Privacy policy

Introduction and overview

We have prepared this privacy statement (version 07.02.2022-121941346) in order to provide you with information in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws to explain which personal data (data for short) we as the controller - and the processors (e.g. providers) commissioned by us - process, will process in the future and what lawful options you have. The terms used are to be understood as gender-neutral.
Briefly: We inform you comprehensively about the data we process about you.

Data protection statements usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. This privacy statement, on the other hand, is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. As far as it is conducive to transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly manner,, links to further information are provided and graphics are used. In this way, we inform you in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the course of our business activities if there is a corresponding legal basis. This is certainly not possible by providing the most concise, unclear and legalistic explanations possible, as is often standard practice on the Internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative and perhaps there is one or two pieces of information you did not know yet.
If you still have questions, we would like to ask you to contact the responsible office mentioned below or in the imprint, to follow the links provided and to look at further information on third party sites. Our contact details can of course also be found in the imprint.

Scope

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

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

Briefly: The data protection declaration applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in a structured manner within the company via the aforementioned channels. If we enter into legal relationships with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately if necessary.

Legal basis

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

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

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

Further conditions such as the performance of recordings in the public interest and the exercise of public authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not generally occur with us. If such a legal basis should be relevant, it will be indicated at the appropriate place.

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

In Austria this is the Federal Act on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data (Data Protection Act), short DSG.
In Germany applies the Federal Data Protection Act, short BDSG.

Sofern weitere regionale oder nationale Gesetze zur Anwendung kommen, informieren wir Sie in den folgenden Abschnitten darüber.

Contact details of the responsible person

If you have any questions about data protection, you will find the contact details of the responsible person or office below:
Velopoldvienna Rental Service and Tours e.U.
Shema Ermeas Kaza
Obermüllnerstrasse 11/1
1020 Vienna
Austria
Authorised to represent: Shema Ermeas Kaza
E-mail: office@velopoldvienna.com
Phone: +436601190120
Imprint: https://velopoldvienna.com/en/impressum/

Storage period

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

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

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

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

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

According to Article 15 of the GDPR, you have the right to know whether we are processing data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and the following information:
- the purpose for which we carry out the processing;
- the categories, i.e. the types of data that are processed;
- who receives this data and if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;
- how long the data will be stored;
- the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
- that you can complain to a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
- the origin of the data if we have not collected it from you;
- whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically evaluated to arrive at a personal profile of you.
You have a right to rectify data under Article 16 of the GDPR, which means that we must correct data if you find errors.
According to Article 17 of the GDPR, you have the right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"), which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.
According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it any further.
According to Article 19 of the GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a common format upon request.
According to Article 21 of the GDPR, you have a right to object, which, once enforced, entails a change in processing.
- If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you may object to the processing. We will then check as soon as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
- If data is used to carry out direct marketing, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We are then no longer allowed to use your data for direct marketing.
- If data is used to carry out profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We are then no longer allowed to use your data for profiling.
You may have the right under Article 22 of the GDPR not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example profiling).

Briefly: You have rights - do not hesitate to contact the responsible body listed above!

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

Data processing security

To protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organisational measures. Where possible, we encrypt or pseudonymise personal data. In this way, we make it as difficult as possible for third parties to infer personal information from our data.

Article 25 of the GDPR speaks of "data protection through technical design and through data protection-friendly default settings" and thus means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to the server room) should always be designed with security in mind and that appropriate measures should be taken. In the following, we will go into more detail on specific measures, if necessary.

TLS encryption with https

TLS, encryption and https sound very technical and they are. We use HTTPS (the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure stands for "secure hypertext transfer protocol") to transmit data tap-proof on the internet.
This means that the complete transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured - no one can "listen in".

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and fulfil data protection through technology design Article 25(1) GDPR). By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data.
You can recognise the use of this data transmission protection by the small lock symbol top left of the browser, to the left of the internet address (e.g. beispielseite.de) and the use of the https scheme (instead of http) as part of our internet address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend a Google search for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki" to get good links to further information.

Communication

Communication Summary
👥 Affected persons: All those who communicate with us by telephone, e-mail or online form.
Data processed: e.g. telephone number, name, e-mail address, form data entered. You can find more details on this in the respective contact type used.
🤝 Purpose: Handling communication with customers, business partners, etc.
📅 Storage period: duration of the business case and legal requirements
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b DSGVO (Contract), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

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

The data will be processed for the handling and processing of your question and the related business transaction. The data will be stored for the same period or as long as required by law.

Persons concerned

All those who seek contact with us via the communication channels provided by us are affected by the aforementioned processes.

Phone

When you call us, the call data is stored pseudonymously on the respective end device and with the telecommunications provider used. In addition, data such as name and telephone number can subsequently be sent by e-mail and stored for the purpose of responding to enquiries. The data is deleted as soon as the business case has been completed and legal requirements permit.

E-mail

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

Online forms

If you communicate with us using an online form, data is stored on our web server and, if necessary, forwarded to an e-mail address of ours. The data is deleted as soon as the business case has been terminated and legal requirements permit.

Legal basis

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

Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent): You give us your consent to store your data and to use it for purposes related to the business case;
Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b DSGVO (contract): There is a need for the performance of a contract with you or a processor such as the telephone provider, or we need to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as preparing an offer;
Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests): We want to operate customer enquiries and business communication in a professional framework. For this purpose, certain technical facilities such as e-mail programmes, exchange servers and mobile phone operators are necessary in order to be able to operate the communication efficiently.

Cookies

Cookies Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: depends on the respective cookie. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.
Data processed: Depending on the cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.
📅 Storage duration: depends on the respective cookie, can vary from hours to years
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What are cookies?

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

Whenever you browse the internet, you use a browser. Well-known browsers include Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

One thing cannot be denied: Cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. More precisely, they are HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other applications. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically placed in the cookie folder, effectively the "brain" of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. When defining a cookie, one or more attributes must also be specified.

Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you return to our site, your browser transmits the "user-related" information back to our site. Thanks to the cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the setting you are used to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.

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

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

Cookie data, for example, can look like this:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152121941346-9
Intended use: Differentiation of website visitors
Expiry date: After 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

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

What are the different types of cookies?

The question of which cookies we use in particular depends on the services used and is clarified in the following sections of the privacy policy. At this point, we would like to briefly discuss the different types of HTTP cookies.

One can distinguish between 4 types of cookies:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the cookie in question. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

What data is processed?

Cookies are little helpers for many different tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to generalise about what data is stored in cookies, but we will inform you about the data processed or stored within the framework of the following data protection declaration.

Storage period of cookies

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

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

Right of objection - how can I delete cookies?

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

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

Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow the cookie or not. The procedure varies depending on the browser. It is best to search for the instructions in Google with the search term "Delete Cookies Chrome" or "Deactivate Cookies Chrome" in the case of a Chrome browser.

Legal basis

The so-called "Cookie Guidelines" have been in place since 2009. These state that the storage of cookies is a Consent (Article 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO) is required from you. Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these directives. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in § 96 para. 3 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). In Germany, the Cookie Directive has not been implemented as national law. Instead, this directive was largely implemented in § 15 para.3 of the Telemedia Act (TMG).

For cookies that are absolutely necessary, even if no consent has been given. legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) DSGVO), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to give visitors to the website a pleasant user experience and for this, certain cookies are often absolutely necessary.

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

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

Web hosting introduction

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

What is web hosting?

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

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

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

When the browser on your computer (desktop, laptop, smartphone) connects and during data transfer to and from the web server, personal data may be processed. On the one hand, your computer stores data, on the other hand, the web server must also store data for a while to ensure proper operation.

To illustrate:

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of the data processing are:

Professional hosting of the website and safeguarding of the operation
to maintain operational and IT security
Anonymous evaluation of access behaviour to improve our offer and, if necessary, for criminal prosecution or the pursuit of claims.

What data is processed?

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

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

How long is data stored?

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

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

Legal basis

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

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

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

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

What is Google Analytics?

We use the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) of the American company Google Inc. on our website. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. For example, when you click on a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. The reports we receive from Google Analytics help us to better tailor our website and service to your preferences. In the following, we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and inform you in particular about what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

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

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

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

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

The statistically evaluated data show us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimise our site so that it is found more easily by interested people on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. We thus know exactly what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also helps us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures in a more individual and cost-effective way. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

What data is stored by Google Analytics?

Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID that is linked to your browser cookie. This is how Google Analytics recognises you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognised as a "returning" user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID. This is what makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles in the first place.

In order to be able 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. For each newly created property, the Google Analytics 4 property is standard. Alternatively, you can also create the Universal Analytics property. Depending on the property used, data is stored for different periods of time.

Identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs measure your interactions on our website. Interactions are all types of actions you take on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google Account), data generated through Google Analytics may be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not share Google Analytics data unless we, as the website operator, authorise it. Exceptions may occur if required by law.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Name: _ga
Value: 2.1326744211.152121941346-5
Intended use: By default, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish between website visitors.
Expiry date: After 2 years

Name: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152121941346-1
Intended use: The cookie is also used to distinguish between website visitors
Expiry date: after 24 hours

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

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

Name: __utma
Value: 1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
Intended use: This cookie can be used to track your behaviour on the website and measure performance. The cookie is updated every time information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: After 2 years

Name: __utmt
Value: 1
Intended use: The cookie is used like _gat_gtag_UA_ to throttle the request rate.
Expiry date: After 10 minutes

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

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

Name: __utmz
Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
Intended use: The cookie is used to identify the source of traffic to our website. This means that the cookie stores from where you came to our website. This may have been another page or an advertisement.
Expiry date: After 6 months

Name: __utmv
Value: Not specified
Intended use: The cookie is used to store custom user data. It is always updated when information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: After 2 years

Remark: This list cannot claim to be exhaustive, as Google is constantly changing its choice of cookies.

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

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heat maps. Heat maps show exactly those areas that you click on. This gives us information about where you are "travelling" on our site.

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

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

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

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

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

Technical information: Technical information includes your browser type, internet service provider or screen resolution.

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

Your data is distributed on different physical data carriers. This has the advantage that the data can be retrieved more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. In every Google data centre, there are corresponding emergency programmes for your data. If, for example, the hardware at Google fails or natural disasters paralyse servers, the risk of a service interruption at Google still remains low.

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

For Universal Analytics properties, Google Analytics has a default retention period of 26 months for your user data. Then your user data is deleted. However, we have the option to choose the retention period of user data ourselves. Five variants are available to us for this purpose:

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

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

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to access, update, delete or restrict your data. You can prevent Google Analytics from using your data by using the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js). You can download the browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de download and install. Please note that this add-on only disables the data collection by Google Analytics.

If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers under the section "Cookies".

Legal basis

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up. According to the Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

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

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

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

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses and are also applicable to Google Analytics, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

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

Google Analytics reports on demographic characteristics and interests

We have turned on the advertising reporting features in Google Analytics. The demographic and interest reports contain information on age, gender and interests. This allows us to get a better picture of our users - without being able to assign this data to individual persons. You can find out more about the advertising functions on https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=de_AT&utm_id=ad.

You can restrict the use of the activities and information of your Google Account under "Advertising settings" on https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated end via checkbox.

Google Analytics IP anonymisation

We have implemented Google Analytics IP address anonymisation on this website. This feature was developed by Google to enable this website to comply with applicable data protection regulations and recommendations of local data protection authorities when they prohibit storage of the full IP address. The anonymisation or masking of the IP takes place as soon as the IP addresses arrive in the Google Analytics data collection network and before any storage or processing of the data takes place.

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

Web Analytics Introduction

Web Analytics Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimise the web offer.
📓 Data processed: Access statistics containing data such as access locations, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. More details can be found in the respective web analytics tool used.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the web analytics tool used
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is Web Analytics?

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

Why do we do web analytics?

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

What data is processed?

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

In addition, your IP address is also stored. According to the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO), IP addresses are personal data. However, your IP address is usually stored pseudonymously (i.e. in an unrecognisable and shortened form). For the purpose of testing, web analysis and web optimisation, no direct data, such as your name, age, address or e-mail address, is stored as a matter of principle. All this data, if collected, is stored pseudonymously. This means that you cannot be identified as a person.

The following example shows schematically how Google Analytics works as an example of client-based web tracking with Java Script code.

How long the respective data is stored always depends on the provider. Some cookies only store data for a few minutes or until you leave the website again, other cookies can store data for several years.

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

Legal basis

The use of web analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up. According to the Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, there is a legitimate interest on our part to analyse the behaviour of website visitors and thus to improve our offer technically and economically. With the help of web analytics, we detect website errors, can identify attacks and improve economic efficiency. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.

Since web analytics tools use cookies, we also recommend that you read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy statements of the respective tools.

Information on specific web analytics tools, if available, can be found in the following sections.

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy

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

What is Google Site Kit?

We have integrated the WordPress plugin Google Site Kit of the American company Google Inc. into our website. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With Google Site Kit, we can quickly and easily view statistics that come from various Google products such as Google Analytics directly in our WordPress dashboard. The tool or the tools integrated in Google Site Kit also collect personal data from you, among other things. In this privacy policy, we explain why we use Google Site Kit, how long and where data is stored and which other data protection texts are relevant for you in this context.

Google Site Kit is a plugin for the WordPress content management system. With this plugin, we can view important website analytics statistics directly in our dashboard. These are statistics that are collected by other Google products. First and foremost, Google Analytics. In addition to Google Analytics, the Google Search Console, Page Speed Insight, Google AdSense, Google Optimize and Google Tag Manager services can also be linked to Google Site Kit.

Why do we use Google Site Kit on our website?

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

What data is stored by Google Site Kit?

If you have actively consented to tracking tools in the cookie notice (also called script or banner), Google products such as Google Analytics will set cookies and send data about you, such as your user behaviour, to Google, where it will be stored and processed. This also includes personal data such as your IP address.

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

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

Name: _ga
Value:2.1326744211.152121941346-2
Intended use: By default, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiry date: After 2 years

Name: _gid
Value:2.1687193234.152121941346-7
Intended use: This cookie is also used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_
Value: 1
Intended use: This cookie is used to lower the request rate.
Expiry date: after 1 minute

How long and where is the data stored?

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

Data collected by Google Analytics is retained for a standard period of 26 months. After this period, your user data is deleted. The retention period applies to all data linked to cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

If you generally want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers under the section "Cookies".

Legal basis

The use of Google Site Kit requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up. According to the Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

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

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which also correspond to the standard contractual clauses for Google Site Kit, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

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

Messenger & Communication Introduction

Messenger & Communication Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: Contact enquiries and general communication between us and you.
📓 Data processed: Data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, general content data, IP address if applicable.
More details can be found in the respective tools used.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the messenger & communication functions used
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests), Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO (contractual or pre-contractual obligations)

What are messenger & communication functions?

We offer various options on our website (such as messenger and chat functions, online or contact forms, e-mail, telephone) to communicate with us. In doing so, your data will be processed and stored to the extent necessary to respond to your enquiry and our subsequent measures.

In addition to classic means of communication such as e-mail, contact forms or telephone, we also use chats or messengers. The most commonly used messenger function is currently WhatsApp, but there are of course many different providers that offer messenger functions specifically for websites. If content is encrypted end-to-end, this is indicated in the individual data protection texts or in the privacy policy of the respective provider. End-to-end encryption means nothing other than that the content of a message itself is not visible to the provider. However, information about your device, location settings and other technical data can still be processed and stored.

Why do we use messenger & communication functions?

Communication possibilities with you are of great importance to us. After all, we want to talk to you and answer all possible questions about our service in the best possible way. Well-functioning communication is an important part of our service. With the practical messenger & communication functions, you can always choose the ones you prefer. In exceptional cases, however, we may not be able to answer certain questions via chat or messenger. This is the case, for example, when it comes to internal contractual matters. In this case, we recommend other communication options such as e-mail or telephone.

We generally assume that we remain responsible under data protection law even if we use services of a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that in certain cases the operator of the social media platform may be jointly responsible with us within the meaning of Art. 26 of the GDPR. Where this is the case, we point this out separately and work on the basis of an agreement to this effect. The essence of the agreement is set out below under the platform concerned.

Please note that when using our built-in elements, data of you may also be processed outside the European Union, as many providers, for example Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp are American companies. This may make it less easy for you to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data.

What data is processed?

The exact data that is stored and processed depends on the respective provider of the messenger & communication functions. Basically, it is data such as name, address, telephone number, email address and content data such as all the information you enter in a contact form. In most cases, information about your device and IP address is also stored. Data collected via a messenger & communication function is also stored on the providers' servers.

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

How long is data stored?

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

Right of objection

As cookies may be used in messenger & communication functions, we also recommend that you read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy statements of the respective tools.

Legal basis

If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored through integrated messenger & communication functions, this consent shall be deemed the legal basis for the data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). We process your enquiry and manage your data within the framework of contractual or pre-contractual relationships in order to fulfil our pre-contractual and contractual obligations or to answer enquiries. The basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO. In principle, if you have given your consent, your data will also be processed on the basis of our legitimate interest. (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) stored and processed for the purpose of fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners.

WhatsApp privacy policy

We use the instant messaging service WhatsApp on our website. The service provider is the American company WhatsApp Inc. a subsidiary of Facebook. WhatsApp Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland, is responsible for the European region.

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

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

For information on WhatsApp data transfer, which complies with the standard contractual clauses, see https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/business-data-transfer-addendum-20210927

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of WhatsApp in the Privacy Policy on https://www.whatsapp.com/privacy

Online Marketing Introduction

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

What is online marketing?

Online marketing refers to all measures that are carried out online to achieve marketing goals such as increasing brand awareness or closing a deal. Furthermore, our online marketing measures aim to draw people's attention to our website. In order to be able to show our offer to many interested people, we therefore engage in online marketing. This usually involves online advertising, content marketing or search engine optimisation. In order for us to be able to use online marketing efficiently and in a targeted manner, personal data is also stored and processed. On the one hand, the data helps us to show our content only to those people who are really interested in it, and on the other hand, we can measure the advertising success of our online marketing measures.

Why do we use online marketing tools?

We want to show our website to everyone who is interested in what we have to offer. We are aware that this is not possible without conscious measures. That is why we do online marketing. There are various tools that make it easier for us to work on our online marketing measures and additionally always provide suggestions for improvement via data. This allows us to target our campaigns more precisely to our target group. So the purpose of these online marketing tools we use is ultimately to optimise our offer.

What data is processed?

In order for our online marketing to work and the success of the measures to be measured, user profiles are created and data is stored, for example, in cookies (these are small text files). With the help of this data, we can not only place advertisements in the classic sense, but also display our content directly on our website in the way you prefer. For this purpose, there are various third-party tools that offer these functions and accordingly also collect and store data from you. The named cookies store, for example, which web pages you have visited on our website, how long you have looked at these pages, which links or buttons you click or from which website you have come to us. In addition, technical information may also be stored. For example, your IP address, which browser you use, from which end device you visit our website or the time when you accessed our website and when you left it again. If you have consented to us also determining your location, we can also store and process this.

Your IP address is stored in pseudonymised form (i.e. shortened). Unique data that directly identifies you as a person, such as your name, address or email address, is also only stored in pseudonymised form as part of the advertising and online marketing procedures. We are therefore unable to identify you as a person, but only have the pseudonymised information stored in the user profiles.

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

In exceptional cases, unique data (name, email address, etc.) may also be stored in the user profiles. This data is stored, for example, if you are a member of a social media channel that we use for our online marketing measures and the network links previously received data with the user profile.

With all the advertising tools we use that store data from you on their servers, we only ever receive aggregated information and never data that makes you identifiable as an individual. The data only shows how well the advertising measures worked. For example, we see which measures have persuaded you or other users to come to our website and purchase a service or product there. Based on the analyses, we can improve our advertising offer in the future and adapt it even more precisely to the needs and wishes of interested persons.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, provided we have further information on this. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is strictly necessary for the provision of our services and products. Data stored in cookies are stored for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, others may be stored in your browser for several years. In the respective data protection declarations of the individual providers, you will usually receive precise information about the individual cookies used by the provider.

Right of objection

Since online marketing tools can usually use cookies, we also recommend that you read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy statements of the respective tools.

Legal basis

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

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

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

Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy

Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: economic success and the optimisation of our service performance.
📓 Data processed: Access statistics, which include data such as locations of accesses, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed.
📅 Storage period: Conversion cookies usually expire after 30 days and do not transmit any personal data.
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is Google Ads Conversion Tracking?

We use Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) as an online marketing measure to promote our products and services. In this way, we want to draw more people's attention to the high quality of our offers on the internet. As part of our advertising measures through Google Ads, we use the conversion tracking of the company Google Inc. on our website. In Europe, however, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With the help of this free tracking tool, we can better adapt our advertising offer to your interests and needs. In the following article, we will go into more detail about why we use conversion tracking, what data is stored in the process and how you can prevent this data storage.

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is the in-house online advertising system of Google Inc. We are convinced of the quality of our offer and want as many people as possible to get to know our website. In the online sector, Google Ads offers the best platform for this. Of course, we also want to get an accurate overview of the cost-benefit factor of our advertising campaigns. That's why we use the Google Ads conversion tracking tool.

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

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

We use Google Ads to draw attention to our offer on other websites as well. The aim is to ensure that our advertising campaigns really only reach those people who are interested in our offers. With the conversion tracking tool, we see which keywords, ads, ad groups and campaigns lead to the desired customer actions. We see how many customers interact with our ads on a device and then make a conversion. This data allows us to calculate our cost-benefit factor, measure the success of individual advertising measures and consequently optimise our online marketing measures. We can also use the data obtained to make our website more interesting for you and adapt our advertising offer even more individually to your needs.

What data is stored with Google Ads conversion tracking?

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

Here are the dates of the most important cookies for Google's conversion tracking:

Name: Conversion
Value: EhMI_aySuoyv4gIVled3Ch0llweVGAEgt-mr6aXd7dYlSAGQ121941346-3
Intended use: This cookie stores every conversion you make on our site after coming to us via a Google Ad.
Expiry date: After 3 months

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

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

As soon as you complete an action on our website, Google recognises the cookie and saves your action as a so-called conversion. As long as you surf our website and the cookie has not yet expired, we and Google recognise that you have found us via our Google Ads ad. The cookie is read and sent back to Google Ads with the conversion data. It is also possible that other cookies are used to measure conversions. The conversion tracking of Google Ads can be further refined and improved with the help of Google Analytics. For ads that Google displays in various locations on the web, cookies called "__gads" or "_gac" may be set under our domain. Since September 2017, various campaign information has been stored by analytics.js with the _gac cookie. The cookie stores this data as soon as you call up one of our pages for which the automatic tagging of Google Ads has been set up. Unlike cookies set for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies when you are on our website. We do not collect or receive any personal data. We receive a report from Google with statistical evaluations. For example, we learn the total number of users who clicked on our ad and we see which advertising measures were well received.

How long and where is the data stored?

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the option of not participating in Google Ads conversion tracking. If you deactivate the Google conversion tracking cookie via your browser, you block conversion tracking. In this case, you will not be included in the statistics of the tracking tool. You can change the cookie settings in your browser at any time. This works slightly differently for each browser. Under the section "Cookies" you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers.

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow the cookie or not. By downloading and installing this browser plug-in on https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996 all "advertising cookies" are also deactivated. Remember that by deactivating these cookies you do not prevent the advertisements, but only the personalised advertising.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Ads Conversion Tracking, the legal basis of the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to the Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur during the collection by Google Ads Conversion Tracking.

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

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

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

Content Delivery Networks Introduction

Content Delivery Networks Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: optimisation of our service performance (to enable the website to load faster).
📓 Data processed: Data such as your IP address
More details can be found below and in the individual data protection texts.
📅 Storage period: for the most part, the data is stored until it is no longer required for the fulfilment of the service
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is a Content Delivery Network?

We use a so-called Content Delivery Network on our website. Such a network is usually just called a CDN. A CDN helps us to load our website quickly and smoothly, regardless of your location. In the process, your personal data is also stored, managed and processed on the servers of the CDN provider used. In the following, we will go into more detail about the service and its data processing. You will find detailed information about the handling of your data in the respective privacy policy of the provider.

Every Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of regionally distributed servers that are all connected to each other via the internet. Via this network, website content (especially very large files) can be delivered quickly and smoothly even during large load peaks. The CDN creates a copy of our website on your servers for this purpose. Since these servers are distributed worldwide, the website can be delivered quickly. Consequently, the data transfer to your browser is significantly shortened by the CDN.

Why do we use a Content Delivery Network for our website?

A fast-loading website is part of our service. Of course, we know how annoying it is when a website loads at a snail's pace. Most of the time, people even lose patience and run away before the website is fully loaded. Of course, we want to avoid that. That's why a fast-loading website is a natural part of our website offering. With a Content Delivery Network, our website loads much faster in your browser. The use of a CDN is particularly helpful if you are abroad, because the website is delivered from a server near you.

What data is processed?

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

Right of objection

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of a content delivery network, the legal basis of the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to the Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when collected by a content delivery network.

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

Information on specific content delivery networks, if any, is provided in the following sections.

Miscellaneous Introduction

Miscellaneous Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: Improving the user experience
📓 Data processed: Which data is processed depends heavily on the services used. In most cases, it is an IP address and/or technical data. You can find more details about this in the respective tools used.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the tools used
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What falls under "Other"?

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

Why do we use other third party providers?

With our website, we want to offer you the best web offer in our industry. For a long time now, a website has been more than just a business card for companies. Rather, it is a place to help you find what you are looking for. To make our website even more interesting and helpful for you, we use various third-party services.

What data is processed?

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

Duration of data processing

Legal basis

If we ask you for your consent and you also consent to us using the service, this is considered the legal basis for the processing of your data (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). In addition to the consent, there is a legitimate interest on our part in analysing the behaviour of website visitors and thus improving our offer technically and economically. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.

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

Font Awesome Privacy Policy

Font Awesome Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: Optimisation of our service performance
Processed data: e.g. IP address and which icon files are loaded
More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
Storage duration: Files in identifiable form are stored for a few weeks.
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is Font Awesome?

We use Font Awesome from the American company Fonticons (307 S. Main St., Suite 202, Bentonville, AR 72712, USA) on our website. When you call up one of our websites, the Font Awesome web font (specifically icons) is loaded via the Font Awesome Content Delivery Network (CDN). In this way, the texts or fonts and icons are displayed appropriately on each end device. In this privacy policy, we go into more detail about the data storage and data processing by this service.

Icons are playing an increasingly important role for websites. Font Awesome is a web font specially developed for web designers and web developers. With Font Awesome, icons can be scaled and coloured as desired with the help of the CSS stylesheet language. In this way, they replace old image icons. Font Awesome CDN is the easiest way to upload icons or fonts to your website. All we had to do was add a small line of code to our website.

Why do we use Font Awesome on our website?

Through Font Awesome, content on our website can be better presented. This makes it easier for you to find your way around our website and to grasp the content. With the icons, you can even sometimes replace whole words and save space. This is especially handy when we optimise content especially for smartphones. These icons are inserted as HMTL code instead of as an image. This allows us to edit the icons with CSS exactly as we want. At the same time, we also improve our loading speed with Font Awesome because it is only HTML elements and not icon images. All these advantages help us to make the website even clearer, fresher and faster for you.

What data is stored by Font Awesome?

The Font Awesome Content Delivery Network (CDN) is used to load icons and symbols. CDNs are networks of servers that are distributed worldwide and make it possible to quickly load files from nearby. Thus, as soon as you call up one of our pages, the corresponding icons are also provided by Font Awesome.

In order for the web fonts to be loaded, your browser must establish a connection to the servers of the company Fonticons, Inc. In the process, your IP address is recognised. Font Awesome also collects data about which icon files are downloaded and when. Furthermore, technical data such as your browser version, screen resolution or the time of the page called up are also transmitted.

This data is collected and stored for the following reasons:

to optimise content delivery networks
to detect and correct technical errors
to protect CDNs from misuse and attacks
to be able to calculate fees from Font Awesome Pro customers
to find out the popularity of icons
to know which computer and software you are using

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Font Awesome does not, to the best of our knowledge, store any personal data about the content delivery networks. Unfortunately, if you do not want data to be stored about the icons you use, you cannot visit our website. If your browser does not allow web fonts, no data will be transmitted or stored. In this case, the default font of your computer is simply used.

Legal basis

If you have consented to Font Awesome being used, the legal basis of the relevant data processing is that consent. This consent constitutes, according to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when collected by Font Awesome.

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

We would like to point out that according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for the transfer of data to the USA. The data processing is essentially carried out by Font Awesome. This may result in data not being processed and stored anonymously. Furthermore, US government authorities may have access to individual data. It is also possible that this data may be linked to data from other Font Awesome services where you have a user account.

If you would like to know more about Font Awesome and how they handle data, we recommend that you read their privacy policy at https://fontawesome.com/privacy and the help page at https://fontawesome.com/support.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

Google Fonts Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: Optimisation of our service performance
📓 Data processed: Data such as IP address and CSS and font requests.
More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
📅 Storage period: Font files are stored by Google for one year
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What are Google Fonts?

We use Google Fonts on our website. These are the "Google Fonts" of the company Google Inc. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services.

You do not have to log in or enter a password to use Google Fonts. Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser. The files (CSS, fonts) are requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, the requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services. If you have a Google account, you don't need to worry about your Google account information being transmitted to Google while using Google Fonts. Google records the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this data securely. We will look at exactly what the data storage looks like in more detail.

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

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

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

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

What data is stored by Google?

When you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded via a Google server. This external call-up transmits data to the Google servers. In this way, Google also recognises that you or your IP address is visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to reduce the use, storage and collection of end user data to what is necessary for the proper provision of fonts. By the way, API stands for "Application Programming Interface" and serves, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software sector.

Google Fonts stores CSS and font requests securely at Google and is thus protected. Through the collected usage figures, Google can determine how well the individual fonts are received. Google publishes the results on internal analysis pages, such as Google Analytics. In addition, Google also uses data from its own web crawler to determine which websites use Google Fonts. This data is published in the Google Fonts BigQuery database. Entrepreneurs and developers use the Google web service BigQuery to be able to examine and move large amounts of data.

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

The font files are stored by Google for one year. Google thus pursues the goal of fundamentally improving the loading time of websites. If millions of web pages refer to the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and immediately reappear on all other web pages visited later. Sometimes Google updates font files to reduce file size, increase language coverage and improve design.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The data that Google stores for one day or one year cannot simply be deleted. The data is automatically transmitted to Google when the page is accessed. In order to be able to delete this data prematurely, you must contact Google support on https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=121941346 contact. You can only prevent data storage in this case if you do not visit our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unlimited access to all fonts. So we can access an unlimited sea of fonts and get the most out of our website. You can find more about Google Fonts and other questions at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=121941346. There, Google does address privacy-related matters, but really detailed information about data storage is not included. It is relatively difficult to get really precise information about stored data from Google.

Legal basis

If you have consented to Google Fonts being used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to the Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur in the case of collection 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 DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Font if you have given your consent.

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which also correspond to the standard contractual clauses for Google Fonts, can be found at https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/.

You can also find out what data is generally collected by Google and what this data is used for at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/ .

Google Maps Privacy Policy

Google Maps Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: Optimisation of our service performance
Data processed: Data such as search terms entered, your IP address and also the latitude or longitude coordinates.
More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the stored data
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is Google Maps?

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. on our website. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. Google Maps enables us to better show you locations and thus adapt our service to your needs. By using Google Maps, data is transmitted to Google and stored on Google servers. Here we would like to go into more detail about what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Google Maps is an internet mapping service provided by Google. With Google Maps you can search for exact locations of cities, sights, accommodation or businesses online via a PC, tablet or app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, further information about the company is displayed in addition to the location. To show how to get there, map sections of a location can be integrated into a website using HTML code. Google Maps shows the earth's surface as a street map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to the Street View images and the high-quality satellite images, very accurate representations are possible.

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

All our efforts on this site are aimed at providing you with a useful and meaningful time on our website. By integrating Google Maps, we can provide you with the most important information on various locations. You can see at a glance where we are located. The directions always show you the best or fastest way to get to us. You can call up the directions for routes by car, public transport, on foot or by bicycle. For us, providing Google Maps is part of our customer service.

What data is stored by Google Maps?

In order for Google Maps to be able to offer its service in full, the company must collect and store data from you. This includes the search terms entered, your IP address and also the latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the start address entered is also stored. However, this data storage takes place on the Google Maps website. We can only inform you about this, but cannot influence it. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google sets at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behaviour. Google uses this data primarily to optimise its own services and to provide you with individual, personalised advertising.

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

Name: NID
Value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ121941346-5
Intended use: NID is used by Google to customise ads to your Google searches. With the help of the cookie, Google "remembers" your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. This way you will always get tailored ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: After 6 months

Remark: We cannot guarantee the completeness of the data stored. Especially when using cookies, changes can never be ruled out. In order to identify the NID cookie, a separate test page was created where only Google Maps was integrated.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google servers are located in data centres around the world. However, most servers are located in America. For this reason, your data is also increasingly stored in the USA. Here you can read exactly where the Google data centres are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Google distributes the data on different data carriers. This means that the data can be retrieved more quickly and is better protected against any attempts at manipulation. Each data centre also has special emergency programmes. If, for example, there are problems with Google's hardware or a natural disaster brings the servers to a standstill, the data will pretty much remain protected anyway.

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

With the automatic deletion of location and activity data introduced in 2019, location and web/app activity information will be stored for either 3 or 18 months - depending on your decision - and then deleted. In addition, you can also manually delete this data from your history at any time via your Google Account. If you want to completely prevent your location tracking, you must pause the "Web and App Activity" section in the Google Account. Click "Data and personalisation" and then on the "Activity setting" option. Here you can switch the activities on or off.

You can also deactivate, delete or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this always works slightly differently. Under the section "Cookies" you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers.

Legal basis

If you have consented to Google Maps being used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to the Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur during the collection by Google Maps.

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

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

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

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy Summary
👥 Parties concerned: Visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: optimisation of our service performance and protection against cyber attacks
📓 Data processed: Data such as IP address, browser information, your operating system, limited location and usage data.
More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the stored data
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests)

What is reCAPTCHA?

Our primary goal is to secure and protect our website for you and for us in the best possible way. To ensure this, we use Google reCAPTCHA from the company Google Inc. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With reCAPTCHA we can determine whether you are really a flesh and blood human being and not a robot or other spam software. By spam we mean any unsolicited information sent to us electronically. With the classic CAPTCHAS, you usually had to solve text or picture puzzles to verify the information. With reCAPTCHA from Google, we usually don't have to bother you with such puzzles. Here, in most cases, it is enough to simply tick a box and thus confirm that you are not a bot. With the new Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you don't even have to set a tick anymore. You will find out exactly how this works and, above all, what data is used for this purpose in the course of this privacy policy.

reCAPTCHA is a free captcha service from Google that protects websites from spam software and abuse by non-human visitors. The most common use of this service is when you fill out forms on the internet. A captcha service is a type of automatic Turing test that is designed to ensure that an action on the internet is performed by a human and not a bot. In the classic Turing test (named after the computer scientist Alan Turing), a human determines the distinction between a bot and a human. With captchas, this is also done by the computer or a software programme. Classic captchas work with small tasks that are easy for humans to solve, but present considerable difficulties for machines. With reCAPTCHA, you no longer have to actively solve puzzles. The tool uses modern risk techniques to distinguish humans from bots. Here you only have to tick the text field "I am not a robot" or with Invisible reCAPTCHA even that is no longer necessary. With reCAPTCHA, a JavaScript element is integrated into the source code and then the tool runs in the background and analyses your user behaviour. From these user actions, the software calculates a so-called captcha score. Google uses this score to calculate how likely you are to be a human even before you enter the captcha. reCAPTCHA or captchas in general are always used when bots could manipulate or abuse certain actions (such as registrations, surveys, etc.).

Why do we use reCAPTCHA on our website?

We only want to welcome flesh and blood people on our site. Bots or spam software of any kind can safely stay at home. That's why we pull out all the stops to protect ourselves and offer the best possible user experience for you. For this reason, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google. This way we can be pretty sure that we remain a "bot-free" website. By using reCAPTCHA, data is transmitted to Google to determine whether you are actually a human being. reCAPTCHA therefore serves the security of our website and, by extension, your security. For example, without reCAPTCHA, it could happen that a bot registers as many email addresses as possible during registration in order to "spam" forums or blogs with unwanted advertising content. With reCAPTCHA, we can avoid such bot attacks.

What data is stored by reCAPTCHA?

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

The following list of collected browser and user data does not claim to be complete. Rather, they are examples of data that, to our knowledge, are processed by Google.

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

It is undisputed that Google uses and analyses this data even before you click on the "I am not a robot" checkbox. With the Invisible reCAPTCHA version, even the ticking is omitted and the entire recognition process runs in the background. Google does not tell you in detail how much and which data it stores.

The following cookies are used by reCAPTCHA: Here, we refer to the reCAPTCHA demo version from Google at https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api2/demo. All these cookies require a unique identifier for tracking purposes. Here is a list of cookies that Google reCAPTCHA has set on the demo version:

Name: IDE
Value: WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKnRNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-121941346-8
Intended use: This cookie is set by the company DoubleClick (also owned by Google) to register and report a user's actions on the website when dealing with advertisements. In this way, advertising 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
Intended use: This cookie collects statistics on website usage and measures conversions. A conversion occurs, for example, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant advertisements to users. Furthermore, the cookie can be used to prevent a user from seeing the same ad more than once.
Expiry date: After one month

Name: ANID
Value: U7j1v3dZa1219413460xgZFmiqWppRWKOr
Intended use: We were not able to find out much information about this cookie. In Google's privacy policy, the cookie is mentioned in connection with "advertising cookies" such as "DSID", "FLC", "AID", "TAID". ANID is stored under domain google.com.
Expiry date: After 9 months

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Intended use: The cookie stores the status of a user's consent to use various Google services. CONSENT is also used for security purposes to verify users, prevent login fraud and protect user data from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years

Name: NID
Value: 0WmuWqy121941346zILzqV_nmt3sDXwPeM5Q
Intended use: NID is used by Google to customise ads to your Google searches. With the help of the cookie, Google "remembers" your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. This way you will always get tailored ads. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect the user's personal settings for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: After 6 months

Name: DV
Value: gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAANbqc121941346-4
Intended use: Once you have ticked the "I am not a robot" box, this cookie is set. The cookie is used by Google Analytics for personalised advertising. DV collects information in an anonymous form and is also used to make user distinctions.
Expiry date: After 10 minutes

Remark: This list cannot claim to be exhaustive, as experience has shown that Google changes its choice of cookies time and again.

How long and where is the data stored?

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

If you do not want any data about you and your behaviour to be transmitted to Google, you must log out of Google completely and delete all Google cookies before you visit our website or use the reCAPTCHA software. In principle, data is automatically transmitted to Google as soon as you visit our site. To delete this data again, you must contact Google support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=121941346 contact.

Therefore, by using our website, you consent to the automatic collection, processing and use of data by Google LLC and its agents.

Please note that when using this tool, data from you 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 insecure third countries may therefore not simply be transferred, stored and processed there unless there are appropriate safeguards (such as EU standard contractual clauses) between us and the non-European service provider.

Legal basis

If you have consented to Google reCAPTCHA being used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to the Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent) constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when collected 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 DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google reCAPTCHA if you have given your consent.

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

You can learn a little more about reCAPTCHA on Google's web developer page at https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/. Google does go into more detail here about the technical development of reCAPTCHA, but you will search in vain for precise information about data storage and privacy-related topics there as well. A good overview of Google's basic use of data can be found in the company's own data protection statement at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

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Source: Created with the Data protection generator from AdSimple