world. Here you can find out exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de Your data is distributed across different physical storage devices. This has the advantage that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. Each Google data center has appropriate emergency programs for your data. If, for example, Google’s hardware fails or natural disasters paralyze servers, the risk of a service interruption at Google remains low. The retention period of the data depends on the properties used. The storage period is always set specifically for each individual property. Google Analytics offers us four options for controlling the storage period:

2 months: this is the shortest storage period.

14 months: by default, the data is stored for 14 months in GA4.

26 months: you can also store the data for 26 months.
Data is only deleted when we delete it manually

In addition, there is also the option that data is only deleted when you no longer visit our website within the period we have chosen. In this case, the retention period is reset each time you visit our website again within the specified period. When the specified period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data that is linked to cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs (e.g. cookies from the DoubleClick domain). Report results are based on aggregated data and are stored independently of user data. Aggregated data is a fusion of individual data into a larger unit.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to obtain information about your data, to update it, to delete it or to restrict it. You can use the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics JavaScript (analytics.js, gtag.js) to prevent Google Analytics 4 from using your data. You can download and install the browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de. Please note that this add-on only deactivates data collection by Google Analytics. If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the relevant links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers under the “Cookies” section.

LEGAL BASIS

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected using web analytics tools. In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offering technically and economically. With the help of Google Analytics, we can detect errors on the website, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent. Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. 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. You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en. Google also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46, Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/. We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Google Analytics. If you would like to find out more about the tracking service, we recommend these two links: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/de/ and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de. If you would like to find out more about data processing, use the Google privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS REPORTS ON DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND INTERESTS

We have activated the advertising reporting functions in Google Analytics. The reports on demographic characteristics and interests contain information on age, gender and interests. This allows us to get a better picture of our users – without being able to assign this data to individual people. You can find out more about the advertising functions at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=de_AT&utm_id=ad. You can stop the use of the activities and information of your Google account under “Advertising Settings” at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated by checking the box.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS E-COMMERCE MEASUREMENT

We also use the e-commerce measurement of the web analysis tool Google Analytics for our website. This allows us to analyze very precisely how you and all our other customers interact on our website. E-commerce measurement is primarily about purchasing behavior. Using the data we obtain, we can adapt and optimize our service to your wishes and expectations. We can also use our online advertising measures more specifically so that only people who are interested in our products or services see our advertising. The e-commerce measurement records, for example, which orders were placed, how long it took for you to purchase the product, how high the average order value is or how high the shipping costs are. All of this data can be recorded and stored under a specific ID.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS IN CONSENT MODE

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

GOOGLE ANALYTICS IP ANONYMIZATION

We have implemented Google Analytics IP address anonymization on this website. This function was developed by Google so that this website can comply with the applicable data protection regulations and recommendations of the local data protection authorities if they prohibit the storage of the full IP address. The IP is anonymized or masked as soon as the IP addresses arrive in the Google Analytics data collection network and before the data is stored or processed. You can find more information about IP anonymization at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=de.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS WITHOUT COOKIES

We use Google Analytics (GA for short) on our website, but without setting cookies in your browser. We have already explained what cookies are above, hopefully you still remember the explanations. Just briefly and specifically related to GA: Cookies are used to store data that is helpful for GA in your browser on your device. By eliminating the use of cookies, no personal data is stored in such cookies that will establish a user profile. Google Analytics can carry out various measurements and web analyses, but the data collected for this purpose is only stored on Google servers and your privacy is respected and protected much more.

GOOGLE OPTIMIZE PRIVACY POLICY

We use Google Optimize, a website optimization tool, on our website. The service provider is the American company Google Inc. For the European region, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google processes your data in the USA, among other places. 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. You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en. Google also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/. You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of Google Optimize in the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

CONTRACT PROCESSING AGREEMENT (AVV) GOOGLE OPTIMIZE

We have concluded a contract processing agreement (AVV) with Google in accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You can read what a AVV is exactly and, above all, what must be included in a AVV in our general section “Contract processing agreement (AVV)”. This contract is required by law because Google processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that Google may only process data that it receives from us in accordance with our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. The link to the contract data processing conditions can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/

GOOGLE SITE KIT PRIVACY POLICY

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offering. 📓 Data processed: Access statistics that contain data such as locations of access, device data, duration and time of access, navigation behavior, click behavior and IP addresses. More details can be found below and in the Google Analytics privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: depends on the properties used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS GOOGLE SITE KIT?

We have integrated the WordPress plugin Google Site Kit from the American company Google Inc. into our website. For the European region, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With Google Site Kit, we can quickly and easily view statistics from various Google products such as Google Analytics directly in our WordPress dashboard. The tool or the tools integrated in Google Site Kit also collect personal data from you, among other things. In this privacy policy, we explain why we use Google Site Kit, how long and where data is stored, and which other data protection texts are relevant to you in this context. Google Site Kit is a plugin for the WordPress content management system. With this plugin, we can view important website analysis statistics directly in our dashboard. These are statistics collected by other Google products. First and foremost, Google Analytics. In addition to Google Analytics, the services Google Search Console, Page Speed ​​Insight, Google AdSense, Google Optimize, and Google Tag Manager can also be linked to Google Site Kit.

WHY DO WE USE GOOGLE SITE KIT ON OUR WEBSITE?

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

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY GOOGLE SITE KIT?

If you have actively consented to tracking tools in the cookie notice (also called script or banner), Google products such as Google Analytics will set cookies and send data from you, for example about your user behavior, to Google, where it will be stored and processed. This also includes personal data such as your IP address. For more detailed information on the individual services, we have separate text sections in this privacy policy. For example, see our privacy policy for Google Analytics. Here we go into great detail about the data collected. You will find out how long Google Analytics stores, manages and processes data, which cookies can be used and how you can prevent data storage. We also have separate privacy policies with comprehensive information for other Google services such as Google Tag Manager or Google AdSense. Below we show you example Google Analytics cookies that can be set in your browser provided you have generally consented to data processing by Google. Please note that these cookies are only a selection: Name: _ga Value: 2.1326744211.152312681648-2 Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish between website visitors. Expiry date: after 2 years Name: _gid Value: 2.1687193234.152312681648-7 Purpose: This cookie is also used to distinguish between website visitors. Expiry date: after 24 hours Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id> Value: 1 Purpose: This cookie is used to reduce the request rate. Expiry date: after 1 minute

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

Google stores collected data on its own Google servers, which are spread around the world. Most servers are located in the United States, so it is quite possible that your data is also stored there. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de you can see exactly where the company provides servers. Data collected by Google Analytics is stored for a standard 26 months. After that, your user data is deleted. The retention period applies to all data linked to cookies, user recognition, and advertising IDs.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

You always have the right to receive information about your data, to have it deleted, corrected, or restricted. You can also deactivate, delete, or manage cookies in your browser at any time. If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the relevant links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers under the “Cookies” section.

LEGAL BASIS

The use of Google Site Kit requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected using web analytics tools. In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offering technically and economically. With the help of Google Site Kit, we can detect errors on the website, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Google Site Kit if you have given your consent. Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places. 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. You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en. Google also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/. To find out more about data processing by Google, we recommend that you read Google’s comprehensive privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

PINTEREST WEB ANALYTICS PRIVACY POLICY

We use Pinterest Web Analytics, a web analysis program, on our website. The service provider is the American company Pinterest Inc. The company also has an Irish headquarters with the address Pinterest Europe Ltd., Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. Pinterest processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. Pinterest uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, Pinterest undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de You can find more information about the standard contractual clauses at Pinterest at https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy#section-residents-of-the-eea. You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Pinterest Web Analytics in the full Privacy Policy at https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy.

TIKTOK PIXEL DATENSCHUTZERKLÄRUNG

Wir verwenden auf unserer Website TikTok Pixel, ein Tool für Conversion-Tracking für Werbetreibende. Dienstanbieter ist das chinesische Unternehmen TikTok. Für den europäischen Raum ist das Unternehmen TikTok Technology Limited (10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, D02 T380, Irland) verantwortlich. TikTok verarbeitet Daten von Ihnen u.a. auch in den USA. Wir weisen darauf hin, dass nach Meinung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs derzeit kein angemessenes Schutzniveau für den Datentransfer in die USA besteht. Dies kann mit verschiedenen Risiken für die Rechtmäßigkeit und Sicherheit der Datenverarbeitung einhergehen. Als Grundlage der Datenverarbeitung bei Empfängern mit Sitz in Drittstaaten (außerhalb der Europäischen Union, Island, Liechtenstein, Norwegen, also insbesondere in den USA) oder einer Datenweitergabe dorthin verwendet TikTok sogenannte Standardvertragsklauseln (= Art. 46. Abs. 2 und 3 DSGVO). Standardvertragsklauseln (Standard Contractual Clauses – SCC) sind von der EU-Kommission bereitgestellte Mustervorlagen und sollen sicherstellen, dass Ihre Daten auch dann den europäischen Datenschutzstandards entsprechen, wenn diese in Drittländer (wie beispielsweise in die USA) überliefert und dort gespeichert werden. Durch diese Klauseln verpflichtet sich TikTok, bei der Verarbeitung Ihrer relevanten Daten, das europäische Datenschutzniveau einzuhalten, selbst wenn die Daten in den USA gespeichert, verarbeitet und verwaltet werden. Diese Klauseln basieren auf einem Durchführungsbeschluss der EU-Kommission. Sie finden den Beschluss und die entsprechenden Standardvertragsklauseln u.a. hier: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de Mehr über die Standardvertragsklauseln und die Daten, die durch die Verwendung von TikTok Pixel verarbeitet werden, erfahren Sie in der Privacy Policy auf https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/privacy-policy/de-DE bzw. auf https://ads.tiktok.com/i18n/official/policy/controller-to-controller.

TWITTER ADS CONVERSION TRACKING PRIVACY POLICY

We use the Twitter Ads Conversion Tracking analysis tool for our website. The service provider is the American company Twitter Inc. (1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA) or the Irish subsidiary Twitter International Unlimited Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland. Twitter processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. Twitter uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, Twitter undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de More information on the standard contractual clauses at Twitter can be found at https://gdpr.twitter.com/en/controller-to-controller-transfers.html. You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Twitter Ads conversion tracking in the privacy policy at https://twitter.com/de/privacy.

WEB-STAT PRIVACY POLICY

We use the analysis tool Web-Stat for our website. The service provider is the American company Web Tracking Services LLC, 1670 Springdale Drive, Suite 11-A PMB #270, Camden, SC, USA. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. The data processing is essentially carried out by Web-Stat. This may result in data not being processed and stored anonymously. Furthermore, US government authorities may have access to individual data. It may also happen that this data is linked to data from other possible Web-Stat services for which you have a user account. You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Web-Stat in the Privacy Policy at https://www.web-stat.com/help_privacy_policy.htm.

YAHOO ADVERTISING CONVERSION TRACKING PRIVACY POLICY

We use the web analysis tool Yahoo Advertising Conversion Tracking on our website. The service provider is the American company Verizon Media Inc., 770 Broadway 4th, 5th 6th and 9th Floors, New York, NY 10003-9562, USA. Yahoo processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. Yahoo uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, Yahoo undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de For more information about the standard contractual clauses and the data processed through the use of Yahoo, see the Privacy Policy at https://legal.yahoo.com/xw/en/yahoo/privacy/topic/b2bprivacypolicy/index.html.

YOUTUBE ANALYTICS AND REPORTING API PRIVACY POLICY

We use the web analysis tool YouTube Analytics and Reporting API on our website. The service provider is the American company YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. YouTube processes data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. YouTube uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. These clauses oblige YouTube to comply with the EU data protection level when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de More information on the standard contractual clauses at Google can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/. Since YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, there is a joint privacy policy. If you would like to find out more about how your data is handled, we recommend that you read the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

EMAIL MARKETING INTRODUCTION

Email marketing summary 👥 Affected parties: Newsletter subscribers 🤝 Purpose: Direct advertising by email, notification of system-relevant events 📓 Data processed: Data entered during registration, but at least the email address. You can find more details on this in the email marketing tool used. 📅 Storage period: Duration of the subscription ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS EMAIL MARKETING?

In order to keep you up to date, we also use email marketing. If you have agreed to receive our emails or newsletters, your data will also be processed and stored. Email marketing is a sub-area of ​​online marketing. News or general information about a company, products or services is sent by email to a specific group of people who are interested in them. If you want to take part in our email marketing (usually via newsletter), you normally just have to register with your email address. To do this, you fill out an online form and send it off. However, we may also ask you for your title and name so that we can write to you personally. Basically, registering for newsletters works using the so-called “double opt-in process”. After you have registered for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an email confirming your newsletter registration. This ensures that the email address belongs to you and that no one has registered with someone else’s email address. We or a notification tool we use logs every single registration. This is necessary so that we can prove that the registration process was legally correct. The time of registration, the time of registration confirmation and your IP address are usually saved. In addition, a log is also kept if you make changes to your saved data.

WHY DO WE USE EMAIL MARKETING?

We naturally want to stay in touch with you and always present you with the most important news about our company. To do this, we use email marketing – often just called a “newsletter” – as an essential part of our online marketing. If you agree to this or it is legally permitted, we will send you newsletters, system emails or other notifications by email. When we use the term “newsletter” in the following text, we mainly mean emails that are sent regularly. Of course, we do not want to bother you in any way with our newsletter. That is why we always try to only offer relevant and interesting content. For example, you can find out more about our company, our services or products. Since we are always improving our offers, you will always find out about any news or special, lucrative promotions via our newsletter. If we commission a service provider that offers a professional sending tool for our email marketing, we do this so that we can offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our email marketing is basically to inform you about new offers and to get closer to our business goals.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

If you subscribe to our newsletter via our website, you will confirm your membership in an email list by email. In addition to your IP address and email address, your title, name, address and telephone number may also be saved. However, only if you agree to this data storage. The data marked as such is necessary so that you can participate in the service offered. Providing this information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will mean that you cannot use the service. In addition, information about your device or your preferred content may also be saved on our website. You can find out more about how data is saved when you visit a website in the “Automatic data storage” section. We record your declaration of consent so that we can always prove that it complies with our laws.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

If you remove your email address from our email/newsletter mailing list, we may store your address for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests so that we can still prove your consent at the time. We may only 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 deletion request at any time. If you permanently revoke your consent, we reserve the right to store your email address in a blocked list. As long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course also keep your email address.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You have the option of canceling your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to subscribe to the newsletter. This usually only takes a few seconds or one or two clicks. You will usually find a link at the end of each email to cancel your newsletter subscription. If you really cannot find the link in the newsletter, please contact us by email and we will cancel your newsletter subscription immediately.

LEGAL BASIS

Our newsletter is sent on the basis of your consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a of GDPR). This means that we may only send you a newsletter if you have previously actively registered for it. If necessary, we may also send you advertising messages if you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your email address for direct advertising. Information on special email marketing services and how they process personal data can be found – if available – in the following sections.

PUSH MESSAGES INTRODUCTION

Push message summary 👥 Affected parties: Push message subscribers 🤝 Purpose: Notification of system-relevant and interesting events 📓 Data processed: Data entered during registration, usually also location data. You can find more details on this in the push message tool used. 📅 Storage period: Data is usually stored for as long as it is necessary to provide the services. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract)

WHAT ARE PUSH MESSAGES?

We also use so-called push notification services on our website, with which we can keep our users up to date at all times. This means that if you have agreed to the use of such push messages, we can send you short news using a software tool. Push messages are a form of text message that appears directly on your smartphone or other devices such as tablets or PCs if you have registered for them. You will also receive these messages if you are not on our website or are not actively using our services. Data about your location and usage behavior can also be collected and stored.

WHY DO WE USE PUSH MESSAGES?

On the one hand, we use push messages to be able to fully provide the services that we have contractually agreed with you. On the other hand, the messages also serve our online marketing. We can use these messages to bring you closer to our service or our products. Especially if there is news in our company, we can inform you immediately. We want to get to know the preferences and habits of all our users as well as possible in order to continuously improve our services.

WHAT DATA IS PROCESSED?

In order for you to receive push messages, you must also confirm that you want to receive these messages. The data collected during the consent process is also stored, managed and processed. This is necessary so that it can be proven and recognized that a user has agreed to receive push messages. For this purpose, a so-called device token or push token is stored in your browser. The data of your location or the location of the device you are using is usually also stored. To ensure that we always send interesting and important push messages, the handling of the messages is also statistically evaluated. For example, we can see whether and when you open the message. With the help of this knowledge, we can adapt our communication strategy to your wishes and interests. Although this stored data can be assigned to you, we do not want to check you as an individual. Rather, we are interested in the data collected from all of our users so that we can make optimizations. You can find out exactly which data is stored in the data protection declarations of the respective service providers.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

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

LEGAL BASIS

It may also be that the push messages are necessary so that certain obligations set out in a contract can be fulfilled. For example, so that we can inform you of technical or organizational news. In this case, the legal basis is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR. If this is not the case, the push messages will only be sent on the basis of your consent. Our push messages can in particular contain advertising content. The push messages can also be sent depending on your location, which is displayed on your device. The analytical evaluations mentioned above are also based on your consent to receive such messages. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a of GDPR. You can of course revoke your consent at any time in the settings or change various settings.

MESSENGER & COMMUNICATION INTRODUCTION

Messenger & Communication Data Protection Declaration Summary 👥 Affected parties: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Contact requests and general communication between us and you 📓 Data processed: Data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, general content data, IP address if applicable You can find more details in the tools used. 📅 Storage period: depends on the messenger and communication functions used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 Para. 1 S. 1 lit. b. GDPR (contractual or pre-contractual obligations)

WHAT ARE MESSENGER & COMMUNICATION FUNCTIONS?

We offer various options on our website (such as messenger and chat functions, online or contact forms, email, telephone) to communicate with us. Your data will also be processed and stored to the extent necessary to answer your request and our subsequent measures. In addition to classic means of communication such as email, contact forms or telephone, we also use chats or messengers. The messenger function currently most commonly used is WhatsApp, but there are of course many different providers that offer messenger functions specifically for websites. If content is end-to-end encrypted, this is indicated in the individual data protection texts or in the data protection declaration of the respective provider. End-to-end encryption means nothing other than that the content of a message is not visible even to the provider. However, information about your device, location settings and other technical data can still be processed and stored.

WHY DO WE USE MESSENGER & COMMUNICATION FUNCTIONS?

Communication options with you are of great importance to us. After all, we want to talk to you and answer all possible questions about our service in the best possible way. Well-functioning communication is an important part of our service. With the practical messenger and communication functions, you can always choose the ones you prefer. In exceptional cases, however, it may also happen that we do not answer certain questions via chat or messenger. This is the case when it comes to internal contractual matters, for example. Here we recommend other communication options such as email or telephone. We generally assume that we remain responsible for data protection, even if we use services from a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that in certain cases the operator of the social media platform can be jointly responsible with us within the meaning of Art. 26 GDPR. If this is the case, we will point this out separately and work on the basis of an agreement to this effect. The essence of the agreement is reproduced below for the platform concerned. Please note that when using our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, as many providers, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, are American companies. This may make it more difficult for you to exercise or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective provider of the messenger and communication functions. Basically, this includes data such as name, address, telephone number, email address and content data such as all information that you enter in a contact form. Information about your device and IP address is usually also stored. Data collected via a messenger and communication function is 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 data processing, you should carefully read the respective company’s data protection declaration.

HOW LONG IS DATA STORED?

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

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. For more information, please refer to the section on consent. Since cookies can be used for messenger and communication functions, 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 tools.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by integrated messenger and 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 S. 1 lit. b. GDPR. In principle, 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 fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners.

FACEBOOK MESSENGER PRIVACY POLICY

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

WHAT IS FACEBOOK MESSENGER?

Facebook Messenger is a chat messaging feature developed by Facebook that allows you to send and receive text messages, voice and video calls, photos and other media files to other Facebook users. When you use Facebook Messenger, your personal data is also processed on Facebook servers. In addition to your phone number and chat messages, this also includes photos, videos, profile data, your address or your location.

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. Firstly, because the service works perfectly, and secondly, because Facebook is still one of the best-known social media platforms. The service is practical and enables uncomplicated and quick communication with you.

HOW SECURE IS DATA TRANSFER ON FACEBOOK MESSENGER?

Facebook processes your data in the USA, among other places. Facebook or 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. You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en. Facebook also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Facebook data processing conditions, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing. You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Facebook in the Privacy Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.

CONTRACT PROCESSING AGREEMENT (AVV) FACEBOOK MESSENGER

We have concluded a contract processing agreement (AVV) with Facebook in accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You can read what a AVV is exactly and, above all, what must be included in a AVV in our general section “Contract processing agreement (AVV)”. This contract is required by law because Facebook processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that Facebook may only process data that it receives from us in accordance with our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. The link to the contract processing agreement (AVV) can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

CHATBOTS INTRODUCTION

Chatbots data protection declaration summary 👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: contact requests and general communication between us and you 📓 Data processed: data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, general content data, IP address if applicable You can find more details about this in the tools used. 📅 Storage period: depends on the chatbots & chat functions used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 Para. 1 S. 1 lit. b. GDPR (contractual or pre-contractual obligations)

WHAT ARE CHATBOTS?

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

WHY DO WE USE CHATBOTS?

Communication options with you are important to us. After all, we want to talk to you and answer all possible questions about our service in the best possible way. For us, well-functioning communication is an important part of our service. Chatbots have the great advantage that we can answer frequently asked questions automatically with the help of this software. This saves us time and you still receive detailed and helpful answers. If the chatbot cannot help, you can of course always contact us personally. Please note that when using our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, as many providers are American companies. This may make it more difficult for you to claim or enforce your rights with regard to your personal data.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

It may happen that you also use the chat services on other websites/platforms. In this case, your user ID is also stored on the servers of this website. We can also be informed about which user used the chat at what time. The content is also stored. Exactly which data is stored depends on the respective service. As a rule, however, it is contact data such as email address or telephone number, IP address and various usage data. If you have consented to the use of the chat function, this consent, including any possible registration, is also stored or logged. We do this so that we can also show the registration or consent if this is required by law. The provider of a chat platform can also find out when you chat and also receives technical information about the device you are using. Exactly which information is stored and processed also depends on your PC settings. In many cases, data about your approximate location can be collected. This is done on the one hand to optimize the chat services and on the other hand to ensure greater security. Furthermore, the information can also be used to implement personalized advertising and marketing measures. If you have agreed that a chatbot can send you a message, you can of course deactivate this activation at any time. The chatbot also serves as an aid here and shows you how to unsubscribe from this function. All of your relevant data will then be deleted from the recipient directory. We use the above data to be able to address you personally via chat, to answer your questions and inquiries or to send you possible content. We can also use it to generally improve our chat services.

HOW LONG IS DATA STORED?

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

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

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

LEGAL BASIS

We ask for your permission via a pop-up window to process your data as part of the chat services. If you consent, this consent also counts as the legal basis (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) for data processing. We also process your inquiries and manage your data within the framework of contractual or pre-contractual relationships in order to fulfill our pre-contractual and contractual obligations or to answer inquiries. The basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 Clause 1 Letter b. GDPR. In principle, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 Letter f GDPR) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.

SOCIAL MEDIA INTRODUCTION

Social Media Data Protection Declaration Summary 👥 Affected parties: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimization of our services, contact with visitors, interested parties, etc., advertising 📓 Data processed: Data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, contact details, data on user behavior, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details about this in the social media tool used. 📅 Storage period: depends on the social media platforms used ⚖️ Legal basis: 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. User data can be processed so that we can specifically address users who are interested in us via social networks. In addition, elements of a social media platform can also be embedded directly in our website. This is the case, for example, if you click on a so-called social button on our website and are redirected directly to our social media presence. So-called social media or social media refers to websites and apps through which registered members can produce content, exchange content openly or in certain groups and network with other members.

WHY DO WE USE SOCIAL MEDIA?

For years, social media platforms have been the place where people communicate and get in touch online. With our social media presence, we can bring our products and services closer to interested parties. The social media elements integrated into our website help you to switch to our social media content quickly and without complications. The data that is stored and processed through your use of a social media channel is primarily intended to be able to carry out web analyses. The aim of these analyses is to be able to develop more precise and personalized marketing and advertising strategies. Depending on your behavior on a social media platform, the evaluated data can be used to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests and create so-called user profiles. This also enables the platforms to present you with customized advertisements. Cookies are usually set in your browser for this purpose, which store data on your usage behavior. We generally assume that we remain responsible under data protection law, even if we use the services of a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that in certain cases the operator of the social media platform may be jointly responsible with us within the meaning of Art. 26 GDPR. If this is the case, we will point this out separately and work on the basis of an agreement to this effect. The essence of the agreement is then reproduced below for the platform in question. Please note that when using the social media platforms or our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, as many social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, are American companies. This may mean that you can no longer easily demand or enforce your rights with regard to your personal data.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective provider of the social media platform. But usually it is data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, data that you enter in a contact form, user data such as which buttons you click, who you like or follow, when you visited which pages, information about your device and your IP address. Most of this data is stored in cookies. Especially if you have a profile on the social media channel you visit and are logged in, data can be linked to your profile. All data collected via a social media platform is also stored on the providers’ servers. This means that only the providers have access to the data and can give you the appropriate information or make changes. If you want to know exactly which data is stored and processed by the social media providers and how you can object to data processing, you should read the respective company’s data protection declaration carefully. If you have any questions about data storage and data processing or want to assert corresponding rights, we recommend that you contact the provider directly.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

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

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You also have 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 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, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. Since cookies can be used with social media tools, we also recommend that you read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the data protection declarations of the respective tools.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, 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 fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text about cookies carefully and view the data protection declaration or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider. Information about specific social media platforms – if available – can be found in the following sections.

FACEBOOK PRIVACY POLICY

Facebook privacy policy summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimizing our service Data processed: Data such as customer data, data on user behavior, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details about this further down in the privacy policy. Storage period: until the data is no longer useful for Facebook’s purposes Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT ARE FACEBOOK TOOLS?

We use selected tools from Facebook on our website. Facebook is a social media network of the company Meta Platforms Inc. or, for the European region, of the company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. With the help of these tools, we can offer you and people who are interested in our products and services the best possible offer. If data is collected and forwarded from you via our embedded Facebook elements or via our Facebook page (fan page), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. are responsible for this. Facebook is solely responsible for the further processing of this data. Our joint obligations have also been anchored in a publicly accessible agreement at  https://www.facebook.com/legal/controller_addendum  . It states, for example, that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our site. We are also responsible for ensuring that the tools are securely integrated into our website in accordance with data protection law. Facebook, on the other hand, is responsible, for example, for the data security of Facebook products. If you have any questions about data collection and processing by Facebook, you can contact the company directly. If you address the question to us, we are obliged to forward it to Facebook. Below we provide an overview of the various Facebook tools, which data is sent to Facebook and how you can delete this data. In addition to many other products, Facebook also offers the so-called “Facebook Business Tools”. This is the official name of Facebook. However, since the term is hardly known, we have decided to simply call them Facebook tools. These include:

• Facebook pixel
• social plug-ins (such as the “Like” or “Share” button)
• Facebook Login
• Account Kit
• APIs (application programming interfaces)
• SDKs (collection of programming tools)
• platform integrations
• plugins
• codes
• specifications
• documentation
• technologies and services

Through these tools, Facebook expands its services and has the ability to obtain information about user activities outside of Facebook.

WHY DO WE USE FACEBOOK TOOLS ON OUR WEBSITE?

We only want to show our services and products to people who are really interested in them. With the help of advertisements (Facebook ads), we can reach exactly these people. In order to show users suitable advertising, however, Facebook needs information about people’s wishes and needs. The company is provided with information about user behavior (and contact details) on our website. This allows Facebook to collect better user data and show interested people the right advertisements about our products or services. The tools thus enable customized advertising campaigns on Facebook. Facebook calls data about your behavior on our website “event data”. This is also used for measurement and analysis services. Facebook can thus create “campaign reports” on our behalf about the impact of our advertising campaigns. Furthermore, analyses give us a better insight into how you use our services, website or products. In this way, we use some of these tools to optimize your user experience on our website. For example, you can use the social plug-ins to share content on our page directly on Facebook.

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY FACEBOOK TOOLS?

By using individual Facebook tools, personal data (customer data) can be sent to Facebook. Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number and IP address can be sent. Facebook uses this information to compare the data with the data it has about you (if you are a Facebook member). Before customer data is sent to Facebook, a process known as “hashing” takes place. This means that a data set of any size is transformed into a character string. This also serves to encrypt data. In addition to contact data, “event data” is also transmitted. “Event data” refers to the information that we receive about you on our website. For example, which subpages you visit or which products you buy from us. Facebook does not share the information it receives with third parties (such as advertisers) unless the company has explicit permission or is legally obliged to do so. “Event data” can also be linked to contact data. This enables Facebook to offer better personalized advertising. After the comparison process mentioned above, Facebook deletes the contact data again. In order to be able to deliver advertisements in an optimized manner, Facebook only uses the event data if it has been combined with other data (that was collected by Facebook in another way). Facebook also uses this event data for security, protection, development and research purposes. Much of this data is transferred to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are small text files that are used to store data or information in browsers. Depending on the tools used and whether you are a Facebook member, different numbers of cookies will be created in your browser. In the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools, we go into more detail about individual Facebook cookies. You can also find general information about the use of Facebook cookies at  https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies .

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

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

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to information, correction, portability and deletion of your data. The data will only be completely deleted if you delete your Facebook account completely. This is how you delete your Facebook account: 1) On the right-hand side of Facebook, click on Settings. 2) Then click on “Your Facebook information” in the left-hand column. 3) Now click “Deactivation and deletion”. 4) Now select “Delete account” and then click on “Continue and delete account” 5) Now enter your password, click on “Continue” and then on “Delete account” The data that Facebook receives via our site is stored using cookies (e.g. for social plugins). You can deactivate, delete or manage individual or all cookies in your browser. This works in different ways depending on which browser you use. Under the “Cookies” section you will find the relevant links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers. If you do not want cookies at all, you can set your browser to always inform you when a cookie is about to be placed. This way you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)  in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text about cookies carefully and view Facebook’s privacy policy or cookie guidelines. Facebook also processes your data in the USA, among other places. Facebook and Meta Platforms are active participants in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . In addition, Facebook uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Facebook data processing conditions, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing . We hope we have provided you with the most important information about the use and data processing by the Facebook tools. If you want to learn more about how Facebook uses your data, we recommend that you read the data guidelines at  https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/ .

FACEBOOK LOGIN PRIVACY POLICY

We have integrated the practical Facebook login on our website. This means you can easily log in with your Facebook account without having to create another user account. If you decide to register using the Facebook login, you will be redirected to the social media network Facebook. There you will log in using your Facebook user data. This login process stores data about you and your user behavior and sends it to Facebook. Facebook uses various cookies to store the data. Below we show you the most important cookies that are set in your browser or that already exist when you log in to our website using the Facebook login: Name:  fr Value:  0jieyh4c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j Purpose:  This cookie is used so that the social plugin on our website works as best as possible. Expiry date:  after 3 months Name:  datr Value:  4Jh7XUA2312681648SEmPsSfzCOO4JFFl Purpose:  Facebook sets the “datr” cookie when a web browser accesses facebook.com, and the cookie helps identify login activities and protect users. Expiry date:  after 2 years Name:  _js_datr Value:  deleted Purpose:  Facebook sets this session cookie for tracking purposes, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are logged out. Expiry date:  after end of session Note:  The cookies listed are only a small selection of the cookies available to Facebook. Other cookies include _ fbp, sb and wd. A complete list is not possible because Facebook has a large number of cookies and uses them variably. On the one hand, the Facebook login offers you a quick and easy registration process, and on the other hand it gives us the opportunity to share data with Facebook. This enables us to better tailor our offerings and promotions to your interests and needs. Data that we receive from Facebook in this way is public data such as

• your Facebook name
• your profile picture
• a stored email address
• friends lists
• button information (e.g. “Like” button)
• birthday
• Language
• Place of residence

In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activities on our website. This includes information about the device you use, which subpages you visit on our website, or which products you have purchased from us. By using Facebook Login, you consent to data processing. You can revoke this agreement at any time. If you would like to find out more information about data processing by Facebook, we recommend that you read the Facebook privacy policy at  https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/ . If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your ad settings yourself at  https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/advertisers/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen  .

FACEBOOK SOCIAL PLUG-INS PRIVACY POLICY

Our website contains so-called social plug-ins from the company Meta Platforms Inc. You can recognise these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, such as the “Like” button (the hand with the thumb raised) or by a clear “Facebook plug-in” label. A social plug-in is a small part of Facebook that is integrated into our site. Each plug-in has its own function. The most commonly used functions are the well-known “Like” and “Share” buttons. The following social plug-ins are offered by Facebook:

• “Save” button
• Like, Share, Send and Quote
• page plug-in
• comments
• Messenger plug-in
• Embedded posts and video players
• group plug-in

You can find more information about how the individual plug-ins are used at  https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins  . We use the social plug-ins on the one hand to offer you a better user experience on our site, and on the other hand because they enable Facebook to optimize our advertisements. If you have a Facebook account or  have already visited https://www.facebook.com/  , Facebook has already set at least one cookie in your browser. In this case, your browser sends information to Facebook via this cookie as soon as you visit our site or interact with social plug-ins (e.g. the “Like” button). The information received is deleted or anonymized within 90 days. According to Facebook, this data includes your IP address, which website you visited, the date, time and other information relating to your browser. To prevent Facebook from collecting a lot of data during your visit to our website and linking it to Facebook data, you must log out of Facebook while visiting the website. If you are not logged in to Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser will send less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. However, data such as your IP address or which website you visit can still be transferred to Facebook. We would like to expressly point out that we do not know the exact content of the data. However, we will try to inform you as best as possible about data processing based on our current level of knowledge. You can also read how Facebook uses the data in the company’s data guidelines at  https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update  . The following cookies will be set in your browser at a minimum when you visit a website with social plug-ins from Facebook: Name:  dpr Value:  not specified Purpose:  This cookie is used so that the social plug-ins on our website work. Expiry date:  after end of session Name:  fr Value:  0jieyh4312681648c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j Purpose:  The cookie is also necessary for the plug-ins to work properly. Expiry date:  after 3 months Note:  These cookies were set after a test, even if you are not a Facebook member. If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your ad settings yourself at  https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/advertisers/  . If you are not a Facebook user, you can go to https://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/?tid=312681648 basically manage your usage-based online advertising. There you have the option to deactivate or activate providers. If you want to find out more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend that you read the company’s own data guidelines at  https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/ .

FACEBOOK FANPAGE PRIVACY POLICY

We also have a Facebook fan page for our website. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. The company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible for the European area. Facebook processes your data in the USA, among other places. Facebook or 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. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Facebook also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Facebook data processing conditions, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Facebook in the Privacy Policy at  https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy .

INSTAGRAM PRIVACY POLICY

Instagram privacy policy summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of our service Data processed: Data such as data on user behavior, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details about this further down in the privacy policy. 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 Instagram functions on our website. Instagram is a social media platform of the company Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA. Instagram has been a subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc. since 2012 and is one of the Facebook products. Embedding Instagram content on our website is called embedding. This allows us to show you content such as buttons, photos or videos from Instagram directly on our website. When you visit websites on our website that have an integrated Instagram function, data is transmitted to, stored and processed by Instagram. Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook. Your data is therefore processed across all Facebook companies. Below we want to give you a more detailed insight into why Instagram collects data, what data it is and how you can largely control data processing. Since Instagram belongs to Meta Platforms Inc., we get our information from the Instagram guidelines on the one hand, but also from the Meta privacy policy itself on the other. Instagram is one of the best known social media networks in the world. Instagram combines the advantages of a blog with the advantages of audiovisual platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. You can upload photos and short videos to “Insta” (as many users casually call the platform), edit them with various filters and also share them on other social networks. And if you don’t want to be active yourself, you can just follow other interesting users.

WHY DO WE USE INSTAGRAM ON OUR WEBSITE?

Instagram is the social media platform that has really taken off in recent years. And of course we have responded to this boom too. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website. That’s why we make it a matter of course to present our content in a varied manner. The embedded Instagram functions allow us to enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting content from the Instagram world. Since Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook, the data collected can also be used for personalized advertising on Facebook. This means that our advertisements are only shown to people who are really interested in our products or services. Instagram also uses the data collected for measurement and analysis purposes. We get summarized statistics and thus more insight into your wishes and interests. It is important to mention that these reports do not identify you personally.

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY INSTAGRAM?

If you come across one of our pages that has Instagram functions (such as Instagram images or plug-ins) built in, your browser automatically connects to Instagram’s servers. Data is sent to Instagram, stored and processed, regardless of whether you have an Instagram account or not. This includes information about our website, your computer, purchases made, advertisements you see and how you use our services. The date and time of your interaction with Instagram are also stored. If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram stores significantly more data about you. Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data. We assume that this is also the case with Instagram. Customer data includes name, address, telephone number and IP address. This customer data will only be transmitted to Instagram if it has been “hashed” beforehand. Hashing means that a data set is converted into a character string. This allows the contact details to be encrypted. The “event data” mentioned above is also transmitted. Facebook – and consequently Instagram – understands “event data” to mean data about your user behavior. It can also happen that contact data is combined with event data. The contact data collected is compared with the data that Instagram already has about you. The collected data is transmitted to Facebook via small text files (cookies), which are usually set in your browser. Depending on the Instagram functions used and whether you have an Instagram account yourself, different amounts of data are stored. We assume that data processing on Instagram works in the same way as on Facebook. This means: if you have an Instagram account or  have visited www.instagram.com  , Instagram has at least set one cookie. If this is the case, your browser sends information to Instagram via the cookie as soon as you come into contact with an Instagram function. This data is deleted or anonymized after 90 days at the latest (after comparison). Although we have looked intensively at Instagram’s data processing, we cannot say exactly which data Instagram collects and stores. Below we show you cookies that are set in your browser at least when you click on an Instagram function (such as a button or an Insta image). In our test, we assume that you do not have an Instagram account. If you are logged in to Instagram, significantly more cookies will of course be set in your browser. These cookies were used in our test: Name:  csrftoken Value:  “” Purpose: This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent requests from being forged. However, we were unable to find out more precisely. Expiry date:  after one year Name:  mid Value:  “” Purpose:  Instagram sets this cookie to optimize its own services and offers on and off Instagram. The cookie sets a unique user ID. Expiry date:  after the end of the session Name:  fbsr_312681648124024 Value:  no information Purpose:  This cookie stores the log-in request for users of the Instagram app.  Expiry date:  after the end of the session Name:  rur Value:  ATN Purpose:  This is an Instagram cookie that ensures functionality on Instagram. Expiry date:  after the end of the session Name:  urlgen Value:  “{”194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe312681648” Purpose:  This cookie is used for Instagram’s marketing purposes. Expiry date:  after the end of the session Note:  We cannot claim to be complete here. Which cookies are set in an individual case depends on the embedded functions and your use of Instagram.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

Instagram shares the information it receives between the Facebook companies, with external partners, and with people you connect with around the world. Data processing is carried out in compliance with its own data policy. Your data is distributed across Facebook servers around the world, partly for security reasons. Most of these servers are located in the USA.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to information, portability, rectification and deletion of your data. You can manage your data in the Instagram settings. If you want to completely delete your data on Instagram, you must permanently delete your Instagram account. Here’s how to delete your Instagram account: First, open the Instagram app. On your profile page, go down and click on “Help section”. This will take you to the company’s website. On the website, click on “Manage your account” and then on “Delete your account”. If you delete your account completely, Instagram will delete posts such as your photos and status updates. Information that other people have shared about you does not belong to your account and will therefore not be deleted. As already mentioned above, Instagram primarily stores your data via cookies. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, the management always works a little differently. Under the “Cookies” section you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers. You can also set up your browser so that you are always informed when a cookie is to be placed. You can then always decide individually whether you want to accept the cookie or not.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)  in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider. Instagram also processes your data in the USA, among other places. Instagram and Meta Platforms are active participants in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . In addition, Instagram uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Instagram undertakes to comply with 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://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Instagram.   You can find out more about Instagram’s data policy at https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy/ .

PINTEREST PRIVACY POLICY

Pinterest privacy policy summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of our service Data processed: Data such as data on user behavior, information about your device, your IP address and search terms. You can find more details in the privacy policy below. Storage period: until Pinterest 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 PINTEREST?

We use buttons and widgets from the social media network Pinterest, Pinterest Inc., 808 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA, on our website. For the European region, the Irish company Pinterest Europe Ltd. (Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible for all data protection-related aspects. Pinterest is a social network that specializes in graphic representations and photographs. The name is made up of the two words “pin” and “interest”. Users can exchange information about various hobbies and interests on Pinterest and view the respective profiles with pictures openly or in defined groups.

WHY DO WE USE PINTEREST?

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

WHAT DATA DOES PINTEREST PROCESS?

So-called log data may be stored. This includes information about your browser, IP address, the address of our website and the activities carried out on it (for example, when you click the save or pin button), search history, date and time of the request and cookie and device data. If you interact with an embedded Pinterest function, cookies that store various data may also be set in your browser. The above-mentioned log data, preset language settings and clickstream data are usually stored in cookies. Pinterest defines clickstream data as information about your website behavior. If you have a Pinterest account yourself and are logged in, the data collected via our site can be added to your account and used for advertising purposes. If you interact with our integrated Pinterest functions, you will usually be redirected to the Pinterest page. Here you can see an example selection of cookies that are then set in your browser. Name:  _auth Value:  0 Purpose:  The cookie is used for authentication. For example, a value such as your “user name” can be stored in it.   Expiry date:  after one year Name:  _pinterest_referrer Value:  1 Purpose:  The cookie stores that you came to Pinterest via our website. The URL of our website is therefore stored. Expiry date:  after end of session Name:  _pinterest_sess Value:  …9HRHZvVE0rQlUxdG89 Purpose:  The cookie is used to log in to Pinterest and contains user IDs, authentication tokens and timestamps.  Expiry date:  after one year Name:  _routing_id Value:  “8d850ddd-4fb8-499c-961c-77efae9d4065312681648-8” Purpose:  The cookie contains an assigned value that is used to identify a specific routing target.  Expiry date:  after one day Name:  cm_sub Value:  denied Purpose:  This cookie stores a user ID and the timestamp.  Expiry date:  after one year Name:  csrftoken Value:  9e49145c82a93d34fd933b0fd8446165312681648-1 Purpose:  This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent forged requests. However, we were unable to find out more about this.  Expiry date:  after one year Name:  sessionFunnelEventLogged Value:  1 Purpose:  We have not yet been able to find out any further information about this cookie.  Expiry date:  after one day

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

Pinterest generally stores the data collected until it is no longer needed for the company’s purposes. As soon as data retention is no longer necessary, for example to comply with legal requirements, the data is either deleted or anonymized so that you can no longer be identified as a person. The data can also be stored on American servers.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers such as Pinterest at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. Since cookies can be used for embedded Pinterest elements, we also recommend that 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

If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored through integrated social media elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)  in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tool if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider. Pinterest also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. Pinterest uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Pinterest undertakes to comply with 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, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de. You can find more information about Pinterest’s standard contractual clauses at  https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy#section-residents-of-the-eea . We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Pinterest.   You can find out more about Pinterest’s data guidelines at https://policy.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy .

SNAPCHAT PRIVACY POLICY

Snapchat privacy policy summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimizing our service Data processed: Data such as data on user behavior, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details about this further down in the privacy policy. Storage period: depends on the type of data Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS SNAPCHAT?

We also use integrations of the messaging and social media service Snapchat on our website. The service provider is the American company Snap Inc., 2772 Donald Douglas Loop N, Santa Monica (HQ), CA, USA. Snapchat allows users to create so-called “snaps”, i.e. short images or videos, and share them with friends or followers. Snapchat is a popular communication tool, especially among younger people. Unlike other social media tools, these “snaps” are deleted after a limited time. Depending on the user’s preferences, this time can be set between a few seconds and up to 24 hours. Snapchat also offers functions such as group chats, video calls and a Discover area for media companies.

WHY DO WE USE SNAPCHAT ON OUR WEBSITE?

We have provided Snapchat features on our website so that we can also point out Snapchat content and you also have the option to follow us on Snapchat. This allows us to stay in touch with you beyond our website presence. By integrating Snapchat content, we also offer all of our visitors who are not on Snapchat the opportunity to gain an insight into the Snapchat world. We therefore see the integration as part of our overall offering on our website.

WHAT DATA IS PROCESSED BY SNAPCHAT?

When you view or interact with Snapchat content through our website, Snapchat may collect information about your usage behavior and your device. This may include data such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, location, language settings and other technical information. Snapchat may also use cookies and similar technologies to collect information and personalize your user experience. If you have or create a Snapchat account yourself, additional information may be collected and processed. In this case, you voluntarily disclose data such as your name, username, email address, phone number and date of birth. If you purchase something within the app, you must also provide payment information. All of this information will be processed by Snapchat if you provide it. If you actively use the service with your account, all information sent via Snapchat will also be processed. This information includes chats, conversations, images and videos.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

Snapchat stores different data for different lengths of time and Snapchat servers are distributed in different regions around the world. This means that your data can also be processed in the USA, for example. As already mentioned above, the storage period of the “snaps” can be partially selected in the settings. Most messages sent in the tool are automatically deleted from the servers as soon as they have been received or have expired. However, there is also data that is stored for significantly longer. This includes account information such as name, mobile number or email address. The storage period of location data depends on how accurate it is and which of the Snapchat services is used. At  https://help.snapchat.com/hc/de/articles/7012334940948  you will find a very good overview of the storage period of various Snapchat data.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

If you have a Snapchat account, you can manage your privacy settings directly on Snapchat and determine how long various content is stored for. For example, you can specify in the settings of your Snapchat account whether “snaps” are deleted after a few seconds or only after 24 hours. You can also ask Snapchat officials directly to delete your personal data. However, the privacy policy on Snapchat points out that although most data is deleted, for legal reasons it may happen that data deletion has to be suspended or some data may continue to be stored. In addition, you can manage and deactivate cookies that Snapchat may set in your web browser to limit data collection. This is also possible without a Snapchat account. Please note, however, that this may affect the functionality of our website.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by Snapchat, this consent is the legal basis for data processing  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)  in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated Snapchat elements if you have given your consent. Snapchat can also set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider. Snap also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. Snap uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Snap undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de More information about Snap’s standard contractual clauses can be found at  https://snap.com/en-US/terms/standard-contractual-clauses . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Snapchat in the Privacy Policy at  https://snap.com/de-DE/privacy/privacy-policy .

TIKTOK PRIVACY POLICY

TikTok privacy policy summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of our service Data processed: Your IP address, browser data, date and time of your page visit can be stored You can find more details about this further down in the privacy policy. Storage period: varies depending on settings Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS TIKTOK?

We use the TikTok integration on our website. The service provider is the Chinese company Beijing Bytedance Technology Ltd. The Irish company TikTok Technology Limited, 10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, D02 T380, Ireland, is responsible for Europe. TikTok is a popular social media platform, especially among young people, where users can create, share and watch short video clips. In this privacy policy, we inform you about which data is processed by TikTok, how long the data is stored and how you can manage your data protection settings.

WHY DO WE USE TIKTOK ON OUR WEBSITE?

We have integrated TikTok into our website so that you can watch TikTok videos whenever you want and interact with the videos if you want. TikTok is particularly known for funny and creative content and of course we don’t want to withhold such content from you. After all, we also like to watch the odd creative TikTok video ourselves.

WHAT DATA IS PROCESSED BY TIKTOK?

When you watch or interact with TikTok videos on our website, TikTok may collect information about your usage behavior and your device. This may include data such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, location and other technical information. TikTok may also use cookies and similar technologies to collect information and personalize your user experience. If you have a TikTok account yourself, additional information may also be collected and processed. This includes user information (such as name, date of birth or your email address) and data about your communication with other TikTok users.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

The storage period and storage locations of the data collected by TikTok can vary greatly and are subject to TikTok’s privacy policy. TikTok can also store data on servers in the US and other countries. The storage period is generally based on the respective legal requirements and internal guidelines. However, we have not yet been able to find out exactly how long data is stored. As soon as we have more information, we will of course inform you.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

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

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by TikTok, this consent is the legal basis for data processing  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)  in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. TikTok can also set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text on cookies carefully and view the data protection declaration or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider. TikTok also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. TikTok uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, TikTok undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among others:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de For more information about TikTok’s privacy policy and how TikTok collects data, please visit the TikTok website at  https://www.tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/privacy-policy/en  and see the general information about TikTok at  https://www.tiktok.com/en/ .

X (FORMERLY: TWITTER) PRIVACY POLICY

X (formerly: Twitter) Data protection declaration Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of our service Data processed: Data such as data on user behavior, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details about this further down in the data protection declaration. Storage period: X deletes data collected from other websites after 30 days at the latest Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS X?

We have integrated functions from X into our website. These include, for example, embedded tweets, timelines, buttons or hashtags. X is a short message service and a social media platform of the American company X Corp., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900 San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. For the European region, the company Twitter International Unlimited Company (One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland) is responsible for processing personal data. To the best of our knowledge, in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, simply integrating X functions does not result in any personal data or data about your web activities being transferred to X. Only when you interact with the X functions, such as clicking on a button, can data be sent to X, stored there and processed. We have no influence on this data processing and bear no responsibility for it. In this data protection declaration, we want to give you an overview of which data X stores, what X does with this data and how you can protect yourself as far as possible from data transfer. For some, X is a messaging service, for others a social media platform and still others speak of a microblogging service. All of these terms are justified and mean more or less the same thing. Both private individuals and companies use X to communicate with interested parties via short messages. X only allows 280 characters per message. These messages are called “tweets”. Unlike Facebook, for example, the service does not focus on developing a network for “friends”, but wants to be seen as a global and open messaging platform. With X, you can also have an anonymous account and tweets can be deleted by the company or by the users themselves.

WHY DO WE USE X ON OUR WEBSITE?

Like many other websites and companies, we try to offer our services and communicate with our customers via various channels. We have grown particularly fond of X (probably better known to many as Twitter) as a useful “little” news service. We tweet or retweet exciting, funny or interesting content time and time again. We know that you cannot follow each channel separately. After all, you have other things to do. That is why we have integrated X functions on our website. You can experience our X activity “on site” or go to our X page via a direct link. By integrating it, we want to strengthen our service and the user-friendliness of our website.

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY X?

You will find the built-in X functions on some of our subpages. If you interact with the X content, such as clicking on a button, X can collect and save data. This happens even if you do not have an X account yourself. X calls this data “log data”. This includes demographic data, browser cookie IDs, the ID of your smartphone, hashed email addresses, and information about which pages you have visited on X and which actions you have performed. X naturally saves more data if you have an X account and are logged in. Until now, this storage was 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 set when you are not logged in to X but visit a website with built-in X functions. Please consider this list as an example. We cannot guarantee that this is complete, as the choice of cookies is constantly changing and depends on your individual actions with the X content. These cookies were used in our test: Name:  personalization_id Value:  “v1_cSJIsogU51SeE312681648” Purpose:  This cookie stores information about how you use the website and which advertising you may have come to X through. Expiry date:  after 2 years Name:  lang Value:  de Purpose:  This cookie stores your preset or preferred language. Expiry date:  after end of session Name:  guest_id Value:  312681648v1%3A157132626 Purpose:  This cookie is set to identify you as a guest. Expiry date:  after 2 years Name:  fm Value:  0 Purpose:  Unfortunately, we were unable to find out the intended use of this cookie. Expiry date:  after end of session Name:  external_referer Value:  3126816482beTA0sf5lkMrlGt 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 various advertising purposes by X.  Expiry date:  After one year Name:  ct0 Value:  c1179f07163a365d2ed7aad84c99d966   Purpose:  Unfortunately, we have not found any information about this cookie. Expiry date:  after 6 hours Name:  _twitter_sess Value:  53D%253D–dd0248312681648- Purpose:  This cookie enables you to use functions within the X website. Expiry date:  after the end of the session Note:  X also works with third parties. That is why we also recognized the three Google Analytics cookies _ga, _gat, _gid in our test. X uses the collected data on the one hand to better understand user behavior and thus improve its own services and advertising offers, and on the other hand the data is also used for internal security measures.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

If X collects data from other websites, it is deleted, summarized or otherwise concealed after a maximum of 30 days. The X servers are located in various server centers in the United States. It can therefore be assumed that the data collected is collected and stored in America. After our research, we were unable to clearly determine whether X also has its own servers in Europe. In principle, X can store the data collected until it is no longer of use to the company, you delete the data or there is a statutory deletion period.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

In its privacy policy, X repeatedly emphasizes that it does not store any data from external website visits if you or your browser are located in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. However, if you interact directly with X, X will of course also store data from you. If you have an 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 an X account, you can go to  twitter.com  and then click on “Individualization”. Under the “Individualization and data” item, you can manage your collected data. As already mentioned above, most data is stored via cookies and you can manage, deactivate or delete them in your browser. Please note that you can only “edit” the cookies in the browser you have chosen. This means that if you use a different browser in the future, you will have to manage your cookies there again according to your wishes. Under the “Cookies” section you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers. You can also manage your browser so that you are informed about each individual cookie. Then you can always decide individually whether to accept a cookie or not. X also uses the data for personalized advertising inside and outside of X. In the settings under “Personalization and data” you can switch off personalized advertising. If you use X on a browser, you can deactivate personalized advertising at  https://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2&lang=EN  .

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR)  in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text on cookies carefully and view the data protection declaration or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider. X also processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. X uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, X undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de More information on the standard contractual clauses at X can be found at  https://gdpr.twitter.com/en/controller-to-controller-transfers.html . We hope we have given you a basic overview of data processing by X. 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 that you read the X privacy policy at  https://twitter.com/de/privacy .

BLOGS AND PUBLICATION MEDIA INTRODUCTION

Blogs and publication media Data protection declaration Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Presentation and optimization of our service as well as communication between website visitors, security measures and administration Data processed: Data such as contact details, IP address and published content. You can find more details in the tools used. Storage period: depends on the tools used Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 Para. 1 S. 1 lit. b. GDPR (contract)

WHAT ARE BLOGS AND PUBLICATION MEDIA?

We use blogs or other means of communication on our website with which we can communicate with you and you can communicate with us. We may also store and process your data. This may be necessary so that we can display content appropriately, communication works and security is increased. In our privacy policy we generally explain which of your data can be processed. Exact details on data processing always depend on the tools and functions used. You can find precise information about data processing in the privacy policy of the individual providers.

WHY DO WE USE BLOGS AND PUBLICATION MEDIA?

Our main concern with our website is to offer you interesting and exciting content, and at the same time, your opinions and content are important to us. That is why we want to create a good interactive exchange between us and you. With various blogs and publication options, we can achieve exactly that. For example, you can write comments on our content, comment on other comments or, in some cases, even write contributions yourself.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

Exactly which data is processed always depends on the communication functions we use. Very often, IP addresses, user names and published content are stored. This is done primarily to ensure security, prevent spam and to be able to take action against illegal content. Cookies can also be used to store data. These are small text files that are stored in your browser with information. You can find more information about the data collected and stored in our individual sections and in the data protection declaration of the respective provider.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

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

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

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 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, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. Since cookies can also be used in publication media, we also recommend that 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 the means of communication primarily 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. Insofar as the use serves the processing of contractual relationships or their initiation, the legal basis is also Art. 6 Para. 1 S. 1 lit. b. GDPR. Certain processing, in particular the use of cookies and the use of comment or message functions, require your consent. If and to the extent that you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by integrated publication media, this consent is deemed to be the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Most of the communication functions we use set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text about cookies carefully and view the data protection declaration or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider. Information about special tools can be found – if available – in the following sections.

ONLINE MARKETING INTRODUCTION

Online Marketing Data Protection Statement Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offering. Data processed: Access statistics that contain data such as access locations, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address can also be processed. You can find more details about this in the online marketing tool used. Storage period: depends 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 closing a deal. Our online marketing measures also aim to draw people’s attention to our website. We therefore carry out online marketing in order to be able to show our offer to many interested people. This usually involves online advertising, content marketing or search engine optimization. Personal data is also stored and processed so that we can use online marketing efficiently and in a targeted manner. On the one hand, the data helps us to only show our content to those people who are actually interested in it, and on the other hand, we can measure the advertising success of our online marketing measures.

WHY DO WE USE ONLINE MARKETING TOOLS?

We want to show our website to everyone who is interested in what we have to offer. We are aware that this is not possible without taking conscious measures. That is why we do online marketing. There are various tools that make our work on our online marketing measures easier and also provide suggestions for improvement based on data. This allows us to target our campaigns more precisely at our target group. The purpose of these online marketing tools is ultimately to optimize our offer.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

To ensure that our online marketing works and the success of the measures can be measured, user profiles are created and data is stored, for example, in cookies (these are small text files). With the help of this data, we can not only place advertisements in the traditional sense, but also display our content directly on our website in the way you like best. There are various third-party tools that offer these functions and collect and store data from you accordingly. The cookies named store, for example, which web pages you visited on our website, how long you viewed these pages, which links or buttons you clicked, or which website you came to us from. Technical information can also be stored. For example, your IP address, which browser you use, which device you use to visit our website, or the time when you accessed our website and when you left it again. If you have consented that we may also determine your location, we can also store and process this. Your IP address is stored in pseudonymized form (i.e. shortened). Unique data that directly identifies you as a person, such as name, address or email address, are only stored in pseudonymized form as part of the advertising and online marketing processes. We cannot identify you as a person, but we only have the pseudonymized, stored information stored in the user profiles. The cookies can also be used, analyzed and used for advertising purposes on other websites that work with the same advertising tools. The data can then also be stored on the servers of the advertising tool providers. In exceptional cases, unique data (name, email address, etc.) can also be stored in the user profiles. This storage occurs, for example, if you are a member of a social media channel that we use for our online marketing measures and the network links previously received data with the user profile. For all advertising tools we use that store data from you on their servers, we only ever receive summarized information and never data that identifies you as an individual. The data only shows how well the advertising measures worked. For example, we can see which actions led you or other users to come to our website and purchase a service or product there. Based on these analyses, we can improve our advertising offer in the future and adapt it even more precisely to the needs and wishes of interested parties.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, if we have further information about it. In general, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. Data stored in cookies is stored for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, others can be stored in your browser for several years. In the respective data protection declarations of the individual providers, you will usually find precise information about the individual cookies that the provider uses.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. The legality of the processing until revocation remains unaffected. Since cookies can usually be used with online marketing tools, we also recommend our general data protection declaration on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the data protection declarations of the respective tools.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented to the use of third-party providers, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to  Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a of GDPR (Consent), this consent  represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected using online marketing tools. We also have a legitimate interest in measuring online marketing measures in an anonymized form in order to optimize our offer and our measures using the data obtained. The corresponding legal basis for this is  Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f of GDPR (Legitimate Interests) . However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Information on specific online marketing tools can be found in the following sections – if available.

FACEBOOK CUSTOM AUDIENCES PRIVACY POLICY

We use Facebook Custom Audiences, a server-side event tracking tool, on our website. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. The company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible for the European area. Facebook processes your data in the USA, among other places. Facebook or 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. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Facebook also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Facebook data processing conditions, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Facebook Custom Audiences in the Privacy Policy at  https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy  . 

GOOGLE ADMOB PRIVACY POLICY

We use Google AdMob, a tool for mobile advertising, on our website. The service provider is the American company Google Inc. In Europe, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google processes your data in the USA, among other places. 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. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Google also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The data processing conditions for Google advertising products (Google Ads Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms), which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/ . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Google AdMob in the Privacy Policy at  https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de .

GOOGLE MARKETING PLATFORM (FORMERLY: DOUBLECLICK) PRIVACY POLICY

We use Google Marketing Platform products on our website. These include various marketing tools such as Data Studio, Surveys, Campaign Manager 360, Display & Video 360 or Search Ads 360. The service provider is the American company Google Inc. For the European region, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google processes your data in the USA, among other places. 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. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Google also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/ . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Google Marketing Platform products in the Privacy Policy at  https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de .

PARTNER PROGRAMS INTRODUCTION

Partner programs data protection declaration summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: economic success and the optimization of our service. Data processed: Access statistics that contain data such as locations of access, device data, duration and time of access, navigation behavior, click behavior and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address can also be processed. Storage period: personal data is usually stored by partner programs until it is no longer required Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT ARE AFFILIATE PROGRAMS?

We use partner programs from different providers on our website. By using a partner program, your data can be transferred to the respective partner program provider, stored and processed. In this privacy policy text, we give you a general overview of data processing by partner programs and show you how you can prevent or revoke data transfer. Every partner program (also called an affiliate program) is based on the principle of commission. A link or an advertisement with a link is placed on our website and if you are interested in it and click on it and purchase a product or service in this way, we receive a commission (advertising cost reimbursement).

WHY DO WE USE AFFILIATE PROGRAMS ON OUR WEBSITE?

Our goal is to provide you with a pleasant time with lots of helpful content. To achieve this, we put a lot of work and time into developing our website. With the help of partner programs, we have the opportunity to be paid a little for our work. Of course, every partner link always has something to do with our topic and shows offers that might interest you.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

In order to be able to determine whether you have clicked on a link we have used, the affiliate program provider must know that it was you who followed the link via our website. The affiliate program links used must therefore be correctly assigned to the following actions (business transaction, purchase, conversion, impression, etc.). Only then can the commissions be billed. In order for this assignment to work, a value can be appended to a link (in the URL) or information can be stored in cookies. This stores information such as which page you came from (referrer), when you clicked on the link, an identifier of our website, what the offer is and a user identifier. This means that as soon as you interact with products and services of an affiliate program, this provider also collects data from you. Exactly which data is stored depends on the individual provider. For example, the Amazon affiliate program distinguishes between active and automatic information. Active information includes name, email address, telephone number, age, payment information or location information. In this case, the automatically stored information includes user behavior, IP address, device information and the URL.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, if we have further information. In general, personal data is only processed for as long as it is necessary to provide the services and products. Data stored in cookies is stored for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, others can be stored in your browser for several years if they are not actively deleted. The exact duration of data processing depends on the provider used; in most cases you should expect a storage period of several years. In the respective data protection declarations of the individual providers you will usually find precise information about the duration of data processing.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You always have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the person responsible for the partner program provider you use at any time. You can find contact details either in our specific privacy policy or on the website of the relevant provider. You can delete, deactivate or manage cookies that providers use for their functions in your browser. This works in different ways depending on which browser you use.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented to the use of partner programs, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to  Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent  represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected through a partner program. We also have a legitimate interest in using a partner program to optimize our online service and our marketing measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is  Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) . However, we only use the partner program if you have given your consent. Information on specific partner programs, if available, can be found in the following sections.

CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORKS INTRODUCTION

Content Delivery Networks Privacy Policy Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of our service (to load the website faster) Data processed: Data such as your IP address You can find more details below and in the individual data protection texts. Storage period: In most cases, the data is stored until it is no longer required to provide the service Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS A CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORK?

We use a so-called content delivery network on our website. Such a network is usually just called a CDN. A CDN helps us to load our website quickly and easily, regardless of your location. Your personal data is also stored, managed and processed on the servers of the CDN provider used. Below we will go into more detail about the service and its data processing. You can find detailed information about how your data is handled in the respective provider’s privacy policy. Every content delivery network (CDN) is a network of regionally distributed servers that are all connected to each other via the Internet. This network enables website content (especially very large files) to be delivered quickly and smoothly, even during peak loads. The CDN creates a copy of our website on your servers. Since these servers are distributed worldwide, the website can be delivered quickly. The data transfer to your browser is therefore significantly shortened by the CDN.

WHY DO WE USE A CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORK FOR OUR WEBSITE?

A fast-loading website is part of our service. We know how annoying it is when a website loads at a snail’s pace. Most of the time, you even lose patience and leave before the website has fully loaded. We want to avoid that, of course. That’s why a fast-loading website is a natural part of our website offering. With a content delivery network, our website loads much faster in your browser. Using the CDN is particularly helpful if you are abroad because the website is delivered from a server near you.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

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

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

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

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented to the use of a content delivery network, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to  Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a of GDPR (Consent), this consent  represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by a content delivery network. We also have a legitimate interest in using a content delivery network to optimize our online service and make it more secure. The legal basis for this is  Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f of GDPR (Legitimate Interests) . However, we only use the tool if you have given your consent. Information about specific content delivery networks can be found in the following sections, if available.

COOKIE CONSENT MANAGEMENT PLATFORM INTRODUCTION

Cookie Consent Management Platform Summary  Affected parties: Website visitors Purpose: Obtaining and managing consent to certain cookies and thus the use of certain tools Data processed: Data for managing the cookie settings set, such as IP address, time of consent, type of consent, individual consents. You can find more details on this in the tool used. Storage period: Depends on the tool used, you have to be prepared for periods of several years Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS A COOKIE CONSENT MANANGEMENT 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 safely. The software automatically creates a cookie popup, scans and checks all scripts and cookies, provides you with cookie consent required by data protection law, and helps us and you to keep track of all cookies. Most cookie consent management tools identify and categorize all existing cookies. You, as a website visitor, then decide for yourself whether and which scripts and cookies you allow or not. The following graphic shows the relationship between browser, web server, and CMP.

WHY DO WE USE A COOKIE MANAGEMENT TOOL?

Our goal is to offer you the best possible transparency in the area of ​​data protection. We are also legally obliged to do so. We want to inform you as best as possible about all tools and all cookies that can store 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 have landed on our website in the first place. Thanks to a cookie management tool that regularly scans the website for all existing cookies, we know about all cookies and can provide you with information about them in accordance with the GDPR. You can then accept or reject cookies using the consent system.

WHICH DATA IS 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. Your declaration of consent is saved so that we do not have to ask you every time you visit our website and we can also prove your consent if legally required. This is saved either in an opt-in cookie or on a server. The storage period of your cookie consent varies depending on the provider of the cookie management tool. This data (such as pseudonymous user ID, time of consent, details of the cookie categories or tools, browser, device information) is usually saved for up to two years.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, if we have further information. In general, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. Data stored in cookies is stored for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, others can be stored in your browser for several years. The exact duration of data processing depends on the tool used; in most cases, you should expect a storage period of several years. In the respective data protection declarations of the individual providers, you will usually find precise information about the duration of 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 through cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. Information on special cookie management tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.

LEGAL BASIS

If you consent to cookies, your personal data will be processed and stored via these cookies. If we are permitted to use cookies through your  consent  (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR), this consent is also the legal basis for the use of cookies and the processing of your data. Cookie consent management platform software is used to manage consent to cookies and to enable you to give your consent. The use of this software enables us to operate the website efficiently and in compliance with the law, which represents a  legitimate interest  (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR).

ADSIMPLE CONSENT MANAGER PRIVACY POLICY

AdSimple Consent Manager Data Protection Statement Summary  Affected parties: Website visitors Purpose: Obtaining consent to certain cookies and thus the use of certain tools Data processed: Data for managing the cookie settings set, such as IP address, time of consent, type of consent, individual consents. You can find more details in this data protection statement Storage period: the cookie used expires after one year Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS THE ADSIMPLE CONSENT MANAGER?

We use the AdSimple Consent Manager from the software development and online marketing company AdSimple GmbH, Fabriksgasse 20, 2230 Gänserndorf on our website. Among other things, the AdSimple Consent Manager offers us the opportunity to provide you with a comprehensive and data protection-compliant cookie notice so that you can decide for yourself which cookies you allow and which you do not. By using this software, your data is sent to AdSimple and stored. In this privacy policy, we inform you why we use the AdSimple Consent Manager, which data is transferred and stored, and how you can prevent this data transfer. The AdSimple Consent Manager is software that scans our website and identifies and categorizes all existing cookies. In addition, you as a website visitor are informed about the use of cookies via a cookie notice script and decide for yourself which cookies you allow and which you do not.

WHY DO WE USE ADSIMPLE CONSENT MANAGER ON OUR WEBSITE?

We want to offer you maximum transparency in the area of ​​data protection. To ensure this, we first need to know exactly which cookies have landed on our website over time. Because AdSimple’s Consent Manager regularly scans our website and locates all cookies, we have full control over these cookies and can act in accordance with the GDPR. This allows us to provide you with precise information about the use of cookies on our website. You will also always receive an up-to-date and data protection-compliant cookie notice and can decide for yourself which cookies you accept or block using the checkbox system.

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY THE ADSIMPLE CONSENT MANAGER?

If you consent to cookies on our website, the following cookie will be set by the AdSimple Consent Manager: Name:  acm_status Value:  “:true,”statistics”:true,”marketing”:true,”socialmedia”:true,”settings”:true} Purpose:  This cookie stores your consent status. This allows our website to read and follow the current status on future visits. Expiry date:  after one year

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

All data collected by the AdSimple Consent Manager is transferred and stored exclusively within the European Union. The data collected is stored on AdSimple’s servers at Hetzner GmbH in Germany. Only AdSimple GmbH and Hetzner GmbH have access to this data.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

You have the right to access and delete your personal data at any time. You can prevent data collection and storage, for example, by rejecting the use of cookies using the cookie notice script. Your browser offers another option for preventing data processing or managing it according to your wishes. Cookie management works slightly differently depending on the browser. Under the “Cookies” section you will find the relevant links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers.

LEGAL BASIS

If you consent to cookies, your personal data will be processed and stored via these cookies. If we are permitted to use cookies with your  consent  (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR), this consent is also the legal basis for the use of cookies or the processing of your data. The AdSimple Consent Manager is used to manage consent to cookies and to enable you to give your consent. The use of this software enables us to operate the website efficiently and in compliance with the law, which represents a  legitimate interest  (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR). We hope we have given you a good overview of the data traffic and data processing carried out by the AdSimple Consent Manager. If you would like to find out more about this tool, we recommend you visit the description page at  https://www.adsimple.at/consent-manager/ .

SECURITY & ANTI-SPAM

Security & Anti-Spam Data Protection Statement Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Cyber ​​security Data processed: Data such as your IP address, name or technical data such as browser version You can find more details below and in the individual data protection texts. Storage period: In most cases, the data is stored until it is no longer required to provide the service Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS SECURITY & ANTI-SPAM SOFTWARE?

With so-called security and anti-spam software, you and we can protect ourselves from various spam or phishing emails and possible other cyber attacks. Spam is understood to be advertising emails from a mass mailing that you did not request. Such emails are also called data garbage and can also incur costs. Phishing emails, on the other hand, are messages that aim to build trust via fake messages or websites in order to obtain personal data. Anti-spam software usually protects against unwanted spam messages or malicious emails that could, for example, introduce viruses into our system. We also use general firewall and security systems that protect our computers from unwanted network attacks.

WHY DO WE USE SECURITY & ANTI-SPAM SOFTWARE?

We place particular emphasis on security on our website. After all, it’s not just about our security, but above all about yours. Unfortunately, cyber threats are now part of everyday life in the world of IT and the Internet. Hackers often try to steal personal data from an IT system using a cyber attack. And that’s why a good defense system is absolutely essential. A security system monitors all incoming and outgoing connections to our network or computer. To achieve even greater security against cyber attacks, we use other external security services in addition to the standardized security systems on our computer. This makes it easier to prevent unauthorized traffic of data and protects us against cybercrime.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED BY SECURITY & ANTI-SPAM SOFTWARES?

Exactly which data is collected and stored depends on the respective service. However, we always endeavor to only use programs that collect data very sparingly or only store data that is necessary to fulfill the service offered. In principle, the service can 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 can also be collected in order to detect possible incoming threats in good time. This data is processed as part of the services and in compliance with applicable laws. For US providers, this also includes the GDPR (via the standard contractual clauses). In some cases, these security services also work with third parties who can store and/or process data under instruction and in accordance with data protection guidelines and other security measures. Data is usually stored via cookies.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing if we have further information. For example, security programs store data until you or we revoke the data storage. In general, personal data is only stored for as long as it is absolutely necessary to provide the services. In many cases, unfortunately, we do not have precise information from the providers about the length of storage.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party security software 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, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. Since such security services can also use cookies, we recommend that 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 security services primarily on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in a good security system against various cyber attacks. Certain processing operations, in particular the use of cookies and the use of security functions, require your consent. If you have consented that your data can be processed and stored by integrated security services, this consent is considered the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Most of the services we use set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider. Information about special tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.

GOOGLE RECAPTCHA PRIVACY POLICY

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of our service and protection against cyber attacks Data processed: Data such as IP address, browser information, your operating system, limited location and usage data You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. Storage period: depends on the data stored Legal basis: 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 make our website as secure and protected as possible for you and for us. To ensure this, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google Inc. For the European region, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With reCAPTCHA we can determine whether you are really a flesh-and-blood human and not a robot or other spam software. By spam we mean any unwanted information that comes to us electronically without being asked for. With classic CAPTCHAS you usually had to solve text or picture puzzles to verify your identity. With reCAPTCHA from Google we usually don’t have to bother you with such puzzles. In most cases it is enough if you simply tick a box to confirm that you are not a bot. With the new Invisible reCAPTCHA version you don’t even have to tick a box. You can find out how this works exactly and, above all, which data is used for this in the course of this privacy policy. reCAPTCHA is a free captcha service from Google that protects websites from spam software and abuse by non-human visitors. This service is most commonly used when you fill out forms on the Internet. A captcha service is a type of automatic Turing test designed to ensure that an action on the Internet is performed by a human and not a bot. In the classic Turing test (named after the computer scientist Alan Turing), a human determines the difference between a bot and a human. With captchas, the computer or a software program also takes over this task. Classic captchas work with small tasks that are easy for people to solve, but pose considerable difficulties for machines. With reCAPTCHA, you no longer have to actively solve puzzles. The tool uses modern risk techniques to distinguish people from bots. Here you only have to tick the text box “I am not a robot”, or with Invisible reCAPTCHA, even that is no longer necessary. With reCAPTCHA, a JavaScript element is integrated into the source code and then the tool runs in the background and analyses your user behaviour. The software calculates a so-called Captcha score from these user actions. Google uses this score to calculate how likely it is that you are a human before you enter the Captcha. reCAPTCHA or Captchas in general are always used when 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 flesh-and-blood people to our site. Bots or spam software of all kinds can safely stay at home. That’s why we do everything we can to protect ourselves and offer you the best possible user experience. For this reason, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google. This way we can be pretty sure that we will remain a “bot-free” website. By using reCAPTCHA, data is sent to Google to determine whether you are really a human. reCAPTCHA therefore serves to ensure the security of our website and, subsequently, your security too. For example, without reCAPTCHA, a bot could register as many email addresses as possible during registration in order to then “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 data from users to determine whether the actions on our website really come from humans. The IP address and other data that Google needs for the reCAPTCHA service can therefore be sent to Google. IP addresses are almost always shortened within the member states of the EU or other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area before the data ends up on a server in the USA. The IP address is not combined with other data from Google unless you are logged in to your Google account while using reCAPTCHA. First, the reCAPTCHA algorithm checks whether Google cookies from other Google services (YouTube, Gmail, etc.) have already been placed on your browser. Then reCAPTCHA places an additional cookie in your browser and takes a snapshot of your browser window. The following list of collected browser and user data does not claim to be complete. Rather, they are examples of data that, to the best of our knowledge, is processed by Google.

• Referrer URL (the address of the page from which the visitor comes)
• IP address (e.g. 256.123.123.1)
• Information about the operating system (the software that enables your computer to operate. Common operating systems are Windows, Mac OS X or Linux)
• Cookies (small text files that store data in your browser)
• Mouse and keyboard behavior (every action you perform with the mouse or keyboard is saved)
• Date and language settings (which language or date you have preset 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 consists of)

It is undisputed that Google uses and analyses this data even before you click on the checkbox “I am not a robot”. With the Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you don’t even have to tick the box and the entire recognition process runs in the background. Google does not tell you in detail how much and which data Google stores. The following cookies are used by reCAPTCHA: Here we refer to the reCAPTCHA demo version from Google at  https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api2/demo . All of these cookies require a unique identifier for tracking purposes. Here is a list of cookies that Google reCAPTCHA has set on the demo version: Name:  IDE Value:  WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKnRNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-312681648-8 Purpose:  This cookie is set by the company DoubleClick (also owned by Google) to register and report a user’s actions on the website when dealing with advertisements. This way, the effectiveness of the advertising can be measured and appropriate optimization 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 statistics on website usage and measures conversions. A conversion occurs, for example, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to show users relevant advertisements. Furthermore, the cookie can be used to prevent a user from seeing the same ad more than once. Expiry date:  after one month Name:  ANID Value:  U7j1v3dZa3126816480xgZFmiqWppRWKOr Purpose:  We were unable to find out much information about this cookie. In Google’s privacy policy, the cookie is mentioned in connection with “advertising cookies” such as “DSID”, “FLC”, “AID”, “TAID”. ANID is stored under the domain google.com. Expiry date:  after 9 months Name:  CONSENT Value:  YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0 Purpose:  The cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to use various Google services. CONSENT is also used for security purposes to verify users, prevent login information fraud and protect user data from unauthorized attacks. Expiry date:  after 19 years Name:  NID Value:  0WmuWqy312681648zILzqV_nmt3sDXwPeM5Q Purpose: NID is used by Google to tailor advertisements to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. This way, you always get tailored advertisements. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect the user’s personal settings for advertising purposes. Expiry date:  after 6 months Name:  DV Value:  gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAANbqc312681648-4 Purpose:  As soon as you have checked the “I am not a robot” box, this cookie is set. The cookie is used by Google Analytics for personalized advertising. DV collects information in an anonymized form and is also used to differentiate between users. Expiry date:  after 10 minutes Note:  This list cannot claim to be complete, as experience has shown that Google repeatedly changes its choice of cookies.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

By inserting reCAPTCHA, your data is transferred to the Google server. Google does not make it clear where exactly this data is stored, even after repeated inquiries. Without receiving confirmation from Google, it can be assumed that data such as mouse interaction, time spent on the website or language settings are stored on the European or American Google servers. The IP address that your browser sends to Google is generally not merged with other Google data from other Google services. However, if you are logged into your Google account while using the reCAPTCHA plug-in, the data will be merged.  The different data protection regulations of Google apply.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

If you do not want any data about you or your behavior to be sent to Google, you must log out of Google completely and delete all Google cookies before visiting our website or using the reCAPTCHA software. As a general rule, the data is automatically sent to Google as soon as you visit our site. To delete this data again, you must contact Google Support at   https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=312681648  . If you use our website, you therefore agree that Google LLC and its representatives automatically collect, process and use data. Please note that when using this tool, your data may also be stored and processed outside the EU. Most third countries (including the USA) are not considered safe under current European data protection law. Data may therefore not simply be transferred to, stored and processed in unsafe third countries unless there are appropriate guarantees (such as EU standard contractual clauses) between us and the non-European service provider.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented to the use of Google reCAPTCHA, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to  Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a of GDPR (Consent), this consent  represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when Google reCAPTCHA is collected. We also have a legitimate interest in using Google reCAPTCHA to optimize our online service and make it more secure. The corresponding legal basis for this is  Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f of GDPR (Legitimate Interests) . However, we only use Google reCAPTCHA if you have given your consent. Google processes your data in the USA, among other places. 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. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Google also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/ . You can find out a little more about reCAPTCHA on Google’s web developer page at  https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/ . Google goes into more detail about the technical development of reCAPTCHA here, but you will also look in vain for precise information about data storage and data protection-related topics there. A good overview of the basic use of data at Google can be found in the in-house privacy policy at  https://policies.google.com/privacy .

HCAPTCHA PRIVACY POLICY

We use the anti-spam system hCaptcha for our website. The service provider is the American company Intuition Machines Inc., 350 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. hCaptcha processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. hCaptcha uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46, Paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are sample templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, hCaptcha undertakes to comply with 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, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The data processing conditions (Data Processing Agreements), which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://newassets.hcaptcha.com/dpa/IMI.DPA.9.23.21.New.SCCs.pdf . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of hCaptcha in the privacy policy at  https://www.hcaptcha.com/privacy .

PAYMENT PROVIDER INTRODUCTION

Payment provider data protection declaration Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Enabling and optimizing the payment process on our website Data processed: 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 in the payment provider tool used. Storage period: depends on the payment provider used Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (fulfillment of a contract)

WHAT IS A PAYMENT PROVIDER?

We use online payment systems on our website that enable us and you to make payments safely and smoothly. Personal data may also be sent to the respective payment provider, stored there and processed there. Payment providers are online payment systems that allow you to place an order via online banking. The payment is processed by the payment provider you have chosen. We then receive information about the payment made. This method can be used by any user who has an active online banking account with 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?

We naturally want to offer the best possible service with our website and our integrated online shop so that you feel comfortable on our site and use our offers. We know that your time is valuable and that payment transactions in particular must work quickly and smoothly. For these reasons, we offer you various payment providers. You can choose your preferred payment provider and pay in the usual way.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

Which data is processed depends, of course, on the respective payment provider. However, data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.) are generally stored. This is necessary data in order to be able to carry out a transaction at all. In addition, any contract data and user data, such as when you visit our website, which content you are interested in or which subpages you click on, can also be stored. Your IP address and information about the computer you are using are also stored by most payment providers. The data is usually stored and processed on the payment providers’ servers. We as website operators do not receive this data. We are only informed whether the payment was successful or not. For identity and credit checks, payment providers may forward data to the relevant department. The business and data protection principles of the respective provider always apply to all payment transactions. Therefore, please always look at the general terms and conditions and the data protection declaration of the payment provider. You also have the right to have data deleted or corrected at any time, for example. Please contact the respective service provider regarding your rights (right of withdrawal, right to information and right to be affected).

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below if we have further information. In general, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. If it is required by law, such as in the case of accounting, this storage period can also be exceeded. For example, we keep accounting documents relating to a contract (invoices, contract documents, bank statements, etc.) for 10 years (Section 147 AO) and other relevant business documents for 6 years (Section 247 HGB) after they arise.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You always have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the person responsible for the payment provider used at any time. You can find contact details either in our specific privacy policy or on the website of the relevant payment provider. You can delete, deactivate or manage cookies that payment providers use for their functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Please note, however, that the payment process may then no longer work.

LEGAL BASIS

In addition to traditional banking/credit institutions, we also offer other payment service providers for the processing of contractual or legal relationships  (Article 6, Paragraph 1, Letter b of GDPR)   . The privacy policies of the individual payment providers (such as Amazon Payments, Apple Pay or Discover) provide you with a detailed overview of data processing and data storage. In addition, you can always contact the responsible persons if you have any questions about data protection-related topics. Information about the specific payment providers – if available – can be found in the following sections.

2CHECKOUT PRIVACY POLICY

We use the payment provider P2Checkout for our website. The service provider is the American company VeriFone Systems, Inc., 2744 University Drive, Coral Springs, FL 33065, USA. P2Checkout processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. P2Checkout uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46, Paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, P2Checkout undertakes to comply with 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, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de For more information about the standard contractual clauses and the data processed through the use of P2Checkout, please see the Privacy Policy at  https://www.2checkout.com/legal/privacy/ .

AMERICAN EXPRESS PRIVACY POLICY

We use American Express, a global financial services provider, on our website. The service provider is the American company American Express Company. The company responsible for Europe is American Express Europe SA (Avenida Partenón 12-14, 28042, Madrid, Spain). American Express processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. American Express uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, American Express undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de You can find more information about the standard contractual clauses at American Express under the “European Implementing Principles ( https://www.americanexpress.com/en-pl/company/legal/privacy-centre/european-implementing-principles/ ). You can find out more about the data processed through the use of American Express in the Privacy Policy at  https://www.americanexpress.com/de-de/firma/legal/datenschutz-center/online-datenschutzerklarung/ .

APPLE WALLET PRIVACY POLICY

We use the online payment platform Apple Wallet for our website. The service provider is the American company Apple Inc., Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014, USA. Apple processes data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. Apple uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46, Paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. These clauses oblige Apple to comply with the EU data protection level when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here, among others:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Apple Wallet in the Privacy Policy at  https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/de-ww/ .

GOOGLE PAY PRIVACY POLICY

We use the online payment provider Google Pay on our website. The service provider is the American company Google Inc. In Europe, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google processes your data in the USA, among other places. 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. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Google also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The data processing conditions for Google advertising products (Google Ads Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms), which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://business.safety.google/adscontrollerterms/ . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Google Pay in the Privacy Policy at  https://policies.google.com/privacy .

KLARNA CHECKOUT PRIVACY POLICY

Klarna Checkout Privacy Policy Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of the payment process on our website Data processed: 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 further down in this privacy policy. Storage period: Data is stored as long as Klarna needs it for the processing purpose. Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c GDPR (legal obligation), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS KLARNA CHECKOUT?

We use the online payment system Klarna Checkout from the Swedish company Klarna Bank AB on our website. Klarna Bank has its headquarters at Sveavägen 46, 111 34 Stockholm, Sweden. If you decide to use this service, personal data will be sent to Klarna, stored and processed. In this privacy policy, we would like to give you an overview of data processing by Klarna. Klarna Checkout is a payment system for orders in an online shop. The user selects the payment method and Klarna Checkout takes over the entire payment process. After a user has made a payment via the checkout system once and has provided the relevant data, future online purchases can be made even faster and easier. The Klarna system then recognizes the existing customer as soon as the email address and postcode are entered.

WHY DO WE USE KLARNA CHECKOUT FOR OUR WEBSITE?

Our goal with our website and our integrated online shop is to offer you the best possible service. In addition to the overall experience on the website and our offers, this also includes smooth, fast and secure payment processing for your orders. To ensure this, we use the Klarna Checkout payment system.

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY KLARNA CHECKOUT?

As soon as you choose the Klarna payment service and pay using the Klarna Checkout payment method, you also transmit personal data to the company. On the Klarna Checkout page, technical data such as browser type, operating system, our Internet address, date and time, language settings, time zone settings and IP address are collected from you and transmitted to Klarna’s servers and stored there. This data is also stored if you have not yet completed an order. If you order a product or service through our shop, you must enter your personal data in the specified fields. This data is processed by Klarna for payment processing. The following personal data (as well as general product information) can be stored and processed by Klarna for credit and identity checks:

• Contact information: name, date of birth, national ID number, title, billing and shipping address, email address, telephone number, nationality or salary.
• Payment information such as credit card details or your account number
• Product information such as tracking number, type of item and price of the product

There is also data that can be collected optionally if you consciously decide to do so. These include political, religious or ideological beliefs or various health data. Klarna can also collect data on the goods or services you buy or order, either itself or through third parties (such as us or public databases), in addition to the data mentioned above. This can be, for example, the shipment number or the type of item ordered, but also information about your creditworthiness, your income or credit approvals. Klarna can also pass your personal data on to service providers such as software providers, data storage providers or us as a retailer. When data is automatically entered into a form, cookies are always involved. If you do not want to use this function, you can deactivate these cookies at any time. Further down in the text you will find instructions on how to delete, deactivate or manage cookies in your browser. Our tests have shown that Klarna does not set any cookies directly. If you choose the “Klarna Sofort” payment method and click on “Order”, you will be redirected to the Sofort website. After successful payment, you will be taken to our thank you page. There, sofort.com sets the following cookie: Name : SOFUEB Value:  e8cipp378mdscn9e17kajlfhv7312681648-4 Purpose:  This cookie stores your session ID. Expiry date:  after the browser session ends

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

Klarna endeavours to only store your data within the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA). However, it can also happen that data is transferred outside the EU/EEA. If this happens, Klarna ensures that data protection is in line with the GDPR and that the third country has an adequacy decision by the European Union. The data is always stored as long as Klarna needs it for the processing purpose.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

You can withdraw your consent for Klarna to process personal data at any time. You also always have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. To do this, you simply need to contact the company or the company’s data protection team by email at  datenschutz@klarna.de  . You can also contact Klarna directly via the Klarna website  “My data protection request”  . You can delete, deactivate or manage cookies that Klarna may use for its functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Under the “Cookies” section you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers.

LEGAL BASIS

In addition to the traditional bank/credit institutions , we also offer the payment service provider Klarna Checkout for the processing of contractual or legal relationships  (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR)   . We hope that we have given you a good overview of data processing by Klarna. If you would like to find out more about how your data is handled, we recommend that you read the Klarna privacy policy at  https://cdn.klarna.com/1.0/shared/content/legal/terms/0/de_at/privacy .

PAYPAL PRIVACY POLICY

PayPal data protection declaration summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of the payment process on our website Data processed: Data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address and contract data can be processed. You can find more details about this further down in this data protection declaration. Storage period: Data is generally stored until the cooperation 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. The company PayPal Europe (S.à rl et Cie, SCA, 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg) is responsible for Europe. With PayPal, all users can send and receive money electronically. The company was founded in 1998 and is now one of the best-known and largest online payment service providers in the world with over 325 million active customers.

WHY DO WE USE PAYPAL FOR OUR WEBSITE?

There are various reasons why we use PayPal and offer it on our website. Since PayPal is one of the best-known online payment providers, many of our website visitors also use and trust this service. PayPal also offers high security standards for digital money transfers. The service uses various encryption methods to protect your personal data as best as possible. We also appreciate the ease of use of PayPal and the possibility of international payments in various currencies. Transactions are usually completed very quickly, which is another advantage for both us and you as a customer.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED BY PAYPAL?

In its privacy policy, PayPal distinguishes between different categories of personal data that can be processed through the use of the service. These include login and contact data, identification and signature data, payment information, information on imported contacts, data from your account profile, device data such as your IP address, location data and so-called derived data. This refers to information that can be derived through transactions or other data. This can include purchasing habits, behavior patterns, creditworthiness or personal preferences. Then there is also personal data that is collected by third parties (such as identity checkers, fraud detection providers or your bank). This data includes information from credit agencies, transaction data, information on legal requirements, technical usage data, location data and also derived data. PayPal and its partners also use tracking technologies such as cookies, pixel tags, web beacons and widgets to recognize you as a user, customize content and carry out analyses for interest-based advertising.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

In principle, PayPal stores data for as long as it is necessary to fulfil its obligations and for the purpose. Personal data that is necessary for the customer relationship is stored for up to 10 years after the relationship has ended. If PayPal is subject to a legal obligation, the retention period for personal data is in accordance with the applicable law (e.g. insolvency law). PayPal also stores personal data for as long as necessary if retention is advisable in view of legal disputes. Since PayPal is a global company, the service also has data centers worldwide in which your data can be stored. This means that your data can also be stored on PayPal servers outside your country and outside the scope of the GDPR.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

You have the right to information, correction or deletion and restriction of the processing of your personal data at any time. You can also withdraw your consent to the processing of the data at any time. If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the relevant links to the respective instructions for the most popular browsers under the “Cookies” section.

LEGAL BASIS

We have a legitimate interest in integrating an external payment service with PayPal and thus making our offer more attractive and improving it technically and economically. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f of GDPR (Legitimate Interests). We would like to point out that you can only use PayPal if you enter into a contractual relationship with PayPal. In this case, it may be necessary to provide further data protection and contractual declarations (e.g. consent). PayPal processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. PayPal uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Paragraphs 2 and 3 of GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, PayPal undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de For more information about the standard contractual clauses and the data processed through the use of PayPal, please see the privacy policy at  https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full .

SHOP PAY PRIVACY POLICY

We use Shop Pay, a service for online payment solutions, on our website. The service provider is the American company Shopify Inc. The company Shopify International Limited (Victoria Buildings, 2nd floor, 1-2 Haddington Road, Dublin 4, D04 XN32, Ireland) is responsible for Europe. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. The data processing is mainly carried out by Shop Pay. This may mean that data is not processed and stored anonymously. Furthermore, US government authorities may have access to individual data. It may also happen that this data is linked to data from other Shop Pay services for which you have a user account. You can find out more about the data processed when using Shop Pay in the Privacy Policy at  https://www.shopify.de/legal/datenschutz .

VISA PRIVACY POLICY

We use Visa, a global payment provider, on our website. The service provider is the American company Visa Inc. The company Visa Europe Services Inc. (1 Sheldon Square, London W2 6TT, Great Britain) is responsible for Europe. Visa processes your data in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing. Visa uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 Para. 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing for recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or for data transfer there. Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Visa undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de More information on Visa’s standard contractual clauses can be found at  https://www.visa.de/nutzungsbedingungen/visa-globale-datenschutzmitteilung/mitteilung-zu-zustandigkeitsfragen-fur-den-ewr.html . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Visa in the Privacy Policy at  https://www.visa.de/nutzungsbedingungen/visa-privacy-center.html . 

SINGLE SIGN-ON REGISTRATIONS INTRODUCTION

Single sign-on registrations Data protection declaration Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Simplifying the authentication process Data processed: Depends heavily on the respective provider, usually email address and user name can be saved. You can find more details on this in the tool used. Storage period: depends on the tools used Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (performance of contract), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT ARE SINGLE SIGN-ON LOGINS?

On our website, you have the option of registering for our online service quickly and easily using a user account from another provider (e.g. via Facebook). This authentication process is also known as “single sign-on registration”. This registration process naturally only works if you are registered with the other provider or have a user account and enter the relevant access data into the online form. In many cases, you are already registered, the access data is automatically entered into the form and you only have to confirm the single sign-on registration using a button. During this registration, your personal data may also be processed and stored. In this data protection text, we generally address data processing through single sign-on registrations. You can find more information in the data protection declarations of the respective providers.

WHY DO WE USE SINGLE SIGN-ON?

We want to make your life on our website as easy and pleasant as possible. That’s why we also offer single sign-on logins. This saves you valuable time because you only need to authenticate once. Since you only have to remember one password and it is only transmitted once, security is also increased. In many cases, you have already automatically saved your password using cookies and the login process on our website therefore only takes a few seconds.

WHAT DATA IS STORED THROUGH SINGLE SIGN-ON LOGINS?

Although you log in to our website using this special registration process, the actual authentication takes place with the corresponding single sign-on provider. As the website operator, we receive a user ID during the authentication process. This records that you are logged in to the relevant provider using this ID. This ID cannot be used for any other purposes. Other data may also be sent to us, but this depends on the single sign-on providers used. It also depends on which data you voluntarily provide during the authentication process and which data you generally release to the provider in your settings. Most of the time, this is data such as your email address and user name. We do not know your password, which is required for registration, and we do not store it. It is also important for you to know that data stored by us can be automatically compared with the data of the respective user account through the registration process.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

We will inform you below about the duration of data processing if we have further information. For example, the social media platform Facebook stores data until it is no longer needed for its own purposes. However, customer data that is compared with our own user data is deleted within two days. In general, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of single sign-on registrations at any time. This usually works via the provider’s opt-out functions. If available, you will also find links to the corresponding opt-out functions in our data protection texts for the individual tools.

LEGAL BASIS

If it has been agreed with you and this takes place within the framework of the fulfillment of the contract (Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter b GDPR) and the consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a GDPR), we can use the single sign-on process on the legal basis. In addition to the consent, we have a legitimate interest in offering you a quick and easy registration process. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f GDPR (Legitimate Interests). However, we only use the single sign-on registration if you have given your consent. If you no longer wish to have this link to the provider with the single sign-on registration, please delete it in your user account with the respective provider. If you also want to delete data from us, you must cancel your registration.

FACEBOOK SINGLE-SIGN-ON PRIVACY POLICY

We also use the Facebook Single Sign-On authentication service to log in to our website. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. The company responsible for Europe is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. Facebook processes your data in the USA, among other places. Facebook or 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. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Facebook also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Facebook data processing conditions, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing . If you are logged in to Facebook, you can revoke your consent to the use of single sign-on registrations via the opt-out function at  https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/ad_settings  . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Facebook in the privacy policy at  https://www.facebook.com/policy.php .

GOOGLE SINGLE-SIGN-ON PRIVACY POLICY

We also use the Google Single Sign-On authentication service to log in to our website. The service provider is the American company Facebook Inc. In Europe, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google processes your data in the USA, among other places. 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. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Google also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/ . At Google, you can revoke your consent to the use of single sign-on registrations via the opt-out function at  https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Google Single Sign-On in the Privacy Policy at  https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de .

INSTAGRAM SINGLE-SIGN-ON PRIVACY POLICY

We also use the Instagram Single-Sign-On authentication service to log in to our website. The service provider is the American company Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA. Instagram has been a subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc. since 2012 and is one of the Facebook products. Instagram processes your data in the USA, among other places. Instagram and Meta Platforms are active participants in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. You can find more information on this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . Instagram also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Instagram undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de If you are logged in to Meta or Instagram, you can  revoke your consent to the use of single sign-on registrations using the opt-out function at  https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/ad_settings . You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Instagram/Meta in the privacy policy at  https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875 .

WEB DESIGN INTRODUCTION

Web design data protection declaration Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Improving the user experience Data processed: Which data is processed depends largely on the services used. This usually includes IP address, technical data, language settings, browser version, screen resolution and browser name. You can find more details about this in the web design tools used. Storage period: depends on the tools used Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS WEB DESIGN?

We use various tools on our website that serve our web design. Web design is not, as is often assumed, just about making our website look pretty, but also about functionality and performance. But of course the right look of a website is also one of the major goals of professional web design. Web design is a sub-area of ​​media design and deals with both the visual and the structural and functional design of a website. The aim is to use web design to improve your experience on our website. In web design jargon, this is referred to as user experience (UX) and usability. User experience refers to all the impressions and experiences that website visitors have on a website. A sub-point of user experience is usability. This is about the user-friendliness of a website. The main emphasis here is on ensuring that content, subpages or products are clearly structured and that you can find what you are looking for quickly and easily. In order to offer you the best possible experience on our website, we also use so-called web design tools from third parties. In this privacy policy, the category “web design” includes all services that improve the design of our website. These can be, for example, fonts, various plugins or other integrated web design functions.

WHY DO WE USE WEB DESIGN TOOLS?

How you absorb information on a website depends very much on the structure, functionality and visual perception of the website. This is why good and professional web design has become increasingly important for us. We are constantly working on improving our website and see this as an extended service for you as a website visitor. Furthermore, a beautiful and functioning website also has economic advantages for us. After all, you will only visit us and use our services if you feel completely comfortable.

WHAT DATA IS STORED BY WEB DESIGN TOOLS?

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

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

How long data is processed is very individual and depends on the web design elements used. If cookies are used, for example, the storage period can be as short as a minute, but also as long as a few years. Please do your research on this. We recommend that you read our general text section on cookies and the privacy statements of the tools used. There you will usually find out which cookies are used exactly and what information is stored in them. Google font files, for example, are stored for a year. This is to improve the loading time of a website. In principle, data is only ever stored for as long as it is necessary to provide the service. If required by law, data can also be stored for longer.

RIGHT OF OBJECTION

You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. However, there is also data under web design elements (mostly fonts) that cannot be deleted so easily. This is the case when data is automatically collected when a page is accessed and transmitted to a third-party provider (such as Google). In this case, please contact the support of the relevant provider. In the case of Google, you can reach support at  https://support.google.com/?hl=de .

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented to the use of web design tools, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected by web design tools. We also have a legitimate interest in improving the web design on our website. After all, only then can we provide you with an attractive and professional web offering. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use web design tools if you have given your consent. We would like to emphasize this again here. Information on specific web design tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.

FONT AWESOME PRIVACY POLICY

Font Awesome Privacy Policy Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimization of our service Data processed: e.g. IP address and which icon files are loaded You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. Storage period: Files in identifiable form are stored for a few weeks Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS FONT AWESOME?

We use Font Awesome from the American company Fonticons (307 S. Main St., Suite 202, Bentonville, AR 72712, USA) on our website. When you visit one of our websites, the web font Font Awesome (in particular icons) is loaded via the Font Awesome Content Delivery Network (CDN). This means that the texts, fonts and icons are displayed appropriately on every device. In this privacy policy, we go into more detail about data storage and data processing by this service. Icons are playing an increasingly important role for websites. Font Awesome is a web font that was specially developed for web designers and web developers. With Font Awesome, icons can be scaled and colored as desired using the CSS stylesheet language. They replace old image icons. Font Awesome CDN is the easiest way to load the icons or fonts onto your website. All we had to do was integrate a small line of code into our website.

WHY DO WE USE FONT AWESOME ON OUR WEBSITE?

Font Awesome allows us to better prepare the content on our website. This makes it easier for you to find your way around our website and understand the content. The icons can sometimes even replace entire words and save space. This is particularly useful when we optimize content specifically for smartphones. These icons are inserted as HTML code instead of as images. This allows us to edit the icons with CSS exactly as we want. At the same time, Font Awesome also improves our loading speed because they are only HTML elements and not icon images. All of these advantages help us to make the website even clearer, fresher and faster for you.

WHAT DATA DOES FONT AWESOME STORE?

The Font Awesome Content Delivery Network (CDN) is used to load icons and symbols. CDNs are networks of servers that are distributed worldwide and make it possible to quickly load files from nearby. As soon as you visit one of our pages, the corresponding icons are provided by Font Awesome. In order for the web fonts to be loaded, your browser must establish a connection to the servers of the company Fonticons, Inc. This recognizes your IP address. Font Awesome also collects data about which icon files are downloaded and when. Technical data such as your browser version, screen resolution or the time the page was accessed is also transmitted. This data is collected and stored for the following reasons:

• to optimize content delivery networks
• to detect and correct technical errors
• to protect CDNs from abuse and attacks
• to charge fees to Font Awesome Pro customers
• to find out the popularity of icons
• to know which computer and software you are using

If your browser does not allow web fonts, a standard font from your PC will be used automatically. As far as we know, no cookies are set. We are in contact with Font Awesome’s data protection department and will let you know as soon as we find out more.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

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

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

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

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented to the use of Font Awesome, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to  Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent  represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when Font Awesome is collected. We also have a legitimate interest in using Font Awesome to optimize our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is  Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests) . Nevertheless, we only use Font Awesome if you have given your consent. We would like to point out that, in the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. Data processing is essentially carried out by Font Awesome. This may mean that data is not processed and stored anonymously. Furthermore, US government authorities may have access to individual data. It may also happen that this data is linked to data from other Font Awesome services for which you have a user account. If you would like to learn more about Font Awesome and how they handle data, we recommend that you read the privacy policy at  https://fontawesome.com/privacy  and the help page at  https://fontawesome.com/support .

GOOGLE FONTS PRIVACY POLICY

Google Fonts Privacy Policy Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Optimizing our service Data processed: Data such as IP address and CSS and font requests You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. Storage period: Font files are stored by Google for one year Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT ARE GOOGLE FONTS?

We use Google Fonts on our website. These are the “Google fonts” from Google Inc. In Europe, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. You do not need to log in or enter a password to use Google fonts. Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser. The files (CSS, fonts) are requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services. If you have a Google account, you do not need to worry about your Google account data being sent to Google while you use Google Fonts. Google records the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this data securely. We will look at exactly how data storage works in more detail. Google Fonts (formerly Google Web Fonts) is a directory of over 800 fonts that  Google  makes available to its users for free. Many of these fonts are released under the SIL Open Font License, while others are released under the Apache License. Both are free software licenses.

WHY DO WE USE GOOGLE FONTS ON OUR WEBSITE?

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

WHAT DATA DOES GOOGLE STORE?

When you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded via a Google server. This external call transmits data to the Google servers. This is how Google recognizes that you or your IP address are visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to reduce the use, storage and collection of end user data to what is necessary for the proper provision of fonts. API stands for “Application Programming Interface” and is used, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software sector. Google Fonts stores CSS and font requests securely with Google and is therefore protected. The collected usage figures enable Google to determine how well the individual fonts are received. Google publishes the results on internal analysis pages, such as Google Analytics. Google also uses data from its own web crawler to determine which websites use Google fonts. This data is published in the Google Fonts BigQuery database. Entrepreneurs and developers use the Google web service BigQuery to examine and move large amounts of data. However, it should be noted that every Google Font request automatically transfers information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name to the Google servers. It is not clear whether this data is stored and Google does not clearly communicate this.

HOW LONG AND WHERE IS THE DATA STORED?

Google stores requests for CSS assets for one day on its servers, which are mainly located outside the EU. This enables us to use the fonts with the help of a Google stylesheet. A stylesheet is a format template that can be used to quickly and easily change the design or font of a website, for example. The font files are stored by Google for one year. Google’s goal is to fundamentally improve the loading time of websites. If millions of websites link to the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and immediately appear on all other websites visited later. Google sometimes updates font files to reduce file size, increase language coverage, and improve design.

HOW CAN I DELETE MY DATA OR PREVENT DATA STORAGE?

The data that Google stores for a day or a year cannot simply be deleted. The data is automatically sent to Google when the page is accessed. To be able to delete this data prematurely, you must contact Google Support at  https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=312681648  . In this case, you can only prevent data storage if you do not visit our site. Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unrestricted access to all fonts. This means we have unlimited access to a sea of ​​fonts and can get the most out of our website. You can find out more about Google Fonts and other questions at  https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=312681648 . Although Google addresses data protection issues there, it does not contain really detailed information about data storage. It is relatively difficult to get really precise information about stored data from Google.

LEGAL BASIS

If you have consented to the use of Google Fonts, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to  Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent  represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when Google Fonts collects data. We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Font to optimize our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is  Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests) . Nevertheless, we only use Google Font if you have given your consent. Google processes your data in the USA, among other places. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data of EU citizens to the USA. You can find more information about this at  https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en . In addition, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46, Paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard contractual clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places:  https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at  https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/ . You can also read about which data is generally collected by Google and what this data is used for at  https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/  .

GOOGLE FONTS LOCAL PRIVACY POLICY

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

WHAT ARE GOOGLE FONTS?

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

OTHER INTRODUCTION

Other Data protection declaration Summary  Affected parties: Visitors to the website Purpose: Improving the user experience Data processed: Which data is processed depends largely on the services used. This usually involves IP addresses and/or technical data. You can find more details about this in the respective tools used. Storage period: depends on the tools used Legal basis: Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

WHAT IS COVERED BY “OTHER”?

The “Other” category includes those services that do not fit into one of the above categories. These are usually various plugins and embedded elements that improve our website. These functions are usually obtained from third parties and integrated into our website. For example, these are web search services such as Algolia Place, Giphy, Programmable Search Engine or online services for weather data such as OpenWeather.

WHY DO WE USE OTHER THIRD PARTIES?

We want to offer you the best web offering in our industry with our website. A website has long been more than just a business card for a company. Rather, it is a place that should help you find what you are looking for. In order to make our website even more interesting and helpful for you, we use various third-party services.

WHICH DATA IS PROCESSED?

Whenever elements are integrated into our website, your IP address will be transmitted to the respective provider, saved and processed there. This is necessary because otherwise the content will not be sent to your browser and therefore will not be displayed accordingly. It may also happen that service providers also use pixel tags or web beacons. These are small graphics on websites that record a log file and can also create analyses of this file. The providers can use the information obtained to improve their own marketing measures. In addition to pixel tags, such information (such as which button you click or when you access which page) can also be saved in cookies. In addition to analysis data on your web behavior, technical information such as your browser type or operating system can also be saved in cookies. Some providers can also link the data obtained with other internal services or with third-party providers. Each provider handles your data differently. We therefore recommend that you carefully read the data protection declarations of the respective services. We generally endeavor to only use services that handle data protection very carefully.

DURATION OF DATA PROCESSING

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below if we have further information. In general, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products.

LEGAL BASIS

If we ask for your consent and you also agree that we may use the service, this is the legal basis for processing your data (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In addition to the consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offering technically and economically. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Information about the specific tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.

WEGLOT PRIVACY POLICY

We use the translation service Weglot for our website. The service provider is the French company Weglot SAS, 7 cité Paradis 75010 Paris, France. You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Weglot in the privacy policy at  https://weglot.com/privacy/ .

EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED

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

CONCLUSION

Congratulations! If you are reading these lines, you have really “fought” your way through our entire privacy policy or at least scrolled down to here. As you can see from the scope of our privacy policy, we do not take the protection of your personal data lightly. It is important to us to inform you to the best of our knowledge and belief about the processing of personal data. In doing so, we do not only want to tell you which data is processed, but also explain the reasons for using various software programs. Privacy policies usually sound very technical and legal. However, since most of you are not web developers or lawyers, we wanted to take a different approach linguistically and explain the facts in simple and clear language. Of course, this is not always possible due to the subject matter. Therefore, the most important terms are explained in more detail 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 a pleasant time and hope to welcome you back to our website soon. All texts are protected by copyright.