Privacy policy

Introduction and overview

We have created this privacy statement (version 05.06.2022-112049829) in order to provide you with the best possible service in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws to explain which personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors (e.g. providers) we have engaged – will process in the future and what lawful options you have. The terms used are to be understood as gender-neutral.
In short, we provide you with comprehensive information about data we process about you.

Privacy statements usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. This privacy policy, on the other hand, is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. To the extent that 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 thus inform you in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the course of our business activities if there is a corresponding legal basis. This is certainly not possible by making the most concise, unclear and legalistic statements possible, as is often standard practice on the Internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative, and perhaps there is one or two pieces of information you did not know.
If you still have questions, we would like to ask you to contact the responsible office mentioned below or in the imprint, to follow the existing links and to look at further information on third party sites. Of course, you will also find our contact details in the imprint.

Scope

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

• all online presences (websites, online stores) that we operate
• Social media appearances and e-mail communication
• mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

In short, the data privacy statement applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in a structured manner within the company via the aforementioned channels. If we enter into legal relations with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately if necessary.

Legal basis

In the following privacy policy, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal basis of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.
As far as EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 April 2016. You can, of course, read this EU General Data Protection Regulation online at EUR-Lex, the gateway 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:

1. Consent (Article 6(1) lit. a DSGVO): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of your entered data of a contact form.
2. contract (Article 6(1)(b) DSGVO): In order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you, we process your data. For example, if we enter into a purchase agreement with you, we require personal information in advance.
3. Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c) DSGVO): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we process your data. For example, we are required by law to keep invoices for accounting purposes. These usually contain personal data.
4. Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) DSGVO): 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 operate our website in a secure and economically efficient manner. This processing is therefore a legitimate interest.

Other conditions, such as the performance of recordings in the public interest and the exercise of public authority and the protection of vital interests, do not generally arise in our case. If such a legal basis should be relevant, it will be indicated at the appropriate place.

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

• In Austria, this is the Federal Act on the Protection of Individuals 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 office below:
KOLHAMMER & MAHRINGER, FINE ARTS
Showroom Schönbrunn
Penzinger street 23
1140 Vienna
Austria/Europe

E-mail: office@kolhammer-mahringer.at
Phone: +43 (0) 1 512 25 58

Storage duration

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

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

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

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

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

• According to Article 15 of the GDPR, you have a right to information about whether we process data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to obtain a copy of the data and to know the following information:
  • the purpose for which 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 will be stored;
  • the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
  • that you can complain to a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
  • the origin of the data if we have not collected it from you;
  • whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically evaluated in order to arrive at a personal profile of you.
• You have a right to rectify data according to Article 16 of the GDPR, which means that we must correct data if you find errors.
• According to Article 17 of the GDPR, you have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”), which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.
• According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it any further.
• According to Article 19 of the 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 of the GDPR, you have a right to object, which, once enforced, entails a change in processing.
  • If the processing of your data is based on Article 6 para. 1 lit. e (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6 para. 1 lit. f (legitimate interest), you may 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 not use your data for direct marketing thereafter.
  • If data is used to perform profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may not use your data for profiling thereafter.
• According to Article 22 of the GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example, profiling).
• You have the right to complain according to Article 77 of the GDPR. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the data processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

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

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

Austria data protection authority

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

Cookies

Cookies summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: depending on the cookie. You can find more details about this below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. Data processed: Depending on the cookie used in each case. You can find more details about this below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📅 Storage duration: depends on the respective cookie, can vary from hours to years ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f DSGVO (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 browse the Internet, you use a browser. Well-known browsers include Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

One thing cannot be denied: Cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. More precisely, they are HTTP cookies, as there are other cookies for other applications. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically placed in the cookie folder, effectively 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 about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you return to our site, your browser transmits the “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the setting 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. In this process, 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 “pests”. Cookies also cannot access information from your PC.

For example, cookie data can look like this:

Name: _ga
Wert: GA1.2.1326744211.152112049829-9
Intended use: differentiation of website visitors
Expiration 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 are the types of cookies?

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 discuss the different types of HTTP cookies.

We can distinguish 4 types of cookies:

Essential cookies
These cookies are necessary to ensure basic website functionality. For example, it needs these cookies when a user adds a product to the shopping cart, then continues surfing on other pages and only later goes to the checkout. These cookies do not delete the shopping cart even if the user closes his browser window.

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

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

Advertising cookies
These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to deliver customized advertising to the user. This can be very convenient, but also very annoying.

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

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

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the cookie in question. You can find more details about this below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

What data is processed?

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

Cookies storage duration

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 influence on the storage duration yourself. You can manually delete all cookies at any time via your browser (see also “Right to object” below). Furthermore, cookies based on consent will be deleted at the latest after revocation of your consent, whereby the legality of the storage remains unaffected until then.

Right to object – how can I delete cookies?

How and whether you want to use cookies, you decide. Regardless of which service or website the cookies come from, you always have the option to delete, disable or only partially allow cookies. For example, you can block third-party cookies, but allow all other cookies.

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

Chrome: Delete, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

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

Legal basis

The so-called “Cookie Guidelines” have been in place since 2009. This states that the storage of cookies requires your consent (Article 6 (1) a DSGVO). Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these directives. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in § 96 para. 3 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). In Germany, the Cookie Guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this directive was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the German Telemedia Act (TMG).

For absolutely necessary cookies, even in the absence of consent, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) DSGVO), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to provide visitors to the website with a pleasant user experience and for this, certain cookies are often absolutely necessary.

Insofar as cookies are used that are not absolutely necessary, this only occurs in the case of your consent. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR.

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

Web hosting introduction

Web hosting summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: professional hosting of the website and safeguarding of the operation 📓 Processed data: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. More details can be found below or at the respective web hosting provider. 📅 Storage period: depending on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is web hosting?

Nowadays, when you visit websites, certain information – including personal data – is automatically created and stored, including on this website. This data should be processed as sparingly as possible and only with justification. By the way, by website we mean the entirety of all web pages on a domain, i.e. everything from the home page (homepage) to the very last subpage (like this one). By domain we mean, for example, example.de or sampleexample.com.

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

To view the website, the browser must connect to another computer where the website’s code is stored: the web server. Operating a web server is a complicated and costly task, which is why it is usually handled by professional providers. These offer web hosting and thus ensure reliable and error-free storage of website data. A whole 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 needs 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:

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

What data is processed?

Even while you are visiting our website right now, 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 accessed web page
• 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. B. https://www. beispielquellsite.de/vondabinichgekommen/)
• the hostname and IP address of the device being accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
• Date and time
• in files, the so-called web server log files

How long is data stored?

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

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

Legal basis

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

As a rule, there is a contract between us and the hosting provider for commissioned processing pursuant to Art. 28 f. DSGVO, which ensures compliance with data protection and guarantees data security.

World4You Privacy Policy

We use World4You, a web hosting provider among others, for our website. The service provider is the Austrian company World4You Internet Services GmbH, Hafenstraße 35, 4020 Linz, Austria. You can learn more about the data processed through the use of World4You in the privacy policy at https://www.world4you.com/de/unternehmen/datenschutzerklaerung.html.

Website Building Block Systems Introduction

Website Building Block Systems Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our service performance 📓 Processed data: Data such as technical usage information like browser activity, clickstream activity, session heatmaps as well as contact information, IP address or your geographical location. More details can be found below in this privacy policy and in the privacy policy of the providers. 📅 Storage duration: depends on provider ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent)

What are website building systems?

We use a website building system for our website. Modular systems are special forms of a content management system (CMS). With a modular system, website owners can create a website very easily and without programming skills. In many cases, web hosts also offer modular systems. Through the use of a modular system, personal data of you may also be collected, stored and processed. In this data protection text, we provide you with general information about data processing by modular systems. You can find more information in the provider’s privacy policy.

Why do we use website building systems for our website?

The biggest advantage of a modular system is its ease of use. We want to provide you with a clear, simple and concise 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 provide you with an informative and enjoyable time on our website.

What data is stored by a modular system?

Which data exactly is stored depends, of course, on the website builder system used. Each provider processes and collects different data from the website visitor. 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. Furthermore, tracking data (e.g. browser activity, clickstream activity, session heatmaps, etc.) may also be processed. In addition, personal data can also be collected and stored. This is mostly contact information such as email address, phone number (if you have provided it), IP address and geographic location data. You can find out exactly what 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 the data processing below in connection with the website construction system used, provided that we have further information on this. You can find detailed information about this in the provider’s privacy policy. In general, we process personal data only as long as it is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. It may be that the provider stores data from you according to its own specifications, over which we have no control.

Right of objection

You always have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can always contact the person in charge of the website building system used. Contact details can be found either in our privacy policy or on the website of the relevant provider.

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

Legal basis

We have a legitimate interest in using a website builder to optimize our online service and present it to you in an efficient and user-appealing manner. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use the construction kit if you have given your consent.

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

With this privacy policy we have brought you closer to the most important general information about data processing. If you would like more detailed information in this regard, you will find further information – if available – in the following section or in the provider’s privacy policy.

WordPress.com Privacy Policy

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

WordPress also processes data from you 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 transfers to the USA. This may be accompanied by various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

As a basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, thus especially in the USA) or a data transfer there, WordPress uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, WordPress 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 Data Processing Agreements, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

You can learn more about the data processed by using WordPress.com in the privacy policy at https://automattic.com/de/privacy/.

Web Analytics Introduction

Web Analytics Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offer. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics, which include data such as locations of accesses, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior, and IP addresses. You can find more details on this in the respective web analytics tool used. 📅 Storage duration: depending on the web analytics tool used. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is Web Analytics?

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

Why do we run web analytics?

With our website, we have a clear goal in mind: we want to deliver the best web offering on the market for our industry. To achieve this goal, we want to offer the best and most interesting offer on the one hand, and on the other hand, we want to make sure that you feel completely comfortable on our website. With the help of web analysis tools, we can take a closer look at the behavior of our website visitors and then improve our web offer 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 this information helps us to optimize the website and thus best adapt it to your needs, interests and wishes.

What data is processed?

Exactly what data is stored depends, of course, on the analysis tools used. But as a rule, for example, which content you view on our website, which buttons or links you click on, when you access a page, which browser you use, which device (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) you use to visit the website or which computer system you use is stored. If you agreed that location data may also be collected, these may also be processed by the web analytics tool provider.

In addition, 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 purpose of testing, web analysis and web optimization, in principle no direct data, such as your name, age, address or e-mail address are stored. All this data, if collected, is stored pseudonymously. This way 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 store data only for a few minutes or until you leave the website, other cookies can store data for several years.

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

Legal basis

The use of web analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. This consent represents according to Art. 6 par. 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur during the collection by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, there is a legitimate interest on our part in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offer technically and economically. With the help of web analytics, we can detect website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we use the tools only insofar as they have given 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 statements of the respective tools.

Information on specific web analytics tools, if any, is provided in the following sections.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

Google Analytics Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offer. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics, which include data such as locations of accesses, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior, and IP addresses. More details can be found below in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage duration: depending on the properties used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is Google Analytics?

We use the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) of the American company Google Inc. on our website. For the European area, 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. For example, when you click on a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. With the help of the reports we receive from Google Analytics, we can better tailor our website and service to your needs. In the following, we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and, in particular, inform you about what data is stored and how you can prevent it.

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

Google processes the data and we get reports about your user behavior. These may include, but are not limited to, the following reports:

• Target group reports: Through target group reports, we get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
• Ad reports: Ad reports make it easier for us to analyze and improve our online advertising.
• Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports give us helpful information on how to get more people interested in our service.
• Behavioral reports: This is where we learn how you interact with our website. We can track which path you take on our site and which links you click on.
• Conversion reports: Conversion is the name given to a process in which you take a desired action as a result of a marketing message. For example, if you go from being just a website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us learn more about how our marketing efforts are resonating with you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
• Real-time reports: Here we always find out immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

The statistically evaluated data gives us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimize our site to make it easier for interested people to find it on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. Thus, we know very well what we need to improve on our website in order to provide you with the best possible service. The data also serve us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures in a more individual 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 associated with your browser cookie. This is how Google Analytics recognizes you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a “returning” user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID. This is what makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles in the first place.

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

Identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs measure your interactions on our website. 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 via Google Analytics may be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not share Google Analytics data unless we, as the website owner, authorize it. Exceptions may occur when required by law.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Name: _ga
Wert: 2 .1326744211.152112049829-5
Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish the website visitors.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Wert: 2 .1687193234.152112049829-1
Purpose: The cookie is also used to distinguish the website visitors
Expiration date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
Value: 1
Intended use: Used to lower the request rate. When Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is named _dc_gtm_ <property-id>.
Expiration date: after 1 minute

Name: AMP_TOKEN
Value: no data
Purpose: The cookie has a token that can be used to retrieve a user ID from the AMP client ID service. Other possible values indicate a logout, a request, or an error.
Expiration date: after 30 seconds up to one year

Name: __utma
Wert: 1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
Purpose: This cookie can be used to track your behavior on the website and measure performance. The cookie is updated every time information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: __utmt
Value: 1
Purpose: The cookie is used like _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id> to throttle the request rate.
Expiration date: after 10 minutes

Name: __utmb
Value: 3 .10.1564498958
Purpose: This cookie is used to determine new sessions. It is updated every time new data or info is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiration date: after 30 minutes

Name: __utmc
Value: 167421564
Purpose: This cookie is used to set new sessions for returning visitors. This is a session cookie and is only stored until you close the browser again.
Expiration date: After closing the browser

Name: __utmz
Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
Purpose: The cookie is used to identify the source of traffic to our website. That is, the cookie stores from where you came to our website. This may have been another site or an advertisement.
Expiration date: after 6 months

Name: __utmv
Value: not specified
Purpose: The cookie is used to store custom user data. It is updated whenever information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Note: This list cannot claim to be complete, as Google also changes the choice of its cookies again and again.

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

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heatmaps. Via heatmaps you can see exactly those areas you click on. This way we get information where you are “traveling” on our site.

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

Bounce rate: A bounce rate is when you view only 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.

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

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

Technical information: Technical information may include your browser type, Internet service provider, or screen resolution.

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

Other data includes contact information, any ratings, playing media (such as when you play a video through our site), sharing content through social media, or adding to your favorites. The list does not claim to be complete and only serves as a general orientation of the data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has their servers spread all over the world. Most servers are located in America and consequently your data is mostly stored on American servers. You can find out exactly where Google’s data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed on different physical media. This has the advantage that the data can be retrieved more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. There are appropriate emergency programs for your data in every Google data center. For example, if Google’s hardware fails or natural disasters cripple servers, the risk of service interruption at Google still remains low.

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

For Universal Analytics properties, Google Analytics defaults to a retention period of 26 months for your user data. Then your user data will be deleted. However, we have the option to choose the retention period of user data. We have five variants available for this purpose:

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

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

Once the specified period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data associated with cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs (e.g. DoubleClick domain cookies). Reporting results are based on aggregated data and are stored independently of user data. Aggregated data is a merging of individual data into a larger unit.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to access, update, delete or restrict your data. Using the browser add-on to disable Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js) you prevent Google Analytics 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 disables data collection by Google Analytics.

If you basically want to disable, delete or manage cookies, you can find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers under the section “Cookies”.

Legal basis

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. This consent represents according to Art. 6 par. 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur during the collection by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors in order to improve our services technically and economically. With the help of Google Analytics, we can detect website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent.

Google also processes data from you 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 transfers to the USA. This may be accompanied by various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO) as the basis for data processing for recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a 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, Google 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 Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses and are also applicable to Google Analytics, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

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

Google Analytics reports on demographic characteristics and interests

We have turned on promotional reporting features in Google Analytics. The Demographic Characteristics and Interests reports include information on age, gender, and interests. This allows us – without being able to assign this data to individual persons – to get a better picture of our users. You can learn more about the advertising features 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” on https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated via checkbox.

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offer. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics, which include data such as locations of accesses, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior, and IP addresses. More details can be found below and in the Google Analytics privacy policy. 📅 Storage duration: depending on the properties used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is Google Site Kit?

We have integrated into our website the WordPress plugin Google Site Kit of the American company Google Inc. integrated. For the European area, 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 coming from various Google products like 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 privacy texts are relevant for you in this context.

Google Site Kit is a plugin for the WordPress content management system. This plugin allows us to view important website analytics statistics directly in our dashboard. These are statistics collected by other Google products. First and foremost from Google Analytics. In addition to Google Analytics, the Google Search Console, Page Speed Insight, Google AdSense, Google Optimize and Google Tag Manager services 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 give you the best possible experience on our website. You should feel comfortable on our website and find exactly what you are looking for quickly and easily. Statistical evaluations help us to get to know you better and to adapt our offer to your wishes and interests. We use various Google tools for these evaluations. Site Kit makes our work much easier in this regard, because we can view and analyze the statistics of Google products right in the dashboard. So we don’t have to register extra for the respective tool anymore. Site Kit thus always provides a good overview of the most important analysis data.

What data is stored by Google Site Kit?

If you have actively agreed 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. Among them, personal data such as your IP address is also stored.

For more detailed information on the individual services, we have separate text sections in this privacy policy. For example, see our privacy policy on Google Analytics. Here we go into great detail about the data collected. You will learn how long Google Analytics stores, manages and processes data, which cookies can be used and how you can prevent data storage. Likewise, we also have our own privacy statements with comprehensive information for other Google services such as Google Tag Manager or Google AdSense.

In the following, we show you exemplary Google Analytics cookies that can be set in your browser, provided that you have agreed in principle to data processing by Google. Please note that these cookies are only a selection:

Name: _ga
Wert:2.1326744211.152112049829-2
Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it serves to distinguish the website visitors.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Wert:2.1687193234.152112049829-7
Purpose: This cookie is also used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiration date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie is used to lower the request rate.
Expiration date: after 1 minute

How long and where is the data stored?

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

Data collected through Google Analytics is retained for a standard 26 months. Afterwards your user data will be deleted. The retention period applies to all data associated with cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You always have the right to obtain information about your data, to have your data deleted, corrected or restricted. In addition, you can also disable, delete or manage cookies in your browser at any time.

If you basically want to disable, delete or manage cookies, you can find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers under the section “Cookies”.

Legal basis

The use of Google Site Kit requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. This consent represents according to Art. 6 par. 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur during the collection by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors in order to improve our services technically and economically. With the help of Google Site Kit, we can detect website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Site Kit if you have given your consent.

Google also processes data from you 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 transfers to the USA. This may be accompanied by various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO) as the basis for data processing for recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a 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, Google 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 Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which also correspond to the standard contractual clauses for Google Site Kit, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

To learn more about Google’s data processing, we recommend that you read Google’s comprehensive privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Email marketing introduction

Email Marketing Summary 👥 Parties concerned: Newsletter subscribers 🤝 Purpose: direct advertising by e-mail, notification of system-relevant events. 📓 Processed data: Data entered during registration but at least the e-mail address. You can find more details on this in the respective email marketing tool used. 📅 Storage period: duration of the existence of the subscription ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests)

What is email marketing?

In order to keep you always up to date, we also use the possibility of e-mail marketing. If you have agreed to receive our e-mails or newsletters, your data will also be processed and stored. Email marketing is a subset of online marketing. This involves sending news or general information about a company, products or services by e-mail to a specific group of people who are interested in them.

If you want to participate in our e-mail marketing (mostly via newsletter), you usually just have to register with your e-mail address. To do this, fill out an online form and submit it. However, it may also happen that we ask you for your salutation and name, for example, so that we can also write to you personally.

Basically, subscribing to newsletters works with the help of the so-called “double opt-in procedure”. After signing up for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an email confirming your newsletter subscription. This ensures that the e-mail address belongs to you and that no one has registered with a third-party e-mail address. We or a notification tool we use logs each and every login. This is necessary so that we can also prove the legally correct registration process. As a rule, the time of registration, the time of registration confirmation and your IP address are stored. In addition, when you make changes to your stored data, this is also logged.

Why do we use email marketing?

Of course, we want to stay in touch with you and always present you the most important news about our company. To this end, we use, among other things, e-mail marketing – often just referred to as “newsletters” – as an essential part of our online marketing. If you agree or if permitted by law, 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 e-mails sent on a regular basis. Of course, we do not want to bother you in any way with our newsletters. That’s why we really always try to provide only relevant and interesting content. For example, you can learn more about our company, our services or products. Since we are always improving our offers, our newsletter will also let you know when there is news or when we are offering special, lucrative promotions. If we use a service provider that offers a professional mailing tool for our email marketing, we do so in order to be able to offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our e-mail marketing is basically to inform you about new offers and also to get closer to our corporate goals.

What data is processed?

When you become a subscriber to our newsletter through our website, you confirm by email that you are a member of an email list. In addition to IP address and e-mail address, your title, name, address and telephone number may also be stored. However, only if you agree to this data storage. The data marked as such are necessary for you to participate in the service offered. The information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will result in you not being able to use the service. In addition, information about your device or about your preferred content on our website may be stored. For more on storing data when you visit a website, see the “Automatic data storage” section. We record your declaration of consent so that we can always prove that this complies with our laws.

Duration of data processing

If you unsubscribe your email address from our email/newsletter distribution list, we may store your address for up to three years based on our legitimate interests so that we can still prove your consent at that time. We may only process this data if we need 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 object to the consent, we reserve the right to store your e-mail address in a blacklist. As long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course also keep your e-mail address.

Right of objection

You have the possibility to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. To do this, you only need to revoke your consent to the newsletter subscription. This normally takes only a few seconds or one or two clicks. Most of the time, you will find a link to cancel the newsletter subscription right at the end of each email. If you really can’t find the link in the newsletter, please contact us by mail and we will cancel your newsletter subscription immediately.

Legal basis

The sending of our newsletter is based on your consent (Article 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). This means that we may only send you a newsletter if you have actively signed up for it beforehand. If necessary, we may also send you advertising messages on the basis of § 7 para. 3 UWG, provided that you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your e-mail address for direct advertising.

Information about specific email marketing services and how they process personal data, if any, is provided in the following sections.

Messenger & Communication Introduction

Messenger & Communication Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Contact inquiries and general communication between us and you. 📓 Processed data: Data such as name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, general content data, IP address if applicable. You can find more details about this in the respective tools used. 📅 Storage duration: depending on the messenger & communication functions used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests), Art. 6 para. 1 p. 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, e-mail, telephone) to communicate with us. In the process, your data will also be processed and stored to the extent necessary to respond to your inquiry and our subsequent actions.

In addition to traditional means of communication such as e-mail, contact forms or telephone, we also use chats or messengers. Currently, the most commonly used messenger function 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 privacy policy of the respective provider. End-to-end encryption means nothing other than that the contents of a message are not visible even to the provider. However, information about your device, location settings and other technical data may still be processed and stored.

Why do we use messenger & communication features?

Communication possibilities with you are of great importance for us. Finally, 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 convenient messenger & communication features, you can always choose the ones you like the most. In exceptional cases, however, we may not be able to answer certain questions via chat or messenger. This is the case, for example, when it comes to internal contractual matters. Here we recommend other means of communication such as e-mail or telephone.

We generally assume that we remain responsible under data protection law, even if we use 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 reproduced below under the platform concerned.

Please note that when using our built-in elements, data from you may also be processed outside the European Union, as many providers, for example Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp are American companies. As a result, you may no longer be able to claim or enforce your rights with respect to your personal data as easily.

What data is processed?

Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective provider of the messenger & communication functions. Basically, this is data such as name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and content data such as any information you enter in a contact form. In most cases, information about your device and the IP address are also stored. Data collected via a messenger & communication function is also stored on the providers’ servers.

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

How long is data stored?

How long the data is processed and stored depends primarily on the tools we use. Further below you will learn more about the data processing of each tool. The privacy statements of the providers usually state exactly what data is stored and processed and for how long. In principle, personal data is only processed for as long as is necessary for the provision of our services. When data is stored in cookies, the storage time varies greatly. The data can be deleted immediately after leaving a website, but it can also remain stored for several years. Therefore, you should look at each cookie in detail if you want to know more about the 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 possibility to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, disabling or deleting cookies in your browser. For more information, please refer to the consent section.

Since Messenger & Communication features may 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 statements of the respective tools.

Legal basis

If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by integrated messenger & communication functions, this consent is considered the legal basis of the data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). We process your request and manage your data in the context of contractual or pre-contractual relationships in order to fulfill our pre-contractual and contractual obligations or to respond to requests. The basis for this is Art. 6 par. 1 p. 1 lit. b. GDPR. In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners, if consent has been given.

Social media introduction

Social Media Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimization of our service performance, contact with visitors, interested parties, etc., advertising. 📓 Processed data: Data such as phone numbers, email addresses, contact details, user behavior data, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details on this in the respective social media tool used. 📅 Storage duration: depending on the social media platforms used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is social media?

In addition to our website, we are also active on various social media platforms. In the process, user data may be processed so that we can target users who are interested in us via the social networks. In addition, elements of a social media platform may also be embedded directly in our website. This is the case, for example, when 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 logged-in members can produce content, share content openly or in specific 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 connect online. Our social media presences enable us to bring our products and services closer to prospective customers. The social media elements embedded on our website help you to quickly switch to our social media content without complications.

The data that is stored and processed through your use of a social media channel is primarily for the purpose of being able to perform 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, appropriate conclusions can be drawn about your interests with the help of the evaluated data and so-called user profiles can be created. This also allows the platforms to present you with tailored advertisements. Mostly, cookies are set in your browser for this purpose, which store data about your usage behavior.

We generally assume that we remain responsible under data protection law, even if we use 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 with the platform concerned.

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

What 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 phone numbers, email addresses, data 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 yourself have a profile on the visited social media channel and are logged in, data can be linked to your profile.

All data collected via a social media platform is also stored on the providers’ servers. Thus, only the providers have access to the data and can give you the appropriate information or make changes.

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

Since social media tools may 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 statements of the respective tools.

Legal basis

If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is considered the legal basis of the data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners, if consent has been given. Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data. That is why we recommend that you read our privacy text about cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

Facebook privacy policy

Facebook Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our service performance 📓 Processed data: Data such as customer data, user behavior data, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details about this below in the privacy policy. 📅 Storage duration: until the data is no longer useful for Facebook’s purposes. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (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 area 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 from you and forwarded via our embedded Facebook elements or via our Facebook page (Fanpage), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. are responsible for this. Facebook is solely responsible for the further processing of this data. Our shared commitments have also been embodied in a publicly available agreement at https://www.facebook.com/legal/controller_addendum. This states, for example, that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our site. Furthermore, we are also responsible for ensuring that the tools are securely integrated into our website in accordance with data protection law. Facebook, on the other hand, is responsible for the data security of Facebook products, for example. If you have any questions about data collection and processing by Facebook, you can contact the company directly. If you submit the question to us, we are required to forward it to Facebook.

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

Among 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 decided to just call them Facebook tools. Among them are:

• Facebook Pixel
• social plug-ins (such as the “Like” or “Share” button)
• Facebook Login
• Account Kit
• APIs (Application Programming Interface)
• SDKs (collection of programming tools)
• Platform integrations
• Plugins
• Codes
• Specifications
• Documentations
• Technologies and services

Through these tools, Facebook extends services and has the ability to obtain information about user activity 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. However, in order to show users suitable advertising, Facebook needs information about people’s wishes and needs. This provides the company with information about user behavior (and contact information) on our website. As a result, Facebook collects better user data and can show interested people the appropriate ads 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”. These are also used for measurement and analysis services. Facebook can thus generate “campaign reports” on our behalf about the impact of our advertising campaigns. Furthermore, through analytics we get a better insight into how you use our services, website or products. As a result, we use some of these tools to optimize your user experience on our website. For example, you can use the social plug-ins to share content on our site directly on Facebook.

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

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

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

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

In order to deliver ads in an optimized manner, Facebook only uses event data when it has been aggregated with other data (collected by Facebook in other ways). Facebook also uses this event data for security, safety, development, and research purposes. Much of this data is transferred to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are small text files used to store data or information in browsers. Depending on the tools you use and whether you are a Facebook member, different numbers of cookies are created in your browser. In the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools, we go into more detail about individual Facebook cookies. General information about the use of Facebook cookies can also be found 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 spread all over the world where its data is stored. However, customer data is deleted within 48 hours after it has been compared with the user’s own data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

A complete deletion of the data only occurs if you delete your Facebook account completely. And this is how deleting your Facebook account works:

1) Click Settings on the right side of Facebook.

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

3) Now click “Deactivation and deletion”.

4) Now select “Delete account” and then click “Next and delete account”.

5) Now enter your password, click “Next” and then click “Delete account”.

The storage of data that Facebook receives via our site takes place, among other things, via cookies (e.g. for social plugins). In your browser, you can disable, delete or manage individual or all cookies. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Under the section “Cookies” you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers.

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

Legal basis

If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent is considered the legal basis of the data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data. That is why we recommend that you read our privacy text about cookies carefully and view Facebook’s privacy policy or cookie policy.

Facebook also processes data from you 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 transfers to the USA. This may be accompanied by various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Facebook uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO) as the basis for data processing for recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a 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, 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

Facebook’s data processing terms and conditions, which comply with 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 Facebook tools. If you want to learn more about how Facebook uses your data, we recommend that you read the data policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Facebook Login Privacy Policy

We have integrated the convenient Facebook login on our site. So you can easily log in to us with your Facebook account without having to create another user account. If you choose to make your registration through the Facebook login, you will be redirected to the Facebook social media network. There, the login takes place via your Facebook user data. Through this login process, data about you or your user behavior is stored and transmitted to Facebook.

To store the data, Facebook uses various cookies. Below we show you the most important cookies that are set in your browser or already exist when you log in to our site via the Facebook login:

Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose: This cookie is used to make the social plugin on our website work in the best possible way.
Expiration date: after 3 months

Name: datr
Wert: 4Jh7XUA2112049829SEmPsSfzCOO4JFFl
Purpose: Facebook sets the “datr” cookie when a web browser accesses facebook.com, and the cookie helps identify login activity and protect users.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: _js_datr
Value: deleted
Purpose: This session cookie is set by Facebook for tracking purposes, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are logged out.
Expiration date: after end of session

Note: The cookies listed are only a small selection of the cookies available to Facebook. Other cookies are for example _ fbp, sb or wd. A complete list is not possible, since Facebook has a variety of cookies and uses them variably.

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

• Your Facebook name
• Your profile picture
• a deposited e-mail address
• Friends lists
• Buttons details (e.g. “Like” button)
• Birthday date
• Language
• Residence

In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activities on our website. This includes, among other things, information about the device you are using, which of our sub-pages you visit 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 want to learn more information about data processing by Facebook, we recommend that you read the Facebook privacy statement at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php?tid=112049829.

As long as 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 of the company Meta Platforms Inc. built in. You can recognize these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, such as the “Like” button (the hand with raised thumb) 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” button, share, send and quote
• Page plug-in
• Comments
• Messenger plug-in
• Embedded posts and video player
• Group plug-in

Visit https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins for more information on how to use each plug-in. We use the social plug-ins on the one hand to offer you a better user experience on our site, and on the other hand because Facebook can optimize our ads through them.

If you have a Facebook account or have visited https://www.facebook.com/ before, Facebook has already set at least one cookie in your browser. In this case, your browser sends information to Facebook via this cookie as soon as you visit our site or interact with social plug-ins (e.g. the “Like” button).

The information obtained is deleted or anonymized again within 90 days. According to Facebook, this data includes your IP address, which website you visited, the date, time and other information concerning your browser.

To prevent Facebook from collecting a lot of data during your visit to our website and connecting it with Facebook data, you must log out of Facebook while visiting the website.

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

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

Name: dpr
Value: not specified
Purpose: This cookie is used to enable the social plug-ins on our website to function.
Expiration date: after end of session

Name: fr
Wert: 0jieyh4112049829c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose: The cookie is also necessary for the plug-ins to work properly.
Expiration date:: after 3 months

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

As long as 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 basically manage your usage-based online advertising on https://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/?tid=112049829. There you have the option to disable or enable providers.

If you want to learn more about Facebook’s privacy policy, we recommend that you read the company’s own data policy at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php?tip=112049829.

Blogs and publication media Introduction

Blogs and Publication Media Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimization of our service performance as well as communication between website visitors, security measures and administration. 📓 Processed data: Data such as contact details, IP address and published content. You can find more details about this in the tools used. 📅 Storage duration: depending on the tools used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests), Art. 6 para. 1 p. 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 on the one hand and you can communicate with us on the other hand. In the process, data from you may also be stored and processed by us. This may be necessary so that we can present content appropriately, communication works and security is increased. In our data protection text, we go into general detail about what data can be processed from you. Exact data processing details always also depend on the tools and functions used. You will find detailed information about data processing in the data protection notices of the individual providers.

Why do we use blogs and publication media?

Our biggest concern with our website is to provide you with interesting and exciting content and at the same time your opinions and content are important to us. That’s why we want to create a good interactive exchange between us and you. With various blogs and publication opportunities, we can do just that. For example, you can post comments on our content, comment on other comments, or in some cases, post yourself.

What data is processed?

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

Since cookies may also be used with 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 statements of the respective tools.

Legal basis

We use the communication tools mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in a fast and good communication with you or other customers, business partners and visitors. Insofar as the use serves the settlement of contractual relationships or their initiation, the legal basis is furthermore Art. 6 para. 1 p. 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 to data about you being processed and stored by integrated publication media, this consent shall be deemed to be the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). Most of the communication features we use set cookies in your browser to store data. That is why we recommend that you read our privacy text about cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

Online marketing introduction

Online Marketing Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offer. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics, which include data such as locations of accesses, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior, and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or e-mail address can also be processed. You can find more details on this in the respective online marketing tool used. 📅 Storage duration: depending on the online marketing tools used. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is online marketing?

Online marketing refers to all measures carried out online to achieve marketing goals such as increasing brand awareness or closing a deal. Furthermore, our online marketing measures are aimed at drawing people’s attention to our website. So, in order to be able to show our offer to many interested people, we do online marketing. Mostly, this involves online advertising, content marketing or search engine optimization. To enable us to use online marketing efficiently and in a targeted manner, personal data is also stored and processed. On the one hand, the data helps us to show our content only to those people who are really 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 every person who is interested in our offer. We are aware that this is not possible without deliberately set measures. That’s why we do online marketing. There are various tools that make it easier for us to work on our online marketing measures and, in addition, always provide suggestions for improvement via data. This allows us to target our campaigns more precisely to our target group. The purpose of these online marketing tools is therefore ultimately to optimize our offering.

What data is processed?

In order for our online marketing to work and the success of the measures to be measured, user profiles are created and data is stored in cookies (these are small text files), for example. With the help of this data, we can not only place advertisements in the classical sense, but also directly on our website, display our content in the way you prefer. For this purpose, there are various third-party tools that offer these functions and accordingly also collect and store data from you. The named cookies store, for example, which web pages you have visited on our website, how long you have viewed these pages, which links or buttons you click or from which website you have come to us. In addition, technical information can also be stored. For example, your IP address, which browser you are using, from which device you are visiting 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 may 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 e-mail address, is also only stored in pseudonymized form as part of the advertising and online marketing processes. So we cannot identify you as a person, we only have the pseudonymized stored information in the user profiles.

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

In exceptional cases, unique data (name, mail address, etc.) may 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 any advertising tools we use that stores data about you on their servers, we only ever receive aggregate information and never data that identifies you as an individual. The data only show how well placed advertising measures worked. For example, we see what actions have led you or other users to come to our website and purchase a service or product. Based on the analyses, we can improve our advertising offer in the future and adapt it even more precisely to the needs and wishes of interested persons.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of the data processing below, provided that we have further information on this. In general, we process personal data only as long as it is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. Data that is stored in cookies is stored for different lengths of time. Some cookies are already deleted after leaving the website, others may be stored in your browser for several years. The respective privacy statements of the individual providers usually provide you with detailed information about the individual cookies used by the provider.

Right of objection

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

Since online marketing tools may generally 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 statements of the respective tools.

Legal basis

If you have consented that third party providers may be used, the legal basis of the corresponding data processing is this consent. This consent represents according to Art. 6 par. 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when collected through online marketing tools.

We also have a legitimate interest in measuring online marketing measures in anonymized form in order to optimize our offering and our measures with the help of the data obtained. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 par. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.

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

Security & Anti-Spam

Security & Anti-Spam Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: cybersecurity 📓 Processed data: Data such as your IP address, name or technical data such as browser version. More details can be found below and in the individual data protection texts. 📅 Storage period: most of the time, the data is stored until it is no longer required for the fulfillment of the service ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is Security & Anti-Spam Software?

With so-called security & anti-spam software, you can protect yourself and us from various spam or phishing emails and possible other cyberattacks. Spam means advertising mails from a mass mailing that you did not ask for yourself. Such mails are also called data garbage and can also cause costs. Phishing emails are again messages that aim to build trust via fake news or websites in order to obtain personal data. Anti-spam software usually protects against unwanted spam messages or malicious mails that could introduce viruses into our system, for example. 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 is not only our safety that is at stake, but above all yours. Unfortunately, cyber threats have become part of everyday life in the world of IT and the Internet. Hackers often try to steal personal data from an IT system with the help of a cyberattack. And therefore a good defense system is absolutely necessary. A security system monitors all incoming and outgoing connections to our network or computer. In order to achieve even greater security against cyber-attacks, we also use other external security services in addition to the standardized security systems on our computer. Unauthorized traffic of data is thus better prevented and thus we protect ourselves from cybercrime.

What data is processed by security & anti-spam software?

Exactly what data is collected and stored depends, of course, on the service in question. However, we always try to use only programs that collect data very sparingly or store only data that is necessary for the fulfillment of the offered service. Basically, the service can store data such as name, address, IP address, e-mail address and technical data such as browser type or browser version. Also, any performance and log data can be collected to detect possible incoming threats in time. This data is processed within the scope of the Services and in compliance with applicable laws. This also includes the GDPR for US providers (via the standard contractual clauses). These security services also work in some cases with third party vendors who may store and/or process data under instruction and in accordance with privacy policies and other security measures. The data storage is mostly done via cookies.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of the data processing below, provided that we have further information on this. 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 is absolutely necessary for the provision of the services. In many cases, we unfortunately lack precise information from the providers about the length of storage.

Right of objection

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

Since cookies may also be used with such security services, 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 statements of the respective tools.

Legal basis

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

Certain processing, in particular the use of cookies and the use of security functions require your consent. If you have consented that data of you can be processed and stored by integrated security services, this consent is considered the legal basis of the data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). Most of the services we use set cookies in your browser to store data. That is why we recommend that you read our privacy text about cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

All texts are protected by copyright.

Source: Created with the privacy generator from AdSimple