Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Table of contents

• Introduction and Overview
• scope
• Legal basis
• Contact details of the responsible party
• Storage duration
• Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation
• Data transfer to third countries
• Data processing security
• communication
• Cookies
• Web hosting introduction
• Website Building Blocks Introduction
• Google Analytics Privacy Policy
• Facebook Privacy Policy
• Social Media Introduction
• Online Marketing Introduction
• Cookie Consent Management Platform Introduction
• YouTube Privacy Policy
• Other Introduction

Introduction and Overview

We have prepared this privacy policy (version 04.02.2022-121940270) to inform you in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws explain which personal data (hereinafter referred to as "data") we, as data controllers – and the data processors we have engaged (e.g., providers) – process, will process in the future, and what legal options you have. The terms used are to be understood as gender-neutral.
In short: We will provide you with comprehensive information about the data we process about you.

Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal jargon. This privacy policy, however, aims to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. Where it promotes transparency, technical details will be avoided. Terms explained in a reader-friendly way, Left further information is offered and Graphics We have implemented this policy. We are informing you in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the course of our business activities when there is a corresponding legal basis. This is certainly not possible if one provides the briefest, vague, and overly technical legal explanations that are often standard practice on the internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative, and perhaps you will find some information here that you were not previously aware of.
If you still have questions, please contact the responsible party listed below or in the legal notice, follow the provided links, and consult further information on third-party websites. Our contact details can also be found in the legal notice.

scope

This privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by us within our company and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (data processors). Personal data, as defined in Article 4 No. 1 GDPR, refers to information such as a person's name, email address, and postal address. The processing of personal data enables us to offer and bill for our services and products, whether online or offline. The scope of this privacy policy includes:

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

In short: This privacy policy applies to all areas where personal data is processed in a structured manner within the company via the aforementioned channels. Should we enter into a legal relationship 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 bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, that allow us to process personal data.
Regarding EU law, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 April 2016. You can, of course, access this EU General Data Protection Regulation online at EUR-Lex, your gateway to EU law. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679 Read more.

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

1. consent (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of your entered data from a contact form.
2. Contract (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR): We process your data in order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you. For example, if we conclude a purchase agreement with you, we need personal information beforehand.
3. Legal obligation (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR): We process your data when we are subject to a legal obligation. For example, we are legally required to retain invoices for accounting purposes. These typically contain personal data.
4. Legitimate interests (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not infringe your fundamental rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we need to process certain data to operate our website securely and economically. This processing therefore constitutes a legitimate interest.

Other conditions, such as the recording of images in the public interest, the exercise of public authority, or the protection of vital interests, do not generally apply in our case. If such a legal basis should apply, it will be indicated at the relevant point.

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

• In Austria This is the Federal Act on the Protection of Natural Persons with regard to the Processing of Personal Data (Data Protection Act), short DSG.
• In Germany Does this apply? Federal Data Protection Act, short BDSG.

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

Contact details of the responsible party

Should you have any questions regarding data protection, you will find the contact details of the responsible person or body below:
Check Handels GmbH
Marktstrasse 8
9130 Poggersdorf
Austria

E-mail: office@anhaenger-zentrum.at
Phone: +43 660 77 88 99 8
Imprint: https://www.das-anhängerzentrum.at/impressum/

Storage duration

We generally adhere to the principle that we only store personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for providing our services and products. This means that we delete personal data as soon as the reason for processing it no longer exists. In some cases, we are legally obligated to retain certain data even after the original purpose has ceased to exist, for example, for accounting purposes.

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

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

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

According to Article 13 of the GDPR, you have the following rights to ensure fair and transparent data processing:

• According to Article 15 of the GDPR, you have the right to information about whether we process your data. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and the following information:
  • for what purpose we carry out the processing;
  • the categories, i.e. the types of data that are processed;
  • who receives this data and, if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;
  • how long the data will be stored;
  • the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
  • that you can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
  • the origin of the data if we did not collect it from you;
  • whether profiling is carried out, i.e., whether data is automatically evaluated to create a personal profile of you.
• According to Article 16 of the GDPR, you have a right to rectification of your data, which means that we must correct any data you find.
• According to Article 17 of the GDPR, you have the right to erasure („right to be forgotten“), which specifically means that you can request the deletion of your data.
• According to Article 18 GDPR, you have the right to restrict processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it 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 commonly used format upon request.
• According to Article 21 GDPR, you have the right to object, which, if exercised, will result in a change to the processing.
  • If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you can object to the processing. We will then examine as quickly as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
  • If your data is used for direct marketing purposes, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We will then no longer be permitted to use your data for direct marketing.
  • If data is used for profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We will then no longer be permitted to use your data for profiling.
• 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).

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

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that your data protection rights have been infringed in any other way, you can lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority. In Austria, this is the Data Protection Authority, whose website you can find at [website address]. https://www.dsb.gv.at/ You can find them here. In Germany, each federal state has a data protection officer. For more information, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) Please contact us. The following local data protection authority is responsible for our company:

Austrian Data Protection Authority

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

Data transfer to third countries

We only transfer or process data in countries outside the EU (third countries) if you consent to this processing, if it is required by law or contractually necessary, and in any case only to the extent generally permitted. Your consent is, in most cases, the primary reason we allow data to be processed in third countries. Processing personal data in third countries, such as the USA, where many software companies offer services and have their servers, can mean that personal data may be processed and stored in unexpected ways.

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

We will inform you in more detail about data transfers to third countries at the relevant points in this privacy policy, if applicable.

Data processing security

To protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organizational measures. Where possible, we encrypt or pseudonymize personal data. This makes it as difficult as possible, within our means, for third parties to infer personal information from our data.

Article 25 of the GDPR refers to "data protection by design and by default," meaning that security must always be considered and appropriate measures implemented for both software (e.g., forms) and hardware (e.g., access to the server room). We will discuss specific measures below, if necessary.

TLS encryption with https

TLS, encryption, and HTTPS sound very technical, and they are. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to transmit data securely over the internet.
This means that the entire transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secure – nobody can “listen in”.

This has introduced an additional layer of security and ensures data protection through technology design. Article 25 paragraph 1 GDPRBy using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data.
You can recognize the use of this data transmission protection by the small lock symbol. top left in the browser, to the left of the internet address (e.g. examplepage.de) and the use of the scheme https (instead of http) as part of our internet address.
If you would like to learn more about encryption, we recommend searching Google for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to find good links to further information.

communication

When you contact us and communicate via telephone, email or online form, personal data may be processed.

The data will be processed for the purpose of handling and processing your inquiry and the associated business transaction. The data will be stored for as long as required by law.

Affected persons

The aforementioned processes affect everyone who contacts us via the communication channels we provide.

phone

When you call us, the call data is stored pseudonymously on your device and with your telecommunications provider. Additionally, data such as your name and phone number may be sent via email and stored for the purpose of responding to your inquiry. This data will be deleted as soon as the matter is resolved and legal requirements permit.

e-mail

When you communicate with us via email, data may be stored on your device (computer, laptop, smartphone, etc.) and on our email server. This data will be deleted once the business transaction is complete and legal requirements permit.

Online forms

When you communicate with us via online form, data is stored on our web server and may be forwarded to an email address provided by us. The data is deleted as soon as the business transaction has been completed and legal requirements permit.

Legal basis

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

• Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent): You give us your consent to store your data and to use it further for purposes relating to the business transaction;
• Article 6 paragraph 1 letter b GDPR (contract): The processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or a data processor such as the telephone provider, or we need to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as preparing an offer;
• Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (Legitimate Interests): We want to handle customer inquiries and business communication in a professional manner. This requires certain technical equipment such as email programs, Exchange servers, and mobile network operators to ensure efficient communication.

Cookies

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 is undeniable: cookies are truly useful tools. Almost all websites use cookies. More precisely, they are HTTP cookies, as there are other types of cookies for different applications. HTTP cookies are small files that our website stores on your computer. These cookie files are automatically placed in the cookie folder, essentially 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, such as your language preferences or personal website settings. When you revisit our site, your browser sends this user-related information back to us. Thanks to cookies, our website recognizes you and provides your preferred settings. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, while in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.

The following graphic illustrates a possible interaction between a web browser, such as Chrome, and a web server. The web browser requests a website and receives a cookie from the server, which the browser then reuses whenever another page is requested.

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

This is what cookie data might look like, for example:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152121940270-9
Purpose of use: Differentiation of website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

These are the minimum sizes a browser should be able to support:

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

What types of cookies are there?

The specific cookies we use depend on the services used and are explained in the following sections of the privacy policy. At this point, we would like to briefly discuss the different types of HTTP cookies.

There are four types of cookies:

Essential cookies
These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functionality of the website. For example, these cookies are needed when a user adds a product to their shopping cart, then continues browsing other pages, and only later proceeds to checkout. These cookies prevent the shopping cart from being emptied, even if the user closes their browser window.

Functional cookies
These cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages. They also measure loading times and the website's performance across different browsers.

Targeted cookies
These cookies improve user-friendliness. For example, they save entered locations, font sizes, or form data.

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

Typically, when you first visit a website, you will be asked which types of cookies you wish to allow. And of course, this decision is also stored in a cookie.

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

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the specific cookie. More details can be found below or on the website of the software provider that sets the cookie.

What data is processed?

Cookies are small tools that help with many different tasks. Unfortunately, it's impossible to generalize about what data is stored in cookies, but we will inform you about the data processed and stored in the following privacy policy.

Storage duration of cookies

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

You also have control over the storage duration. 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 you withdraw your consent, whereby the lawfulness of the storage remains unaffected until then.

Right to object – how can I delete cookies?

You decide how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of the service or website the cookies originate from, you always have the option to delete, disable, or partially allow cookies. For example, you can block third-party cookies but allow all others.

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

Chrome: Delete, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Deleting and managing cookies

If you generally don't want to allow cookies, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide whether to allow each individual cookie. The procedure varies depending on the browser. The best way to find instructions is to search on Google using the keywords "delete cookies Chrome" or "disable cookies Chrome" if you are using the Chrome browser.

Legal basis

The so-called "Cookie Directive" has been in effect since 2009. It stipulates that storing cookies is a consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR) requires your consent. However, reactions to these guidelines vary considerably across EU countries. In Austria, this directive was implemented in Section 96(3) of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). In Germany, the cookie guidelines were not transposed into national law. Instead, they were largely implemented in Section 15(3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG).

Strictly necessary cookies exist, even where no consent has been given. legitimate interests (Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to provide visitors to the website with a pleasant user experience, and certain cookies are often absolutely necessary for this.

Unless strictly necessary, cookies are only used with your consent. The legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(a) GDPR.

The following sections will provide you with more detailed information about the use of cookies, if the software used employs cookies.

Web hosting introduction

What is web hosting?

When you visit websites these days, certain information – including personal data – is automatically generated and stored, and this website is no exception. This data should be processed as sparingly as possible and only with justification. By "website," we mean all web pages on a domain, i.e., everything from the homepage to the very last subpage (like this one). By "domain," we mean, for example, example.de or sample.com.

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

This web browser needs to connect to another computer where the website's code is stored: the web server. Operating a web server is a complex and time-consuming task, which is why it's usually handled by professional providers, or hosting providers. These providers offer web hosting and thus ensure the reliable and error-free storage of website data.

When your browser connects to the web server (desktop, laptop, smartphone) and during data transmission 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 certain period of time to ensure proper operation.

To illustrate:

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of data processing are:

1. Professional website hosting and operational security
2. to maintain operational and IT security
3. Anonymous analysis of access behavior to improve our services and, if necessary, for law enforcement or pursuit of claims.

What data is processed?

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

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

How long is data stored?

The data mentioned above is generally stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not share this data, but we cannot rule out the possibility that authorities may access it in the event of unlawful activity.

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

Legal basis

The lawfulness of processing personal data in the context of web hosting is based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (safeguarding legitimate interests), because the use of professional hosting from a provider is necessary to present the company securely and user-friendly on the internet and to be able to pursue attacks and claims arising therefrom.

We and the hosting provider usually have a data processing agreement in accordance with Art. 28 f. GDPR, which ensures compliance with data protection and guarantees data security.

World4You Privacy Policy

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

Website Building Blocks Introduction

What are website builder systems?

We use a website builder for our website. Website builders are a specific type of content management system (CMS). With a website builder, website operators can easily create a website without any programming knowledge. In many cases, web hosting providers also offer website builders. Using a website builder may also result in the collection, storage, and processing of your personal data. This privacy policy provides you with general information about data processing by website builders. You can find more detailed information in the provider's privacy policy.

Why do we use website builder systems for our website?

The biggest advantage of a modular website system is its ease of use. We want to offer you a clear, simple, and user-friendly website that we can easily operate and maintain ourselves – without external support. Modular systems now offer many helpful features 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 experience on our website.

What data is stored by a modular system?

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

How long and where will the data be stored?

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below in connection with the website builder system we use, provided we have further information on this. You can find detailed information about this in the provider's privacy policy. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. The provider may store your data according to their own policies, over which we have no control.

Right to object

You always have the right to access, correct, and delete your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the responsible party for the website builder system at any time. Contact details can be found either in our privacy policy or on the website of the respective provider.

You can delete, disable, or manage cookies used by providers for their functions in your browser. The process varies depending on the browser you use. Please note, however, that some functions may no longer work as expected.

Legal basis

We have a legitimate interest in using a website builder to optimize our online service and present it to you efficiently and in a user-friendly manner. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the website builder if you have given your consent.

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

This privacy policy provides you with the most important general information about data processing. If you would like more detailed information, you can find further details – if available – in the following section or in the provider's privacy policy.

WordPress.com Privacy Policy

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

WordPress processes your data, including in the USA. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

WordPress uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as the basis for data processing by recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e., in particular the USA) or for data transfers to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige WordPress to maintain 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 European 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 find out more about the data processed through the use of WordPress.com in the privacy policy on [website address]. https://automattic.com/de/privacy/.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

What is Google Analytics?

We use the Google Analytics (GA) tracking tool from the American company Google Inc. on our website. For the European Economic Area, 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, if you click on a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. The reports we receive from Google Analytics help us to better tailor our website and services to your needs. Below, we explain the tracking tool in more detail, focusing on what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Google Analytics is a tracking tool used to analyze website traffic. For Google Analytics to function, a tracking code is embedded in our website's code. When you visit our website, this code records various actions you perform. Once you leave our website, this data is sent to and stored on Google Analytics servers.

Google processes the data and we receive reports about your user behavior. These may include, among other things, 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 help us to analyze and improve our online advertising more easily.
• Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports give us helpful information about how we can attract more people to our service.
• Behavior reports: Here we learn how you interact with our website. We can track your path on our site and which links you click.
• Conversion reports: A conversion is a process where you perform a desired action as a result of a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a website visitor to a customer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us understand how our marketing efforts are performing for you, which is how we aim to increase our conversion rate.
• Real-time reports: Here we always know immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

The statistically analyzed data gives us a clear picture of our website's strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that it's easier for interested people to find it on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us understand you, our visitors, better. We therefore know exactly what we need to improve on our website to offer you the best possible service. The data also helps us to make our advertising and marketing efforts more targeted and cost-effective. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

What data does Google Analytics store?

Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID that is linked to your browser cookie. This allows Google Analytics to recognize you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a returning user. All collected data is stored along with this user ID. This is what makes it possible to analyze pseudonymous user profiles.

To analyze our website with Google Analytics, a property ID must be inserted into the tracking code. The data is then stored in the corresponding property. For every newly created property, the Google Analytics 4 property is used by default. Alternatively, you can also create the Universal Analytics property. Data is stored for varying lengths of time depending on the property used.

Your interactions on our website are measured using identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs. Interactions are all types of actions 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 operator, authorize it. Exceptions may occur if required by law.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Name: _ga
Value: 2.1326744211.152121940270-5
Purpose of use: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. This is primarily used to distinguish between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152121940270-1
Purpose of use: The cookie is also used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_
Value: 1
Purpose of use: Used to reduce the request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is named _dc_gtm_. .
Expiry date: after 1 minute

Name: AMP_TOKEN
Value: not specified
Purpose of use: The cookie contains 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.
Expiry date: from 30 seconds to a year

Name: __utma
Value: 1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
Purpose of use: This cookie allows us to track your behavior on the website and measure its performance. The cookie is updated every time information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: __utmt
Value: 1
Purpose of use: The cookie is named like _gat_gtag_UA_ Used to throttle the request rate.
Expiry date: after 10 minutes

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

Name: __utmc
Value: 167421564
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to establish new sessions for returning visitors. It is a session cookie and is only stored until you close your browser.
Expiry date: After closing the browser

Name: __utmz
Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to identify the source of visitor traffic to our website. In other words, the cookie stores where you came from. This could have been another website or an advertisement.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Name: __utmv
Value: not specified
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to store user-specific data. It is updated whenever information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Note: This list is not exhaustive, as Google frequently changes its choice of cookies.

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

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heatmaps. These heatmaps show exactly which areas you click on. This gives us information about where you are on our website.

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

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

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 displayed in abbreviated form so that no unique identification is possible.

Location: Your country and approximate location can be determined via your IP address. This process is also known as IP geolocation.

Technical information: Technical information includes, among other things, your browser type, your internet service provider, and your screen resolution.

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

Other data collected includes contact information, any ratings, media playback (e.g., when you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media, or adding items to your favorites. This list is not exhaustive and serves only as a general guide to data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where will the data be stored?

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

Your data is distributed across various physical storage devices. This has the advantage of faster data retrieval and better protection against manipulation. Each Google data center has corresponding emergency backup programs for your data. Even if, for example, Google's hardware fails or natural disasters disable servers, the risk of a service interruption at Google remains low.

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

For Universal Analytics properties, Google Analytics has a default user data retention period of 26 months. After this period, your user data is deleted. However, we have the option to choose the user data retention period ourselves. We have five options available for this:

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

Additionally, there is the option to have data deleted only if you do not visit our website within the period we have selected. 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 that is linked to cookies, user recognition, and advertising IDs (e.g., cookies from the DoubleClick domain). Report results are based on aggregated data and are stored separately from user data. Aggregated data is a combination of individual data points 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 the processing of your data. You can prevent Google Analytics from using your data by using the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js). You can find the browser add-on at [link to add-on]. https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de Download and install. Please note that this add-on only disables data collection by Google Analytics.

If you wish to disable, delete or manage cookies in general, you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions for the most well-known browsers under the section "Cookies".

Legal basis

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we obtained via our cookie popup. According to [the relevant legislation/regulation], this consent constitutes [the following]. Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent) This represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as that which may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing website visitor behavior to improve our services both technically and economically. Google Analytics helps us identify website errors, detect attacks, and improve efficiency. The legal basis for this is... Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (Legitimate interests). We only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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 also apply to Google Analytics, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

We hope we have provided you with the most important information regarding data processing by Google Analytics. If you would like 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 demographics and interests

We have enabled advertising reporting features in Google Analytics. The demographic and interest reports provide information about age, gender, and interests. This allows us to gain a better understanding of our users without being able to attribute this data to individual persons. You can learn more about advertising features at [link to Google Analytics website]. https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=de_AT&utm_id=ad.

You can control the use of your Google account activity and information under “Ad settings”. https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated End via checkbox.

Google Analytics opt-out link

If you are on the following Deactivation link Clicking this link will prevent Google from tracking further visits to this website. Please note: Deleting cookies, using your browser's incognito/private mode, or using a different browser will result in data collection resuming.

Disable Google Analytics

Google Analytics IP anonymization

We have implemented IP address anonymization for Google Analytics on this website. This feature was developed by Google to ensure that this website complies with applicable data protection regulations and the recommendations of local data protection authorities, particularly where the storage of complete IP addresses is prohibited. The anonymization or masking of the IP address takes place as soon as the IP addresses arrive in the Google Analytics data collection network and before any data is stored or processed.

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

Google Analytics Data Processing Amendment

We have entered into a direct customer agreement with Google for the use of Google Analytics by accepting the “Data Processing Amendment” in Google Analytics.

You can find more information about the data processing amendment for Google Analytics here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3379636?hl=de&utm_id=ad

Facebook Privacy Policy

What are Facebook tools?

We use selected tools from Facebook on our website. Facebook is a social media network operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. These tools allow us to provide you and others interested in our products and services with the best possible experience.

If data about you is collected and forwarded via our embedded Facebook elements or our Facebook page (fan page), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. are responsible for this. Facebook is solely responsible for the further processing of this data. Our joint obligations are also set out in a publicly available agreement at [link to agreement]. https://www.facebook.com/legal/controller_addendum This is enshrined in our data protection policy. It stipulates, for example, that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our website. Furthermore, we are responsible for ensuring that these tools are integrated into our website in a data protection-compliant manner. Facebook, on the other hand, is responsible for the data security of its products. If you have any questions regarding data collection and processing by Facebook, you can contact the company directly. If you direct your question to us, we are obligated to forward it to Facebook.

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

In addition to many other products, Facebook also offers the so-called "Facebook Business Tools." This is Facebook's official name. However, since the term is hardly known, we have decided to simply call them Facebook Tools. These include, among other things:

• Facebook Pixel
• social plug-ins (such as the "Like" or "Share" button)
• Facebook Login
• Account Kit
• APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
• SDKs (Collection of programming tools)
• Platform integrations
• Plugins
• Codes
• Specifications
• Documentation
• Technologies and services

These tools allow Facebook to expand its services and 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 genuinely interested. Facebook ads allow us to reach precisely these people. However, to show users relevant ads, Facebook needs information about their needs and desires. Therefore, we provide the company with information about user behavior (and contact details) on our website. This allows Facebook to gather better user data and show interested people relevant ads for our products and services. These tools thus enable tailored advertising campaigns on Facebook.

Facebook refers to data about your behavior on our website as "event data." This data is also used for measurement and analytics services. Facebook can then create "campaign reports" on our behalf about the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns. Furthermore, these analyses give us a better understanding of how you use our services, website, or products. We use some of these tools to optimize your user experience on our website. For example, you can use social plugins to share content from our site directly on Facebook.

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

Using certain Facebook tools may result in personal data (customer data) being sent to Facebook. Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number, and IP address may be transmitted.

Facebook uses this information to match the data it already holds about you (if you are a Facebook member). Before customer data is transmitted to Facebook, it undergoes a process called "hashing." This means that any data set of any size is transformed into a string of characters. This also serves to encrypt the data.

In addition to contact information, "event data" is also transmitted. "Event data" refers to information we receive about you on our website, such as which subpages you visit or which products you purchase. Facebook does not share this information with third parties (such as advertisers) unless it has explicit permission or is legally obligated to do so. "Event data" can also be linked to contact information. This allows Facebook to offer more personalized advertising. After the aforementioned matching process, Facebook deletes the contact data.

To optimize ad delivery, Facebook uses event data only when it has been combined with other data (collected by Facebook through other means). Facebook also uses this event data for security, protection, development, and research purposes. Much of this data is transferred to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are small text files used to store data and information in browsers. Depending on the tools used and whether you are a Facebook member, a varying number of cookies will be placed in your browser. We provide more detailed information about individual Facebook cookies in the descriptions of the various Facebook tools. You can also find general information about the use of Facebook cookies on [link to Facebook's cookie policy]. https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies.

How long and where will the data be stored?

Generally, Facebook stores data until it is no longer needed for its own services and products. Facebook has servers distributed around the world where its data is stored. However, customer data is deleted within 48 hours after it has been matched with the company's own user data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right to access, rectification, portability and erasure of your data.

Your data will only be completely deleted if you delete your Facebook account entirely. Here's how to delete your Facebook account:

1) Click on Settings on the right side of Facebook.

2) Next, click on „Your Facebook Information“ in the left column.

3) Now click “Deactivation and Deletion”.

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

5) Now enter your password, click "Next" and then "Delete account".„

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

If you generally do not want to allow cookies, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide whether to allow each individual cookie or not.

Legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing. (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest. (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) The data is stored and processed to enable fast and effective communication with you, other customers, and business partners. However, we only use these tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also use cookies in your browser to store data. Therefore, we recommend that you carefully read our privacy policy regarding cookies and review Facebook's privacy statement or cookie policy.

Facebook also processes your data in the USA. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Facebook uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Facebook to maintain 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 European 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, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

We hope we have provided you with the most important information about the use and processing of data by Facebook tools. If you would like to learn more about how Facebook uses your data, we recommend that you read the data policy on [link to Facebook's data policy]. https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Facebook Login Privacy Policy

We've integrated the convenient Facebook Login into our website. This allows you to easily log in with your Facebook account without having to create a separate user account. If you choose to register via Facebook Login, you will be redirected to the Facebook social media network. There, you will be logged in using your Facebook user credentials. This login process involves the storage and transmission of data about you and your user behavior to Facebook.

To store 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 Facebook:

Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to ensure that the social plugin on our website works as well as possible.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Name: datr
Value: 4Jh7XUA2121940270SEmPsSfzCOO4JFFl
Purpose of use: Facebook sets the “datr” cookie when a web browser accesses facebook.com, and the cookie helps to identify login activity and protect users.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

Note: The cookies listed are just a small selection of those available to Facebook. Other cookies include, for example, _fbp, sb, and wd. A complete list is not possible, as Facebook uses a large number of cookies and employs them variably.

Facebook Login offers you a quick and easy registration process, while also allowing us to share data with Facebook. This enables us to better tailor our offers and promotions to your interests and needs. The data we receive from Facebook in this way is public data such as...

• Your Facebook name
• Your profile picture
• a registered email address
• Friend lists
• Button information (e.g., "Like" button)
• Date of birth
• Language
• Place of residence

In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activity on our website. This includes information about your device, which subpages you visit, and which products you have purchased from us.

By using Facebook Login, you consent to data processing. You can revoke this consent at any time. If you would like more information about data processing by Facebook, we recommend that you read the Facebook Data Policy at [link to Facebook Data Policy]. https://www.facebook.com/policy.php?tid=121940270.

If you are logged into Facebook, you can adjust your ad settings at https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/advertisers/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen change yourself.

Facebook Social Plugins Privacy Policy

Our website uses social plugins from Facebook Inc. You can recognize these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, such as the "Like" button (the hand with a raised thumb), or by a clear "Facebook Plugin" label. A social plugin is a small part of Facebook that is integrated into our site. Each plugin has its own function. The most frequently used functions are the familiar "Like" and "Share" buttons.

The following social plugins are offered by Facebook:

• “Save” button
• “Like” button, share, send and quote
• Page plug-in
• Comments
• Messenger plug-in
• Embedded posts and video players
• Group plug-in

On https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins You will find more detailed information on how the individual plugins are used. We use social plugins both to offer you a better user experience on our site and because Facebook can use them to optimize our advertising.

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

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

To prevent Facebook from collecting and linking a lot of data during your visit to our website, you must log out of Facebook during your visit to the website.

If you are not logged into Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser will send less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. However, data such as your IP address or which website you visit may still be transmitted to Facebook. We would like to explicitly point out that we do not have precise knowledge of the exact content of this data. However, we are trying to inform you about data processing to the best of our current knowledge. You can also find information on how Facebook uses data in the company's data policy at [link to Facebook's data policy]. https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update Read more.

The following cookies will be set in your browser at a minimum when you visit a website with social plugins from Facebook:

Name: dpr
Value: not specified
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to make the social plugins on our website work.
Expiry date: after the meeting

Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4121940270c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose of use: The cookie is also necessary for the plug-ins to function properly.
Expiry date: after 3 months

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

If you are logged into Facebook, you can adjust your ad settings at https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/advertisers/ You can change it yourself. If you are not a Facebook user, you can go to https://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/?tid=121940270 You can manage your usage-based online advertising here. You have the option to deactivate or activate providers.

If you would like to learn more about Facebook's data privacy practices, we recommend that you consult the company's own data policy at [link to Facebook's privacy policy]. https://www.facebook.com/policy.php?tip=121940270.

Social Media Introduction

What is social media?

In addition to our website, we are also active on various social media platforms. This may involve processing user data so that we can specifically target users who are interested in our content via social networks. Furthermore, elements of a social media platform may be directly embedded in our website. This is the case, for example, when you click a "social button" on our website and are redirected directly to our social media profile. Social media platforms are websites and apps through which registered members can create content, share content openly or within specific groups, and connect 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 presence allows us to introduce our products and services to potential customers. The social media elements integrated into our website help you quickly and easily access our social media content.

The data collected and processed through your use of a social media channel primarily serves the purpose of web analytics. The goal of these analyses is to develop more precise and personalized marketing and advertising strategies. Depending on your behavior on a social media platform, the analyzed data can be used to draw conclusions about your interests and create user profiles. This allows the platforms to present you with tailored advertisements. Cookies are usually placed in your browser for this purpose, storing data about your browsing behavior.

We generally assume that we remain responsible under data protection law even when using the services of a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that in certain cases, the operator of the social media platform may be jointly responsible with us within the meaning of Article 26 GDPR. Where this is the case, we will indicate this separately and operate on the basis of a corresponding agreement. The key points of the agreement are then reproduced below under the relevant platform.

Please note that when using social media platforms or our embedded elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, as many social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, are American companies. This may make it more difficult for you to assert or enforce your rights regarding your personal data.

What data is processed?

Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective social media platform provider. However, it typically includes data such as phone numbers, email addresses, information you enter into a contact form, user data such as which buttons you click, whom 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. Specifically, if you have a profile on the social media channel you are visiting and are logged in, data can be linked to your profile.

All data collected via a social media platform is also stored on the provider's servers. Therefore, only the providers have access to the data and can provide you with the relevant information or make changes.

If you want to know exactly what data is stored and processed by social media providers and how you can object to this data processing, you should carefully read the respective company's privacy policy. If you have any questions about data storage and processing or wish to exercise your rights, we also recommend contacting the provider directly.

Duration of data processing

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

Right to object

You also have the right and the option to withdraw your consent to the use of cookies or third-party services such as embedded social media elements at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection by 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 about cookies. To find out exactly what data is stored and processed about you, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored through embedded social media elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing. (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest if you have given your consent. (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) Your data is stored and processed to enable fast and effective communication with you, other customers, and business partners. However, we only use these tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also use cookies in your browser to store data. Therefore, we recommend that you carefully read our privacy policy regarding cookies and review the privacy statement or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

Online Marketing Introduction

What is online marketing?

Online marketing encompasses all measures taken online to achieve marketing goals such as increasing brand awareness or closing a sale. Furthermore, our online marketing efforts aim to drive traffic to our website. We engage in online marketing to showcase our offerings to a wide audience of interested individuals. This typically involves online advertising, content marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO). To ensure our online marketing is efficient and targeted, we also store and process personal data. This data helps us to show our content only to those who are genuinely interested in it, and it also allows us to measure the success of our online marketing campaigns.

Why do we use online marketing tools?

We want to show our website to everyone who is interested in our offerings. We understand that this isn't possible without deliberate measures. That's why we engage in online marketing. Various tools are available to simplify our online marketing efforts and provide us with ongoing data-driven suggestions for improvement. This allows us to target our campaigns more precisely to our audience. Ultimately, the purpose of these online marketing tools is to optimize our offerings.

What data is processed?

To ensure our online marketing works effectively and the success of our campaigns can be measured, user profiles are created and data is stored, for example, in cookies (small text files). This data allows us not only to display traditional advertising but also to personalize the content on our website to your liking. Various third-party tools offer these functions and, accordingly, collect and store your data. These cookies store information such as which pages you visited on our website, how long you viewed them, which links or buttons you clicked, and which website referred you to us. Technical information may also be stored, such as your IP address, the browser you are using, the device you are using to access our website, and the time you entered and left our site. If you have consented to us determining your location, we can also store and process this information.

Your IP address is stored in pseudonymized (i.e., shortened) form. Unique data that directly identifies you as an individual, such as your name, address, or email address, is also stored only in pseudonymized form for advertising and online marketing purposes. Therefore, we cannot identify you as an individual; we only store the pseudonymized information in the user profiles.

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

In exceptional cases, unique identifiers (names, email addresses, etc.) may also be stored in user profiles. This occurs, for example, if you are a member of a social media channel that we use for our online marketing activities and the network links previously received data to the user profile.

With all the advertising tools we use that store your data on their servers, we only ever receive aggregated information and never data that identifies you as an individual. The data simply shows how well our advertising campaigns performed. For example, we can see which measures motivated you or other users to visit our website and purchase a service or product. Based on these analyses, we can improve our advertising in the future and tailor it even more precisely to the needs and desires of interested individuals.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, provided we have further information. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for providing our services and products. Data stored in cookies is stored for varying lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, while others can remain stored in your browser for several years. You can usually find detailed information about the specific cookies used by each provider in their respective privacy policies.

Right to object

You also have the right and the option to withdraw your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection by cookies by managing, disabling, or deleting cookies in your browser. The lawfulness of the processing up to the point of withdrawal remains unaffected.

Since online marketing tools typically use cookies, we also recommend that you read our general privacy policy about cookies. To find out exactly what data is stored and processed about you, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of third-party providers, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to [relevant legal provision], this consent constitutes [relevant legal provision]. Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent) This represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected through online marketing tools.

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

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

Facebook Conversions API Privacy Policy

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

Facebook also processes your data in the USA. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Facebook uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Facebook to maintain 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 European 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, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of the Facebook Conversions API in the Privacy Policy at [link to Privacy Policy]. https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.

Facebook Custom Audiences Privacy Policy

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

Facebook also processes your data in the USA. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Facebook uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Facebook to maintain 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 European 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, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Facebook Custom Audiences in the Privacy Policy on [link to Privacy Policy]. https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy . 

Google AdMob Privacy Policy

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

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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 terms for Google advertising products (Google Ads Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms), which correspond to the standard contractual clauses and also apply to Google AdMob, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adscontrollerterms/.

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

Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy

What is Google Ads conversion tracking?

We use Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) as an online marketing tool to promote our products and services. Our goal is to raise awareness of the high quality of our offerings among more people online. As part of our Google Ads advertising efforts, we use conversion tracking from Google Inc. on our website. However, in Europe, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. This free tracking tool allows us to better tailor our advertising to your interests and needs. The following article explains in more detail why we use conversion tracking, what data is stored, and how you can prevent this data storage.

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is Google Inc.'s own online advertising system. We are confident in the quality of our offering and want as many people as possible to discover our website. Google Ads provides the best platform for this online. Naturally, we also want to gain a precise overview of the cost-benefit ratio of our advertising campaigns. Therefore, we use the Google Ads conversion tracking tool.

But what exactly is a conversion? A conversion occurs when you go from being a purely interested website visitor to taking action. This happens whenever you click on our ad and then perform another action, such as visiting our website. With Google's conversion tracking tool, we record what happens after a user clicks on our Google Ads ad. For example, we can see whether products are purchased, services are used, or whether users have subscribed to our newsletter.

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

We use Google Ads to promote our offerings on other websites. Our goal is to ensure that our advertising campaigns reach only those people who are genuinely interested in our products or services. With the conversion tracking tool, we can see which keywords, ads, ad groups, and campaigns lead to the desired customer actions. We can see how many customers interact with our ads on a single device and then complete a conversion. This data allows us to calculate our cost-benefit ratio, measure the success of individual advertising campaigns, and consequently optimize our online marketing efforts. Furthermore, we can use the data we gather to make our website more engaging for you and tailor our advertising even more precisely to your needs.

What data is stored in Google Ads conversion tracking?

We have integrated a conversion tracking tag or code snippet into our website to better analyze certain user actions. When you click on one of our Google Ads, a "Conversion" cookie from a Google domain is stored on your computer (usually in your browser) or mobile device. Cookies are small text files that store information on your computer.

Here is the data for the most important cookies used by Google for conversion tracking:

Name: Conversion
Value: EhMI_aySuoyv4gIVled3Ch0llweVGAEgt-mr6aXd7dYlSAGQ121940270-3
Purpose of use: This cookie stores every conversion you make on our site after coming to us via a Google Ad.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Name: _gac
Value: 1.1558695989.EAIaIQobChMIiOmEgYO04gIVj5AYCh2CBAPrEAAYASAAEgIYQfD_BwE
Purpose of use: This is a classic Google Analytics cookie and is used to record various actions on our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Note: The _gac cookie appears to be used only in connection with Google Analytics. The list above is not exhaustive, as Google also uses other cookies for analytical purposes.

As soon as you complete an action on our website, Google recognizes the cookie and saves your action as a so-called conversion. As long as you are browsing our website and the cookie has not yet expired, we and Google recognize that you found us via our Google Ads ad. The cookie is read and sent back to Google Ads along with the conversion data. It is also possible that other cookies are used to measure conversions. Google Ads conversion tracking can be further refined and improved using Google Analytics. For ads that Google displays in various locations on the web, cookies named “__gads” or “_gac” may be set under our domain. Since September 2017, various campaign information from analytics.js has been stored using the _gac cookie. This cookie stores this data as soon as you visit one of our pages for which Google Ads automatic tagging has been enabled. Unlike cookies set for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies when you are on our website. We do not collect or receive any personal data. We receive a report from Google containing statistical analyses. This tells us, for example, the total number of users who clicked on our ad and which advertising measures were successful.

How long and where will the data be stored?

At this point, we would like to emphasize that we have no control over how Google uses the collected data. According to Google, the data is encrypted and stored on secure servers. In most cases, conversion cookies expire after 30 days and do not transmit any personally identifiable information. The cookies named "Conversion" and "_gac" (which is used in conjunction with Google Analytics) have an expiration date of 3 months.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the option to opt out of Google Ads conversion tracking. If you disable the Google conversion tracking cookie in your browser, you will block conversion tracking. In this case, you will not be included in the tracking tool's statistics. You can change your browser's cookie settings at any time. The process varies slightly depending on the browser. In the "Cookies" section, you will find links to instructions for the most common browsers.

If you generally do not want to allow cookies, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide whether to allow each individual cookie or not. By downloading and installing this browser plug-in on https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996 All "advertising cookies" will also be deactivated. Please note that deactivating these cookies will not prevent advertisements from being displayed, but only personalized advertising.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Ads conversion tracking, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to [source/regulation], this consent constitutes [legal basis/legal basis]. Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent) This represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as that which may occur when collected through Google Ads Conversion Tracking.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Ads conversion tracking to optimize our online service and marketing efforts. The corresponding legal basis for this is... Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (Legitimate interests). We only use Google Ads Conversion Tracking if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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 terms for Google advertising products (Google Ads Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms), which correspond to the standard contractual clauses and also apply to Google Ads, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adscontrollerterms/.

If you would like to learn more about data protection at Google, we recommend Google's general privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Google AdSense Privacy Policy

What is Google AdSense?

We use Google AdSense on this website. This is an advertising program from Google Inc. In Europe, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google AdSense allows us to display advertisements on this website that are relevant to our topic. This way, we offer you ads that ideally provide real added value for you. In this privacy notice about Google AdSense, we explain why we use Google AdSense on our website, which of your data is processed and stored, and how you can prevent this data storage.

The Google AdSense advertising program has been around since 2003. Unlike Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords), you can't place ads yourself. Google AdSense displays advertisements on websites, such as ours. The biggest advantage of this advertising service compared to some others is that Google AdSense only shows you ads that are relevant to our content. Google has its own algorithm that calculates which ads you see. Naturally, we only want to show you ads that are relevant and offer added value. Google uses your interests and user behavior, as well as our offerings, to determine which ads are suitable for our website and our users. We would also like to mention that we are not responsible for selecting the ads. We simply provide the advertising space on our website. Google selects the ads displayed. Since August 2013, the ads have also been adapted to the respective user interface. This means that whether you visit our website from your smartphone, PC, or laptop, the ads will adjust to your device.

Why do we use Google AdSense on our website?

Running a high-quality website requires a great deal of dedication and effort. Essentially, we're never truly finished working on our website. We constantly strive to maintain it and keep it as up-to-date as possible. Naturally, we also want to achieve financial success with this work. That's why we've chosen advertising as a source of revenue. However, our top priority is ensuring that these ads don't disrupt your visit to our website. Using Google AdSense, you'll only be shown advertisements that are relevant to our topics and your interests.

Similar to how Google indexes a website, a bot analyzes the relevant content and offers on the page. The ads are then tailored and displayed accordingly. In addition to content overlaps between the ad and the website's offerings, AdSense also supports interest-based targeting. This means that Google also uses your data to deliver ads tailored to you. Ideally, this way you receive ads that offer genuine added value, and we have a better chance of earning a little something.

What data does Google AdSense store?

In order for Google AdSense to display tailored advertising that is relevant to you, cookies are used, among other things. Cookies are small text files that store certain information on your computer.

AdSense uses cookies to enable better advertising. These cookies do not contain personally identifiable information. However, it's important to note that Google considers data such as "pseudonymous cookie IDs" (where a name or other identifier is replaced by a pseudonym) or IP addresses as non-personally identifiable information. Under the GDPR, however, this data could be considered personal data. Google AdSense sends a cookie to the browser after every impression (which occurs whenever you see an ad), every click, and every other activity that results in a request to the Google AdSense servers. If the browser accepts the cookie, it is stored there.

Third-party providers may, within the framework of AdSense, place and read cookies in your browser or use web beacons to store data they obtain through ad delivery on the website. Web beacons are small graphics that perform log file analysis and recording. This analysis enables statistical evaluation for online marketing purposes.

Google can use these cookies to collect certain information about your user behavior on our website. This includes:

• Information on how you interact with an ad (clicks, impressions, mouse movements)
• Information about whether an ad has already appeared in your browser at an earlier time. This data helps to prevent the ad from being shown to you repeatedly.

Google analyzes and evaluates data about the displayed advertisements and your IP address. Google primarily uses this data to measure the effectiveness of an ad and to improve its advertising offerings. This data is not linked to personal data that Google may have about you through other Google services.

Below, we present the cookies that Google AdSense uses for tracking purposes. This information is based on a test website that has only Google AdSense installed. 

Name: uid
Value: 891269189121940270-8
Purpose of use: The cookie is stored under the domain adform.net. It provides a uniquely assigned, machine-generated user ID and collects data about activity on our website.
Expiry date: after 2 months

Name: C
Value: 1
Purpose of use: This cookie identifies whether your browser accepts cookies. The cookie is stored under the domain track.adform.net.
Expiry date: after 1 month

Name: cid
Value: 8912691894970695056,0,0,0,0
Purpose of use: This cookie is stored under the domain track.adform.net, represents the client ID, and is used to improve advertising for you. It can deliver more relevant ads to the visitor and helps improve campaign performance reports.
Expiry date: after 2 months

Name: IDE
Value: zOtj4TWxwbFDjaATZ2TzNaQmxrU121940270-1
Purpose of use: The cookie is stored under the domain doubleclick.net. It is used to register your actions after viewing or clicking on the ad. This allows us to measure how well an ad performs with our visitors.
Expiry date: after 1 month

Name: test_cookie
Value: not specified
Purpose of use: The "test_cookie" can be used to check whether your browser supports cookies at all. This cookie is stored under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiry date: after 1 month

Name: CT592996
Value:733366
Purpose of use: This cookie is stored under the domain adform.net. It is set as soon as you click on an advertisement. We were unable to obtain more detailed information about the use of this cookie.
Expiry date: after an hour

Note: This list is not exhaustive, as Google is known to constantly change its choice of cookies.

How long and where will the data be stored?

Google collects your IP address and various activities you perform on the website. Cookies store this information about your interactions on our website. According to Google, the company collects and stores this information securely on its own Google servers in the USA.

If you don't have a Google account or aren't signed in, Google usually stores the collected data with a unique identifier (ID) on your browser. The unique IDs stored in cookies are used, for example, to ensure personalized advertising. If you are signed in to a Google account, Google can also collect personal data.

You can delete some of the data that Google stores at any time (see next section). Much of the information stored in cookies is automatically deleted after a certain period. However, there is also data that Google stores for a longer period. This occurs when Google is required to store certain data for an indefinite period due to economic or legal necessities.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You always have the option to delete or disable cookies stored on your computer. How exactly this works depends on your browser. In the "Cookies" section, you will find links to instructions for the most popular browsers.

If you generally do not want to allow cookies, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide whether to allow each individual cookie or not. By downloading and installing this browser plug-in on https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996 All "advertising cookies" will also be deactivated. Please note that deactivating these cookies will not prevent advertisements from being displayed, but only personalized advertising.

If you have a Google account, you can access the website https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated Disable personalized advertising. You will still see ads, but they will no longer be tailored to your interests. However, the ads will still be displayed based on a few factors, such as your location, browser type, and search terms.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google AdSense, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to... Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent) This represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as that which may occur when collected by Google AdSense.

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

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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 terms for Google advertising products (Google Ads Controller-Controller Data Protection Terms), which correspond to the standard contractual clauses and also apply to Google AdSense, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adscontrollerterms/.

You can find information about what data Google collects and what it uses this data for on https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/ Read more.

Google Marketing Platform (formerly: DoubleClick) Privacy Policy

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

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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 also apply to Google Marketing Platform products, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Google Marketing Platform products in the Privacy Policy at [link to Privacy Policy]. https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US.

Cookie Consent Management Platform Introduction

What is a Cookie Consent Management Platform?

We use a Consent Management Platform (CMP) software on our website to facilitate the correct and secure handling of scripts and cookies for both you and us. The software automatically generates a cookie popup, scans and controls all scripts and cookies, provides you with the legally required cookie consent, and helps us and you maintain an overview of all cookies. Most cookie consent management tools identify and categorize all existing cookies. As a website visitor, you then decide which scripts and cookies you allow or block. The following graphic illustrates the relationship between browser, web server, and CMP.

Why do we use a cookie management tool?

Our goal is to offer you the greatest possible transparency regarding data protection. We are also legally obligated to do so. We want to inform you as thoroughly as possible about all tools and cookies that can store and process your data. It is also your right to decide which cookies you accept and which you do not. To grant you this right, we first need to know exactly which cookies have landed on our website. Thanks to a cookie management tool that regularly scans the website for all existing cookies, we are aware of all cookies and can provide you with GDPR-compliant information about them. You can then accept or reject cookies via the consent system.

What data is processed?

Our cookie management tool allows you to manage each individual cookie yourself and gives you complete control over the storage and processing of your data. Your consent is stored so that we don't have to ask you every time you visit our website and so that we can prove your consent if legally required. This is stored either in an opt-in cookie or on a server. The storage period for your cookie consent varies depending on the provider of the cookie management tool. This data (such as pseudonymous user ID, time of consent, details about the cookie categories or tools, browser, and device information) is usually stored for up to two years.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, provided we have further information. Generally, we process personal data only as long as it is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. Data stored in cookies is stored for varying lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, while others can remain stored in your browser for several years. The exact duration of data processing depends on the tool used; you should usually expect a storage period of several years. You can generally find detailed information about the duration of data processing in the respective privacy policies of the individual providers.

Right to object

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

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

Legal basis

If you consent to cookies, your personal data will be processed and stored via these cookies. consent (Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR) If you consent to the use of cookies, this consent also forms the legal basis for the use of cookies and the processing of your data. To manage cookie consent and enable you to grant it, we use cookie consent management platform software. This software allows us to operate the website efficiently and in compliance with the law, which is a legitimate interest (Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR).

BorlabsCookie Privacy Policy

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

YouTube Privacy Policy

What is YouTube?

We have embedded YouTube videos on our website. This allows us to present interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal that has been a subsidiary of Google since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. When you visit a page on our website that has an embedded YouTube video, your browser automatically connects to the servers of YouTube or Google. Depending on your settings, various data is transmitted during this process. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all data processing within the European Economic Area.

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

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

Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?

YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and the best content. We strive to offer you the best possible user experience on our website. And of course, interesting videos are an essential part of that. With our embedded videos, we provide you with additional helpful content alongside our text and images. Furthermore, the embedded videos make our website easier to find on Google search. Even when we run advertisements through Google Ads, Google—thanks to the data collected—can only show these ads to people who are genuinely interested in our offerings.

What data does YouTube store?

As soon as you visit one of our pages that has an embedded YouTube video, YouTube sets at least one cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can usually associate your interactions on our website with your profile using cookies. This includes data such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, and technical information like browser type, screen resolution, and your internet service provider. Other data may include contact information, any ratings, sharing content via social media, or adding videos to your favorites on YouTube.

If you're not signed in to a Google or YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier linked to your device, browser, or app. This allows, for example, your preferred language setting to be retained. However, much interaction data cannot be stored because fewer cookies are set.

The following list shows cookies that were set in a browser test. We show cookies that were set both when no user was logged into a YouTube account and when a user was logged in. This list is not exhaustive, as user data always depends on interactions on YouTube.

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y121940270-1
Purpose of use: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics about the video viewed.
Expiry date: after the meeting

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

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

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

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

Name: APISID
Value: zILLlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7121940270-
Purpose of use: This cookie is used to create a profile of your interests. The data is used for personalized advertising.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose of use: This cookie stores a user's consent status for using various Google services. CONSENT also serves a security purpose, verifying users and protecting user data from unauthorized access.
Expiry date: after 19 years

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

Name: LOGIN_INFO
Value: AFmmF2swRQIhALL6aL…
Purpose of use: This cookie stores information about your login details.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI121940270-
Purpose of use: This cookie stores your Google account ID and your last login time in digitally signed and encrypted form.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

How long and where will the data be stored?

The data that YouTube receives and processes from you is stored on Google servers. Most of these servers are located in America. [Under...] https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de  See exactly where Google's data centers are located. Your data is distributed across the servers. This makes the data faster to access and better protected against manipulation.

Google stores the collected data for varying lengths of time. Some data can be deleted at any time, some is automatically deleted after a limited period, and still other data is stored by Google for longer periods. Some data (such as items from "My Activity," photos or documents, and products) stored in your Google Account remains stored until you delete it. Even if you are not signed in to a Google Account, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser, or app.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You can manually delete data from your Google account. However, with the automatic deletion feature for location and activity data introduced in 2019, information is stored for either 3 or 18 months, depending on your choice, and then deleted.

Whether or not you have a Google account, you can configure your browser to delete or disable cookies from Google. The process varies depending on the browser you use. Under the "Cookies" section, you will find links to instructions for the most popular browsers.

If you generally do not want to allow cookies, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide whether to allow each individual cookie or not.

Legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored through embedded YouTube elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing. (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In principle, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest. (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) Your data is stored and processed to ensure fast and effective communication with you, other customers, and business partners. However, we only use the embedded YouTube elements if you have given your consent. YouTube also uses cookies in your browser to store data. Therefore, we recommend that you carefully read our privacy policy regarding cookies and review the privacy statement or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

YouTube uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e., in particular the USA) or for data transfers to such countries. These clauses oblige YouTube to maintain the EU level of data protection when processing relevant data even outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses, among other places, here: https://germany.representation.ec.europa.eu/index_de.

Since YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, they share a privacy policy. If you would like to learn more about how your data is handled, we recommend reading the privacy policy at [link to privacy policy]. https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

YouTube Subscribe Button Privacy Policy

We have integrated the YouTube subscribe button into our website. You can usually recognize the button by the classic YouTube logo. The logo shows the words "Subscribe" or "YouTube" in white lettering against a red background, with the white play symbol to the left. However, the button may also be displayed in a different design.

Our YouTube channel regularly offers you funny, interesting, or exciting videos. With the built-in "Subscribe" button, you can subscribe to our channel directly from our website without having to visit the YouTube website separately. We want to make accessing our extensive content as easy as possible for you. Please note that YouTube may store and process your data as a result.

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

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5121940270Y
Purpose of use: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics about the video viewed.
Expiry date: after the meeting

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

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

Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 12194027095Chz8bagyU
Purpose of use: This cookie attempts to estimate the user's bandwidth on our websites (with embedded YouTube video).
Expiry date: after 8 months

Note: These cookies were set after a test and cannot claim to be exhaustive.

If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can use cookies to store many of your actions/interactions on our website and associate them with your YouTube account. This allows YouTube to obtain information such as how long you browse our site, which browser type you use, your preferred screen resolution, and other actions you perform.

YouTube uses this data firstly to improve its own services and offers, and secondly to provide analyses and statistics for advertisers (who use Google Ads).

Other Introduction

What falls under "Other"?

The category "Other" includes services that don't fit into any of the categories mentioned above. These are typically various plugins and embedded elements that enhance our website. These functions are usually provided by third parties and integrated into our website. Examples include web search services like Algolia Place, Giphy, Programmable Search Engine, or online weather data services such as OpenWeather.

Why do we use other third-party providers?

We want to offer you the best online presence in our industry with our website. A website has long since ceased to be merely a business card for companies. Rather, it's a place that should help you find what you're looking for. To continually make our website even more interesting and helpful for you, we use various third-party services.

What data is processed?

Whenever elements are integrated into our website, your IP address is transmitted to the respective provider, stored, and processed there. This is necessary because otherwise the content would not be sent to your browser and consequently would not be displayed correctly. Service providers may also use pixel tags or web beacons. These are small graphics on websites that record a log file and can also analyze this file. The information obtained allows the providers to improve their own marketing efforts. In addition to pixel tags, such information (such as which button you click or when you visit which page) can also be stored in cookies. These can contain not only analytical data about your web behavior but also technical information such as your browser type or operating system. Some providers may also link the collected data with other internal services or with third-party providers. Each provider handles your data differently. Therefore, we recommend that you carefully read the privacy policies of the respective services. We generally strive to use only services that are very careful with data protection.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, provided we have further information on this. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products.

Legal basis

If we request your consent and you agree that we may use the service, this serves as the legal basis for processing your data (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In addition to your consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our services technically and economically. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use these tools if you have given your consent.

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

Custom Google Search Privacy Policy

What is custom Google search?

We have integrated the Google Custom Search plugin into our website. Google is the world's largest and best-known search engine and is operated by the US company Google Inc. For the European region, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible. By using Google Custom Search, your data may be transferred to Google. In this privacy policy, we inform you why we use this plugin, what data is processed, and how you can manage or prevent this data transfer.

The custom Google search plugin is a Google search bar directly on our website. The search works just like on... www.google.com Instead, the search results focus on our content and products or on a limited search area.

Why do we use Google Custom Search on our website?

A website with a lot of interesting content can often become so large that it's easy to lose track. Over time, we've also accumulated a lot of valuable material, and as part of our service, we want you to be able to find our content as quickly and easily as possible. The custom Google search makes finding interesting content a breeze. The integrated Google plugin improves the overall quality of our website and makes searching easier for you.

What data is stored by Google's custom search?

The custom Google search only transmits your data to Google if you actively use the Google search function integrated into our website. This means that only when you enter a search term in the search bar and then confirm it (e.g., by clicking "Enter") will your IP address be sent to Google, stored, and processed. Based on the cookies used (such as 1P_JAR), it can be assumed that Google also receives data about website usage. If you search for content using the integrated Google search function while visiting our website and are simultaneously logged into your Google account, Google can associate the collected data with your Google account. As website operators, we have no control over what Google does with the collected data or how Google processes it.

The following cookies will be set in your browser if you use Google's custom search and are not signed in with a Google account:

Name: 1P_JAR
Value: 2020-01-27-13121940270-5
Purpose of use: This cookie collects website usage statistics and measures conversions. A conversion occurs, for example, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant advertisements to users.
Expiry date: after one month

Name: CONSENT
Value: WP.282f52121940270-9
Purpose of use: This cookie stores a user's consent status for using various Google services. CONSENT also serves a security purpose, verifying users and protecting user data from unauthorized access.
Expiry date: after 18 years

Name: NID
Value: 196=pwIo3B5fHr-8
Purpose of use: NID is used by Google to personalize ads based on your Google searches. Using this cookie, Google "remembers" your search queries and previous interactions with ads, ensuring you always receive tailored advertisements.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Note: This list is not exhaustive, as Google frequently changes its choice of cookies.

How long and where will the data be stored?

Google's servers are distributed around the world. Since Google is an American company, most data is stored on American servers. Under https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de See exactly where the Google servers are located.
Your data is distributed across various physical storage devices. This makes the data faster to access and better protected against potential manipulation. Google also has corresponding emergency programs for your data. Even if Google experiences internal technical problems and servers become unavailable, the risk of service interruption and data loss remains low.
Depending on the type of data, Google stores it for varying lengths of time. You can delete some data yourself, while other data is automatically deleted or anonymized by Google. However, Google also stores some data for longer periods if required for legal or business reasons.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to access, update, delete, or restrict the processing of your data. Some data can be deleted at any time. If you have a Google account, you can delete data about your web activity there or set it to be deleted after a certain period of time.
Your browser also allows you to disable, delete, or manage cookies according to your preferences. Under the "Cookies" section, you will find links to instructions for the most popular browsers.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google's custom search, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to... Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent) This represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as that which may occur when collected through Google's custom search.

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

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

We hope we have provided you with the most important information regarding data processing by Google. If you would like to learn more, we recommend reading Google's comprehensive privacy policy at [link to Google's privacy policy]. https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

What are Google Fonts?

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

You don't need to register or provide a password to use Google Fonts. Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser. The files (CSS, fonts) are requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services. If you have a Google account, you don't need to worry about your Google account data being transmitted to Google while using Google Fonts. Google collects data on the usage of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used, and stores this data securely. We will examine the specifics of this data storage in more detail later.

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

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

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

With Google Fonts, we can use fonts on our own website without having to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important component for maintaining the high quality of our website. All Google fonts are automatically optimized for the web, which saves data volume and is a significant advantage, especially for use on mobile devices. When you visit our site, the small file size ensures fast loading times. Furthermore, Google Fonts are secure web fonts. Different rendering systems in various browsers, operating systems, and mobile devices can lead to errors. Such errors can sometimes distort text or even entire web pages. Thanks to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), there are no cross-platform problems with Google Fonts. Google Fonts supports all common browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) and works reliably on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod). We use Google Fonts so that we can present our entire online service as beautifully and consistently as possible.

What data does Google store?

When you visit our website, the fonts are loaded from a Google server. This external request transmits data to Google's servers. This allows Google to recognize that you, or rather your IP address, have visited our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to minimize the use, storage, and collection of end-user data to only what is necessary for the proper delivery of fonts. API stands for "Application Programming Interface" and serves, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software field.

Google Fonts securely stores CSS and font requests with Google, thus protecting them. The collected usage statistics allow Google to determine the popularity of individual fonts. Google publishes these results on internal analytics pages, such as Google Analytics. Additionally, Google uses data from its own web crawler to identify which websites use Google Fonts. This data is published in the Google Fonts BigQuery database. Businesses and developers utilize the Google web service BigQuery to analyze and manipulate large datasets.

It should be noted, however, that every Google Font request also automatically transmits information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution, and browser name to Google servers. Whether this data is also stored is unclear and not explicitly communicated by Google.

How long and where will the data be stored?

Google stores requests for CSS assets on its servers, which are primarily located outside the EU, for one day. This allows us to use the fonts with a Google stylesheet. A stylesheet is a formatting template that allows you to easily and quickly change, for example, the design or font of a website.

The font files are stored at Google for one year. Google's goal is to improve website loading times in general. When millions of websites reference the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and appear instantly on all subsequent visits. Google sometimes updates font files to reduce file size, increase language coverage, and improve design.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The data that Google stores for a day or a year cannot simply be deleted. This data is automatically transmitted to Google when you visit a page. To delete this data prematurely, you must contact Google Support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=121940270 Contact us. In this case, you can only prevent data storage by not visiting our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google Fonts grants us unrestricted access to all its fonts. This means we can access a vast array of fonts and choose the perfect one for our website. Learn more about Google Fonts and find answers to other questions at [link to Google Fonts page]. https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=121940270. While Google does address data protection issues there, truly detailed information about data storage is not included. It is relatively difficult to obtain truly precise information from Google about stored data.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Fonts, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to [source/regulation], this consent constitutes [legal basis/regulation]. Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent) This represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as that which may occur when collected by Google Fonts.

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

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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 Fonts, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

You can also find information on what data Google collects and what it is used for on [website address]. https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/ Read more.

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

Our website uses Google Fonts from Google Inc. For the European region, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible. We have integrated the Google fonts locally, i.e., on our web server – not on Google's servers. Therefore, there is no connection to Google servers and consequently no data transfer or storage.

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts was formerly known as Google Web Fonts. It is an interactive directory with over 800 fonts that Google Google Fonts is provided free of charge. With Google Fonts, you could use fonts without uploading them to your own server. However, to prevent any data transfer to Google servers, we have downloaded the fonts to our own server. This way, we comply with data protection regulations and do not send any data to Google Fonts.

Google Maps Privacy Policy

What is Google Maps?

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. on our website. For the European region, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google Maps allows us to show you locations more effectively and thus better tailor our service to your needs. By using Google Maps, data is transferred to Google and stored on Google's servers. Here we would like to explain in more detail what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored, and how you can prevent this.

Google Maps is an online mapping service from Google. With Google Maps, you can search for the exact locations of cities, landmarks, accommodations, or businesses online using a PC, tablet, or app. If businesses are listed on Google My Business, additional information about the company is displayed alongside the location. To show directions, map snippets of a location can be embedded into a website using HTML code. Google Maps displays the Earth's surface as a road map or as aerial/satellite imagery. Thanks to Street View and high-quality satellite imagery, very detailed representations are possible.

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

All our efforts on this page aim to provide you with a useful and meaningful experience on our website. By integrating Google Maps, we can provide you with essential information about our various locations. You can see at a glance where our company headquarters are located. The directions always show you the best and fastest way to reach us. You can access directions for routes by car, public transport, on foot, or by bicycle. For us, providing Google Maps is part of our customer service.

What data does Google Maps store?

In order for Google Maps to fully offer its service, the company needs to collect and store your data. This includes, among other things, the search terms you enter, your IP address, and your latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the starting address you enter will also be saved. This data storage, however, takes place on Google Maps' websites. We can only inform you about this, but we have no control over it. Because we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google places at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behavior. Google primarily uses this data to optimize its own services and to provide you with personalized advertising.

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

Name: NID
Value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ121940270-5
Purpose of use: NID is used by Google to personalize ads based on your Google searches. With the help of this cookie, Google "remembers" your most frequent search queries or your previous interactions with ads. This ensures you always receive tailored advertisements. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Note: We cannot guarantee the completeness of the stored data. Changes are always possible, especially when using cookies. To identify the NID cookie, a separate test page was created that only included Google Maps.

How long and where will the data be stored?

Google's servers are located in data centers around the world. However, most servers are in America. Therefore, your data is also primarily stored in the USA. Here you can find detailed information about the locations of Google's data centers: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Google distributes the data across various storage devices. This makes the data faster to access and better protected against potential manipulation attempts. Each data center also has specific emergency programs. For example, if there are problems with Google hardware or a natural disaster cripples the servers, the data remains quite secure.

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

In your browser, you can also disable, delete, or manage individual cookies. The process varies slightly depending on the browser you use. Under the "Cookies" section, you will find links to instructions for the most common browsers.

If you generally do not want to allow cookies, you can configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This allows you to decide whether to allow each individual cookie or not.

Legal basis

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

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

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

If you would like to learn more about Google's data processing, we recommend that you consult the company's own privacy policy at [link to privacy policy]. https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy

What is reCAPTCHA?

Our top priority is to ensure the best possible security and protection for our website, both for you and for us. To guarantee this, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google Inc. For the European Economic Area, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. reCAPTCHA allows us to determine whether you are a real person and not a robot or other spam software. By spam, we mean any unsolicited information sent electronically. With traditional CAPTCHAs, you usually had to solve text or image puzzles for verification. With Google's reCAPTCHA, we usually don't need to bother you with such puzzles. In most cases, simply checking a box to confirm that you are not a bot is sufficient. With the new Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you don't even need to check a box. You can learn more about how this works and, above all, what data is used for this purpose later in this privacy policy.

reCAPTCHA is a free CAPTCHA service from Google that protects websites from spam software and misuse by non-human visitors. It's most commonly used when filling out online forms. A CAPTCHA service is a type of automated Turing test designed to ensure that an action on the internet is performed by a human and not a bot. In the classic Turing test (named after the computer scientist Alan Turing), a human determines the difference between a bot and a human. With CAPTCHAs, this task is performed by a computer or software program. Classic CAPTCHAs use small tasks that are easy for humans to solve but pose significant challenges for machines. With reCAPTCHA, you no longer need to actively solve puzzles. The tool uses modern risk assessment techniques to distinguish humans from bots. All you have to do is check the "I'm not a robot" box, or with Invisible reCAPTCHA, even that isn't necessary. With reCAPTCHA, a JavaScript element is embedded in the source code, and the tool then runs in the background, analyzing your user behavior. From these user actions, the software calculates a so-called CAPTCHA score. Using this score, Google calculates the probability that you are a human even before you enter the CAPTCHA. reCAPTCHA, or CAPTCHAs in general, are always used when bots could manipulate or abuse certain actions (such as registrations, surveys, etc.).

Why do we use reCAPTCHA on our website?

We only want to welcome real people to our site. Bots and spam software of any kind are not welcome. That's why we're doing everything we can to protect ourselves and offer you the best possible user experience. For this reason, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google. This allows us to be fairly certain that we remain a "bot-free" website. By using reCAPTCHA, data is transmitted to Google to determine whether you are indeed a human. reCAPTCHA thus serves the security of our website and, consequently, your security as well. For example, without reCAPTCHA, a bot could register as many email addresses as possible during the registration process in order to subsequently spam forums or blogs with unwanted advertising. With reCAPTCHA, we can prevent such bot attacks.

What data does reCAPTCHA store?

reCAPTCHA collects personal data from users to determine whether actions on our website are actually performed by humans. This means that the IP address and other data required by Google for the reCAPTCHA service may be sent to Google. Within the member states of the EU or other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, IP addresses are almost always shortened before the data is transferred to a server in the USA. The IP address is not combined with other Google data unless you are logged into your Google account while using reCAPTCHA. First, the reCAPTCHA algorithm checks whether Google cookies from other Google services (YouTube, Gmail, etc.) are already placed on your browser. Then, reCAPTCHA places an additional cookie in your browser and takes a snapshot of your browser window.

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

• Referrer URL (the address of the page from which the visitor came)
• IP address (e.g. 256.123.123.1)
• Information about the operating system (the software that enables your computer to run. Well-known operating systems are Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux)
• Cookies (small text files that store data in your browser)
• Mouse and keyboard behavior (every action you perform with the mouse or keyboard is saved)
• Date and language settings (which language and date you have preset on your PC will be saved)
• All JavaScript objects (JavaScript is a programming language that allows websites to adapt to the user. JavaScript objects can collect all kinds of data under a single name)
• Screen resolution (indicates how many pixels the image display consists of)

It is undisputed that Google uses and analyzes this data even before you click the "I'm not a robot" checkbox. With the Invisible reCAPTCHA version, the checkbox is even omitted, and the entire recognition process runs in the background. Google does not provide detailed information on exactly how much and what kind of data it stores.

The following cookies are used by reCAPTCHA: This refers to the reCAPTCHA demo version from Google at [link to Google's demo version]. https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api2/demo. All these cookies require a unique identifier for tracking purposes. Here is a list of cookies that Google reCAPTCHA set on the demo version:

Name: IDE
Value: WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKnRNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-121940270-8
Purpose of use: This cookie is set by DoubleClick (also owned by Google) to register and report a user's actions on the website in relation to advertisements. This allows advertising effectiveness to be measured and corresponding optimization measures to be taken. IDE is stored in browsers under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: 1P_JAR
Value: 2019-5-14-12
Purpose of use: This cookie collects website usage statistics and measures conversions. A conversion occurs, for example, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant advertisements to users. Furthermore, the cookie prevents a user from seeing the same ad more than once.
Expiry date: after one month

Name: ANID
Value: U7j1v3dZa1219402700xgZFmiqWppRWKOr
Purpose of use: We couldn't find much information about this cookie. Google's privacy policy mentions it in connection with "advertising cookies" such as "DSID", "FLC", "AID", and "TAID". ANID is stored under the domain google.com.
Expiry date: after 9 months

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose of use: This cookie stores a user's consent status for using various Google services. CONSENT also serves a security purpose, verifying users, preventing login credential fraud, and protecting user data from unauthorized access.
Expiry date: after 19 years

Name: NID
Value: 0WmuWqy121940270zILzqV_nmt3sDXwPeM5Q
Purpose of use: NID is used by Google to personalize ads based on your Google searches. With the help of this cookie, Google "remembers" your most frequent search queries or your previous interactions with ads. This ensures you always receive tailored advertisements. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect user preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Name: DV
Value: gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAANbqc121940270-4
Purpose of use: Once you have checked the "I'm not a robot" box, this cookie will be set. Google Analytics uses this cookie for personalized advertising. DV collects information in anonymized form and is also used to differentiate between users.
Expiry date: after 10 minutes

Note: This list is not exhaustive, as Google is known to change its choice of cookies from time to time.

How long and where will the data be stored?

By integrating reCAPTCHA, your data is transferred to Google servers. Google does not clearly state where exactly this data is stored, even after repeated inquiries. Without confirmation from Google, it can be assumed that data such as mouse interactions, time spent on the website, and language settings are stored on Google's European or American servers. The IP address that your browser transmits to Google is generally not combined with other Google data from other Google services. However, if you are logged into your Google account while using the reCAPTCHA plugin, the data will be combined. Google's separate privacy policy applies in this case.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

If you do not want any data about you and your behavior to be transmitted to Google, you must completely log out of your Google account and delete all Google cookies before visiting our website or using the reCAPTCHA software. Data is automatically transmitted to Google as soon as you access our site. To delete this data, you must contact Google Support at [link to Google Support page].  https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=121940270 contact.

Therefore, by using our website, you agree that Google LLC and its representatives may automatically collect, process and use data.

Please note that when using this tool, your data may be stored and processed outside the EU. Most third countries (including the USA) are currently considered unsafe under European data protection law. Therefore, data may not simply be transferred to, stored, and processed in unsafe third countries unless there are appropriate safeguards (such as EU Standard Contractual Clauses) between us and the non-European service provider.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google reCAPTCHA, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to... Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent) This represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as that which may occur when collected by Google reCAPTCHA.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google reCAPTCHA to optimize and improve the security of our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is... Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (Legitimate interests). We only use Google reCAPTCHA if you have given your consent.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other locations. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as the basis for processing data with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially the USA) or for transferring data to such countries. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the European Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). These clauses oblige Google to maintain 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 European 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, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

You can learn more about reCAPTCHA on Google's web developer page at https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/. While Google does provide some details on the technical development of reCAPTCHA, precise information about data storage and privacy-related issues is still lacking. A good overview of Google's general data usage can be found in their privacy policy. https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

WooCommerce Privacy Policy

What is WooCommerce?

We have integrated the open-source shop system WooCommerce as a plugin into our website. This WooCommerce plugin is based on the WordPress content management system, a subsidiary of Automattic Inc. (60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA). The implemented functions send data to Automattic Inc., where it is stored and processed. In this privacy policy, we inform you about the data involved, how the network uses this data, and how you can manage or prevent data storage.

WooCommerce is an online shop system that has been part of the WordPress repository since 2011 and was specifically developed for WordPress websites. It is a customizable, open-source eCommerce platform based on WordPress and is also integrated into our website as a WordPress plugin.

Why do we use WooCommerce on our website?

We use this practical online shop solution to offer you our physical and digital products and services in the best possible way on our website. Our goal is to provide you with easy and convenient access to our offerings, so you can quickly and easily find the products you're looking for. With WooCommerce, we've found a great plugin that meets our requirements for an online shop.

What data does WooCommerce store?

Information that you actively enter into a text field in our online shop can be collected and stored by WooCommerce or Automattic. This means that when you register with us or order a product, Automattic can collect, process, and store this data. This may include your email address, name, address, credit card information, or billing information. Automattic may subsequently use this information for its own marketing campaigns.

In addition, there is also information that Automattic automatically collects from you in so-called server log files:

• IP address
• Browser information
• Preset language setting
• Date and time of web access

WooCommerce also places cookies in your browser and uses technologies such as pixel tags (web beacons) to, for example, clearly identify you as a user and potentially offer interest-based advertising. WooCommerce uses a number of different cookies, which are set depending on user actions. This means, for example, that when you add a product to your shopping cart, a cookie is set so that the product remains in the cart even if you leave our website and return at a later time.

Here is an example list of possible cookies that can be set by WooCommerce:

Name: woocommerce_items_in_cart
Value: 1
Purpose of use: This cookie helps WooCommerce determine when the contents of the shopping cart change.
Expiry date: after the meeting

Name: woocommerce_cart_hash
Value: 447c84f810834056ab37cfe5ed27f204121940270-7
Purpose of use: This cookie is also used to recognize and save changes to your shopping cart.
Expiry date: after the meeting

Name: wp_woocommerce_session_d9e29d251cf8a108a6482d9fe2ef34b6
Value: 1146%7C%7C1589034207%7C%7C95f8053ce0cea135bbce671043e740121940270-4aa
Purpose of use: This cookie contains a unique identifier for you, so that the shopping cart data can be found in the database.
Expiry date: after 2 days

How long and where will the data be stored?

Unless there is a legal obligation to retain data for a longer period, WooCommerce deletes the data when it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was stored. For example, server log files containing technical data about your browser and IP address are deleted after approximately 30 days. Automattic uses this data during this time to analyze traffic on its own websites (for example, all WordPress sites) and to troubleshoot any problems. The data is stored on Automattic's servers in the United States.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access your personal data at any time and to object to its use and processing. You can also lodge a complaint with a government supervisory authority at any time.

Your browser also allows you to manage, delete, or disable cookies individually. However, please note that disabling or deleting cookies may negatively impact the functionality of our WooCommerce online store. Managing cookies varies slightly depending on the browser you use. You can find links to instructions for the most common browsers in the "Cookies" section.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of WooCommerce, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to [relevant legal provision], this consent constitutes [relevant legal provision]. Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent) This represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when WooCommerce collects it.

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

WooCommerce also processes data in the USA. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can entail various risks to the lawfulness and security of data processing.

WooCommerce uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (Article 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing by recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e., in particular the USA) or for data transfers to such countries. These clauses oblige WooCommerce to maintain the EU level of data protection when processing relevant data even outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses, among other places, here: https://germany.representation.ec.europa.eu/index_de.

More details about the privacy policy and what data is collected by WooCommerce and how it is used can be found on [website address]. https://automattic.com/privacy/ and general information about WooCommerce on https://woocommerce.com/.

All texts are protected by copyright.

Source: Created with the Privacy Policy Generator from AdSimple