Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy Introduction and Overview
We have written this privacy policy (version 26.07.2023-322393026) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – process, will process in the future and what legal options you have. The terms used are to be considered gender-neutral.
In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about any of your personal data we process.
Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. However, this privacy policy is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. So long as it aids transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly manner, links to further information are provided and graphics are used. We are thus informing in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the context of our business activities if there is a legal basis for it. This is certainly not possible with brief, unclear and legal-technical statements, as is often standard on the internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative. Maybe you will also find some information that you have not been familiar with.
If you still have questions, we kindly ask you to contact the responsible body named below or in the imprint, follow the existing links and look at further information on third-party sites. You can of course also find our contact details in the imprint.
Scope
This privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by our company and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (processors). With the term personal data, we refer to information within the meaning of Article 4 No. 1 GDPR, such as the name, email address and postal address of a person. The processing of personal data ensures that we can offer and invoice our services and products, be it online or offline. The scope of this privacy policy includes:
- all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate
- Social media presences and email communication
- mobile apps for smartphones and other devices
In short: This privacy policy applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in a structured manner by the company via the channels mentioned. Should we enter into legal relations with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately if necessary.
Legal bases
In the following privacy policy, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.
Whenever EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of April 27, 2016. You can of course access the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU online at EUR-Lex, the gateway to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679.
We only process your data if at least one of the following conditions applies:
- Consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of data you entered into a contact form.
- Contract (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR): We process your data in order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you. For example, if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance.
- Legal obligation (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we will process your data. For example, we are legally required to keep invoices for our bookkeeping. These usually contain personal data.
- Legitimate interests (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your basic rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we have to process certain data in order to be able to operate our website securely and economically. Therefore, the processing is a legitimate interest.
Other conditions such as making recordings in the interest of the public, the exercise of official authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually occur with us. Should such a legal basis be relevant, it will be disclosed in the appropriate place.
In addition to the EU regulation, national laws also apply:
- In Austria this is the Austrian Data Protection Act (Datenschutzgesetz), in short DSG.
- In Germany this is the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz), in short BDSG.
Should other regional or national laws apply, we will inform you about them in the following sections.
Contact details of the data protection controller
If you have any questions about data protection, you will find the contact details of the responsible person or controller below:
YVE-BIO GmbH
Auf dem Brühl 1
72658 Bempflingen
E-Mail: office@yve-bio.com
Storage Period
It is a general criterion for us to store personal data only for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This means that we delete personal data as soon as any reason for the data processing no longer exists. In some cases, we are legally obliged to keep certain data stored even after the original purpose no longer exists, such as for accounting purposes.
If you want your data to be deleted or if you want to revoke your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as soon as possible, provided there is no obligation to continue its storage.
We will inform you below about the specific duration of the respective data processing, provided we have further information.
Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation
In accordance with Articles 13, 14 of the GDPR, we inform you about the following rights you have to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:
- According to Article 15 DSGVO, you have the right to information about whether we are processing data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to know the following information:
- for what purpose we are processing;
- the categories, i.e. the types of data that are processed;
- who receives this data and if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;
- how long the data will be stored;
- the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
- that you can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
- the origin of the data if we 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 rectification of data according to Article 16 GDPR, which means that we must correct data if you find errors.
- You have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) according to Article 17 GDPR, 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 further.
- According to Article 20 of the GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a standard format upon request.
- According to Article 21 DSGVO, you have the right to object, which entails a change in processing after enforcement.
- 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 conduct direct advertising, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may then no longer use your data for direct marketing.
- If data is used to conduct profiling, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for profiling thereafter.
- According to Article 22 of the GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example, profiling).
- You have the right to lodge a complaint under Article 77 of the GDPR. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the data processing of personal data violates the GDPR.
In short: you have rights – do not hesitate to contact the responsible party listed above with us!
If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or your data protection rights have been violated in any other way, you can complain to the supervisory authority. For Austria, this is the data protection authority, whose website can be found at https://www.dsb.gv.at/. In Germany, there is a data protection officer for each federal state. For more information, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). The following local data protection authority is responsible for our company:
Niedersachsen Data protection authority
State Commissioner for Data Protection: Barbara Thiel
Address: Prinzenstraße 5, 30159 Hannover
Phone number: 05 11/120-45 00
E-mail address: poststelle@lfd.niedersachsen.de
Website: https://lfd.niedersachsen.de/startseite/
Security of data processing operations
In order to protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organisational measures. We encrypt or pseudonymise personal data wherever this is possible. Thus, we make it as difficult as we can for third parties to extract personal information from our data.
Article 25 of the GDPR refers to “data protection by technical design and by data protection-friendly default” which means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to server rooms) appropriate safeguards and security measures shall always be placed. If applicable, we will outline the specific measures below.
TLS encryption with https
The terms TLS, encryption and https sound very technical, which they are indeed. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to securely transfer data on the Internet.
This means that the entire transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – nobody can “listen in”.
We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and meet privacy requirements through technology design Article 25 Section 1 GDPR). With the use of TLS (Transport Layer Security), which is an encryption protocol for safe data transfer on the internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential information.
You can recognise the use of this safeguarding tool by the little lock-symbol , which is situated in your browser’s top left corner in the left of the internet address (e.g. examplepage.uk), as well as by the display of the letters https (instead of http) as a part of our web address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend you to do a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to find good links to further information.
Communications
Communications Overview ???? Affected parties: Anyone who communicates with us via phone, email or online form ???? Processed data: e. g. telephone number, name, email address or data entered in forms. You can find more details on this under the respective form of contact ???? Purpose: handling communication with customers, business partners, etc. ???? Storage duration: for the duration of the business case and the legal requirements ⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests) |
If you contact us and communicate with us via phone, email or online form, your personal data may be processed.
The data will be processed for handling and processing your request and for the related business transaction. The data is stored for this period of time or for as long as is legally required.
Affected persons
The above-mentioned processes affect all those who seek contact with us via the communication channels we provide.
Telephone
When you call us, the call data is stored in a pseudonymised form on the respective terminal device, as well as by the telecommunications provider that is being used. In addition, data such as your name and telephone number may be sent via email and stored for answering your inquiries. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.
If you communicate with us via email, your data is stored on the respective terminal device (computer, laptop, smartphone, …) as well as on the email server. The data will be deleted as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.
Online forms
If you communicate with us using an online form, your data is stored on our web server and, if necessary, forwarded to our email address. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.
Legal bases
Data processing is based on the following legal bases:
- Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent): You give us your consent to store your data and to continue to use it for the purposes of the business case;
- Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract): For the performance of a contract with you or a processor such as a telephone provider, or if we have to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as preparing an offer;
- Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests): We want to conduct our customer inquiries and business communication in a professional manner. Thus, certain technical facilities such email programs, Exchange servers and mobile network operators are necessary to efficiently operate our communications.
Cookies
Cookies Overview ???? Affected parties: visitors to the website ???? Purpose: depending on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie. ???? Processed data: depends on the cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. ???? Storage duration: can vary from hours to years, depending on the respective cookie ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What are cookies?
Our website uses HTTP-cookies to store user-specific data.
In the following we explain what cookies are and why they are used, so that you can better understand the following privacy policy.
Whenever you surf the Internet, you are using a browser. Common browsers are for example, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text-files in your browser. These files are called cookies.
It is important to note that cookies are very useful little helpers. Almost every website uses cookies. More precisely, these are HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other uses. HTTP cookies are small files that our website stores on your computer. These cookie files are automatically placed into the cookie-folder, which is the “brain” of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. Moreover, to define a cookie, one or multiple attributes must be specified.
Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you re-open our website to visit again, your browser submits these “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are familiar to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, while in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in one single file.
The following graphic shows a possible interaction between a web browser such as Chrome and the web server. The web browser requests a website and receives a cookie back from the server. The browser then uses this 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, while third-party cookies are created by partner-websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie must be evaluated individually, as each cookie stores different data. The expiry time of a cookie also varies from a few minutes to a few years. Cookies are not software programs and do not contain viruses, trojans or other malware. Cookies also cannot access your PC’s information.
This is an example of how cookie-files can look:
Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152322393026-9
Purpose: Differentiation between website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years
A browser should support these minimum sizes:
- At least 4096 bytes per cookie
- At least 50 cookies per domain
- At least 3000 cookies in total
Which types of cookies are there?
The exact cookies that we use, depend on the used services, which will be outlined in the following sections of this privacy policy. Firstly, we will briefly focus on the different types of HTTP-cookies.
There are 4 different types of cookies:
Essential cookies
These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functions of a website. They are needed when a user for example puts a product into their shopping cart, then continues surfing on different websites and comes back later in order to proceed to the checkout. These cookies ensure the shopping cart does not get deleted, even if the user closes their browser window.
Purposive cookies
These cookies collect information about user behaviour and whether the user receives any error messages. Furthermore, these cookies record the website’s loading time as well as its behaviour in different browsers.
Target-orientated cookies
These cookies ensure better user-friendliness. Thus, information such as previously entered locations, fonts sizes or data in forms stay stored.
Advertising cookies
These cookies are also known as targeting cookies. They serve the purpose of delivering customised advertisements to the user. This can be very practical, but also rather annoying.
Upon your first visit to a website you are usually asked which of these cookie-types you want to accept. Furthermore, this decision will of course also be stored in a cookie.
If you want to learn more about cookies and do not mind technical documentation, we recommend https://tools.ietf.org/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 respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.
Which data are processed?
Cookies are little helpers for a wide variety of tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell which data is generally stored in cookies, but in the privacy policy below we will inform you on what data is processed or stored.
Storage period of cookies
The storage period depends on the respective cookie and is further specified below. Some cookies are erased after less than an hour, while others can remain on a computer for several years.
You can also influence the storage duration yourself. You can manually erase all cookies at any time in your browser (also see “Right of objection” below). Furthermore, the latest instance cookies based on consent will be erased is after you withdraw your consent. The legality of storage will remain unaffected until then.
Right of objection – how can I erase cookies?
You can decide for yourself how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of which service or website the cookies originate from, you always have the option of erasing, deactivating or only partially accepting cookies. You can for example block third-party cookies but allow all other cookies.
If you want to find out which cookies have been stored in your browser, or if you want to change or erase cookie settings, you can find this option in your browser settings:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser in a way to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This gives you the opportunity to manually decide to either permit or deny the placement of every single cookie. This procedure varies depending on the browser. Therefore, it might be best for you to search for the instructions in Google. If you are using Chrome, you could for example put the search term “delete cookies Chrome” or “deactivate cookies Chrome” into Google.
Legal basis
The so-called “cookie directive” has existed since 2009. It states that the storage of cookies requires your consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR). Within countries of the EU, however, the reactions to these guidelines still vary greatly. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 96 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this guideline was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG).
For absolutely necessary cookies, even if no consent has been given, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to offer our visitors a pleasant user experience on our website. For this, certain cookies often are absolutely necessary.
This is exclusively done with your consent, unless absolutely necessary cookies are used. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (a) of the GDPR.
In the following sections you will find more detail on the use of cookies, provided the used software does use cookies.
Customer Data
Customer Data Overview ????Affected parties: Customers or business and contractual partners ???? Purpose: Performance of a contract for the provision of agreed services or prior to entering into such a contract, including associated communications. ???? Data processed: name, address, contact details, email address, telephone number, payment information (such as invoices and bank details), contract data (such as duration and subject matter of the contract), IP address, order data ???? Storage period: the data will be erased as soon as they are no longer required for our business purposes and there is no legal obligation to process them. ⚖️ Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR), Contract (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR) |
What is customer data?
In order to be able to offer our services and contractual services, we also process data from our customers and business partners. This data always includes personal data. Customer data is all information that is processed on the basis of contractual or pre-contractual agreements so that the offered services can be provided. Customer data is therefore all the information we collect and process about our customers.
Why do we process customer data?
There are many reasons why we collect and process customer data. The main reason is that we simply need specific data to provide our services. Sometimes for example your email address may be enough. But if you purchase a product or service, we may e. g. also need data such as your name, address, bank details or other contract data. This data will subsequently be used for marketing and sales optimisation so that we can improve our overall service for our customers and clients. Another important reason for data processing is our customer service, which is very important to us. We want you to have the opportunity to contact us at any time with questions about our offers. Thus, we may need certain data such as your email address at the very least.
What data is processed?
Exactly which data is stored can only be shown by putting them in categories. All in all, it always depends on which of our services you receive. In some cases, you may only give us your email address so that we can e. g. contact you or answer your questions. In other instances, you may purchase one of our products or services. Then we may need significantly more information, such as your contact details, payment details and contract details.
Here is a list of potential data we may receive and process:
- Name
- Contact address
- Email address
- Phone number
- Your birthday
- Payment data (invoices, bank details, payment history, etc.)
- Contract data (duration, contents)
- Usage data (websites visited, access data, etc.)
- Metadata (IP address, device information)
How long is the data stored?
We erase corresponding customer data as soon as we no longer need it to fulfill our contractual obligations and purposes, and as soon as the data is also no longer necessary for possible warranty and liability obligations. This can for example be the case when a business contract ends. Thereafter, the limitation period is usually 3 years, although longer periods may be possible in individual cases. Of course, we also comply with the statutory retention requirements. Your customer data will certainly not be passed on to third parties unless you have given your explicit consent.
Legal Basis
The legal basis for the processing of your data is Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter b GDPR (contract or pre-contractual measures), Article 6 Paragraph 1 Letter f GDPR (legitimate interests) and in special cases (e. g. medical services) Art. 9 (2) lit. GDPR (processing of special categories).
In the case of protecting vital interests, data processing is carried out in accordance with Article 9 Paragraph 2 Letter c. GDPR. For the purposes of health care, occupational medicine, medical diagnostics, care or treatment in the health or social sectors or for the administration of systems and services in health or social sectors, the processing of personal data takes place in accordance with Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. h. GDPR. If you voluntarily provide data of these special categories, the processing takes place on the basis of Article 9 Paragraph 2 lit. a GDPR.
Registration
Registration Overview ???? Affected parties: Anyone who registers to create an account with us, and logs in to use the account. ???? Processed data: Personal data such as email address, name, password and other data that is collected during registration, login and account use. ???? Purpose: For the provision of our services, as well as to communicate with clients or customers in the scope of our services. ????Storage period: As long as the company account associated with the texts exists, plus a period of usually 3 years. ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter b GDPR (contract), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
If you register with us and provide any personal data, this data may be processed, possibly along with your IP address. Below you can explore what we mean by the rather broad term “personal data”.
Please only enter the data we need for the registration. In case you are registering on behalf of a third party, please only enter data for which you have the approval of the party you are registering for. If possible, use a secure password that you don’t use anywhere else and an email address that you check regularly.
In the following, we will inform you about the exact type of data processing we do. After all, we want you to feel at ease with the services we provide!
What is a registration?
When you register, we retain certain of your data in order to make it easy for you to log in with us online and use your account. An account with us has the advantage that you don’t have to re-enter everything every time. It saves time and effort and ultimately prevents any issues with the provision of our services.
Why do we process personal data?
In short, we process personal data to make account registration and usage possible for you. If we didn’t do this, you would have to enter all your data each time, wait for our approval and then enter everything again. This strenuous process would probably not only irritate us a little, but also many of our dear clients and customers.
Which data is processed?
Any data that you provided during registration or login and any data that you may enter as part of managing your account data.
During registration, we process the following types of data:
- First name
- Last name
- Email address
- Company name
- Street + house number
- Residence
- Postcode
- Country
During your registration, we process any data you enter, such as your username and password, along with data that is collected in the background such as your device information and IP addresses.
When using your account, we process any data you enter while using the account, as well as any data that is created while you use our services.
Storage time
We store the entered data for at least as long as the account associated with the data exists with us and is in use – and as long as there are contractual obligations between you and us. In case the contract ends, we retain the data until the respective claims get time-barred. Moreover, we store your data as long as we are subject to legal storage obligations, if applicable. Following that, we keep any accounting records (invoices, contract documents, account statements, etc.) of the contract for 10 years (§ 147 AO) and other relevant business documents for 6 years (§ 247 HGB) after accrual.
Right to object
You have registered, entered data and want to revoke the data processing? Not a problem. As you can see above, you retain this right under the General Data Protection Regulation also at and after registration, login or account creation with us. Contact the Data Protection Officer above to exercise your rights. If you already have an account with us, you can easily view and manage your data and texts in your account.
Legal Basis
By completing the registration process, you enter into a pre-contractual agreement with us, with the intention to conclude a contract of use for our platform (although there is no automatic payment obligation). You invest time to enter data and register and in return, we offer you our services after you log on to our system and view your customer account. We also meet our contractual obligations. Finally, we need to be able to email registered users about important changes. Article 6(1)(b) GDPR (implementation of pre-contractual measures, fulfilment of a contract) applies.
Where applicable, we will ask for your consent, e.g. in case you voluntarily provide more data than is absolutely necessary, or in case we may ask you if we may send you advertising. Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) applies in this matter.
We also have a legitimate interest in knowing who who our clients or customers are, in order to get in touch if required. We also need to know who is using our services and whether they are being used in accordance with our terms of use, i.e. Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interests) applies in this matter.
Note: the following sections are to be ticked by users (as required):
Registration with real names
Since business operations require us to know who our clients or customers are, registration is only possible with your real name (full name) and not with a pseudonym.
Registration with pseudonyms
You can use a pseudonym for the registration, which means you don’t have to register with your real name. This ensures that your real name cannot be processed by us.
Storage of the IP address
During registration, login and account use, we store your IP address for security reasons in order to be able to determine legitimate use.
Public Profile
User profiles are publicly visible, i.e. parts of the profiles can also be viewed on the Internet without the need to enter a username and password.
Two Factor Authentication (2FA)
Two Factor Authentication (2FA) offers additional security when logging in, as it prevents you from logging in without a smartphone, for example. This technical measure to secure your account protects you against the loss of data or unauthorised access, even if your username and password were leaked. During your registration process, login or within the account itself y ou can find out which 2FA is used.
Web hosting
Web hosting Overview ???? Affected parties: visitors to the website ???? Purpose: professional hosting of the website and security of operations ???? Processed data: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. You can find more details on this below or at the respective web hosting provider. ???? Storage period: dependent on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is web hosting?
Every time you visit a website 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 good reason. By website, we mean the entirety of all websites on your domain, i.e. everything from the homepage to the very last subpage (like this one here). By domain we mean example.uk or examplepage.com.
When you want to view a website on a screen, you use a program called a web browser. You probably know the names of some web browsers: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
The web browser has to connect to another computer which stores the website’s code: the web server. Operating a web server is complicated and time-consuming, which is why this is usually done by professional providers. They offer web hosting and thus ensure the reliable and flawless storage of website data.
Whenever the browser on your computer establishes a connection (desktop, laptop, smartphone) and whenever data is being transferred to and from the web server, personal data may be processed. After all, your computer stores data, and the web server also has to retain the data for a period of time in order to ensure it can operate properly.
Illustration:
Why do we process personal data?
The purposes of data processing are:
- Professional hosting of the website and operational security
- To maintain the operational as well as IT security
- Anonymous evaluation of access patterns to improve our offer, and if necessary, for prosecution or the pursuit of claims.li>
Which data are processed?
Even while you are visiting our website, our web server, that is the computer on which this website is saved, usually automatically saves data such as
- the full address (URL) of the accessed website (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/examplesubpage.html?tid=322393026)
- 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.examplepage.uk/icamefromhere.html/)
- the host name and the IP address of the device from the website is being accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
- date and time
- in so-called web server log files
How long is the data stored?
Generally, the data mentioned above are stored for two weeks and are then automatically deleted. We do not pass these data on to others, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed by the authorities in the event of illegal conduct.
In short: Your visit is logged by our provider (company that runs our website on special computers (servers)), but we do not pass on your data without your consent!
Legal basis
The lawfulness of processing personal data in the context of web hosting is justified in Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (safeguarding of legitimate interests), as the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary to present the company in a safe and user-friendly manner on the internet, as well as to have the ability to track any attacks and claims, if necessary.
1&1 IONOS Webhosting Privacy Policy
To host our website, we use the web hosting services of the company IONOS by 1&1. In Germany, 1&1 IONOS SE is located at Elgendorfer Str. 57 in 56410 Montabaur. In Austria, you can find 1&1 IONOS SE at Gumpendorfer Straße 142/PF 266 in 1060 Vienna.
What is 1&1 IONOS Web Hosting?
IONOS offers the following services related to web hosting: Domain, Website & Shop, Hosting & WordPress, Marketing, Email & Office, IONOS Cloud, and Server. With over 22 million domains, nearly 9 million customer contracts, and 100,000 servers, IONOS is one of the largest German players in the web hosting sector.
As we have already mentioned in our introductory words on web hosting, data from you or your end device is also stored on the IONOS servers through hosting. First and foremost, your IP address, which is known to be personal data, is stored. In addition, technical data such as the URL of our website, the name of the internet browser, or the operating system you are using is also saved.
Why do we use 1&1 IONOS Web Hosting?
IONOS was founded in Germany in 1988 and thus has over 30 years of experience under its belt. However, this does not mean that the company has not continually evolved technologically. In our view, this combination of experience and innovative spirit provides a good foundation for our website. After all, we want our website to run smoothly 24 hours a day while ensuring a high level of security. Since IONOS does not limit monthly data traffic and provides plenty of storage space, our website remains powerful even with many visitors. We are very satisfied with the speed of the website, and the price-performance ratio currently meets our requirements.
You can find many more information about data protection at IONOS in their privacy policy at https://www.ionos.de/terms-gtc/datenschutzerklaerung/. If you have any further questions on the subject of data protection, you can also contact the IONOS data protection team by email at datenschutz@ionos.de.
Data Processing Agreement (DPA) IONOS
In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with IONOS. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.
This contract is required by law because IONOS processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that IONOS may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://www.ionos.co.uk/help/data-protection/overview-of-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/contract-for-data-processing/.
checkdomain Privacy Policy
In the field of web hosting, we rely on the services of the German hosting provider checkdomain. The address of the company checkdomain GmbH is Große Burgstraße 27/29, 23552 Lübeck, Germany. From here, customers from all over the world are now served.
What is checkdomain?
According to the information on their website, checkdomain places great value on modern technology. The company regularly replaces its own servers to ensure they function quickly and reliably, and that our website does not lose performance even with many visitors. Additionally, the company generally relies on energy-saving technologies and sources all the power for its own data center exclusively from renewable sources. In terms of security, checkdomain offers an individually adaptable backup system to ensure that our and your data are securely stored. Security is particularly important in this context because, among other things, personal data of yours are stored on the servers. Primarily, technical data such as URL or name of the internet browser is saved, but your IP address must also be saved. And at least in Europe, this is considered personal data under the GDPR.
Why do we use checkdomain?
Nothing is more annoying than a slow website that may even go down completely. We don’t want to subject either you or ourselves to such a website. That’s why we were looking for a hosting provider that would provide us with a fast and functional website, and at the same time manage the data securely. With checkdomain, we have found a trustworthy partner who absolutely meets our requirements for professional web hosting. IT and operational security are top priorities at checkdomain, and with the new technologies, we get a secure and fast website.
Where can I find more information about data processing by checkdomain?
The data protection information on https://www.checkdomain.de/agb/datenschutz/ mainly refers to the website www.checkdomain.de and not to data processing by the hosting. However, there is also a support page with its own GDPR section that answers some questions about data protection. If you cannot find what you are looking for there, we recommend writing an email (datenschutz@checkdomain.de) to the data protection team of checkdomain.
Data Processing Agreement (DPA) Checkdomain
In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have concluded a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with Checkdomain. What an DPA exactly is and especially what must be included in an DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.
This contract is required by law because Checkdomain processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that Checkdomain may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR.
DomainFactory Privacy Policy
We use the web hosting provider DomainFactory for our website. The service provider is the German company DomainFactory GmbH, c/o WeWork, Neuturmstrasse 5, 80331 Munich, Germany.
What is DomainFactory?
So it is quite possible that you have already come across the name. DomainFactory is a subsidiary of the American provider GoDaddy Inc. The DomainFactory GmbH was founded in 2000 and thus has over 20 years of experience under its belt. In the German-speaking world, the company manages over 1.3 million domains, making it one of the largest providers in the web hosting industry in our latitudes. DomainFactory’s servers are located in a data center in Strasbourg and another in Cologne. Both locations are operated based on the latest technology and best security standards. To make web hosting work, some of your data is also stored on the DomainFactory servers. In addition to technical data (e.g., URL, browser version, operating system), your IP address is also stored, which is known to be personal data.
Why do we use DomainFactory?
We never wanted to deal with poor technical performance and support. Instead, we prefer to focus our energy on meaningful work. Our website should be available to you smoothly day and night while also maintaining a high level of security. That’s exactly what we aim for. And that’s exactly why we need professional web hosting. DomainFactory has over 20 years of experience in this business, uses the latest technologies, and offers great IT and operational security. For these reasons, DomainFactory is our first choice when it comes to web hosting.
For more information on data protection at DomainFactory, we recommend the privacy policy at https://www.df.eu/en/data-protection/. If you have any further questions, you can also write an email to support@df.eu.
Data Processing Agreement (DPA) DomainFactory
In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with DomainFactory. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.
This contract is required by law because DomainFactory processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that DomainFactory may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://www.df.eu/de/support/formulare/.
netcup Privacy Policy
We use netcup for our website, which is a web hosting provider, among other things. The provider of this service is the German company netcup GmbH, Daimlerstraße 25, D-76185 Karlsruhe, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed by netcup in their Privacy Policy at https://www.netcup.de/kontakt/datenschutzerklaerung.php.
Data Processing Agreement (DPA) netcup
In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with netcup. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.
This contract is required by law because netcup processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that netcup may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://www.netcup-wiki.de/wiki/Zusatzvereinbarung_zur_Auftragsverarbeitung.
Email-Marketing
Email Marketing Overview ???? Affected parties: newsletter subscribers ???? Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of events that are relevant to the system ???? Processed data: data entered during registration, but at least the email address. You can find more details on this in the respective email marketing tool used. ???? Storage duration: for the duration of the subscription ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Email-Marketing?
We use email marketing to keep you up to date. If you have agreed to receive our emails or newsletters, your data will be processed and stored. Email marketing is a part of online marketing. In this type of marketing, news or general information about a company, product or service are emailed to a specific group of people who are interested in it.
If you want to participate in our email marketing (usually via newsletter), you usually just have to register with your email address. To do this, you have to fill in and submit an online form. However, we may also ask you for your title and name, so we can address you personally in our emails.
The registration for newsletters generally works with the help of the so-called “double opt-in procedure”. After you have registered for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an email, via which you can confirm the newsletter registration. This ensures that you own the email address you signed up with, and prevents anyone to register with a third-party email address. We or a notification tool we use, will log every single registration. This is necessary so we can ensure and prove, that registration processes are done legally and correctly. In general, the time of registration and registration confirmation are stored, as well as your IP address. Moreover, any change you make to your data that we have on file is also logged.
Why do we use Email-Marketing?
Of course, we want to stay in contact with you and keep you in the loop of the most important news about our company. For this, we use email marketing – often just referred to as “newsletters” – as an essential part of our online marketing. If you agree to this or if it is permitted by law, we will send you newsletters, system emails or other notifications via email. Whenever the term “newsletter” is used in the following text, it mainly refers to emails that are sent regularly. We of course don’t want to bother you with our newsletter in any way. Thus, we genuinely strive to offer only relevant and interesting content. In our emails you can e.g. find out more about our company and our services or products. Since we are continuously improving our offer, our newsletter will always give you the latest news, or special, lucrative promotions. Should we commission a service provider for our email marketing, who offers a professional mailing tool, we do this in order to offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our email marketing is to inform you about new offers and also to get closer to our business goals.
Which data are processed?
If you subscribe to our newsletter via our website, you then have to confirm your membership in our email list via an email that we will send to you. In addition to your IP and email address, your name, address and telephone number may also be stored. However, this will only be done if you agree to this data retention. Any data marked as such are necessary so you can participate in the offered service. Giving this information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will prevent you from using this service. Moreover, information about your device or the type of content you prefer on our website may also be stored. In the section “Automatic data storage” you can find out more about how your data is stored when you visit a website. We record your informed consent, so we can always prove that it complies with our laws.
Duration of data processing
If you unsubscribe from our e-mail/newsletter distribution list, we may store your address for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests, so we can keep proof your consent at the time. We are only allowed to process this data if we have to defend ourselves against any claims.
However, if you confirm that you have given us your consent to subscribe to the newsletter, you can submit an individual request for erasure at any time. Furthermore, if you permanently object to your consent, we reserve the right to store your email address in a blacklist. But as long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course keep your email address on file.
Withdrawal – how can I cancel my subscription?
You have the option to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to the newsletter subscription. This usually only takes a few seconds or a few clicks. Most of the time you will find a link at the end of every email, via which you will be able to cancel the subscription. Should you not be able to find the link in the newsletter, you can contact us by email and we will immediately cancel your newsletter subscription for you.
Legal basis
Our newsletter is sent on the basis of your consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). This means that we are only allowed to send you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. Moreover, we may also send you advertising messages on the basis of Section 7 (3) UWG (Unfair Competition Act), provided you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your email address for direct mail.
If available – you can find information on special email marketing services and how they process personal data, in the following sections.
Brevo Privacy Policy
Brevo Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: newsletter subscribers ???? Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of relevant events to the system ???? Processed data: data that was entered during registration, but at least email addresses. ???? Storage duration: for subscription duration ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Brevo?
On our website you can subscribe to our newsletter for free. For this to work, we use the Brevo email service for our newsletter. This is a service of the German company Sendinblue GmbH, Köpenicker street 126, 10179 Berlin. Brevo is an email marketing tool, among other things, that we can use to send you customised newsletters. With Brevo there is no need for us to install anything, all while we can still draw on a pool of really useful functions. In the following we will go into more detail about this email marketing service and inform you on the most important aspects that are relevant to data protection and privacy.
Why do we use Brevo?
The newsletter service also offers us helpful options for analysis purposes. This means that if we send a newsletter, we can for example find out whether and when you opened the newsletter. The software also detects and records which link you click in the newsletter. This information helps us enormously to adapt and optimise our service to your wishes and concerns. After all, we naturally want to offer you the best possible service. In addition to the data already mentioned above, data about your user behaviour is also stored.
Which data is processed by Brevo?
We are of course very pleased if you register for our newsletter. That way we can always let you know first-handedly what is going on in our company, so you can stay up to date. However, you should know that when you sign up for the newsletter, all data you enter (such as your email address or your first and last name) will be retained and managed on our server as well as at Brevo. This also applies to personal data. For example, in addition to the time and date of registration, your IP address is also stored. During registration, you also consent to being sent our newsletter. There will also be a reference to this Privacy Policy. Furthermore, data such as your click behaviour within the newsletter may also be processed.
How long and where are the data retained?
The data for the newsletter tool are stored on servers in Germany. Any retained data that could be used to identify you personally (i.e. personal data), are generally erased at Brevo no later than two years after our contractual relationship ends. You can also request the erasure of your data individually and at any time. Requests are processed within 30 days. Data that we collect and transmit to Brevo will be erased by us as soon as you unsubscribe from our newsletter.
Right to object
You have the option to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to your newsletter subscription. This normally only takes a few seconds or one or two clicks. Usually you will find a link at the end of every email to unsubscribe from the newsletter. If you genuinely cannot find the link in the newsletter, please email us and we will cancel your newsletter subscription immediately. After you unsubscribe, your personal data will be erased from our server as well as from Brevo’s servers located in Germany. You have the right to receive free information about your stored data and, where applicable, a right to erasure, restrict processing or rectification.
Legal basis
Our newsletter is sent by Brevo on the basis of your consent (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR). Thus, we are only authorised to send you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. If your consent is not required, the newsletter is sent to you on the basis of our legitimate interest in direct marketing (Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f), provided this is legally permitted. We record your registration process so we can prove compliance with the law at any time.
If you would like more information about data processing, we recommend the company’s Privacy Policy at https://www.brevo.com/legal/privacypolicy/.
Messenger & Communication Introduction
Messenger & Communication Privacy Statement Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: for contact requests and general communications between yourself and us ???? Processed data: Data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, general content data, plus IP address if applicable You can find more details on this under the respective tools used. ???? Storage duration: depends on the messenger & communication functions ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contractual or pre-contractual obligations) |
What are Messenger & Communication functions?
We offer you various options on our website to communicate with us (e.g. messenger and chat functions, online or contact forms, email, telephone). With the use of these functions, your data will be processed and stored insofar as it is necessary to answer your inquiry and conduct any of our subsequent measures.
In addition to classic means of communication such as email, contact forms or telephone, we also use chats or messengers. The most commonly used messenger function at the moment is WhatsApp, but of course, there are many different providers who offer messenger functions for websites. If content is end-to-end encrypted, it will be indicated in our individual privacy policies or in the privacy policy of the respective provider. End-to-end encryption means that the content of a message is not visible to the provider themselves. However, information about your device, location settings and other technical data can still be processed and stored.
Why do we use Messenger & Communication functions?
The ability to communicate with you is very important to us. After all, we want to keep the conversation with you going and answer any questions you may have about our service as best we can. Needless to say, smooth communication is an important part of our service. With our practical messenger & communication functions, you always have the option to choose the ones you prefer most. In exceptional cases, however, we may not be able to answer certain questions via chat or messenger. This may be the case for internal contractual matters, for example. For matters like these, we recommend you to use other communication options such as email or telephone.
We generally assume our responsibility under data protection law, even if we use the services of any social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has decided that in certain cases the operator of the social media platform be jointly responsible alongside us in the scope of Art. 26 GDPR. Should this be the case, we will point it out separately and work on the basis of a relevant agreement. You will find the essence of the agreement for the respective platforms below.
Please note that when using our integrated elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, since many providers, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, are American companies. As a result, you may not be able to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data as easily.
Which data is processed?
Exactly which data is retained and processed depends on the respective messenger & communication function provider. In general, it is data such as your name, address, telephone number, email address and content data such as any information you enter into a contact form. In most cases, information about your device and IP address are also stored. Moreover, data that are transmitted via a messenger & communication function are also stored on the providers’ servers.
If you want to know exactly which data is stored and processed by the respective providers and how you can object to the data processing, you please carefully read the respective privacy policy of the company in question.
How long is data stored?
How long data is processed and stored depends primarily on the tools we use. Below you can find out more about the data processing of individual tools. The providers’ privacy policies usually state exactly which data is stored and processed and for how long. In general, we only process personal data for as long as necessary to provide our services. When data is stored in cookies, the storage period varies greatly. Data may e.g. be deleted immediately after leaving a website, or they may be stored for several years. Therefore, you should study each individual cookie in detail if you want to know more about data storage. In most cases, you will also find helpful information about individual cookies in the privacy policies of the individual providers.
Right to object
You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection by cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting the cookies in your browser. For more information, we recommend you to read the Consent section.
Since cookies may be in use with messenger & communication functions, we recommend you to read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, please read the privacy policies of the respective tools.
Legal Basis
If you have consented to the data processing and storage by integrated messenger & communication functions, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). We process your request and manage your data within the framework of contractual or pre-contractual relationships in order to fulfill our pre-contractual and contractual obligations or to answer inquiries. The basis for this is Art. 6 Para. 1 section 1 lit. b GDPR. In general, if you have given your consent, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in quick and smooth communication with you or other customers and business partners.
Facebook Messenger Privacy Policy
We use the instant messaging service Facebook Messenger on our website. The service provider is the American company Meta Platforms Inc. For the European area, the company Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland) is responsible.
What is Facebook Messenger?
Facebook Messenger is a chat messaging feature developed by Facebook, allowing you to send and receive text messages, voice and video calls, photos, and other media files to other Facebook users.
When you use Facebook Messenger, your personal data is also processed on Facebook servers. This includes not only your phone number and chat messages but also sent photos, videos, profile data, your address, or your location.
Why do we use Facebook Messenger?
We want to stay in touch with you, and this works best through messaging services like Facebook Messenger. On one hand, because the service works flawlessly, and on the other hand, because Facebook is still one of the most well-known social media platforms. The service is practical and allows for uncomplicated and fast communication with you.
How secure is data transfer with Facebook Messenger?
Facebook processes data from you, among other things, in the United States. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the United States. This may involve various risks for the legality and security of data processing.
As a basis for data processing by recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and particularly in the United States) or for transferring data to those countries, Facebook uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. Sec. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the United States). Through these clauses, Facebook commits to maintaining the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the United States. These clauses are based on an implementing decision by the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en
The Facebook data processing terms, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.
You can learn more about the data processed through the use of Facebook in the Privacy Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.
Data Processing Agreement (DPA) Facebook Messenger
In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with Facebook. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.
This contract is required by law because Facebook processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that Facebook may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.
MessengerPeople Privacy Policy
We also use the customer service software MessengerPeople. The provider of this service is the German company MessengerPeople GmbH, Seidlstrasse 8, 80335 Munich, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of MessengerPeople in their Privacy Policy at https://www.messengerpeople.com/privacy/.
Signal Messenger Privacy Policy
We use the messenger service Signal Messenger on our website. The service provider is the American company Signal Messenger LLC, 650 Castro Street, Suite 120-223 Mountain View, CA 94041, USA.
What is Signal Messenger?
Signal Messaging is an open-source application that allows us to have secure and private communication through text messages, voice, or video calls. The tool was founded in 2014 by Moxie Marlinspike and Stuart Anderson. Signal works on iOS, Android, and desktop. An important feature of Signal is its end-to-end encryption. This encryption ensures that messages or calls can truly only be read, seen, or heard by the parties involved. Even the developers of Signal cannot decrypt the messages.
Why do we use Signal Messenger?
Of course, we want to stay in communication with you. When we had to choose a messenger, our choice quickly fell on Signal Messenger. As the security of data is a major concern for us, we highly appreciate the encrypted communication that the tool offers. Additionally, there are further security settings, such as automatic data deletion or two-factor authentication.
How secure is data transfer with Signal Messenger?
Signal processes data, among other things, in the United States. We would like to point out that, according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the United States. This may involve various risks for the legality and security of data processing.
As a basis for data processing by recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and particularly in the United States) or for transferring data to those countries, Signal uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46. Sec. 2 and 3 GDPR). These clauses obligate Signal to comply with the EU data protection level when processing relevant data even outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision by the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en
You can learn more about the data processed through the use of Signal in the Privacy Policy at https://signal.org/legal/.
Telegram Privacy Policy
We also use the instant messaging service Telegram. The service provider is the international company Telegram Messenger LLP, which operates under a London address (71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom) and was developed in Russia.
What is Telegram?
Telegram was founded in 2013 by Nikolai and Pavel Durov. Since the Telegram team sees itself as so-called digital nomads, it’s never quite clear where the team is working. There is also no imprint on the Telegram website.
Similar to other messaging services, such as WhatsApp, you can send messages, photos, and videos, as well as other files, and make phone calls via Telegram. This messaging service has been gaining popularity in recent years. In 2022, it had already counted over 700 million users.
If you use Telegram, personal data will also be processed and stored on Telegram servers. In addition to chat messages, this includes sent photos, videos, profile data, IP address, and synchronized contacts. Telegram does encrypt data between the server and your device, but it can only offer end-to-end encryption for secret chats. Data stored in the cloud can be accessed by the company and third-party providers.
Why do we use Telegram?
Many people now use Telegram as an alternative to other messaging services such as WhatsApp. We want to stay in touch with you, and this works best through an instant messaging service that many of our customers also use. The service works flawlessly, is practical, and allows for uncomplicated communication with you.
You can learn more about the data processed through the use of Telegram in the Privacy Policy at https://telegram.org/privacy.
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 Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc. until October 2021). For the European region, the responsible company is WhatsApp Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland.
What is WhatsApp?
We probably don’t need to introduce WhatsApp to you in detail. The likelihood that you use this well-known messaging service on your smartphone is relatively high. For many years, there have been voices criticizing WhatsApp or its parent company Meta Platforms regarding their handling of personal data. The main criticism in recent years has been the merging of WhatsApp user data with Facebook. In response, Facebook adjusted its terms of service in 2021. Facebook stated that, as of 2021, no personal data from WhatsApp users is currently being shared with Facebook.
However, if you use WhatsApp and have consented to the data processing, various personal data about you will be processed by WhatsApp. This includes your phone number, chat messages, sent photos, videos, and profile data. Photos and videos are supposed to be stored only temporarily, and all messages and calls are encrypted end-to-end. Therefore, they should not be accessible by Meta itself. In addition, information from your address book and other metadata are stored by WhatsApp.
Why do we use WhatsApp?
We want to stay in touch with you, and the best way to do that is via WhatsApp. On the one hand, because the service works flawlessly, and on the other hand, because WhatsApp is still the most widely used instant messaging tool worldwide. The service is practical and enables uncomplicated and quick communication with you.
How secure is data transfer with WhatsApp?
WhatsApp processes your data, among other things, in the USA. 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 data transfer to the USA. This may be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.
As a basis for data processing at recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and particularly in the USA) or for data transfers to those countries, WhatsApp uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are template agreements provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even when transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. By these clauses, WhatsApp commits to maintaining the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision by the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses, among other things, here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de
Information on data transfers at WhatsApp, which comply with the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/business-data-transfer-addendum-20210927
We hope we have provided you with the most important information about the use and data processing by WhatsApp. You can learn more about the data processed through the use of WhatsApp in their Privacy Policy at https://www.whatsapp.com/privacy.
Chatbots Overview
Chatbots Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: for contact requests and general communications between you and ourselves ???? Processed data: Data such as name, address, email address, telephone number, general content data, IP address if applicable You can find more details on this under the respective tools used. ???? Storage duration: depending on the chatbots & chat functions used ⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contractual or pre-contractual obligations) |
What are chatbots?
You can communicate with us also via chatbots or similar chat functions. A chat offers the possibility to write or talk to one another with only a very small time delay. A chatbot is software that tries to answer your question and, if necessary, informs you about any news. By using these means of communication, your personal data may also be processed and stored.
Why do we use chatbots?
Our ability to communicate with you is important to us. After all, we want to talk to you and answer any questions about our service in the best possible way. Thus, well-functioning communication is an important part of our service. Chatbots have the great advantage that they can automatically answer frequently asked questions. This saves us time and you will still receive detailed and helpful answers. If the chatbot cannot help, you can of course contact us directly at any time.
Please note that when using our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, since many providers are American companies. As a result, you may not be able to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data as easily.
What data is processed?
You may also use the chat services on other websites/platforms. In this case, your user ID will also be stored on the servers of this website. We may also be informed about which user used the chat at what time. The chat content is also stored. Exactly which data is stored depends on the respective service. As a rule, however, it is contact data such as your email address or telephone number, IP address and various usage data.
If you have consented to the use of the chat function, this consent will also be stored or retained along with any registration. We do this so that we can also show your registration or consent if required by law.
The provider of a chat platform can also find out when you are chatting and also receive technical information about the device you are using. Exactly what information is stored and processed also depends on your PC settings. In many cases, data about your approximate location may be collected. This is done to optimise the chat services and to ensure more security. Furthermore, the information may also be used to set personalised advertising and marketing measures.
If you agree that a chatbot can send you messages, you can deactivate this activation at any time. The chatbot also serves as a help for this and shows you how to unsubscribe from this function. All your relevant data will then be deleted from the recipient directory.
We use the above data to be able to address you personally via the chat, to be able to answer your questions and inquiries or to send you any content. It also allows us to fundamentally improve our chat services.
How long is data stored?
How long the data is processed and stored depends primarily on the tools we use. Below you can find out more about the data processing of individual tools. The privacy policies of the providers usually state exactly which data is stored and processed for how long. Generally, personal data is only processed for as long as is necessary to provide our services. When data is stored in cookies, the storage period varies greatly. Data can be erased immediately after leaving a website, but it may also be stored for several years. You should therefore research every single cookie in detail if you want to know more about data retention. In most cases, you will also find helpful information about the individual cookies in the privacy policies of the individual providers.
Right to object
You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection by cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing the cookies in your browser.
Since cookies can be used for chat services, we also recommend our Privacy Policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.
Legal Basis
Via a pop-up window, we ask for your permission to process your data within the framework of the chat services. If you consent, this consent is also the legal basis (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR) for data processing. In addition, we process your inquiries and manage your data within the framework of contractual or pre-contractual relationships in order to fulfill our pre-contractual and contractual obligations or to answer inquiries. The basis for this is Art. 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR. In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in quick and smooth communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.
Social Media
Social Media Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: Service presentation and optimisation, staying in contact with visitors, interested parties, etc. as well as advertising ???? Processed data: data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, contact data, data on user behaviour, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details on this directly at the respective social media tool used. ???? Storage period: depending on the social media platforms used ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Social Media?
In addition to our website, we are also active on various social media platforms. For us to be able to target interested users via social networks, user data may be processed. Additionally, elements of social media platforms may be embedded directly in our website. This is e.g. the case if you click a so-called social button on our website and are forwarded directly to our social media presence. So-called social media are websites and apps on which registered members can produce and exchange content with other members, be it openly or in certain groups and networks.
Why do we use Social Media?
For years, social media platforms have been the place where people communicate and get into contact online. With our social media presence, we can familiarise interested people better with our products and services. The social media elements integrated on our website help you switch to our social media content quickly and hassle free.
The data that is retained and processed when you use a social media channel is primarily used to conduct web analyses. The aim of these analyses is to be able to develop more precise and personal marketing and advertising strategies. The evaluated data on your behaviour on any social media platform can help to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests. Moreover, so-called user profiles can be created. Thus, the platforms may also to present you with customised advertisements. For this, cookies are usually placed in your browser, which store data on your user behaviour.
We generally assume that we will continue to be responsible under Data Protection Law, even when using the services of a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that, within the meaning of Art. 26 GDPR, in certain cases the operator of the social media platform can be jointly responsible with us. Should this be the case, we will point it out separately and work on the basis of a related agreement. You will then find the essence of the agreement for the concerned platform below.
Please note that when you use social media platforms or our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, as many social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, are American companies. As a result, you may no longer be able to easily claim or enforce your rights regarding your personal data.
Which data are processed?
Exactly which data are stored and processed depends on the respective provider of the social media platform. But usually it is data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, data you enter in contact forms, user data such as which buttons you click, what you like or who you follow, when you visited which pages, as well as information about your device and IP address. Most of this data is stored in cookies. Should you have a profile on the social media channel you are visiting and are logged in, data may be linked to your profile.
All data that are collected via social media platforms are also stored on the providers’ servers. This means that only the providers have access to the data and can provide you with appropriate information or make changes for you.
If you want to know exactly which data is stored and processed by social media providers and how you can object to the data processing, we recommend you to carefully read the privacy policy of the respective company. We also recommend you to contact the provider directly if you have any questions about data storage and data processing or if you want to assert any corresponding rights.
Duration of data processing
Provided we have any further information on this, we will inform you about the duration of the data processing below. The social media platform Facebook example stores data until they are no longer needed for the company’s own purposes. However, customer data that is synchronised with your own user data is erased within two days. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This storage period can also be exceeded however, if it is required by law, such as e.g. in the case of accounting.
Right to object
You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers such as embedded social media elements at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can e.g. also prevent data collection via cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser.
Since cookies may be used with social media tools, we also recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies. If you want to find out which of your data is stored and processed, we advise you to read the privacy policies of the respective tools.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, provided you have given your consent, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in maintaining fast and good communication with you and other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have consented. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.
in the following section you can find information on special social media platforms – provided this information is available.
Facebook Privacy Policy
Facebook Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: service optimisation ???? Processed data: data such as customer data, data on user behaviour, device information and IP address. You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below. ???? Storage period: until the data no longer serves Facebook’s purposes ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What are Facebook tools?
We use selected Facebook tools on our website. Facebook is a social media network of the company Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2 Ireland. With the aid of this tool we can provide the best possible offers to you and anyone interested in our products and services.
If your data is collected and forwarded via our embedded Facebook elements or via our Facebook page (fanpage), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. are responsible for this. However, should any further processing occur, then Facebook is solely responsible for this data. Our joint commitments were also set out in a publicly available agreement at https://www.facebook. com / legal / controller_addendum . It e.g. states that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our website. We are also responsible for ensuring that the tools are securely integrated into our website and are in accordance with the applicable privacy laws. Facebook, on the other hand, is e.g. responsible for the data security of Facebook’s products. If you have any questions about Facebook’s data collection and processing, you can contact the company directly. Should you direct the question to us, we are obliged to forward it to Facebook.
In the following we will give you an overview on the different Facebook tools, as well as on what data is sent to Facebook and how you can erase this data.
Along with many other products, Facebook also offers so called “Facebook Business Tools”. This is Facebook’s official name for its tools, but it is not very common. Therefore, we decided to merely call them “Facebook tools”. They include the following:
- Facebook-Pixel
- Social Plugins (e.g. the “Like” or “Share“ button)
- Facebook Login
- Account Kit
- APIs (application programming interface)
- SDKs (Softwart developmept kits)
- Plattform-integrations
- Plugins
- Codes
- Specifications
- Documentations
- Technologies and Services
With these tools Facebook can extend its services and is able to receive information on user activities outside of Facebook.
Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?
We only want to show our services and products to people who are genuinely interested in them. With the help of advertisements (Facebook Ads) we can reach exactly these people. However, to be able to show suitable adverts to users, Facebook requires additional information on people’s needs and wishes. Therefore, information on the user behaviour (and contact details) on our website, are provided to Facebook. Consequently, Facebook can collect better user data and is able to display suitable adverts for our products or services. Thanks to the tools it is possible to create targeted, customised ad campaigns of Facebook.
Facebook calls data about your behaviour on our website “event data” and uses them for analytics services. That way, Facebook can create “campaign reports” about our ad campaigns’ effectiveness on our behalf. Moreover, by analyses we can get a better insight in how you use our services, our website or our products. Therefore, some of these tools help us optimise your user experience on our website. With the social plugins for instance, you can share our site’s contents directly on Facebook.
What data is stored by Facebook tools?
With the use of Facebook tools, personal data (customer data) may be sent to Facebook. Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number and IP address may be transmitted.
Facebook uses this information to match the data with the data it has on you (if you are a Facebook member). However, before the customer data is transferred to Facebook, a so called “Hashing” takes place. This means, that a data record of any size is transformed into a string of characters, which also has the purpose of encrypting data.
Moreover, not only contact data, but also “event data“ is transferred. These data are the information we receive about you on our website. To give an example, it allows us to see what subpages you visit or what products you buy from us. Facebook does not disclose the obtained information to third parties (such as advertisers), unless the company has an explicit permission or is legally obliged to do so. Also, “event data“ can be linked to contact information, which helps Facebook to offer improved, customised adverts. Finally, after the previously mentioned matching process, Facebook deletes the contact data.
To deliver optimised advertisements, Facebook only uses event data, if they have been combined with other data (that have been collected by Facebook in other ways). Facebook also uses event data for the purposes of security, protection, development and research. Many of these data are transmitted to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are little text files, that are used for storing data or information in browsers. Depending on the tools used, and on whether you are a Facebook member, a different number of cookies are placed in your browser. In the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools we will go into more detail on Facebook cookies. You can also find general information about the use of Facebook cookies at https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies.
How long and where are the data stored?
Facebook fundamentally stores data, until they are no longer of use for their own services and products. Facebook has servers for storing their data all around the world. However, customer data is cleared within 48 hours after they have been matched with their own user data.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you have the right of information, rectification, transfer and deletion of your data.
The collected data is only fully deleted, when you delete your entire Facebook account. Deleting your Facebook account works as follows:
1) Click on settings in the top right side in Facebook.
2) Then, click “Your Facebook information“ in the left column.
3) Now click on “Deactivation and deletion”.
4) Choose “Permanently delete account“ and then click on “Continue to account deletion“.
5) Enter your password, click on “continue“ and then on “Delete account“.
The retention of data Facebook receives via our site is done via cookies (e.g. with social plugins), among others. You can deactivate, clear or manage both all and individual cookies in your browser. How this can be done differs depending on the browser you use. The following instructions show, how to manage cookies in your browser:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
If you generally do not want to allow any cookies at all, you can set up your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This gives you the opportunity to decide upon the permission or deletion of every single cookie.
Legal basis
If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also set cookies on your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or Facebook’s cookie policy.
Facebook also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Facebook uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Facebook to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
We hope we could give you an understanding of the most important information about the use of Facebook tools and data processing. If you want to find out more on how Facebook use your data, we recommend reading the data policies at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.
Facebook Login Privacy Policy
We integrated the convenient Facebook Login to our website. With it, you can easily log into our site with your Facebook account, without having to create a new user account. If you decide to register via the Facebook Login, you will be redirected to the social media network Facebook. There, you can log in with your Facebook user data. By using this method to log in, data on you and your user behaviour is stored and transmitted to Facebook.
To save the data, Facebook uses various cookies. In the following we will show you the most significant cookies that are placed in your browser or that already exist when you log into our site via the Facebook Login:
Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose: This cookie is used to make the social plugin function optimally on our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months
Name: datr
Value: 4Jh7XUA2322393026SEmPsSfzCOO4JFFl
Purpose: Facebook sets the “datr” cookie, when a web browser accesses facebook.com. The cookie helps to identify login activities and protect users.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: _js_datr
Value: deleted
Purpose: Facebook sets this session cookie for tracking purposes, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are logged out.
Expiry date: after the end of the session
Note: The cookies we stated are only a small range of the cookies which are available to Facebook. Other cookies include for example _ fbp, sb or wd. It is not possible to disclose an exhaustive list, since Facebook have a multitude of cookies at their disposal which they use in variation.
On the one hand, Facebook Login enables a fast and easy registration process. On the other hand, it gives us the opportunity to share data with Facebook. In turn, we can customise our offer and advertising campaigns better to your needs and interests. The data we receive from Facebook by this means, is public data such as
- your Facebook name
- your profile picture
- your stored email address
- friends lists
- button clicks (e.g. “Like“ button)
- date of birth
- language
- place of residence
In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activities on our website. These include information on the terminal device you used, which of our subpages you visit, or what products you have bought from us.
By using Facebook Login, you agree to the data processing. You can terminate this agreement anytime. If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data processing, we recommend you to read Facebook’s Data Policy at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.
If you are registered with Facebook, you can change your advertisement settings anytime at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen.
Facebook Social Plugins Privacy Policy
We installed so-called social plugins from Facebook Inc. to our website. You can recognise these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, the “Like” button (hand with raised thumb) or by a “Facebook plugin” label. A social plugin is a small part of Facebook that is integrated into our page. Each plugin has its own function. The most used functions are the well-known “Like” and “Share” buttons.
Facebook offers the following social plugins:
- “Save” button
- “Like” button, Share, Send and Quote
- Page plugin
- Comments
- Messenger plugin
- Embedded posts and video player
- Group Plugin
At https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins you will find more information on how the individual plugins are used. On the one hand, we use the social plug-ins to offer you a better user experience on our site, and on the other hand because Facebook can optimise our advertisements with it.
If you have a Facebook account or have already visited facebook.com, Facebook has already placed at least one cookie in your browser. In this case, your browser sends information to Facebook via this cookie as soon as you visit our website or interact with social plugins (e.g. the “Like” button).
The received information will be deleted or anonymised within 90 days. According to Facebook, this data includes your IP address, the websites you have visited, the date, time and other information relating to your browser.
In order to prevent Facebook from collecting much data and matching it with your Facebook data during your visit to our website, you must log out of Facebook while you visit our website.
If you are not logged in to Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser sends less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. Nevertheless, data such as your IP address or which website you are visiting can be transmitted to Facebook. We would like to explicitly point out that we do not know what exact data is collected. However, based on our current knowledge, we want to try informing you as best we can about data processing. You can also read about how Facebook uses the data in the company’s data policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.
At least the following cookies are set in your browser when you visit a website with social plugins from Facebook:
Name: dpr
Value: no information
Purpose:This cookie is used to make the social plugins work on our website.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: fr
Value: 0jieyh4322393026c2GnlufEJ9..Bde09j…1.0.Bde09j
Purpose:The cookie is also necessary for the plugins to function properly
Expiry date: after 3 months
Note: These cookies were set after our test and may be placed even if you are not a Facebook member.
If you are registered with Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements yourself at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. If you are not a Facebook user, you can go to https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/ and manage your usage-based online advertising. There you have the option to deactivate or activate providers.
If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend the company’s own data policies at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.
Instagram Privacy Policy
Instagram Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: optimising our service ???? Processed data: includes data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address. More details can be found in the privacy policy below. ???? Storage period: until Instagram no longer needs the data for its purposes ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Instagram?
We have integrated functions of Instagram to our website. Instagram is a social media platform of the company Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA. Since 2012, Instagram is a subsidiary company of Facebook Inc. and is a part of Facebook’s products. The inclusion of Instagram’s contents on our website is called embedding. With this, we can show you Instagram contents such as buttons, photos or videos directly on our website. If you open websites of our online presence, that have an integrated Instagram function, data gets transmitted to, as well as stored and processed by Instagram. Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook. Therefore, your data will be processed across all Facebook firms.
In the following, we want to give you a more detailed insight on why Instagram collects data, what data these are and how you can control data processing. As Instagram belongs to Facebook Inc., we have, on the one hand received this information from the Instagram guidelines, and on the other hand from Facebook’s Data Policy.
Instagram is one of the most famous social media networks worldwide. Instagram combines the benefits of a blog with the benefits of audio-visual platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. To “Insta“ (how the platform is casually called by many users) you can upload photos and short videos, edit them with different filters and also share them to other social networks. Also, if you do not want to be active on Instagram yourself, you can just follow other interesting users.
Why do we use Instagram on our website?
Instagram is a social media platform whose success has skyrocketed within recent years. Naturally, we have also reacted to this boom. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website. Therefore, we attach great importance to diversified contents. With the embedded Instagram features we can enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting Instagram contents. Since Instagram is a subsidiary company of Facebook, the collected data can also serve us for customised advertising on Facebook. Hence, only persons who are genuinely interested in our products or services can see our ads.
Instagram also uses the collected data for tracking and analysis purposes. We receive summarised statistics and therefore more insight to your wishes and interests. It is important to mention that these reports do not identify you personally.
What data is stored by Instagram?
Whenever you land on one of our sites, which have Instagram functions (i.e. Instagram photos or plugins) integrated to them, your browser automatically connects with Instagram’s servers. Thereby, data is sent to, as well as saved and processed by Instagram. This always happens, whether you have an Instagram account or not. Moreover, it includes information on our website, your computer, your purchases, the advertisements you see and on how you use our offer. The date and time of your interaction is also stored. If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram saves significantly more data on you.
Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data. We assume this is also the case for Instagram. Customer data are for example names, addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses. These data are only transmitted to Instagram, if they have been “hashed” first. Thereby, a set of data is transformed into a string of characters, which encrypts any contact data. Moreover, the aforementioned “event data“ (data on your user behaviour) is transmitted as well. It is also possible, that contact data may get combined with event data. The collected data data is matched with any data Instagram already has on you.
Furthermore, the gathered data are transferred to Facebook via little text files (cookies) which usually get set in your browser. Depending on the Instagram function used, and whether you have an Instagram account yourself, the amount of data that gets stored varies.
We assume data processing on Instagram works the same way as on Facebook. Therefore, if you have an account on Instagram or have visited www.instagram.com, Instagram has set at least one cookie. If this is the case, your browser uses the cookie to send information to Instagram, as soon as you come across an Instagram function. No later than 90 days (after matching) the data is deleted or anonymised. Even though we have studied Instagram’s data processing in-depth, we cannot tell for sure what exact data Instagram collects and retains.
In the following we will show you a list of the least cookies placed in your browser when click on an Instagram function (e.g. button or an Insta picture). In our test we assume you do not have an Instagram account, since if you would be logged in to your Instagram account, your browser would place significantly more cookies.
The following cookies were used in our test:
Name: csrftoken
Value: “”
Purpose: This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent falsifications of requests. We could not find out more information on it.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: mid
Value: “”
Purpose: Instagram places this cookie to optimise its own offers and services in- and outside of Instagram. The cookie allocates a unique user ID.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: fbsr_322393026124024
Value: no information
Purpose: This cookie stores the login request of Instagram app users.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: rur
Value: ATN
Purpose: This is an Instagram cookie which guarantees functionality on Instagram.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: urlgen
Value: “{”194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe322393026”
Purpose: This cookie serves Instagram’s marketing purposes.
Expiry date: after end of session
Note: We do not claim this list to be exhaustive. The cookies that are placed in each individual case, depend on the functions embedded as well as on your use of Instagram.
How long and where are these data stored?
Instagram shares the information obtained within the Facebook businesses with external partners and persons you are globally connected with. Data processing is done according to Facebook’s internal data policy. Your data is distributed to Facebook’s servers across the world, partially for security reasons. Most of these servers are in the USA.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right of information, rectification, transfer and deletion of your data. Furthermore, you can manage your data in Instagram’s settings. If you want to delete your data on Instagram completely, you will have to delete your Instagram account permanently.
And this is how an Instagram account can be deleted:
First, open the Instagram app. Then, navigate to your profile page, select the three bars in the top right, choose “Settings” and then click “Help”. Now, you will be redirected to the company’s website, where you must click on “Managing Your Account” and then “Delete Your Account”.
When you delete your account completely, Instagram deletes posts such as your photos and status updates. Any information other people shared about you are not a part of your account and do therefore not get deleted.
As mentioned before, Instagram primarily stores your data via cookies. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, managing them varies a bit. We will show you the instructions of the most relevant browsers here.
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
Generally, you can set your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. Then you can individually decide upon the permission of every cookie.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.
Instagram and Facebook also process data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
As a basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfers there, Facebook uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Facebook to comply with the EU’s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en
We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Instagram. On https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
you can take a closer look at Instagram’s data guidelines.
Pinterest Privacy Policy
Pinterest Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: service optimisation ???? Processed data: data such as data on user behaviour, device information, IP address and search terms. You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below. ???? Storage period: until Pinterest no longer needs the data for its purposes ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Pinterest?
On our website we use buttons and widgets by the social media network Pinterest, of the company Pinterest Inc., 808 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. For the European area, the entity responsible for all aspects of privacy is the Irish company Pinterest Europe Ltd. (Palmerston House, 2nd Floor, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, Ireland).
Pinterest is a social network that specialises in graphic representations and photographs. Its name is made up of the two words “pin” and “interest”. Users can exchange ideas about various hobbies and interests via Pinterest and view profiles with pictures openly or in defined groups.
Why do we use Pinterest?
The social media platform Pinterest has been around for a few years now and is still one of the most visited and valued platforms. Pinterest is particularly suitable for our industry because the platform is primarily known for beautiful and interesting images. That is why we are of course also represented on Pinterest and want to put our content in the limelight in places other than our website. The collected data may also be used for advertising purposes, so we can show advertising messages to precisely those people who are interested in our services or products.
Which data are processed by Pinterest?
Pinterest may store so-called log data. This includes information about your browser, IP address, our website address and the your activities on it (e.g. when you click the save or pin button), along with your search history, the date and time of the request as well as cookie and device data. If you interact with an embedded Pinterest function, cookies that store various data may also be set in your browser. Most of the above-mentioned log data, as well as preset language settings and clickstream data are stored in cookies. Pinterest considers clickstream data as information about your website behaviour.
If you have a Pinterest account yourself and are logged in, the data collected via our site may be linked to your account and used for advertising purposes. If you interact with our integrated Pinterest functions, you will usually be redirected to the Pinterest page. Below you will see an exemplary selection of cookies that can then be placed in your browser.
Name: _auth
Value: 0
Purpose: The cookie is used for authentication. A value such as your “username” can be stored in it, for example.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: _pinterest_referrer
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie stores the information that you came to Pinterest via our website. Thus, the URL of our website is retained.
Expiry date: after the session ends
Name: _pinterest_sess
Value: … 9HRHZvVE0rQlUxdG89
Purpose: This cookie is used to log into Pinterest and it contains user IDs, authentication tokens and time stamps.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: _routing_id
Value: “8d850ddd-4fb8-499c-961c-77efae9d4065 322393026 -8”
Purpose: This cookie contains an assigned value that is used to identify a specific routing destination.
Expiry date: after one day
Name: cm_sub
Value: denied
Purpose: This cookie stores user IDs and time stamps.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: csrftoken
Value: 9e49145c82a93d34fd933b0fd8446165 322393026-1
Purpose: This cookie is most certainly placed for security reasons in order to prevent falsified inquiries. However, we could not find more precise information.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: sessionFunnelEventLogged
Value: 1
Purpose: We have not yet been able to find out more information about this cookie.
Expiry date: after one day
How long and where are the data retained?
Pinterest basically stores the collected data until it is no longer needed for the company’s purposes. As soon as the storage of this data is no longer necessary, e.g. for the compliance with legal regulations, the data is either erased or anonymised so you can no longer be identified as a person. The data may also be stored on American servers.
Right to object
You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers such as Pinterest at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can for example also prevent data retention by cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser.
Since cookies can be used with embedded Pinterest elements, we also recommend you to read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out which of your data are stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the processing and storage of you data by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in maintaining fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the tool if you have given your consent to it. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.
Pinterest also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Pinterest uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Pinterest to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
We hope we could provide you with the most important information about data processing by Pinterest. You can find out more about Pinterest’s privacy guidelines at https://policy.pinterest.com/en-gb/privacy-policy.
Twitter Privacy Policy
Twitter Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: optimising our service ???? Processed data: includes data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address. More details can be found in the privacy policy below. ???? Storage period: Twitter deletes collected data of other websites after 30 days at most ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Twitter?
We have incorporated Twitter functions on our website. These are, for example, embedded tweets, timelines, buttons or hashtags. Twitter is a short message service and social media platform from the firm Twitter Inc., One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2 D02 AX07, Ireland.
To our knowledge, in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, a mere integration of the Twitter function does not transfer any personal data or data about your web activities to Twitter. Only when you interact with the Twitter functions, such as by clicking a button, data could be sent to Twitter and get saved as well as processed there. We have no influence on this processing of data and do not bare any responsibility for it. Within this privacy statement, we want to give you an overview of what data Twitter stores, what Twitter does with this data and how you can largely protect yourself from data transmission.
For some, Twitter is a news service, for others, a social media platform, and for others still it is a microblogging service. All these terms are justified and mean pretty much the same.
Both individuals as well as companies use Twitter for communicating with interested people via short messages. Twitter only allows 280 characters per message. These messages are called “tweets”. In contrast to Facebook, for example, the service does not focus on the expansion of a network of “friends”, but strives to be regarded as an open, worldwide news platform. On Twitter you can also have an anonymous account and tweets can be deleted by both, either the company or the users themselves.
Why do we use Twitter on our website?
Like many other websites and companies, we try to use different channels for offering our services and communicating with our customers. Twitter is a truly useful “small” news service, which is why it has grown dear to us. We regularly tweet or retweet exciting, funny or interesting content. We understand that you do not have the time to follow every channel after channel, as you surely have enough other things to do. That is why we also have integrated Twitter functions to our website. That way, you can experience our Twitter activities “on site” or come to our Twitter page via a direct link. With the integration, we want to strengthen the service and user-friendliness on our website.
What data is stored by Twitter?
You will find integrated Twitter functions on some of our subpages. If you interact with Twitter content, such as by clicking a button, Twitter may collect and save data. This can happen even if you don’t have a Twitter account yourself. Twitter calls this data “log data”. It includes demographic data, browser cookie IDs, your smartphone’s ID, hashed email addresses, and information on which pages you have visited on Twitter and what actions you have taken there. Of course, Twitter stores more data if you have a Twitter account and are logged in. This retention is usually done via cookies. Cookies are small text files that are usually set in your browser and transmit various information to Twitter.
We will now show you which cookies are placed if you are not logged in to Twitter but visit a website with built-in Twitter functions. Please consider this list as an example. We do not claim for this list to be extensive, since the array of cookies always changes and depends on your individual actions with Twitter content.
The following cookies have been used in our test:
Name: personalization_id
Value: “v1_cSJIsogU51SeE322393026”
Purpose: This cookie stores information on how you use the website and what ad may have led you to Twitter.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: lang
Value: en
Purpose: This cookie stores your default or preferred language.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: guest_id
Value: 322393026v1%3A157132626
Purpose: This cookie is set to identify you as a guest.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: fm
Value: 0
Purpose: Unfortunately, we could not find out the purpose of this cookie.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: external_referer
Value: 3223930262beTA0sf5lkMrlGt
Purpose: This cookie collects anonymous data, such as how often you visit Twitter and how long you visit Twitter.
Expiry date: after 6 days
Name: eu_cn
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie stores user activity and is used for Twitter’s various advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: ct0
Value: c1179f07163a365d2ed7aad84c99d966
Purpose: Unfortunately we could not find any information on this cookie.
Expiry date: after 6 hours
Name: _twitter_sess
Value: 53D%253D–dd0248322393026-
Purpose: With this cookie you can use functions within Twitter’s website.
Expiry date: after end of session
Note: Twitter also works with third parties. Therefore, we have recognized the three Google Analytics cookies _ga, _gat, _gid in our test.
On the one hand, Twitter uses the collected data for gaining better understand on user behaviour, and thus to improve their own services and advertising offers. On the other hand, the data are also used for internal security measures.
How long and where are the data stored?
When Twitter collects data from other websites, after a maximum of 30 days, they will be deleted, summarised or otherwise concealed. Twitter’s servers are in various server centres in the United States. Accordingly, it can be assumed that the gathered data will be collected and stored in America. In our research we could not clearly determine whether Twitter also owns servers in Europe. Generally, Twitter may keep collected data stored until either the data are no longer useful to the company, until you delete the data or until a potential legal deletion period has been reached.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
In their Privacy Policy, Twitter repeatedly emphasise that they do not save data from external website visits, provided you or your browser are in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. However, if you interact directly with Twitter, the company will of course store your data.
If you have a Twitter account, you can manage your data by clicking on “More” under the “Profile” button. Then click on “Settings and privacy”. Here you can manage data processing individually.
If you do not have a Twitter account, you can go to twitter.com and click “Settings”. At “Personalisation and data” you can manage data that is collected on you.
As mentioned above, most data are stored via cookies, which you can manage, deactivate or delete in your browser. Please note that when changing cookie settings in your browser, the edits will only affect that very browser. This means that if you use another browser in the future, you will have to manage your cookie settings there again. In the following you will find instructions for managing cookies in the most popular browsers.
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
You can also set your browser to notify you about each individual cookie. This lets you decide individually whether you want to allow or deny a cookie.
Twitter also uses the data for personalised advertising in-and outside of Twitter. You can switch off personalised advertising in the settings under “Personalization and data”. If you use Twitter on a browser, you can deactivate personalised advertising at http://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2&lang=EN.
Legal basis
If you have consented processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to also take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.
Twitter processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Twitter uses standard contractual clauses, which are approved by the EU Commission, as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfers there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige ShareThis to comply with the EU’s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
We hope we could give you a basic overview of Twitter’s data processing. We do not receive any data from Twitter and are not responsible for what Twitter does with your data. If you have any further questions on this topic, we recommend you to read Twitter’s privacy statement at https://twitter.com/en/privacy.
Blogs and Publication Media Introduction
Blogs and Publication Media Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: Presentation and optimisation of our service, along with communication between website visitors, as well as security measures and administration ???? Data processed: Data such as contact details, IP address and published content. More details can be found under the tools used. ???? Storage duration: depending on the tools used ⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contract) |
What are blogs and publishing media?
We use blogs or other means of communication on our website through which we can communicate with you – and through which you can communicate with us. Your data may also be stored and processed by us. This may be necessary in order for us to display content appropriately, make communication work smoothly and increase security. In this privacy policy, we will show you general information on which of your data may be processed. The exact information on data processing, however, always depends on the tools and functions used. You will find detailed information about data processing in the privacy policies of the individual providers.
Why do we use blogs and publication media?
Our greatest motivation for our website is to offer you interesting and exciting content. At the same time, your opinions and your content are important to us. That’s why we want to create a good interactive exchange between you and ourselves. With various blogs and publication options, we can achieve exactly that. You can e. g. post comments about our content, reply to others’ comments or, in some cases, make posts yourself.
Which data is processed?
Exactly which data is processed always depends on the communication functions we use. Very often IP address, username and published content are stored. This is done primarily to ensure security protection, prevent spam, and for us to be able to take action against any illegal content. What is more, cookies may also be used for data retention. They are small text files that are stored as information in your browser. You can find more details about the collected and stored data in our individual sections and in the privacy policies of the respective providers.
Duration of data processing
We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. For example, post and comment functions store data until you revoke data storage. In general, personal data is only stored for as long as is absolutely necessary for us to provide you with our services.
Right to object
You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party communication tools at any time. This can be done 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 erasing the cookies in your browser.
Since cookies can also be used in publication media, we also recommend you read our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.
Legal Basis
We use this means of communication mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in fast and good communication with you or other customers, business partners and visitors. Provided the use serves to process or initiate contractual relationships, the legal basis also extends to Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 lit. b. GDPR.
Certain types of processing require your consent – in particular the use of cookies and comment or message functions. Provided you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated publication media, this consent is the legal basis for any data processing (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). Most communication features we use set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.
Information on specific tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.
Blog Posts and Comment Functions Privacy Policy
There are various online communication tools that we may use on our website. For example, we use blog posts and comment functions. This gives you the possibility to comment on our content or to write articles. If you make use of this function, your IP address may be stored for security reasons. This is how we protect ourselves from illegal content such as insults, unauthorised advertising or prohibited political propaganda. In order to recognise whether any comments are spam, we can also store and process user information on the basis of our legitimate interests. If we start a survey, we will also store your IP address for the duration of the survey so we can be sure that everyone who takes part only votes once. Moreover, cookies may also be used for storage purposes. All data that we store about you (such as content or information about you) will be stored until you object.
Online Marketing
Online Marketing Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: visitors to the website ???? Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information for website optimisation ???? Processed data: Access statistics containing data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed. You can find more details on this from the respective Online Marketing tool. ???? Storage period: depending on the Online Marketing tools used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Online Marketing?
Online Marketing refers to all measures that are carried out online to achieve marketing goals, such as increasing brand awareness or doing business transactions. 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 do Online Marketing. It mostly is about online advertising, content marketing or search engine optimisation. For this, personal data is also stored and processed, to enable us to use Online Marketing efficiently and targeted. On the one hand, the data help us to only show our content to people who are interested in it. On the other hand, it helps us to 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 our offer. We are aware that this is not possible without conscious measures being taken. That is why we do Online Marketing. There are various tools that make working on our Online Marketing measures easier for us. These also provide suggestions for improvement via data. Thus, we can target our campaigns more precisely to our target group. The ultimate purpose of these Online Marketing tools is to optimise our offer.
Which data are processed?
For our Online Marketing to work and to measure its success, user profiles are created and data are e.g. stored in cookies (small text files). With the help of this data, we can not only advertise in the traditional way, but also present our content directly on our website in the way you prefer. There are various third-party tools that offer these functions and thus collect and store your data accordingly. The aforementioned cookies e.g. store the pages you visit on our website, how long you view these pages, which links or buttons you click or which website you came from. What is more, technical information may also be stored. This may include e.g. your IP address, the browser and device you use to visit our website or the time you accessed our website as well as the time you left. If you have agreed for us to determine your location, we can also store and process it.
Your IP address is stored in pseudonymised form (i.e. shortened). What is more, distinct data that directly identify you as a person, such as your name, address or email address, are only stored in pseudonymised for advertising and Online Marketing purposes. With this data we cannot identify you as a person and only retain the pseudonymised information that is stored in your user profile.
Under certain circumstances, cookies may also be utilised, analysed and used for advertising purposes on other websites that use the same advertising tools. Thus, your data may then also be stored on the servers of the respective provider of the advertising tool.
In rare exceptions, unique data (name, email address, etc.) may also be stored in the user profiles. This can happen, if you are for example a member of a social media channel that we use for our Online Marketing measures and if the network connects previously received data with the user profile.
We only ever receive summarised information from the advertising tools we use that do store data on their servers. We never receive data that can be used to identify you as an individual. What is more, the data only shows how well-placed advertising measures have worked. For example, we can see what measures have caused you or other users to visit our website and purchase a service or product. Based on these analyses we can improve our advertising offer in the future and adapt it more precisely to the needs and wishes of people who are interested.
Duration of data processing
Below we will inform you on the duration of data processing, provided we have this information. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. Data stored in cookies are retained for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted after you leave a website, while others may be stored in your browser for a number of years. However, in the respective privacy policies of the respective provider, you will usually find detailed information on the individual cookies this provider uses.
Right of withdrawal
You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can for example also prevent data collection by cookies if you manage, deactivate or erase cookies in your browser. The legality of the processing remains unaffected to the point of revocation.
Since Online Marketing tools usually use cookies, we also recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies. If you want to find out which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the use of third-party providers, then this consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) , this consent is the legal basis for personal data processing, as may be done when data is collected by online marketing tools.
Moreover, we have a legitimate interest in measuring our online marketing activities in anonymised form, in order to use this data for optimising our offer and our Marketing. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) . Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent.
Information on special online marketing tools can be found in the following sections, provided this information is available.
ADCELL Privacy Policy
We use the online marketing platform ADCELL for our website. The service provider is the German company Firstlead GmbH, Rosenfelder Str. 15-16, 10315 Berlin, Germany.
You can find out more about the data processed by using ADCELL in the privacy policy at https://www.adcell.de/datenschutz.
Facebook Custom Audiences Privacy Policy
On our website we use Facebook Custom Audiences, a event tracking tool. The provider of this service is the American company Facebook Inc. The company also has Irish headquarters at 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Irland.
Facebook also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Facebook uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Facebook to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
You can find out more about the data that is processed by using Facebook in their Privacy Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy.
Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy
Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: visitors to the website ???? Purpose: economic success and service optimisation. ???? Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address may also be processed. ???? Storage period: Conversion cookies usually expire after 30 days and do not transmit any personal data ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Google Ads conversion tracking?
We use Google Ads (previously Google AdWords) as an online marketing measure, to advertise our products and services. Thus, we want to draw more people’s attention on the internet to the high quality of our offers. As part of our advertising measures with Google Ads, we use the conversion tracking of Google LLC., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”) on our website. With the aid of this free tracking tool we can tailor our advertising offer better to your interests and needs. In the following article we will explain, why we use conversion tracking, what data gets saved and how you can prevent this data retention.
Google Ads (previously Google AdWords) is the internal online advertising sxstem of the company Google LLC. We are convinced of our offer‘s quality and would like as many people as possible to discover our website. For this, Google Ads offers the best platform within the online environment. Of course, we also want to get an overview of the cost-benefit factor of our advertising campaigns. Thence, we use Google Ads’ conversion tracking tool.
But what is a conversion actually? A conversion occurs, when you turn from an interested visitor into an acting website visitor. This happens every time you click on our ad and then make another action, such as paying a visit to our website. With Google’s conversion tracking tool, we can understand what happens after a user clicks our Google ad. It shows us for instance if products get bought, services are used or whether users have subscribed to our newsletter.
Why do we use Google Ads conversion tracking on our website?
We use Google Ads to show our offer also across other websites. Our aim is for our advertising campaigns to reach only those people, who are interested in our offers. With the conversion tracking tool, we see what keywords, ads, ad groups and campaigns lead to the desired customer actions. We see how many customers interact with our ads on a device, to then convert. With this data we can calculate our cost-benefit-factor, measure the success of individual ad campaigns and therefore optimise our online marketing measures. With the help of the obtained data we can give our website a more interesting design and customise our advertising offer better to your needs.
What data is stored with Google Ads conversion tracking?
For a better analysis of certain user actions, we have integrated a conversion tracking tag, or code snippet to our website. Therefore, if you click one of our Google ads, a Google domain stores the cookie “conversion” on your computer (usually in the browser) or on your mobile device. Cookies are little text files that save information on your computer.
Here are data of the most significant cookies for Google’s conversion tracking:
Name: Conversion
Value: EhMI_aySuoyv4gIVled3Ch0llweVGAEgt-mr6aXd7dYlSAGQ322393026-3
Purpose: This cookie saves every conversion you make on our website after you came to us via a Google ad.
Expiry date: after 3 months
Name: _gac
Value: 1.1558695989.EAIaIQobChMIiOmEgYO04gIVj5AYCh2CBAPrEAAYASAAEgIYQfD_BwE
Purpose: This is a classic Google Analytics Cookie that records various actions on our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months
Note: The cookie _gac only appears in connection with Google Analytics. The above list does not claim to be exhaustive, as Google repeatedly change the cookies they use for analytical evaluation.
As soon as you complete an action on our website, Google identifies the cookie and saves your action as a so-called conversion. For as long as you surf our website, provided the cookie has not expired, both Google and us can determine that you found your way to us via a Google ad. Then, the cookie is read and sent back to Google Ads, together with the conversion data. Moreover, other cookies may also be used for measuring conversions. Google Ads‘ conversion tracking can be fine-tuned and improved with the aid of Google Analytics. Furthermore, ads which Google displays in various places across the web, might be placed under our domain with the name “__gads” or “_gac”.
Since September 2017, analytics.js retains various campaign information with the _gac cookie. This cookie stores data, as soon as you open one of our sites that has been set up for Google Ads’ auto-tagging. In contrast to cookies that are placed for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies when you are on our website. We do neither collect nor receive any personal data. We do obtain a report with statistical evaluations by Google. With the help thereof, we can not only see the total number of users who clicked our ad, but also what advertising measures were well received.
How long and where is the data stored?
At this point we want to reiterate, that we have no influence on how Google use the collected data. According to Google, the data are encrypted and stored on a secure server. In most cases, conversion cookies expire after 30 days, and do not transmit any personalised data. The cookies named “conversion“ and “_gac“ (which is used with Google Analytics) have an expiry date of 3 months.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
You have the possibility to opt out of Google Ads’ conversion tracking. The conversion tracking can be blocked by deactivating the conversion tracking cookie via your browser. If you do this, you will not be considered for the statistic of the tracking tool. You can change the cookie settings in your browser anytime. Doing so, works a little different in every browser. Hence, in the following you will find an instruction on how to manage cookies in your browser:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
If you generally do not want to allow any cookies at all, you can set up your browser to notify you whenever a potential cookie is about to be set. This lets you decide upon permitting or denying the cookie’s placement. By downloading and installing the browser plugin at https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996 you can also deactivate all “advertising cookies”. Please consider that by deactivating these cookies, you cannot prevent all advertisements, only personalised ads.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the use of Google Ads Conversion Tracking, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent is the legal basis for personal data processing, as may be done when collected by Google Ads Conversion Tracking.
We also have legitimate interest in using Google Ads Conversion Tracking to optimise our online service and marketing measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Ads Conversion Tracking if you have consented to it.
Google also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Google uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Google to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which reference the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/
If you would like to find out more about data protection at Google, we recommend Google’s privacy policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.
Affiliate Programs Introduction
Affiliate Programs Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: economic success and the optimisation of our service. ???? Data processed: Access statistics, including data such as access locations, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as your name or email address may also be processed. ???? Duration of storage: personal data is usually stored by affiliate programs until it is no longer needed ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What are affiliate programs?
We use affiliate programs of different providers on our website. By using an affiliate program, your data may be transferred to the respective affiliate program provider, where it can be stored and processed. In this privacy policy, we will give you a general overview of data processing by partner programs and show you how you can prevent or revoke this data transmission. Every affiliate program (also called partner program) is based on the principle of commission. For this, a link or an advertisement with a link is placed on our website and if you are interested, click on it and purchase a product or service this way, we receive a commission for this (reimbursement of advertising costs)
Why do we use affiliate programs on our website?
Our goal is to provide you with a pleasant time with lots of helpful content. We put a lot of work and time into the development of our website. With the help of partner programs, we have the opportunity to be paid a little for our efforts. Every partner link is of course always related to our theme and shows offers that might interest you.
Which data is processed?
In order to trace whether you have clicked on one of our placed links, the affiliate program provider needs to know that it was you who followed the link via our website. Any affiliate program links used must therefore be correctly assigned to the following actions (business deal, purchase, conversion, impression, etc.). Only then can the allocation of the commission take place.
For this mapping to work, a value may be appended to a link (in the URL) or certain information may be stored in cookies. This may for example be, data on which page you came from (referrer), when you clicked on the link, an identifier for our website, which offer it is as well a specific user identifier.
Therefore, whenever you interact with an affiliate program’s products and services, the provider also retains your data. Exactly which data is stored depends on the individual providers. For example, the Amazon affiliate program distinguishes between active and automatic data. Active data include name, email address, phone number, age, payment information, or location information. In the case of the Amazon affiliate program, automatically stored data include user behaviour, IP address, device information and the URL.
Duration of data processing
We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. In general, personal data is only processed for as long as is necessary to provide the services and products. Data stored in cookies are retained for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, while others may be stored in your browser for several years if they are not actively erased. The exact duration of data processing depends on the provider used. But in most cases you should account for a storage period of several years. In the respective privacy policies of the individual providers, you will most probably find precise information about the duration of data processing.
Right to object
You always have the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the person responsible for the partner program provider used at any time. Contact details can be found either in our specific data protection declaration or on the website of the relevant provider.
You can erase, disable or manage cookies that providers use for their functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this can be done in different ways.
Legal Basis
If you have consented to the use of the affiliate program, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when collected by an affiliate program.
We also have a legitimate interest in using an affiliate program to optimise our online service and our marketing activities. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the partner program if you have given your consent.
Information on special affiliate programs, if available, can be found in the following sections.
Amazon Associates Program Privacy Policy
Amazon Affiliate Program Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: visitors to the website ???? Purpose: economic success and the optimisation of our service. ???? Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. Personal data such as name or email address can also be processed. ???? Storage period: personal data is stored by Amazon until it is no longer needed ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is the Amazon Associates Program?
We use the Amazon Associates Program of the company Amazon.com Inc on our website. The responsible bodies for the privacy statement are Amazon Europe Core S.à.r.l., Amazon EU S.à.r.l, Amazon Services Europe S.à.r.l. as well as Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., which are based at 5, Rue Plaetis, L-2338 Luxemburg, along with Amazon Instant Video Germany Ltd., which is located at Domagkstraße 28, 80807 Munich. Thereby, Amazon Germany Services Ltd. at Marcel-Breuer-Straße 12, 80807 Munich is responsible for data processing. Due to the use of the Amazon Associates Program, Amazon can receive, store and process your data.
In this privacy statement we will inform you on what data this can be, why we use the program and how you can manage or prevent the data transmission.
The Amazon Associates Program is an affiliate marketing program of the online shipping company Amazon.co.uk. Like any affiliate program, the Amazon Associates Program is also based on the principle of intermediation commissions. Amazon (or we) place advertisements or partner links on our website, which let us receive a reimbursement of advertising costs (commission) if you click on them and buy a product on Amazon.
Why do we use the Amazon Associates Program on our website?
Our aim is to provide you a pleasant time with extensive, helpful content. Therefore, we put a lot of work and energy into the development of our website. With the aid of the Amazon Associates Program, we can receive a little remuneration for our work. Of course, every affiliate link to Amazon is related with our theme and shows offers that may interest you.
What data is stored by the Amazon Associates Program?
As soon as you interact with the products and services of Amazon, the company collects your data. Amazon differentiates between information you actively gave to the business and information that is collected and retained automatically. “Active information” include name, email address, telephone number, age, payment details or location information. So-called “automatic information” are primarily saved by cookies. This includes information, user behaviour, IP address, device information (browser type, operating systems) or the URL. Moreover, Amazon also saves the clickstream, which is the path (order of pages) you make as a user in order to get to a product. Amazon also stores cookies in your browser to retrace the origin of an order. This enables the company to identify if you clicked an Amazon ad or an affiliate link on our website.
If you have an Amazon account and are logged in to it while you surf our website, the collected data can be allocated to your account. You can prevent this by logging out of Amazon before surfing our website.
In the following we will show you exemplary cookies that are placed in your browser when you click an Amazon link on our website.
Name: uid
Value: 3230928052675285215322393026-9
Purpose: This cookie stores a unique user ID and collects information on your website activity.
Expiry date: after 2 months
Name: ad-id
Value: AyDaInRV1k-Lk59xSnp7h5o
Purpose: This cookie is provided by amazon-adsystem.com and serves the company regarding various advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 8 months
Name: uuid2
Value: 8965834524520213028322393026-2
Purpose: This cookie allows targeted and interest-based advertising via the AppNexus platform. By the IP address it collects and retains anonymous data on what ads you clicked and which sites you opened.
Expiry date: after 3 months
Name: session-id
Value: 262-0272718-2582202322393026-1
Purpose: This cookie stores a unique user ID that the server assigns to you for the duration of a website visit (session). If you visit the site again, the information saved in there gets retrieved again.
Expiry date: after 15 years
Name: APID
Value: UP9801199c-4bee-11ea-931d-02e8e13f0574
Purpose: This cookie stores information on how you use a website, and on what ads you looked at before your visit to the website.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: session-id-time
Value: tb:s-STNY7ZS65H5335FZEVPE|1581329862486&t:1581329864300&adb:adblk_no
Purpose: This cookie records the time you spend on a website with a unique cookie ID.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: csm-hit
Value: 2082754801l
Purpose: We could not find any detailed information on this cookie.
Expiry date: after 15 years
Note: Please note, that this list merely shows examples of cookies and does not claim to be exhaustive.
Amazon use the obtained information to better tailor their advertisements to their users’ interests.
How long and where is my data stored?
Amazon saves personal data for as long as it is required for both Amazon’s business services, and for legal reasons. As the company’s headquarters are in the USA, any collected data is stored on American servers.
How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?
You always have the right to access your personal data and clear it. If you have an Amazon account, you can manage or delete many of the collected data.
Furthermore, your browser offers another option for managing Amazon’s processing and retention of data according to your preferences. There you can manage, clear or delete cookies. This works a little different on every browser. Here you can find instructions for the most common browsers:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
Legal basis
If you have consented to the use of the Amazon Associates Program, then your consent is the the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) , this consent represents the legal basis for personal data processing, as may be done when it is collected by the Amazon Associates program.
We also have legitimate interest in using the Amazon Associates Program to optimise our online service and marketing measures. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use the Amazon Associates Program if you have consented to it.
Amazon also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Amazon uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Amazon to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
We hope we have brought you the most important information about data transfer by the Amazon Affiliate Program. You can find more information on this at https: // www.amazon.de/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201909010 .
Content Delivery Networks
Content Delivery Networks Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: Service performance optimisation (to increase website loading speeds) ???? Processed data: data such as your IP address You can find more details on this below as well as in the individual Privacy Policies. ???? Storage period: most data is stored until it is no longer needed for the provision of the service. ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is a Content Delivery Network?
On our website we use a so-called content delivery network or CDN. This helps to load our website quickly and easily, regardless of your location. Moreover, your personal data will also be stored, managed and processed on the respective CDN provider’s servers. In the following, we will go into more general detail on this service and the data processing associated with it. You can find detailed information on how your data is handled in the provider’s Privacy Policy.
Each content delivery network (CDN) is a network of regionally distributed servers that are connected to each other via the internet. Through this network, website content (especially very large files) can be delivered quickly and smoothly, even when large loading peaks occur. To make this possible, CDNs create a copy of our website on their servers. The website can be delivered quickly because these servers are distributed all around the world. Any data transfer to your browser is therefore significantly shortened by the CDN.
Why do we use a Content Delivery Network for our website?
A fast loading website is part of our service. Of course, we know how annoying it is when a website loads at a snail’s pace. Most of the time, you lose your patience and click away before the website is fully loaded. But of course we want to avoid that. Therefore, to us a fast loading website is an obligatory part of our website offer. With the use of a content delivery network, our website loads significantly faster in your browser. Furthermore, CDNs are particularly helpful when you are abroad, as the website is always delivered from a server in your area.
Which data are processed?
If you access a website or its content and it gets cached in a CDN, the CDN forwards the request to the server closest to you which then delivers the content. Content delivery networks are built in a way that JavaScript libraries can be downloaded and hosted on npm and Github servers. Alternatively, WordPress plugins can also be loaded on most CDNs, provided they are hosted on WordPress.org. Moreover, your browser can send personal data to the content delivery network we use. This includes data such as IP addresses, browser type, browser version, the accessed website 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 that is being used. For more information on this, please read the Privacy Policy of the respective service.
Right to object
If you want to prevent this data transfer altogether, you can use a JavaScript blocker (see for example https://noscript.net/) on your computer. However, our website can then of course no longer offer its usual service (such as a fast loading speeds).
Legal basis
If you have consented to the use of a content delivery network, your consent represents the the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. a (consent) your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it can 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 GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use the tool if you have consented to it.
Provided this information is available, you can find out more about the particular content delivery networks in the following sections.
Security & Anti-spam
Security & Anti-Spam Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: for cyber security ???? Processed data: Data such as your IP address, name or technical data such as browser version More details can be found below and in the individual privacy policies. ???? Duration of storage: In most cases, data is stored until it is no longer required in order to provide the service ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Security & Anti-spam software?
So-called security & Anti-spam software can protect you and us from various spam or phishing emails and other potential cyber-attacks. Spam includes advertising emails from mass mailings that you did not sign up for yourself. Such emails are also called data garbage and can also cause costs. Other spam such as phishing emails, on the other hand, are messages that aim to gain trust via fake messages or websites in order to obtain personal information. Anti-spam software usually protects against unwanted spam messages or malicious emails that could inject viruses into our system. We also use general firewall and security systems that protect our devices from unwanted network attacks.
Why do we use Security & Anti-spam software?
We put great importance on our website’s security. After all, this is not just about our safety, but also about your safety. Unfortunately, cyber threats are now part of everyday life in the world of IT and the internet. Hackers e. g. often try to steal personal data from IT systems with the help of cyber attacks. And therefore a good defence system is absolutely necessary. A security system monitors all incoming and outgoing connections to our network or computer. In order to achieve even greater security against cyber attacks, we also use other external security services on our devices in addition to standardised security systems. Unauthorised data transmissions are thus better prevented and this is how we protect ourselves from cybercrime.
Which data are processed by Security & Anti-spam software?
The data that is collected and stored of course depends on the respective service. However, we always try to only use programs that collect data very sparingly or only store data that is necessary for the fulfilment of the offered service. In general, the service may store data such as name, address, IP address, email address and technical data such as browser type or browser version. Any performance and log data may also be collected in order to identify possible incoming threats in good time. This data will be processed as part of the provided services and in compliance with applicable laws. This also includes the GDPR for US providers (via the Standard Contractual Clauses). In some cases, security services also work with third parties who may store and/or process data under instructions and in accordance with privacy policies and other security measures. Data is usually stored using cookies.
Duration of data processing
We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. For example, security programs store data until you or we revoke data storage. In general, personal data is only stored for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of the services. Unfortunately, in many cases, we do not have precise information from the providers about their data storage periods.
Right to object
You also have the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party security software at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing the cookies in your browser.
Since cookies may also be used with security services, we recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.
Legal Basis
We use security services mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in a good security system and protection against various cyber attacks.
Certain data processing requires your consent – in particular, the use of cookies and security functions. If you have agreed to the processing and storage of your data by integrated security services, your consent is the legal basis for data processing (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). Most of the services we use set cookies on your browser to store data. We, therefore, recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.
Information on special tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.
Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy
Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: Service optimisation and protection against cyber attacks ???? Processed data: data such as IP address, browser information, operating system, limited location and usage data You can find more details on this in the Privacy Policy below. ???? Storage duration: depending on the retained data ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is reCAPTCHA?
Our primary goal is to provide you an experience on our website that is as secure and protected as possible. To do this, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheater Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). With reCAPTCHA we can determine whether you are a real person from flesh and bones, and not a robot or a spam software. By spam we mean any electronically undesirable information we receive involuntarily. Classic CAPTCHAS usually needed you to solve text or picture puzzles to check. But thanks to Google’s reCAPTCHA you usually do have to do such puzzles. Most of the times it is enough to simply tick a box and confirm you are not a bot. With the new Invisible reCAPTCHA version you don’t even have to tick a box. In this privacy policy you will find out how exactly this works, and what data is used for it.
reCAPTCHA is a free captcha service from Google that protects websites from spam software and misuse by non-human visitors. This service is used the most when you fill out forms on the Internet. A captcha service is a type of automatic Turing-test that is designed to ensure specific actions on the Internet are done by human beings and not bots. During the classic Turing-test (named after computer scientist Alan Turing), a person differentiates between bot and human. With Captchas, a computer or software program does the same. Classic captchas function with small tasks that are easy to solve for humans but provide considerable difficulties to machines. With reCAPTCHA, you no longer must actively solve puzzles. The tool uses modern risk techniques to distinguish people from bots. The only thing you must do there, is to tick the text field “I am not a robot”. However, with Invisible reCAPTCHA even that is no longer necessary. reCAPTCHA, integrates a JavaScript element into the source text, after which the tool then runs in the background and analyses your user behaviour. The software calculates a so-called captcha score from your user actions. Google uses this score to calculate the likelihood of you being a human, before entering the captcha. reCAPTCHA and Captchas in general are used every time bots could manipulate or misuse certain actions (such as registrations, surveys, etc.).
Why do we use reCAPTCHA on our website?
We only want to welcome people from flesh and bones on our side and want bots or spam software of all kinds to stay away. Therefore, we are doing everything we can to stay protected and to offer you the highest possible user friendliness. For this reason, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google. Thus, we can be pretty sure that we will remain a “bot-free” website. Using reCAPTCHA, data is transmitted to Google to determine whether you genuinely are human. reCAPTCHA thus ensures our website’s and subsequently your security. Without reCAPTCHA it could e.g. happen that a bot would register as many email addresses as possible when registering, in order to subsequently “spam” forums or blogs with unwanted advertising content. With reCAPTCHA we can avoid such bot attacks.
What data is stored by reCAPTCHA?
reCAPTCHA collects personal user data to determine whether the actions on our website are made by people. Thus, IP addresses and other data Google needs for its reCAPTCHA service, may be sent to Google. Within member states of the European Economic Area, IP addresses are almost always compressed before the data makes its way to a server in the USA. Moreover, your IP address will not be combined with any other of Google’s data, unless you are logged into your Google account while using reCAPTCHA. Firstly, the reCAPTCHA algorithm checks whether Google cookies from other Google services (YouTube, Gmail, etc.) have already been placed in your browser. Then reCAPTCHA sets an additional cookie in your browser and takes a snapshot of your browser window.
The following list of collected browser and user data is not exhaustive. Rather, it provides examples of data, which to our knowledge, is processed by Google.
- Referrer URL (the address of the page the visitor has come from)
- IP-address (z.B. 256.123.123.1)
- Information on the operating system (the software that enables the operation of your computers. Popular operating systems are Windows, Mac OS X or Linux)
- Cookies (small text files that save data in your browser)
- Mouse and keyboard behaviour (every action you take with your mouse or keyboard is stored)
- Date and language settings (the language and date you have set on your PC is saved)
- All Javascript objects (JavaScript is a programming language that allows websites to adapt to the user. JavaScript objects can collect all kinds of data under one name)
- Screen resolution (shows how many pixels the image display consists of)
Google may use and analyse this data even before you click on the “I am not a robot” checkmark. In the Invisible reCAPTCHA version, there is no need to even tick at all, as the entire recognition process runs in the background. Moreover, Google have not given details on what information and how much data they retain.
The following cookies are used by reCAPTCHA: With the following list we are referring to Google’s reCAPTCHA demo version at https://www.google.com/recaptcha/api2/demo.
For tracking purposes, all these cookies require a unique identifier. Here is a list of cookies that Google reCAPTCHA has set in the demo version:
Name: IDE
Value: WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKnRNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-322393026-8
Purpose: This cookie is set by DoubleClick (which is owned by Google) to register and report a user’s interactions with advertisements. With it, ad effectiveness can be measured, and appropriate optimisation measures can be taken. IDE is stored in browsers under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiry date: after one year
Name: 1P_JAR
Value: 2019-5-14-12
Purpose: This cookie collects website usage statistics and measures conversions. A conversion e.g. takes place, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant adverts to users. Furthermore, the cookie can prevent a user from seeing the same ad more than once.
Expiry date: after one month
Name: ANID
Value: U7j1v3dZa3223930260xgZFmiqWppRWKOr
Purpose: We could not find out much about this cookie. In Google’s privacy statement, the cookie is mentioned in connection with “advertising cookies” such as “DSID”, “FLC”, “AID” and “TAID”. ANID is stored under the domain google.com.
Expiry date: after 9 months
Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose: This cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to the use of various Google services. CONSENT also serves to prevent fraudulent logins and to protect user data from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years
Name: NID
Value: 0WmuWqy322393026zILzqV_nmt3sDXwPeM5Q
Purpose: Google uses NID to customise advertisements to your Google searches. With the help of cookies, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous ad interactions. Thus, you always receive advertisements tailored to you. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect users’ personal settings for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months
Name: DV
Value: gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAANbqc322393026-4
Purpose: This cookie is set when you tick the “I am not a robot” checkmark. Google Analytics uses the cookie personalised advertising. DV collects anonymous information and is also used to distinct between users.
Expiry date: after 10 minutes
Note: We do not claim for this list to be extensive, as Google often change the choice of their cookies.
How long and where are the data stored?
Due to the integration of reCAPTCHA, your data will be transferred to the Google server. Google have not disclosed where exactly this data is stored, despite repeated inquiries. But even without confirmation from Google, it can be assumed that data such as mouse interaction, length of stay on a website or language settings are stored on the European or American Google servers. The IP address that your browser transmits to Google does generally not get merged with other Google data from the company’s other services.
However, the data will be merged if you are logged in to your Google account while using the reCAPTCHA plug-in. Google’s diverging privacy policy applies for this.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
If you want to prevent any data about you and your behaviour to be transmitted to Google, you must fully log out of Google and delete all Google cookies before visiting our website or use the reCAPTCHA software. Generally, the data is automatically sent to Google as soon as you visit our website. To delete this data, you must contact Google Support at https://support.google.com/?hl=en-GB&tid=322393026.
If you use our website, you agree that Google LLC and its representatives automatically collect, edit and use data.
Please note that when using this tool, your data can also be stored and processed outside the EU. Most third countries (including the USA) are not considered secure under current European data protection law. Data to insecure third countries must not simply be transferred to, stored and processed there unless there are suitable guarantees (such as EU’s Standard Contractual Clauses) between us and the non-European service provider.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the use of Google reCAPTCHA, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) your consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as can occur when processed by Google reCAPTCHA.
We also have a legitimate interest in using Google reCAPTCHA to optimise our online service and make it more secure. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google reCAPTCHA if you have given your consent to it.
Google also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Google uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Google to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.
The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which reference the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/.
You can find out a little more about reCAPTCHA on Google’s web developer page at https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/. Google goes into the technical development of the reCAPTCHA in more detail here, but you will look in vain for detailed information about data storage and data protection issues. A good overview of the basic use of data by Google can be found in the in-house data protection declaration at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.
Cloud Services
Cloud Services Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: We as the website operator and you as the website visitor ???? Purpose: security and data storage ???? Processed data: Data such as your IP address, name or technical data such as your browser version More details can be found below and in the individual privacy policies or in the privacy policies of the providers ???? Duration of storage: In most cases, data is stored until it is no longer required in order to provide the service ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What are cloud services?
As a website operator, cloud services provide us with storage space and computing power via the internet. Data can be transmitted to an external system, where it may be processed and stored via the internet. The relevant cloud provider manages this data. Depending on specific requirements, an individual or a company can choose storage space or computing power. Cloud storage is accessed via an API or via storage protocols. API stands for Application Programming Interface, which is a programming interface that connects software with hardware components.
Why do we use cloud services?
We use cloud services for several reasons. A cloud service offers us the opportunity to store our data securely. In addition, we can access the data from different locations and devices, giving us more flexibility and simplifying our work processes. Cloud storage also saves us costs because we don’t have to set up and manage our own infrastructure for data storage and data security. By storing our data centrally in the cloud, we can also expand our application fields and manage our information much better.
As website operator or company, we use cloud services primarily for our own purposes. We e. g. manage our calendar and store documents or other important information in the cloud. However, your personal data may also be stored. This can take place if you provide us with your contact details (e.g. name and email address) while we store our customer data with a cloud provider. Consequently, any of your data we process may also be stored and processed on external servers. Provided we offer certain forms of content by cloud services on our website, cookies can also be set for web analysis and advertising purposes. Furthermore, such cookies retain your settings (e.g. the language used) so you will be provided with your usual web environment next time you visit our website.
Which data is processed by cloud services?
Much of the data we store in the cloud cannot be used to identify you as a person, but some data is personal data as defined by the GDPR. This is often customer data such as name, address, IP address or telephone number or technical device information. Videos, images and audio files may also be stored in the cloud. Exactly how the data is collected and stored depends on the respective service. We only try to use services that handle your data in a very reliable and professional manner. Generally, services such as Amazon Drive, have access to the stored files in order to be able to offer their own service accordingly. For this, however, the services require consent (such as for the right to copy files for security reasons). The data will be processed and handled as part of the provided services and in compliance with applicable laws. This also includes compliance with the GDPR for US providers (via the standard contractual clauses). In some cases, cloud services also cooperate with third parties who may process data under instructions and in accordance with privacy policies and other security measures. At this point we would like to emphasise again that all well-known cloud services (such as Amazon Drive, Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive) obtain the right to access stored content in order to be able to offer and optimise their own services accordingly.
Duration of data processing
We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. In general, cloud services store data until you or we revoke the data storage or erase the retained data. In general, personal data is only stored for as long as it is necessary for the provision of the respective services. However, it may take up to several months to erase your data from the cloud. This may occur because data is usually not only stored on one server but divided between different servers.
Right to object
You also have the right and the opportunity to revoke your consent to data storage in a cloud at any time. If cookies are used, you also have a right to withdraw your consent. This can be done 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 erasing the cookies in your browser. We also recommend 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 policy of the respective cloud provider.
Legal Basis
We use cloud services mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in good security and storage systems.
Certain types of processing, in particular the use of cookies and storage functions, require your consent. If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by cloud services, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). Most of the services we use place cookies in your browser to store data. Thus, we recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and study the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.
Information on special tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.
Payment providers
Payment Providers Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: visitors to the website ???? Purpose: To enable and optimise the payment process on our website ???? Processed data: data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address and contract data You can find more details on this directly from the payment provider tool that is being used. ???? Storage period: depending on the payment provider that is being used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR (performance of a contract) |
What is a payment provider?
On our website we use online payment systems, which enable us as well as you to have a secure and smooth payment process available. Among other things, personal data may also be sent to the respective payment provider, where it may also be stored and processed. Payment providers are online payment systems that enable you to place an order via online banking. The payment processing is carried out by the payment provider of your choice. We will then receive information about the payment. This method can be used by any user who has an active online banking account with a PIN and TAN. There are hardly any banks that do not offer or accept such payment methods.
Why do we use payment providers on our website?
With both our website and our embedded online shop, we of course want to offer you the best possible service, so you can feel comfortable on our site and take advantage of our offers. We know that your time is valuable and that payment processing in particular has to work quickly and smoothly. Thus, we offer various payment providers. You can choose your preferred payment provider and pay in the usual way.
Which data are processed?
What exact data that is processed of course depends on the respective payment provider. However, generally data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.) do get stored. This data is necessary for carrying out any transactions. In addition, any contract data and user data, such as when you have visited our website, what content you are interested in or which sub-pages you have clicked, may also be stored. Most payment providers also store your IP address and information about the computer you are using.
Your data is usually stored and processed on the payment providers’ servers. We, so the website operator, do not receive this data. We only get information on whether the payment has gone through or not. For identity and credit checks, it may happen for payment providers to forward data to the appropriate body. The business and privacy policy principles of the respective provider always apply to all payment transactions. Therefore, please always take a look at the general terms and conditions and the privacy policy of the payment provider. You e.g. also have the right to have data erased or rectified at any time. Please contact the respective service provider regarding your rights (right to withdraw, right of access and individual rights).
Duration of data processing
Provided we have further information on this, we will inform you below about the duration of the processing of your data. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for providing our services and products. This storage period may be exceeded however, if it is required by law, for example for accounting purposes. We keep any accounting documents of contracts (invoices, contract documents, account statements, etc.) for 10 years (Section 147 AO) and other relevant business documents for 6 years (Section 247 HGB).
Right to object
You always have the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can always contact the person that is responsible for the respective payment provider. You can find contact details for them either in our respective privacy policy or on the relevant payment provider’s website.
You can erase, deactivate or manage cookies in your browser, that payment providers use for their functions. How this works differs a little depending on which browser you are using. Please note, however, that the payment process may then no longer work.
Legal basis
For the processing of contractual or legal relationships (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR), we offer other payment service providers in addition to the conventional banking/credit institutions. In the privacy policy of the individual payment providers (such as Amazon Payments, Apple Pay or Discover) you will find a detailed overview of data processing and data storage. In addition, you can always contact the responsible parties should you have any questions about data protection issues.
Provided it is available, you can find information on the special payment providers in the following sections.
Amazon Payments Privacy Policy
On our website we use Amazon Payments, which is an online payment service. The service provider is the American company Amazon.com Inc. The company Amazon Payments Europe S.C.A. (38 avenue J.F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg) is responsible for the European region.
Amazon also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Amazon uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (=Art. 46, paragraph 2 and 3 GDPR). These clauses oblige Amazon to comply with the EU level of data protection whenever processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
You can find out more about the data Amazon Payments process, in their Privacy Notice at https://pay.amazon.co.uk/help/201212490.
giropay Privacy Policy
On our website we use the online payment provider giropay. The provider of this service is the German company paydirekt GmbH, Stephanstrasse 14-16, 60313 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of giropay in their Privacy Policy at https://www.giropay.de/agb/index.html.
Klarna Checkout Privacy Policy
Klarna Checkout Privacy Policy Summary ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: optimising the payment process on our website ???? Processed data: data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address and contract data You can find more details on this in the privacy policy below. ???? Storage period: data is stored as long as Klarna needs it for processing. ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR (legal obligation), Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is Klarna Checkout?
On our website we use the Klarna Checkout online payment system by the Swedish company Klarna Bank AB. Klarna Bank is headquartered in Sveavägen 46, 111 34 Stockholm, Sweden. If you choose this service, your personal data will be sent to Klarna, where it will be stored and processed. With this privacy policy we want to give you an overview of Klarna’s data processing.
Klarna Checkout is a payment system for online shops. The user selects the payment method and Klarna Checkout takes over the entire payment process. Once a user has made payment via the checkout system and provided the relevant data, future online purchases can be made even faster and easier. Klarna’s system then recognises the existing customer after they enter their email address and postcode.
Why do we use Klarna Checkout on our website?
It is our goal to offer you the best possible service with our website and our integrated online shop. In addition to the overall website and offer experience this also includes smooth, fast and secure payment processing of your orders. To ensure this, we use the Klarna Checkout payment system.
What data is stored by Klarna Checkout?
As soon as you choose Klarna’s payment service and pay using Klarna Checkout, you transmit personal data to the company. On Klarna’s checkout page, technical data such as browser type, operating system, our web address, date and time, your IP address as well as your language and time zone settings are collected and transmitted to Klarna’s servers where they are stored. This data is stored even if you have not yet completed an order at that point.
If you order a product or service from our shop, you must enter your personal data in the provided fields. Klarna processes this data for handling the payment. The following personal data (along with general product information) may be stored and processed by Klarna to check your creditworthiness and identity:
- Contact information: Name, date of birth, national ID number, title, invoice- und shipping address, email address, telephone number, nationality or salary.
- Payment information such as credit cards or your account number
- Product details such as shipment number, as well as type and price of the product
Furthermore, there are data which may optionally be collected if you have specifically decided for it. These are for example political, religious, or ideological beliefs or various health data.
In addition to the data mentioned above, Klarna can also collect data about the goods or services you order. It may also do this via third parties (such as e.g. us or public databases). This can for example be the type or tracking number of the ordered article, but also information on your creditworthiness, as well as your income or loan grants. Klarna can also pass on your personal data to service companies such as software and data storage providers or us as a retailer.
Every time data is automatically filled into a form, cookies are involved. If you do not want to use this function, you can deactivate these cookies anytime. Below you will find instructions on how to delete, deactivate or manage cookies in your browser. Our tests have shown that Klarna does not directly place cookies. If you choose the payment method “Klarna Sofort” and click on “Order”, you will be redirected to the “Sofort” website. After successful payment you will land on our thank-you page. There the following cookie is set by sofort.com:
Name: SOFUEB
Value: e8cipp378mdscn9e17kajlfhv7322393026-4
Purpose: This cookie stores your session ID.
Expiry date: after ending the browser session
How long and where are the data stored?
Klarna strives to store your data only within the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA). However, it can also happen that data is transferred outside the EU/EEA. If this happens, Klarna ensures that the data protection either complies with the GDPR, that the third country is subject to an adequacy decision of the European Union or that the country has the US Privacy Shield certificate. Any data is always stored for as long as Klarna requires it for processing.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
You can withdraw your consent for Klarna to process personal data anytime. Moreover, you always have the right for information, rectification, and deletion of your personal data. For this you must simply contact the company or its data protection team by email at privacy@klarna.co.uk. You can also contact them directly via “My Privacy Request” on Klarna’s website.
Cookies that Klarna may use for their functions can be deleted, deactivated, or managed in your browser. These settings can vary slightly, depending on the browser you use. The following instructions will show you how to manage cookies in your browser:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
Legal basis
In addition to the conventional banking/credit institutions, we also offer the payment service provider Klarna Checkout for the processing of contractual or legal relationships (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR).
We hope we were able to give you a good overview of Klarna’s data processing. If you want to learn more about the handling of your data, we recommend Klarna’s privacy notice at https://cdn.klarna.com/1.0/shared/content/legal/terms/0/en_gb/privacy.
Mollie Privacy Policy
On our website we use the online payment provider Mollie. The provider of this service is the Dutch company Mollie B.V. Keizersgracht 126, 1015CW Amsterdam, Netherlands.
You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of Mollie in their Privacy Policy at https://www.mollie.com/en/privacy.
PayPal Privacy Policy
On our website we use the online payment service PayPal. The provider of this service is the American company PayPal Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the company PayPal Europe (S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg).
PayPal also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
PayPal uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige PayPal to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
You can find out more about the data processed by using PayPal in the Privacy Policy at https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full.
Sofortüberweisung Privacy Policy
Sofortüberweisung Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: to optimise the payment process on our website ???? Processed data: data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address and contract data More details can be found in the privacy policy below ???? Storage period: data are stored within the legal retention period ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR (legal obligation), Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is “Sofortüberweisung”?
On our website we offer the payment method “Sofortüberweisung” from Sofort GmbH for cashless payment. Sofort GmbH has been part of the Swedish company Klarna since 2014, but is based in Germany, Theresienhöhe 12, 80339 Munich.
If you choose this payment method, your personal data will also be transmitted to Sofort GmbH or Klarna, where it will be stored and processed. In this privacy policy we will give you an overview of Sofort GmbH’s data processing.
Sofortüberweisung is an online payment system that enables you to place an order via online banking. The payment is processed by Sofort GmbH, while we immediately receive information about your payment. Anyone who has an active online banking account with a PIN and TAN can use this method. Only a few banks do not yet support this payment option.
Why do we use “Sofortüberweisung” on our website?
It is our goal to offer you the best possible service with our website and our integrated online shop. Next to the overall experience of the website and offers, this also includes smooth, fast, and secure payment processing of your orders. To ensure this, we use “Sofortüberweisung” as a payment system.
What data is stored by “Sofortüberweisung”?
If you make an immediate transfer via the Sofort/Klarna service, data such as your name, account number, sort code, payment reference, amount and date are stored on the company’s servers. We then also receive this information via the payment confirmation.
As part of the check for sufficient account coverage, Sofort GmbH reviews whether your account balance and overdraft can cover the payment amount. In some cases, it is also reviewed whether any instant transfers have been successfully carried out within the last 30 days. Furthermore, a shortened (“hashed”) form of your user identification (such as your signatory or contract number) as well as your IP address will be stored. For SEPA transfers your BIC and IBAN will also be stored.
According to Sofort GmbH, no other personal data (such as account balances, sales data, transaction limits, account lists, mobile phone numbers, authentication certificates, security codes or PIN/TAN) are collected, stored or passed on to third parties.
Sofortüberweisung also uses cookies to make our service more user-friendly. When you order a product, you will be redirected to the Sofort or Klarna website. After successful payment you will be redirected to our thank-you page. There, the following three cookies are placed:
Name: SOFUEB
Value: e8cipp378mdscn9e17kajlfhv7322393026-5
Purpose: This cookie stores your session ID.
Expiry date: after ending the browser session
Name: User[user_cookie_rules]
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie stores the status of your consent to the use of cookies.
Expiry date: after 10 years
Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.69759879.1589470706
Purpose: Analytics.js uses the _ga cookie by default to store your user ID. Hence, it basically serves to differentiate between website visitors. It is a Google Analytics cookie.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Note: We do not claim for this cookie list to be exhaustive. Moreover, it is always possible that Sofortüberweisung may also use other cookies.
How long and where are the data stored?
All gathered data are stored within the legal storage obligations. This obligation can last between three and ten years.
Klarna/Sofort GmbH try to only save data within the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA). If data is transferred outside the EU/EEA, data protection must comply with the GDPR. Also, the country the data is transferred to must be subject to the EU’s adequacy decision or have the US Privacy Shield certificate.
How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?
You can withdraw your consent for Klarna to process your personal data at any time. You also always have the right for information, rectification and deletion of your personal data. For this, you can simply email the company’s data protection team at privacy@klarna.co.uk.
In your browser, you can manage, delete, or deactivate Sofortüberweisung’s possible cookies. The settings vary a bit depending on what browser you use. The following instructions will show you how to manage cookies in the most common browsers:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
Legal basis
For the processing of contractual or legal relationships (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR), we offer the payment service provider Sofortüberweisung in addition to the conventional bank/credit institutions. Successful use of the service also requires your consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR), provided the use of cookies is necessary.
If you want to know more about Sofort GmbH’s data processing, we recommend the privacy policy at https://cdn.klarna.com/1.0/shared/content/legal/terms/0/en_gb/privacy.
Visa Privacy Policy
On our website we use Visa which is a global payment provider. The provider of this service is the American company Visa Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the company Visa Europe Services Inc. (1 Sheldon Square, London W2 6TT, United Kingdom).
Visa also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Visa uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Visa to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847
You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Visa in the Privacy Policy at https://www.visa.co.uk/legal/privacy-policy.html.
External Online Platforms Introduction
External Online Platforms Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors or visitors to the external online platforms ???? Purpose: Presentation and optimisation of our service, as well as establishing contact with visitors & interested parties ???? Data processed: data such as phone numbers, email addresses, contact details, user behaviour data, information about your device and your IP address. More details can be found directly with the respective platform used. ???? Storage duration: depends on the platforms used ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What are external online platforms?
In order to be able to offer our services or products outside of our website, we also use external platforms. These are mostly online marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay. In addition to our responsibility for data protection, the data privacy regulations of the external platforms used also apply. This especially applies when our products are purchased via such a platform, i. e. if there is a payment process. Furthermore, most platforms also use your data to optimise their own marketing measures. For example, the platform can use the collected data to tailor advertisements to the interests of customers and website visitors.
Why do we use external online platforms?
In addition to our website, we also want to display our offer on other platforms in order to reach more customers. External online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay or Digistore24 offer large sales websites that show our products to people who may not know our website. Moreover, built-in elements on our site may also lead to an external online platform. Any data that is processed and stored by the respective online platform is used by the business to log the payment process and also to conduct web analyses.
The aim of these analyses is to enable the development of more precise and personal marketing and advertising strategies. Depending on your interaction with a platform, the evaluated data may be used to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests and to create a so-called user profile on you. This also allows the platforms to show customised advertisements or products to you. For this purpose, cookies are usually set in your browser in order to store data on your usage behaviour.
Please note that when using the platforms or our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, since online platforms such as Amazon or eBay are American companies. As a result, you may not be able to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data as easily.
Which data is processed?
Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective external platform. But usually, it is data such as phone numbers, email addresses, data you enter in a contact form, along with user data (e. g. which buttons you click and which pages you view during your visit), as well as information about your device and IP address. In most cases, the majority of this data is stored in cookies. If you have a profile on an external platform and are logged in there, your data can be linked to any such profile. The collected data is stored on the servers of the platforms used, where it is processed. You can find out exactly how an external platform stores, manages and processes data in the respective privacy policy. If you have any questions about data storage and data processing, or if you want to assert corresponding rights, we recommend that you contact the platform directly.
Duration of data processing
We will inform you below about the duration of data processing, provided we have further information on this. For example, Amazon stores data until it is no longer needed for its own purposes. Generally, we only process your personal data as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products.
Right to object
You also have the right and the opportunity to revoke your consent to the use of cookies at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via opt-out functions on the respective external platform. You can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing the cookies in your browser.
As cookies may be used, we also recommend our general privacy policy on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective external platforms.
Legal Basis
If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by external platforms, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). In general, if you have consented, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in fast and good communication with you as well as other customers and business partners. If there are integrated elements of external platforms on our website, we only use them if you have given your consent.
Information on specific external platforms – if available – can be found in the following sections.
Amazon (Europe) Privacy Policy
We also use the online trading platform Amazon (Europe). The provider of this service is the American company Amazon Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the company Amazon Europe Core S.à r.l. (Société à responsabilité limitée), 38 avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg.
Amazon also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Amazon uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (i. e. outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and thus especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are legal templates provided by the EU Commission. Their purpose is to ensure that your data complies with European data privacy standards, even if your data is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). With these clauses, Amazon commits to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data, even if it is stored, processed and managed in the USA.
These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the standard contractual clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.
Amazon’s data processing addendum (AWS GDPR DATA PROCESSING), which corresponds to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://d1.awsstatic.com/legal/aws-gdpr/AWS_GDPR_DPA.pdf.
You can find out more about the data that is processed by Amazon in their Privacy Policy at https://www.amazon.de/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201909010&ref_=footer_privacy .
Audio & Video
Audio & Video Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: service optimisation ???? Processed data: Data such as contact details, user behaviour, device information and IP addresses can be stored. You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below. ???? Storage period: data are retained for as long as necessary for the provision of the service ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What are audio and video elements?
We have integrated audio and video elements to our website. Therefore, you can watch videos or listen to music/podcasts directly via our website. This content is delivered by service providers and is obtained from the respective providers’ servers.
Audio and video elements are integrated functional elements of platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo or Spotify. It is usually free of charge to use these portals, but they can also contain paid content. With the integrated elements, you can listen to or view any of their content on our website.
If you use audio or video elements on our website, your personal data may get transmitted to as well as processed and retained by service providers.
Why do we use audio & video elements on our website?
We of course want to provide you with the best offer on our website. And we are aware that content is no longer just conveyed in text and static images. Instead of just giving you a link to a video, we offer you audio and video formats directly on our website. These are entertaining or informative, but ideally they are both. Our service therefore gets expanded and it gets easier for you to access interesting content. In addition to our texts and images, we thus also offer video and/or audio content.
Which data are retained by audio & video elements?
When you visit a page on our website with e.g. an embedded video, your server connects to the service provider’s server. Thus, your data will also be transferred to the third-party provider, where it will be stored. Certain data is collected and stored regardless of whether you have an account with the third party provider or not. This usually includes your IP address, browser type, operating system and other general information about your device. Most providers also collect information on your web activity. This e.g. includes the session duration, bounce rate, the buttons you clicked or information about the website you are using the service on. This data is mostly stored via cookies or pixel tags (also known as web beacons). Any data that is pseudonymised usually gets stored in your browser via cookies. In the respective provider’s Privacy Policy, you can always find more information on the data that is stored and processed.
Duration of data processing
You can find out exactly how long the data is stored on the third-party provider’s servers either in a lower point of the respective tool’s Privacy Policy or in the provider’s Privacy Policy. Generally, personal data is only processed for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services or products. This usually also applies to third-party providers. In most cases, you can assume that certain data will be stored on third-party providers’ servers for several years. Data can be retained for different amounts of time, especially when stored in cookies. Some cookies are deleted after you leave a website, while others may be stored in your browser for a few years.
Right to object
You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can e.g. also prevent data retention via cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser. The legality of the processing up to the point of revocation remains unaffected.
Since the integrated audio and video functions on our site usually also use cookies, we recommend you to also read our general Privacy Policy on cookies. You can find out more about the handling and storage of your data in the Privacy Policies of the respective third party providers.
Legal basis
If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated audio and video elements, your consent is considered the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in maintaining fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated audio and video elements if you have consented to it.
YouTube Privacy Policy
YouTube Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: optimising our service ???? Processed data: Data such as contact details, data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address may be stored. You can find more details on this in the privacy policy below. ???? Storage period: data are generally stored for as long as is necessary for the purpose of the service ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is YouTube?
We have integrated YouTube videos to our website. Therefore, we can show you interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal, which has been a subsidiary company of Google LLC since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. When you visit a page on our website that contains an embedded YouTube video, your browser automatically connects to the servers of YouTube or Google. Thereby, certain data are transferred (depending on the settings). Google is responsible for YouTube’s data processing and therefore Google’s data protection applies.
In the following we will explain in more detail which data is processed, why we have integrated YouTube videos and how you can manage or clear your data.
On YouTube, users can watch, rate, comment or upload videos for free. Over the past few years, YouTube has become one of the most important social media channels worldwide. For us to be able to display videos on our website, YouTube provides a code snippet that we have integrated to our website.
Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?
YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and best content. We strive to offer you the best possible user experience on our website, which of course includes interesting videos. With the help of our embedded videos, we can provide you other helpful content in addition to our texts and images. Additionally, embedded videos make it easier for our website to be found on the Google search engine. Moreover, if we place ads via Google Ads, Google only shows these ads to people who are interested in our offers, thanks to the collected data.
What data is stored by YouTube?
As soon as you visit one of our pages with an integrated YouTube, YouTube places at least one cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged into your YouTube account, by using cookies YouTube can usually associate your interactions on our website with your profile. This includes data such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, technical information such as browser type, screen resolution or your Internet provider. Additional data can include contact details, potential ratings, shared content via social media or YouTube videos you added to your favourites.
If you are not logged in to a Google or YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier linked to your device, browser or app. Thereby, e.g. your preferred language setting is maintained. However, many interaction data cannot be saved since less cookies are set.
In the following list we show you cookies that were placed in the browser during a test. On the one hand, we show cookies that were set without being logged into a YouTube account. On the other hand, we show you what cookies were placed while being logged in. We do not claim for this list to be exhaustive, as user data always depend on how you interact with YouTube.
Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y322393026-1
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video that was viewed.
Expiry date: after end of session
Name: PREF
Value: f1=50000000
Purpose: This cookie also registers your unique ID. Google receives statistics via PREF on how you use YouTube videos on our website.
Expiry date: after 8 months
Name: GPS
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie registers your unique ID on mobile devices to track GPS locations.
Expiry date: after 30 minutes
Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 95Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie tries to estimate the user’s internet bandwith on our sites (that have built-in YouTube videos).
Expiry date: after 8 months
Further cookies that are placed when you are logged into your YouTube account:
Name: APISID
Value: zILlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7322393026-
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile on your interests. This data is then used for personalised advertisements.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose: The cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to the use of various Google services. CONSENT also provides safety measures to protect users from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years
Name: HSID
Value: AcRwpgUik9Dveht0I
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile on your interests. This data helps to display customised ads.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: LOGIN_INFO
Value: AFmmF2swRQIhALl6aL…
Purpose: This cookie stores information on your login data.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: SAPISID
Value: 7oaPxoG-pZsJuuF5/AnUdDUIsJ9iJz2vdM
Purpose: This cookie identifies your browser and device. It is used to create a profile on your interests.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI322393026-
Purpose: This cookie stores your Google Account ID and your last login time, in a digitally signed and encrypted form.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: SIDCC
Value: AN0-TYuqub2JOcDTyL
Purpose: This cookie stores information on how you use the website and on what advertisements you may have seen before visiting our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months
How long and where is the data stored?
The data YouTube receive and process on you are stored on Google’s servers. Most of these servers are in America. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=en you can see where Google’s data centres are located. Your data is distributed across the servers. Therefore, the data can be retrieved quicker and is better protected against manipulation.
Google stores collected data for different periods of time. You can delete some data anytime, while other data are automatically deleted after a certain time, and still other data are stored by Google for a long time. Some data (such as elements on “My activity”, photos, documents or products) that are saved in your Google account are stored until you delete them. Moreover, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser, or app, even if you are not signed into a Google Account.
How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?
Generally, you can delete data manually in your Google account. Furthermore, in 2019 an automatic deletion of location and activity data was introduced. Depending on what you decide on, it deletes stored information either after 3 or 18 months.
Regardless of whether you have a Google account or not, you can set your browser to delete or deactivate cookies placed by Google. These settings vary depending on the browser you use. The following instructions will show how to manage cookies in your browser:
Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox
Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge
If you generally do not want to allow any cookies, you can set your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This will enable you to decide to either allow or permit each individual cookie.
Legal basis
If you have consented processing and storage of your data by integrated YouTube elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use integrated YouTube elements if you have given your consent. YouTube also sets cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.
YouTube also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of the data processing.
YouTube uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR) as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (which are outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) or for data transfer there. These clauses oblige YouTube to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en
Since YouTube is a subsidiary company of Google, Google’s privacy statement applies to both. If you want to learn more about how your data is handled, we recommend the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.
Review Platforms Overview
Review Platforms Overview ???? Affected parties: Website or rating platform visitors ???? Purpose: Feedback on our products and/or services ???? Processed data: IP address, email address and name, among other things. You can find more details below or directly on the respective review platforms. ???? Storage duration: depends on the respective platform ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), |
What are review platforms?
You can rate our products or services on various review platforms. We are registered on some of these platforms so we can get feedback from you, which can help us to optimise our offer. If you rate us via a review platform, the Privacy Policy and the General Terms and Conditions of the respective review service apply. In many instances, you also have to register in order to submit a review. We may also have rating technologies (widgets) integrated into our website. By using such tools, data is transmitted to the relevant provider, where it is processed and stored.
Many of these integrated programs work on a similar principle. After you have ordered one of our products or used one of our services, you will be asked to submit a review via email or on the website. You will usually be redirected to a review page via a link, where you can quickly and easily create a review. Some review systems also offer an interface to various social media channels in order to make the feedback accessible to more people.
Why do we use review platforms?
Review platforms collect feedback and ratings about our offer. Your ratings help us to quickly receive appropriate feedback. We can use this valuable input to improve our products and/or services much more efficiently. Therefore, on the one hand, ratings help us to optimise our offers. On the other hand, they give you and all our future customers a good overview of the quality of our products and services.
Which data is processed?
If we have your consent, we transmit information about you and the services you have used to the relevant review platform. We do this to ensure that you have genuinely used one of our services. Only then can you give real feedback. The transmitted data is only used to identify the user. The exact data that is stored and processed of course depends on the providers used. Personal data such as IP address, email address or your name are usually also made available to the rating platforms. Specific order information such as the order number of a purchased item will also be forwarded to the appropriate platform after you have submitted your review. If your email address is transmitted, this is done in a form that allows the review platform to send you an email after purchasing a product. In order to integrate your review to our website as well, we also inform the providers that you have accessed our site. The respective review platform that is used is responsible for any personal data collected.
How long and where is the data stored?
You can find out more about the duration of data processing in the relevant Privacy Policy of the provider below, provided we have further information on this. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. Personal data that is mentioned in a review is usually anonymised by the respective platform’s employees and is therefore only visible to company administrators. The collected data is stored on the providers’ servers, while most providers erase it after the end of the order.
Right to object
You also have the right and the possibility to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, disabling or deleting cookies in your browser.
Legal Basis
If you have agreed that an evaluation platform may be used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a of the GDPR (consent) represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when it is collected by a review portal.
We also have a legitimate interest in using a review platform to optimise our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use any given review platform if you have consented to it.
We hope we could give you the most important general information about data processing at review platforms. You can find further information in the Privacy Policy texts below or in the linked Privacy Policies of the respective companies.
Trusted Shops Privacy Policy
We also use the rating platform Trusted Shops for our website. The provider of this service is the German company Trusted Shops GmbH, Subbelrather Strasse 15c, 50823 Cologne, Germany. You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of Trusted Shops in their Privacy Policy at https://www.trustedshops.co.uk/imprint/#user-privacy-policy.
Trustpilot Privacy Policy
We also use the rating platform Trustpilot for our website. The provider of this service is the Danish company Trustpilot A/S, Pilestræde 58, 5, 1112 Copenhagen, Denmark. You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of Trustpilot in their Privacy Policy at https://uk.legal.trustpilot.com/for-reviewers/end-user-privacy-terms.
Web Design Introduction
Web Design Privacy Policy Overview ???? Affected parties: website visitors ???? Purpose: improvement of user experience ???? Processed data: depends heavily on the services used. Usually, data such as IP address, technical data, language settings, browser version, screen resolution and browser name are processed. You can find more details directly with the respective web design tools. ???? Storage duration: depends on the tools used ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) |
What is web design?
We use various tools on our website for the purpose of our web design. Contrary to common belief, web design is not just about making our website look nice, but rather also about functionality and performance. But of course, a good-looking website is also a major goal of professional web design. Web design is a part of media design and deals with the visual as well as the structural and functional design of a website. Our aim with our web design is to improve your experience on our site. In web design jargon, this is called User Experience (UX) and usability. User Experience entails all impressions and experiences that website visitors come across on a website. What is more, usability is part of the User Experience, as it determines how user-friendly a website is. This includes the clear structuring of content, subpages or products, along with how quickly and easily the website enables you to find what you are looking for. In order to offer you the best possible experience on our website, we also use so-called third-party web design tools. Therefore, all tools and services that help improve our website’s design are classified under the category “web design”. This may, for example, include fonts, various plugins or other integrated web design functions.
Why do we use web design tools?
The way you absorb information on a website depends very much on its structure, functionality and visual perception. Therefore, good and professional web design has become increasingly important for us. We are constantly working on improving our site as a way of further extending our services for you as a website visitor. Furthermore, a beautiful and functioning website also has economic advantages for us. Needless to say, you will only visit it and take advantage of our offers if you feel completely at ease.
What data is stored by web design tools?
When you visit our website, any web design elements integrated into our pages may process your data. The exact data that is processed depends on the tools used. Below you can see exactly which tools we use for our website. For more information about data processing, we recommend you also read the respective privacy policy of the respective tools. There you can usually find out which data is processed, whether cookies are used and how long the data is stored. Moreover, fonts such as Google Fonts, for example, also automatically transmit information such as your language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name to Google’s servers.
Duration of data processing
Data processing times are very individual and depend on the web design elements used. For example, when cookies are used, the retention period can be as little as a minute, but it may also be a few years. Please make yourself familiar with this topic. You may for example read our general section on cookies as well as the Privacy Policies of the tools used. There you can likely find out exactly which cookies are used and what information is stored there. For example, Google Font files are stored for one year, in order to improve the loading speed of a website. In principle, data is only kept for as long as is necessary to provide the service. But legal requirements may require data to be stored for longer.
Right to object
You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. You can do this either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can also prevent cookies from collecting your data by managing, deactivating or deleting the cookies in your browser. However, among web design elements (typically fonts) there is also data that cannot be erased easily. This is the case whenever data is automatically collected as soon as a page is accessed and then directly transmitted to a third party (e.g. Google). In these cases, please contact the support of the respective provider. In the case of Google, you can reach support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de.
Legal Basis
If you have consented to the use of web design tools, this consent serves as the legal basis for the relevant data processing. According to Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it may occur when it is collected by web design tools. We also have a legitimate interest in web design to improve on our website. After all, only then can we provide you with a beautiful and professional web offer. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we strongly want to emphasise once more that we only use web design tools if you have given your consent.
You can find information on different web design tools – if available – in the following sections.
Getty Images Privacy Policy
We use the Getty Images image portal for our website. The service provider is the American company Getty Images Inc., 605 5th Avenue South Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104, USA.
Getty Images also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.
Getty Images uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (i. e. outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and thus especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are legal templates provided by the EU Commission. Their purpose is to ensure that your data complies with European data privacy standards, even if your data is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). With these clauses, Getty Images commits to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data, even if it is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the standard contractual clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.
You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Getty Images in the Privacy Policy at https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/company/privacy-policy?language=en-GB.
Explanation of the terminology used
We always strive to make our privacy policy as clear and comprehensible as possible. However, this is not always easy, especially when it comes to technical and legal matters. It is often sensible to use legal terms (such as ‘personal data)’ or certain technical terms (such as ‘cookies’ or ‘IP address’). But we don’t want to use such terms without any explanation. This is why you will find an alphabetical list of important terms used below. These are terms we may not yet have sufficiently explained in the privacy policy. In case we have adopted any of these terms from the GDPR which are definitions, we will also list the GDPR texts here and add our own further explanations if necessary.
Consent
Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR
For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:
“consent” of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her;
Explanation: With websites, such consent is usually given via a cookie consent tool. You’ve most certainly come across these. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, you will usually be asked via a banner whether you agree or consent to the data processing. You can usually also make individual settings and thus decide for yourself which level of data processing you want to allow. If you do not give your consent, no personal data may be processed. Consent can of course also be given in writing, i.e. not via a tool.
Recipient
Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR
For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:
“recipient” means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or another body, to which the personal data are disclosed, whether a third party or not. However, public authorities which may receive personal data in the framework of a particular inquiry in accordance with Union or Member State law shall not be regarded as recipients; the processing of those data by those public authorities shall be in compliance with the applicable data protection rules according to the purposes of the processing;
Explanation: Any person or establishment that receives personal data is considered a recipient. We and our processors are therefore also so-called recipients. Only authorities that have an investigation mandate are not considered recipients.
Main Establishment
Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR
For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:
“main establishment”
a)
as regards a controller with establishments in more than one Member State, the place of its central administration in the Union, unless the decisions on the purposes and means of the processing of personal data are taken in another establishment of the controller in the Union and the latter establishment has the power to have such decisions implemented, in which case the establishment having taken such decisions is to be considered to be the main establishment;
b)
as regards a processor with establishments in more than one Member State, the place of its central administration in the Union, or, if the processor has no central administration in the Union, the establishment of the processor in the Union where the main processing activities in the context of the activities of an establishment of the processor take place to the extent that the processor is subject to specific obligations under this Regulation;
Explanation: For example, Google is an American establishment that also processes data in the USA, but its European headquarters are in Ireland (Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) . From a legal point of view, Google Ireland Limited is therefore an independent establishment and is responsible for all Google products offered in the European Economic Area. In contrast to one head office, there are also branches, but these do not function as legally independent branches and must therefore be distinguished from subsidiaries. A head office is always the place where an entity (company) has its centre of operations.
Personal Data
Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR
For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:
“personenal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;
Explanation: Personal data is all data that can identify you as a person. This is usually data such as:
- name
- address
- email address
- postal address
- phone number
- birthday
- identification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, ID card number or matriculation number
- banking data such as account number, credit information, account balances and more.
According to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), your IP address is also personal data. IT experts can use your IP address to determine at least the approximate location of your device and subsequently your location as the connection owner. Therefore, storing an IP address also requires a legal basis within the scope of the GDPR. There are also so-called “special categories” of personal data, which are particularly worthy of protection. These include:
- racial and ethnic origin
- political opinions
- religious or ideological beliefs
- Union membership
- genetic data such as data obtained from blood or saliva samples
- biometric data (this is information about psychological, physical or behavioural characteristics that can identify an individual).
health Data - Data relating to sexual orientation or sex life
Enterprise
Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR
For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:
“Enterprise” means a natural or legal person engaged in an economic activity, irrespective of its legal form, including partnerships or associations regularly engaged in an economic activity;
Explanation: For example, we are an enterprise and also carry out an economic activity through our website by offering and selling services and/or products. As a formal characteristic, every enterprise has a legal entity such as a GmbH or an AG.
Controller
Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR
For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:
“controller” means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law;
Explanation: In our example, we are responsible for the processing of your personal data and are therefore the “controller”. If we pass on collected data to other service providers for processing, they are considered “contract processors”. For this, a “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)” must be concluded.
Closing Remarks
Congratulations! If you are reading these lines, you have most likely familiarised yourself with our entire Privacy Policy – or at least scrolled down here. As you can see from the scope of our Privacy Policy, we do not take the protection of your personal data lightly.
We find it important to inform you about the processing of your personal data to the best of our abilities. In doing so, we not only want to tell you which data is processed but also explain to you why we use various software programs. In general, Privacy Policies have very technical and legal jargon. However, since most of you are not web developers or solicitors, we wanted to take a different approach and explain the facts in simple and clear language. Of course, this is not always possible due to the subject matter. Therefore, you can also find a more detailed explanation of the most important terms at the end of the Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions about data protection on our website, please do not hesitate to contact us or the responsible body. We wish you all the best and hope to soon welcome you to our website again.
All texts are copyrighted.