Privacy Policy

We have written this privacy policy (version 23.09.2021-311836242) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – process, will process in the future and what legal options you have. The terms used are to be considered as gender-neutral.
In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about any personal data we process about you.

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

Scope

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

  • all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate

  • Social media presences and email communication

  • mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

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

Legal bases

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

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

  1. Consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of data you entered into a contact form.

  2. Contract (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR): We process your data in order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you. For example, if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance.

  3. Legal obligation (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we will process your data. For example, we are legally required to keep invoices for our bookkeeping. These usually contain personal data.

  4. Legitimate interests (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your basic rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we have to process certain data in order to be able to operate our website securely and economically. Therefore, the processing is a legitimate interest.

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

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

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

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

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

Contact details of the data protection controller

If you have any questions about data protection, you will find the contact details of the responsible person or controller below:
Roellinghoff GmbH – Präsente & Design
Limmerweg 8 | 82024 Taufkirchen
Authorised to represent: Andrea Roellinghoff
Email: info@roellinghoff.com
Phone: +49 (089) 470 27 969
Company details: https://www.roellinghoff.com/impressum/

Storage Period

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

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

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

Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation

You are granted the following rights in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG):

  • right to rectification (article 16 GDPR)

  • right to erasure (“right to be forgotten“) (article 17 GDPR)

  • right to restrict processing (article 18 GDPR)

  • righ to notification – notification obligation regarding rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing (article 19 GDPR)

  • right to data portability (article 20 GDPR)

  • Right to object (article 21 GDPR)

  • right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing – including profiling – (article 22 GDPR)

If you think that the processing of your data violates the data protection law, or that your data protection rights have been infringed in any other way, you can lodge a complaint with your respective regulatory authority. For Austria this is the data protection authority, whose website you can access at https://www.data-protection-authority.gv.at/.

Bayern Data protection authority

State Commissioner for Data Protection: Prof. Dr. Thomas Petri
Address: Wagmüllerstr. 18, 80538 München
Phone number: 089/21 26 72-0
E-mail address: poststelle@datenschutz-bayern.de
Website: https://www.datenschutz-bayern.de/

Adobe Analytics Privacy Policy

On our website, we use Adobe Analytics, a web analysis tool. The provider of this service is the American company Adobe Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Irish company Adobe Systems Software Ireland Companies, 4-6 Riverwalk, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, Ireland.

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

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

You can find out more about Adobe Analytics’ data processing in their privacy policy at https://www.adobe.com/de/privacy.html .

Google Optimize Privacy Policy

On our website we use Google Optimize, which is a web optimisation tool. The provider of this service is the American company Google Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the Irish company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Irland).

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

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

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

Facebook Pixel Privacy Policy

We use Facebook’s Facebook pixel on our website. For that, we have implemented a code on our website. The Facebook pixel is a segment of a JavaScript code, which, in case you came to our website via Facebook ads, loads an array or functions that enable Facebook to track your user actions. For example, if you buy a product on our website, the Facebook pixel is triggered and stores your actions on our website in one or more cookies. These cookies enable Facebook to match your user data (customer data such as IP address, user ID) with the data of your Facebook account. After that, Facebook deletes your data again. The collected data is anonymous as well as inaccessible and can only be used for ad placement purposes. If you are a Facebook user and you are logged in, your visit to our website is automatically assigned to your Facebook user account.

We exclusively want to show our products or services to persons, who are interested in them. With the aid of the Facebook pixel, our advertising measures can get better adjusted to your wishes and interests. Therefore, Facebook users get to see suitable advertisement (if they allowed personalised advertisement). Moreover, Facebook uses the collected data for analytical purposes and for its own advertisements.

In the following we will show you the cookies, which were set on a test page with the Facebook pixel integrated to it. Please consider that these cookies are only examples. Depending on the interaction that is made on our website, different cookies are set.

Name: _fbp
Value: fb.1.1568287647279.257405483-6311836242-7
Purpose: Facebook uses this cookie to display advertising products.
Expiration date: after 3 months

Name: fr
Value: 0aPf312HOS5Pboo2r..Bdeiuf…1.0.Bdeiuf.
Purpose: This cookie is used for Facebook pixels to function properly.
Expiration date: after 3 months

Name: comment_author_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062311836242-3
Value: Name of the author
Purpose: This cookie saves the text and name of a user who e.g. leaves a comment.
Expiration date: after 12 months

Name: comment_author_url_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062
Value: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.testseite…%2F (URL of the author)
Purpose: This cookie saved the URL of the website that the user types into a text box on our website.
Expiration date: after 12 months

Name: comment_author_email_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062
Value: email address of the author
Purpose: This cookie saves the email address of the user, if they provided it on the website.
Expiration date: after 12 months

Note: The above-mentioned cookies relate to an individual user behaviour. Moreover, especially concerning the usage of cookies, changes at Facebook can never be ruled out.

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

We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. Data processing is done mainly through Facebook Pixel. This may lead to data not being anonymously processed and stored. Furthermore, US government authorities may get access to individual data. The data may also get linked to data from other Facebook services you have a user account with.

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

Privacy Policy for Facebook‘s Automatic Advanced Matching

Along with Facebook’s pixel function, we have also activated Automatic Advanced Matching. This function allows us to send hashed emails, names, genders, cities, states, postcodes and dates of birth or telephone numbers as additional information to Facebook, provided you have made them available to us. This activation gives us the opportunity to customise advertising campaigns even better to persons who are interested in our services or products.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

Google Analytics Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimise the website.
📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as the location of access, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. You can find more details on this in the privacy policy below.
📅 Storage period: depending on the properties used
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Analytics?

We use the tracking and analysis tool Google Analytics (GA) of the US-American company Google LLC (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). Google Analytics collects data on your actions on our website. Whenever you click a link for example, this action is saved in a cookie and transferred to Google Analytics. With the help of reports which we receive from Google Analytics, we can adapt our website and our services better to your wishes. In the following, we will explain the tracking tool in more detail, and most of all, we will inform you what data is saved and how you can prevent this.

Google Analytics is a tracking tool with the purpose of conducting data traffic analysis of our website. For Google Analytics to work, there is a tracking code integrated to our website. Upon your visit to our website, this code records various actions you perform on your website. As soon as you leave our website, this data is sent to the Google Analytics server, where it is stored.

Google processes this data and we then receive reports on your user behaviour. These reports can be one of the following:

  • Target audience reports: With the help of target audience reports we can get to know our users better and can therefore better understand who is interested in our service.

  • Advertising reports: Through advertising reports we can analyse our online advertising better and hence improve it.

  • Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports provide us helpful information on how we can get more people enthusiastic about our service.

  • Behaviour reports: With these reports, we can find out how you interact with our website. By the means of behaviour reports, we can understand what path you go on our website and what links you click.

  • Conversion reports: A conversion is the process of leading you to carry out a desired action due to a marketing message. An example of this would be transforming you from a mere website visitor into a buyer or a newsletter subscriber. Hence, with the help of these reports we can see in more detail, if our marketing measures are successful with you. Our aim is to increase our conversion rate.

  • Real time reports: With the help of these reports we can see in real time, what happens on our website. It makes us for example see, we can see how many users are reading this text right now.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

The objective of our website is clear: We want to offer you the best possible service. Google Analytics’ statistics and data help us with reaching this goal.

Statistically evaluated data give us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimise our page in a way, that makes it easier to be found by interested people on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to get a better understanding of you as our visitor. Therefore, we can very accurately find out what we must improve on our website, in order to offer you the best possible service. The analysis of that data also enables us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures in a more individual and more cost-effective way. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services exclusively to people who are interested in them.

What data is stored by Google Analytics?

With the aid of a tracking code, Google Analytics creates a random, unique ID which is connected to your browser cookie. That way, Google Analytics recognises you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognised as a “recurring” user. All data that is collected gets saved together with this very user ID. Only this is how it is made possible for us to evaluate and analyse pseudonymous user profiles.

To analyse our website with Google Analytics, a property ID must be inserted into the tracking code. The data is then stored in the corresponding property. Google Analytics 4-property is standard for every newly created property. An alternative however, is the Universal Analytics Property. Depending on the property that is being used, data are stored for different periods of time.

Your interactions on our website are measured by tags such as cookies and app instance IDs. Interactions are all kinds of actions that you perform on our website. If you are also using other Google systems (such as a Google Account), data generated by Google Analytics can be linked with third-party cookies. Google does not pass on any Google Analytics data, unless we as the website owners authorise it. In case it is required by law, exceptions can occur.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Name: _ga
Value:2.1326744211.152311836242-5
Purpose: By deafault, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga, to save the user ID. It generally serves the purpose of differentiating between website visitors.
Expiration date: After 2 years

Name: _gid
Value:2.1687193234.152311836242-1
Purpose: This cookie also serves the purpose of differentiating between website users
Expiration date: After 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
Value: 1
Verwendungszweck: It is used for decreasing the demand rate. If Google Analytics is provided via Google Tag Manager, this cookie gets the name _dc_gtm_ <property-id>.
Expiration date: After 1 minute

Name: AMP_TOKEN
Value: No information
Purpose: This cookie has a token which is used to retrieve the user ID by the AMP Client ID Service. Other possible values suggest a logoff, a request or an error.
Expiration date: After 30 seconds up to one year

Name: __utma
Value:1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
Purpose: With this cookie your behaviour on the website can be tracked and the site performance can be measured. The cookie is updated every time the information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiration date: After 2 years

Name: __utmt
Value: 1
Purpose: Just like _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id> this cookie is used for keeping the requirement rate in check.
Expiration date: Afer 10 minutes

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

Name: __utmc
Value: 167421564
Purpose: This cookie is used to determine new sessions for recurring visitors. It is therefore a session cookie, and only stays stored until you close the browser again.
Expiration date: After closing the browser

Name: __utmz
Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
Purpose: This cookie is used to identify the source of the number of visitors to our website. This means, that the cookie stored information on where you came to our website from. This could be another site or an advertisement.
Expiration date: After 6 months

Name: __utmv
Value: No information
Purpose: The cookie is used to store custom user data. It gets updated whenever information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiration date: After 2 years

Note: This list is by no means exhaustive, since Google are repeatedly changing the use of their cookies.

Below we will give you an overview of the most important data that can be evaluated by Google Analytics:

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called Heatmaps an. These Heatmaps make it possible to see the exact areas you click on, so we can get information on what routes you make on our website.

Session duration: Google calls the time you spend on our website without leaving it session duration. Whenever you are inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.

Bounce rate If you only look at one page of our website and then leave our website again, it is called a bounce.

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

IP-Address: The IP address is only shown in a shortened form, to make it impossible to clearly allocate it.

Location: Your approximate location and the country you are in can be defined by the IP address. This process is called IP location determination.

Technical information: Information about your browser type, your internet provider and your screen resolution are called technical information.

Source: Both, Google Analytics as well as ourselves, are interested what website or what advertisement led you to our site.

Further possibly stored data include contact data, potential reviews, playing media (e.g. when you play a video on our site), sharing of contents via social media or adding our site to your favourites. This list is not exhaustive and only serves as general guidance on Google Analytics’ data retention.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has servers across the globe. Most of them are in America and therefore your data is mainly saved on American servers. Here you can read detailed information on where Google’s data centres are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en

Your data is allocated to various physical data mediums. This has the advantage of allowing to retrieve the data faster, and of protecting it better from manipulation. Every Google data centre has respective emergency programs for your data. Hence, in case of a hardware failure at Google or a server error due to natural disasters, the risk for a service interruption stays relatively low.

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

Google Analytics has a 26 months standardised period of retaining your user data. After this time, your user data is deleted. However, we have the possibility to choose the retention period of user data ourselves. There are the following five options:

  • Deletion after 14 months

  • Deletion after 26 months

  • Deletion after 38 months

  • Deletion after 50 months

  • No automatical deletion

Additionally, there is the option for data to be deleted only if you no longer visit our website within a period determined by us. In this case, the retention period will be reset every time you revisit our website within the specified period.

As soon as the chosen period is expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to any of your data which is linked to cookies, user identification and advertisement IDs (e.g. cookies of the DoubleClick domain). Any report results are based on aggregated information and are stored independently of any user data. Aggregated information is a merge of individual data into a single and bigger unit.

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

Under the provisions of the European Union’s data protection law, you have the right to obtain information on your data and to update, delete or restrict it. With the help of a browser add on that can deactivate Google Analytics’ JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js), you can prevent Google Analytics from using your data. You can download this add on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en-GB. Please consider that this add on can only deactivate any data collection by Google Analytics.

If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage all cookies (independently of Google Analytics), you can use one of the guides that are available for any browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

Legal basis

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we obtained via our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a of the GDPR (consent) , this is the legal basis for the processing of personal data when collected via web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors, in order to technically and economically improve our offer. With Google Analytics, we can recognise website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f of the GDPR (legitimate interests) . Nevertheless, we only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent.

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

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

We hope we could provide you with the most important information about data processing by Google Analytics. If you want to find out more on the tracking service, we recommend these two links: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/gb/ and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.

Google Analytics IP Anonymisation

We implemented Google Analytics’ IP address anonymisation to this website. Google developed this function, so this website can comply with the applicable privacy laws and the local data protection authorities’ recommendations, should they prohibit the retention of any full IP addresses.
The anonymisation or masking of IP addresses takes place, as soon as they reach Google Analytics’ data collection network, but before the data would be saved or processed.

You can find more information on IP anonymisation at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=en.

Google Analytics Reports on demographic characteristics and interests

We have turned on Google Analytics’ functions for advertising reports. These reports on demographic characteristics and interests contain details about age, gender and interests. Through them we can get a better picture of our users – without being able to allocate any data to individual persons. You can learn more about advertising functions at auf https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=en&amp%3Butm_id=ad.

You can terminate the use of your Google Account’s activities and information in “Ads Settings” at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated via a checkbox.

Google Analytics Deactivation Link

By clicking on the following deactivation link you can prevent Google from tracking your further visits. Caution: The deletion of cookies, the use of your browser’s incognito/private mode or the use of a different browser may lead to your data being collected again.

Deactivate Google Analytics

Google Analytics‘ Data Processing Amendment

By accepting the amendment on data processing in Google Analytics, we entered a contract with Google concerning the use of Google Analytics.

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

Google Analytics Google Signals Privacy Policy

We have activated Google signals in Google Analytics. Through this, any existing Google Analytics functions (advertising reports, remarketing, cross-device reports and reports on interests and demographic characteristics) are updated, to result in the summary and anonymisation of your data, should you have permitted personalised ads in your Google Account.

The special aspect of this is that it involves cross-device tracking. That means your data can be analysed across multiple devices. Through the activation of Google signals, data is collected and linked to the Google account. For example, it enables Google to recognise when you look at a product on a smartphone and later buy the product on a laptop. Due to activating Google signals, we can start cross-device remarketing campaigns, which would otherwise not be possible to this extent. Remarketing means, that we can show you our products and services across other websites as well.

Moreover, further visitor data such as location, search history, YouTube history and data about your actions on our website are collected in Google Analytics. As a result, we receive improved advertising reports and more useful information on your interests and demographic characteristics. These include your age, the language you speak, where you live or what your gender is. Certain social criteria such as your job, your marital status or your income are also included. All these characteristics help Google Analytics to define groups of persons or target audiences.

Those reports also help us to better assess your behaviour, as well as your wishes and interests. As a result, we can optimise and customise our products and services for you. By default, this data expires after 26 months. Please consider, that this data is only collected if you have agreed to personalised advertisement in your Google Account. The retained information is always exclusively summarised and anonymous data, and never any data on individual persons. You can manage or delete this data in your Google Account.

Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy

Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Organisation of individual tracking tools
📓 Processed data: Google Tag Manager itself does not store any data. The data record tags of the web analytics tools used.
📅 Storage period: depending on the web analytics tool used
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Tag Manager?

We use Google Tag Manager by the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) for our website.
This Tag Manager is one of Google’s many helpful marketing products. With it, we can centrally integrate and manage code sections of various tracking tools, that we use on our website.

In this privacy statement we will explain in more detail, what Google Tag Manager does, why we use it and to what extent your data is processed.

Google Tag Manager is an organising tool with which we can integrate and manage website tags centrally and via a user interface. Tags are little code sections which e.g. track your activities on our website. For this, segments of JavaScript code are integrated to our site’s source text. The tags often come from Google’s intern products, such as Google Ads or Google Analytics, but tags from other companies can also be integrated and managed via the manager. Since the tags have different tasks, they can collect browser data, feed marketing tools with data, embed buttons, set cookies and track users across several websites.

Why do we use Google Tag Manager for our website?

Everybody knows: Being organised is important! Of course, this also applies to maintenance of our website. In order to organise and design our website as well as possible for you and anyone who is interested in our products and services, we rely on various tracking tools, such as Google Analytics.
The collected data shows us what interests you most, which of our services we should improve, and which other persons we should also display our services to. Furthermore, for this tracking to work, we must implement relevant JavaScript Codes to our website. While we could theoretically integrate every code section of every tracking tool separately into our source text, this would take too much time and we would lose overview. This is the reason why we use Google Tag Manager. We can easily integrate the necessary scripts and manage them from one place. Additionally, Google Tag Manager’s user interface is easy to operate, and requires no programming skills. Therefore, we can easily keep order in our jungle of tags.

What data is stored by Google Tag Manager?

Tag Manager itself is a domain that neither uses cookies nor stores data. It merely functions as an “administrator“ of implemented tags. Data is collected by the individual tags of the different web analysis tools. Therefore, in Google Tag Manager the data is sent to the individual tracking tools and does not get saved.

However, with the integrated tags of different web analysis tools such as Google Analytics, this is quite different. Depending on the analysis tool used, various data on your internet behaviour is collected, stored and processed with the help of cookies. Please read our texts on data protection for more information on the articular analysis and tracking tools we use on our website.

We allowed Google via the account settings for the Tag Manager to receive anonymised data from us. However, this exclusively refers to the use of our Tag Manager and not to your data, which are saved via code sections. We allow Google and others, to receive selected data in anonymous form. Therefore, we agree to the anonymised transfer of our website data. However, even after extensive research we could not find out what summarised and anonymous data it is exactly that gets transmitted. What we do know is that Google deleted any info that could identify our website. Google combines the data with hundreds of other anonymous website data and creates user trends as part of benchmarking measures. Benchmarking is a process of comparing a company’s results with the ones of competitors. As a result, processes can be optimised based on the collected information.

How long and where is the data stored?

When Google stores data, this is done on Google’s own servers. These servers are located all over the world, with most of them being in America. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en you can read in detail where Google’s servers are.

In our individual data protection texts on the different tools you can find out how long the respective tracking tools store your data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

Google Tag Manager itself does not set any cookies but manages different tracking websites’ tags. In our data protection texts on the different tracking tools you can find detailed information on how you can delete or manage your data.

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

Legal basis

The use of the Google Tag Manager requires your consent, which we obtained via our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent is the legal basis for personal data processing, such as when it is collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors and thus technically and economically improving our offer. With the help of Google Tag Managers we can also improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). We only use Google Tag Manager if you have given us your consent.

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

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

If you want to learn more about Google Tag Manager, we recommend their FAQs at https://support.google.com/tagmanager/?hl=en#topic=3441530.


Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

Google AdSense Privacy Policy

Google AdSense Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: economic success and service optimisation.
📓 Processed data: Access statistics containing data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the cookies used and on the retained data
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google AdSense?

We use Google AdSense on this website. It is an advertising program of the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). With Google AdSense we can show advertisements that fit our theme. Thus, we can offer you adverts that ideally give you added value. In this privacy statement on Google AdSense we will explain to you, why we use Google AdSense on our website and which of your data is processed and saved, as well as how you can prevent this data retention.

The advertising program Google AdSense has been around since 2003. As opposed to Google Ads (previously: Google AdWords) it is not possible to advertise on Google AdSense oneself. Google AdSense displays advertisements on websites, such as ours. The biggest advantage of this web service compared to some others, is that Google AdSense only shows ads to you which match our website’s contents. Google has its own algorithm which calculates what ads are shown to you. Of course, we only want to show you ads that interest you and provide you added value. Google checks which advertisements are suitable for our users, considering your interests, your user behaviour and our offer. At this point we want to mention that we are not responsible for the choice of the ads. We merely offer advertising space on our website, while Google selects the displayed ads. Moreover, since August 2013 the ads are customised to the respective user interface. This means, that no matter if you visit our website with your smartphone, your PC or your laptop, the ads adjust to your terminal device.

Why do we use Google AdSense on our website?

The operation of a high-quality website requires tremendous dedication and commitment. We are essentially never finished with working on our website. This is, because we continuously maintain and keep our website up to date. Of course, we want to achieve economic success with this work. Therefore, we decided for to use advertisements as a source of revenue. It is most important to us however, that we do not disrupt your visit to our website with these advertisements. Thence, with the aid of Google AdSense, only adverts that are tailored to you and our themes are shown.

Like with Google’s indexation for a website, a bot examines both, the matching content and the offers on our website. Then, the ads are adapted to and presented on the website. Alongside the contextual overlaps between the ads and website offer, AdSense also supports interest-based targeting. This means, that Google also uses your data to offer advertising that is tailored to you. That way you receive ads that ideally offer you added value, and it gives us a higher chance of earning a bit.

What data is stored by Google AdSense?

Google AdSense uses cookies to display ads that are customised to you. Cookies are little text files, that store certain information on your computer.

Cookies are supposed to enable improved advertisements in AdSense. They do not contain any personally identifiable data. However, it should be considered that Google does not view data such as “Pseudonymous Cookie-IDs” (name or other identification feature is replaced with a pseudonym) or IP addresses as personally identifiable information. Although, within the framework of the GDPR, this data can be classified as personal data. Following every impression (every time you see an ad), every click and any other activity that leads to a call on its servers, Google AdSense sends a cookie to the browser. The cookie is then saved in the browser, provided the browser accepts it.

Under certain circumstances, third parties can place cookies in your browser, and read them or use web beacons, to store data they receive through the display of ads on the website. Web beacons are little graphics that analyse and a record the log file. This analysis allows a statistical evaluation for the online marketing.

Through this cookie, Google can collect certain information on your user behaviour on our website. These include:

  • Information on how you interact with an ad (clicks, impressions, mouse movements)

  • Information if an ad has already been displayed in your browser. This data helps to prevent an ad from showing multiple times.

Thereby, Google evaluates and analyses data on the displayed advertising material along with your IP address. Primarily, Google uses the data to measure the effectiveness of an ad and improve the advertising offer. Moreover, the data does not get linked to your personal data which Google might have received via other Google services.

In the following we will introduce you to the cookies that Google AdSense uses for tracking purposes. Please note, that we will refer to a test website, which only has Google AdSense installed to it:

Name: uid
Value: 891269189311836242-8
Purpose: The cookie is stored under the domain adform.net. It provides a uniquely assigned user ID that is generated automatically and collects data on the activity on our website.
Expiry date: after 2 months

Name: C
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie identifies if 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: This cookie is saved under the domain track.adform.net. It stands for the client ID and is used to offer you improved advertisements. It can forward more relevant adverts to the user and helps to improve reports on campaign performance.
Expiry date: after 2 months

Name: IDE
Value: zOtj4TWxwbFDjaATZ2TzNaQmxrU311836242-1
Purpose: The cookie is stored under the domain doubleclick.net. It serves the purpose of registering your actions following an impression or a click on the ad. Thus, it can be measured how our visitors like an ad.
Expiry date: after 1 month

Name: test_cookie
Value: not specified
Purpose: With the „test_cookies“ it can be verified, if your browser even supports cookies. The cookie is saved under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiry date: after 1 month

Name: CT592996
Value:733366
Purpose: It is saved under the domain adform.net. The cookie is placed upon your click on an ad. We could not find any further information on the use of this cookie.
Expiry date: after one hour

Note: This list does not claim to be exhaustive, as Google frequently change the choice of their cookies.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google retains your IP address, as well as various activities you perform on the website. Cookies store this information with the interactions on our website. According to Google, the company collects and saves the given information securely on its internal servers in the USA.

If you do not have a Google account or are not logged in, Google usually stores the collected data on your browser with a unique identification (ID). The IDs saved in cookies serve e.g. for providing personalised advertisements. If you are logged into a Google account, Google can gather personal information.

You can delete certain data that is saved by Google anytime (see next section). Much of the information saved in cookies get automatically deleted after a specific time. However, there are also data which are retained by Google for a longer period. This is the case, when Google must store certain data for an undefined, longer period due to economical or legal necessities.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

You can always clear or deactivate cookies that are on your computer. How exactly this can be done depends on the browser.

Here you can find an instruction on how you can manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies, you can set your browser to notify you whenever a potential cookie is about to be set. This lets you decide to either permit or deny the placement of every single cookie. By downloading and installing the browser plugin at https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996, any advertising cookies get deactivated as well. Please note, that deactivating these cookies does not stop advertisements, it only inhibits personalised adverts.

If you have a Google account, you can deactivate personalised adverts on the website https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated. You will continue to see ads, but they will stop being customised to your interests. Nevertheless, the ads are displayed based on a few factors, such as your location, the browser type and the used search terms.

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

You can learn more about what data Google generally collects and what they are used for at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Cookie Consent Management Platform

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

What is a cookie consent management platform?

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

Why do we use a cookie management tool?

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

Which data are processed?

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

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

Legal basis

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

Facebook Privacy Policy

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

What are Facebook tools?

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

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

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

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

  • Facebook-Pixel

  • Social Plugins (e.g. the “Like” or “Share“ button)

  • Facebook Login

  • Account Kit

  • APIs (application programming interface)

  • SDKs (Softwart developmept kits)

  • Plattform-integrations

  • Plugins

  • Codes

  • Specifications

  • Documentations

  • Technologies and Services

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

Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?

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

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

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

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

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

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

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

How long and where are the data stored?

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

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

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

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

3) Now click on “Deactivation and deletion”.

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

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

Facebook Social Plugins Privacy Policy

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

Facebook offers the following social plugins:

  • “Save” button

  • “Like” button, Share, Send and Quote

  • Page plugin

  • Comments

  • Messenger plugin

  • Embedded posts and video player

  • Group Plugin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4311836242c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose:The cookie is also necessary for the plugins to function properly
Expiry date: after 3 months

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

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

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

Facebook Login Privacy Policy

We integrated the convenient Facebook Login to our website. With it, you can easily log into our site with your Facebook account, without having to create a new user account. If you decide to register via the Facebook Login, you will be redirected to the social media network Facebook. There, you can log in with your Facebook user data. By using this method to log in, data on you and your user behaviour is stored and transmitted to Facebook.

To save the data, Facebook uses various cookies. In the following we will show you the most significant cookies that are placed in your browser or that already exist when you log into our site via the Facebook Login:

Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose: This cookie is used to make the social plugin function optimally on our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Name: datr
Value: 4Jh7XUA2311836242SEmPsSfzCOO4JFFl
Purpose: Facebook sets the “datr” cookie, when a web browser accesses facebook.com. The cookie helps to identify login activities and protect users.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

Note: The cookies we stated are only a small range of the cookies which are available to Facebook. Other cookies include for example _ fbp, sb or wd. It is not possible to disclose an exhaustive list, since Facebook have a multitude of cookies at their disposal which they use in variation.

On the one hand, Facebook Login enables a fast and easy registration process. On the other hand, it gives us the opportunity to share data with Facebook. In turn, we can customise our offer and advertising campaigns better to your needs and interests. The data we receive from Facebook by this means, is public data such as

  • your Facebook name

  • your profile picture

  • your stored email address

  • friends lists

  • button clicks (e.g. “Like“ button)

  • date of birth

  • language

  • place of residence

In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activities on our website. These include information on the terminal device you used, which of our subpages you visit, or what products you have bought from us.

By using Facebook Login, you agree to the data processing. You can terminate this agreement anytime. If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data processing, we recommend you to read Facebook’s Data Policy at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

If you are registered with Facebook, you can change your advertisement settings anytime at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen.

Instagram Privacy Policy

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

What is Instagram?

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

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

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

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

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

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

What data is stored by Instagram?

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

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

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

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

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

The following cookies were used in our test:

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

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

Name: fbsr_311836242124024
Value: no information
Purpose: This cookie stores the login request of Instagram app users.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

Name: urlgen
Value: “{”194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe311836242”
Purpose: This cookie serves Instagram’s marketing purposes.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

How long and where are these data stored?

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

And this is how an Instagram account can be deleted:

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

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

LinkedIn Privacy Policy

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

What is LinkedIn?

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

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

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

Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?

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

What data are stored by LinkedIn?

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

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

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

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

Name: bcookie
Value: =2&34aab2aa-2ae1-4d2a-8baf-c2e2d7235c16311836242-
Purpose: This cookie is a so-called “browser ID cookie” and stores your identification number (ID).
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

Name: lidc
Value: 1818367:t=1571904767:s=AQF6KNnJ0G311836242…
Purpose:This cookie is used for routing. Routing records how you found your way to LinkedIn and how you navigate through the website.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

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

Name: JSESSIONID
Value: ajax:3118362422900777718326218137
Purpose: This is a session cookie that LinkedIn uses to maintain anonymous user sessions through the server.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

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

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

How long and where are the data stored?

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

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

How to access account data in your LinkedIn profile:

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

We have tried to provide you with the most important information about data processing by LinkedIn. On https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy you can find out more on data processing by the social media network LinkedIn.

Audio & Video

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

What are audio and video elements?

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

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

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

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

We of course want to provide you with the best offer on our website. And we are aware that content is no longer just conveyed in text and static images. Instead of just giving you a link to a video, we offer you audio and video formats directly on our website. These are entertaining or informative, but ideally they are both. Our service therefore gets expanded and it gets easier for you to access interesting content. In addition to our texts and images, we thus also offer video and/or audio content.

Which data are retained by audio & video elements?

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

Duration of data processing

You can find out exactly how long the data is stored on the third-party provider’s servers either in a lower point of the respective tool’s Privacy Policy or in the provider’s Privacy Policy. Generally, personal data is only processed for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services or products. This usually also applies to third-party providers. In most cases, you can assume that certain data will be stored on third-party providers’ servers for several years. Data can be retained for different amounts of time, especially when stored in cookies. Some cookies are deleted after you leave a website, while others may be stored in your browser for a few years.

Right to object

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

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

Legal basis

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

Vimeo Privacy Policy

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

What is Vimeo?

On our website, we use videos of the company Vimeo. This video portal is operated by Vimeo LLC, 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA. With the help of a plug-in, we can display interesting video material directly on our website. Consequently, some of your data may be transmitted to Vimeo. In this privacy policy we want to explain to you what data this is, why we use Vimeo and how you can manage your data or prevent data transmission.

Vimeo is a video platform that was founded in 2004 and introduced video streaming in HD quality in 2007. Since 2015 it has been possible to stream in 4k Ultra HD. The use of the portal is free of charge, but it also contains certain paid content. Compared to the market leader YouTube, Vimeo attaches great importance to valuable content in good quality. On the one hand, the portal offers a lot of artistic content such as music videos and short films. On the other hand, it also offers useful documentaries on a broad spectrum of topics.

Why do we use Vimeo on our website?

The aim of our website is to provide you the best possible content, in the easiest and most accessible way we can. We will only be satisfied with our service, once we have reached that goal. The video service Vimeo supports us in achieving this goal. Vimeo gives us the opportunity to present high quality content to you directly on our website. Instead of us merely giving you a link to an interesting video, you can watch the video here with us. This extends our service and makes it easier for you to access interesting content. Therefore, in addition to our texts and images, we can also offer video content.

What data is stored on Vimeo?

When you open a site on our website that has a Vimeo video embedded to it, your browser will connect to Vimeo’s servers, and a data transmission will take place. The data are then collected, stored and processed on Vimeo’s servers. Regardless of whether you have a Vimeo account or not, Vimeo collects data about you. This includes your IP address, technical information about your browser type, your operating system or very basic device information. Furthermore, Vimeo store information on what website you use their service on and which actions (web activities) you carry out on our website. These web activities include e.g. session duration, bounce rate or which button you clicked on our site that contains a Vimeo function. Vimeo can track and store these actions using cookies and similar technologies.

If you are logged in as a registered member of Vimeo, more data may be collected, since a bigger number of cookies may already have been set in your browser. Furthermore, your actions on our website are directly linked to your Vimeo account. To prevent this, you must log out of Vimeo while “surfing” our website.

Below we will show you an array of cookies Vimeo sets when you are on a website containing an integrated Vimeo function. This list is not exhaustive and assumes that you do not have a Vimeo account.

Name: player
Value: “”
Purpose: This cookie saves your settings before you play an embedded Vimeo video. This will ensure you to receive your preferred settings again next time you watch a Vimeo video.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: vuid
Value: pl1046149876.614422590311836242-4
Purpose:
This cookie collects information about your actions on websites that have a Vimeo video embedded to them.
Expiry date:
after 2 years

Note: These two cookies are set every time as soon as you are on a website that has a Vimeo video embedded to it. If you watch the video and click a button such as “share” or “like”, additional cookies will be set. These can also be third-party cookies such as _ga or _gat_UA-76641-8 from Google Analytics or _fbp from Facebook. The exact cookies that are set depends on your interaction with the video.

The following list will show a selection of cookies that could be placed when you interact with a Vimeo video:

Name: _abexps
Value: %5B%5D
Purpose:
This Vimeo cookie helps Vimeo to remember your settings. For example, this can be a pre-set language, a region or a username. The cookie generally stores data on how you use Vimeo.
Expiry date:
after one year

Name: continuous_play_v3
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie is a first-party cookie from Vimeo. The cookie collects information on how you use Vimeo’s service. For example, the cookie stores details on when you pause a video and resume it.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1522249635.1578401280311836242-7
Purpose: This cookie is a third-party cookie from Google. By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Thus, it serves to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: _gcl_au
Value: 1.1.770887836.1578401279311836242-3
Purpose: This third-party cookie from Google AdSense is used to improve the efficiency of ads on websites.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Name: _fbp
Value: fb.1.1578401280585.310434968
Purpose:This is a Facebook cookie. It is used to display adverts or advertising products from Facebook or other advertisers.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Vimeo use this data to improve their own service, to communicate with you and to implement their own targeted advertising measures. On their website they emphasise that only first-party cookies (i.e. cookies from Vimeo itself) are used for embedded videos, provided you do not interact with the video.

How long and where is the data stored?

Vimeo is headquartered in White Plains, New York (USA). However, their services are offered worldwide. For this, the company uses computer systems, databases and servers in the United States and other countries. Thus, your data may also be stored and processed on servers in America. Vimeo stores the data until the company no longer has an economical reason for keeping it. Then the data will be deleted or anonymised. Vimeo correspond to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and are therefore allowed to collect and use information from users within the EU, and to transfer this data to the USA.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

You always have the option to manage cookies in your browser. If you do not want Vimeo to set cookies and collect information about you for example, you can delete or deactivate cookies in your browser settings at any time. These settings vary a little depending on the browser. Please note that after deactivating/deleting cookies, various functions may no longer be fully available. The following instructions show how you can manage or delete cookies in your browser.

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you are a registered Vimeo member, you can also manage cookies in Vimeo’s settings.

Legal basis

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

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

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

You can find out more about the use of cookies at Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/cookie_policy. Furthermore, you can find more information on privacy at Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/privacy.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

Zoom Privacy Policy

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

What is Zoom?

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

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

Why do we use Zoom on our website?

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

What data is stored by Zoom?

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

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

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

On our website we use Google Fonts, from the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA).
We integrated Google Fonts locally, so on our own webserver and not on Google’s servers. Hence, there is no connection to Google’s servers and consequently no data transfer or retention.

What are Google Fonts?

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

Unlike other web fonts, Google offers us unrestricted access to all its fonts. Thus, we have a vast sea of font types at our disposal, which helps us to get the most out of our website. You can find out more answers and information on Google Fonts at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=311836242.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

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

What are Google Fonts?

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

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

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

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

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

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

Which data is stored by Google?

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

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

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

The data Google stores for either a day or a year cannot be deleted easily. Upon opening the page this data is automatically transmitted to Google. In order to clear the data ahead of time, you have to contact Google’s support at https://support.google.com/?hl=en-GB&tid=311836242. The only way for you to prevent the retention of your data is by not visiting our website.

Unlike other web fonts, Google offers us unrestricted access to all its fonts. Thus, we have a vast sea of font types at our disposal, which helps us to get the most out of our website. You can find out more answers and information on Google Fonts at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=311836242. While Google does address relevant elements on data protection at this link, it does not contain any detailed information on data retention.
It proofs rather difficult to receive any precise information on stored data by Google.

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy

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

What is reCAPTCHA?

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

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

Why do we use reCAPTCHA on our website?

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

What data is stored by reCAPTCHA?

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

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

  • Referrer URL (the address of the page the visitor has come from)

  • IP-address (z.B. 256.123.123.1)

  • Information on the operating system (the software that enables the operation of your computers. Popular operating systems are Windows, Mac OS X or Linux)

  • Cookies (small text files that save data in your browser)

  • Mouse and keyboard behaviour (every action you take with your mouse or keyboard is stored)

  • Date and language settings (the language and date you have set on your PC is saved)

  • All Javascript objects (JavaScript is a programming language that allows websites to adapt to the user. JavaScript objects can collect all kinds of data under one name)

  • Screen resolution (shows how many pixels the image display consists of)

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

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

Name: IDE
Value: WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKnRNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-311836242-8
Purpose: This cookie is set by DoubleClick (which is owned by Google) to register and report a user’s interactions with advertisements. With it, ad effectiveness can be measured, and appropriate optimisation measures can be taken. IDE is stored in browsers under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiry date: after one year

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

Name: ANID
Value: U7j1v3dZa3118362420xgZFmiqWppRWKOr
Purpose: We could not find out much about this cookie. In Google’s privacy statement, the cookie is mentioned in connection with “advertising cookies” such as “DSID”, “FLC”, “AID” and “TAID”. ANID is stored under the domain google.com.
Expiry date: after 9 months

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

Name: NID
Value: 0WmuWqy311836242zILzqV_nmt3sDXwPeM5Q
Purpose: Google uses NID to customise advertisements to your Google searches. With the help of cookies, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous ad interactions. Thus, you always receive advertisements tailored to you. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect users’ personal settings for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Name: DV
Value: gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAANbqc311836242-4
Purpose: This cookie is set when you tick the “I am not a robot” checkmark. Google Analytics uses the cookie personalised advertising. DV collects anonymous information and is also used to distinct between users.
Expiry date: after 10 minutes

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

How long and where are the data stored?

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

If you want to prevent any data about you and your behaviour to be transmitted to Google, you must fully log out of Google and delete all Google cookies before visiting our website or use the reCAPTCHA software. Generally, the data is automatically sent to Google as soon as you visit our website. To delete this data, you must contact Google Support at https://support.google.com/?hl=en-GB&tid=311836242.

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

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

Google Custom Search Privacy Policy

Custom Google Search Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: service optimisation
📓 Processed data: Data such as IP address and entered search terms
You can find more details on this in Privacy Policy below.
📅 Storage duration: can very depending on the retained data
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Custom Search?

We have integrated Google’s custom search plug-in to our website. Google is the largest and most widely known search engine in the world and is operated by the American company Google LLC (1600 Amphitheater Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). Through Google Custom Search data can be transferred from you to Google. In this privacy policy we will inform you on why we use this plug-in, which data is processed and how you can manage or prevent the transmission of your data.

Google’s Custom Search plug-in is a Google search bar that is integrated directly into our website. With it, searches take place just like on www.google.com, but the search results focus on our content and products or a limited area.

Why do we use Google Custom Search on our website?

A website with much interesting content often grows so big that it is easy to lose track. Over time, lots of valuable material has accumulated also on our site. But as part of our service we want you to be able to find our content in a quick and simple manner. Therefore, we have integrated Google Custom Search, which makes finding interesting content a breeze. Moreover, the built-in Google plug-in improves our website’s overall quality and makes searches easier for you.

What data does Google Custom Search store?

The customised Google search only transfers your data to Google, if you actively use the Google search function that is integrated to our website. This means that only when you type a search term in the search bar and click on “Search” or “Enter”, the search term is sent to Google along with your IP address, where they are stored and processed. Based on the placed cookies (such as 1P_JAR), Google may also receive data on website use. If you search for content via the built-in Google search function on our website, while you are logged into your Google account, Google can assign the collected data to your Google account. As the website operator, we have no influence on what Google do with the collected data or how Google process this data.

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

Name: 1P_JAR
Value: 2020-01-27-13311836242-5
Purpose: This cookie collects website usage statistics and measures conversions. A conversion occurs e.g. when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant ads to users.
Expiry date: after one month

Name: CONSENT
Value: WP.282f52311836242-9
Purpose: The cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to the use of various Google services. CONSENT also protects user data from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 18 years

Name: NID
Value: 196=pwIo3B5fHr-8
Purpose: NID is used by Google to adapt ads to your Google search. With the help of cookies, Google “remembers” your search queries and your previous interaction with ads. That way you always receive customised advertisements.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Note: We do not claim for this list to be exhaustive, Google keep changing the choice of their cookies.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google’s servers are located all over the world. Since Google is an American company, most data is stored on American servers.
At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en you can find out where exactly Google’s servers are.
Your data is distributed across various physical data carriers. This means the data can be accessed quicker and is better protected against potential manipulation. Google also have special emergency programs for your data. In case e.g. internal technical problems occur and some servers would stop working, the risk of an interruption of service and data loss remains low.
Google store data for different lengths of time, depending on what type of data they are. You can delete some data yourself, while others are automatically deleted or anonymised by Google. However, Google stores certain data for longer if it is necessary for legal or business reasons.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

According to the European Union’s data protection regulations, you have the right to access information about your data as well as to update, delete or to restrict it. There are certain data which you can delete anytime. If you have a Google account, you can delete data about your web activity there, or set it to be deleted after a specified period.
In your browser you can also deactivate, delete or manage cookies according to your wishes and preferences. Here are instructions for the most popular browsers:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

We hope we were able to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Google. If you want to find out more, we recommend you to read Google’s extensive Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

All texts are copyrighted.

Source: Created with the Datenschutz Generator by AdSimple