Privacy policy

 

Introduction and Overview

We have written this privacy statement (version 07.12.2021-111895324) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, what personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors (e.g., providers) engaged by us – process, will process in the future and what lawful options you have. The terms used are to be understood as gender neutral.
In short: We inform you comprehensively about the data we process about you.

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

 

Scope of application

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

• all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate
• social media sites and email communications
• mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

In short: the data protection declaration applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in the company via the aforementioned channels in a structured manner. If we enter legal relationships with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately where applicable.

 

Legal basis

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

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

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

Other conditions such as the performance of recording in the public interest and the exercise of official authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually arise for us. If such a legal basis should be relevant, it will be indicated at the appropriate place.

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

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

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

 

Contact details of the responsible person

If you have any questions regarding data protection, please find below the contact details of the responsible person or office:

MHS Messtechnik Hardware Software GmbH
Email: office(at)mhs-messtechnik.at
Telephone: +43 (0)4262 4931
Imprint: https://mhs-messtechnik.at/en/imprint/

 

Contact details of the data protection officer

Below you will find the contact details of the data protection officer:

Bernhard Schulz
MHS Messtechnik Hardware Software GmbH
Friesacher Straße 9
9330 Althofen

Email: office(at)mhs-messtechnik.at
Telephone: +43 (0)4262 4931

 

Storage period

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

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

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

 

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

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

• You have a right of access under article 15 GDPR to know whether we are processing data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to know the following information:
  • the purpose for which we are processing it;
  • 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 analysed to arrive at a personal profile of you.
• You have a right to rectification of data under article 16 of the GDPR, which means that we must rectify data if you find errors.
• You have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) under article 17 of the 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 any further.
• According to article 19 of the GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a common format upon request.
• You have a right to object under article 21 of the GDPR, 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 carry out direct advertising, you can 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 for profiling, you can 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).

In short, you have rights – do not hesitate to contact the controller listed above at our office!

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 commissioner for each federal state. For more information, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). The following local data protection authority is responsible for our company:

 

Austria Data Protection Authority

Head: Mag. Dr. Andrea Jelinek
Address: Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Wien
Telephone number: +43 1 52 152-0
Email Address: dsb@dsb.gv.at
Website: https://www.dsb.gv.at/

 

Data transfer to third countries

We only transfer or process data to countries outside the EU (third countries) if you consent to this processing, if this is required by law or contractually necessary and in any case only to the extent that this is generally permitted. Your consent is in most cases the most important reason for us to have data processed in third countries. Processing personal data in third countries such as the US, where many software vendors provide services and have their server locations, may mean that personal data is processed and stored in unexpected ways.

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

We will inform you in more detail about data transfer to third countries, where applicable, at the appropriate points in this privacy policy.

 

Data processing security

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

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

 

TLS encryption with https

TLS, encryption, and https sound very technical and they are. We use HTTPS (the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure stands for “secure hypertext transfer protocol”) to transmit data tap-proof on the Internet.

This means that the complete transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – no one can “listen in”.

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and fulfil data protection by design of technology article 25(1) GDPR). By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data.

You can recognise the use of this data transmission protection by the small lock symbol at the top left of the browser, to the left of the Internet address (e.g., beispielseite.de) and the use of the https scheme (instead of http) as part of our Internet address.

If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to get good links to further information.

 

Communication

Communication Summary 👥 Data subjects: anyone who communicates with us by phone, email, or online form. 📓 Data processed: e.g., telephone number, name, email address, form data entered. More details can be found in the respective contact type used. 🤝 Purpose: Handling of communication with customers, business partners, etc. 📅 Duration of Storage: Duration of the business case and legal requirements. ⚖️ Legal Basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (Contract), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (Legitimate Interests)

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

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

 

Persons affected

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

 

Telephone

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

 

Email

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

 

Online Forms

If you communicate with us using online forms, data is stored on our web server and may be forwarded to an e-mail address of ours. The data will be deleted as soon as the business transaction has been completed and legal requirements permit.

 

Legal Basis

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

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

 

Cookies

Cookies Summary 👥 Data subjects: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: depending on the cookie. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📓 Data processed: Depending on the particular cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📅 Storage Period: depends on the cookie, can vary from hours to years. ⚖️ 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.

Below we explain what cookies are and why they are used so that you can better understand the following privacy policy.

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

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

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

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

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

For example, this is what cookie data can look like:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152111895324-9
Intended use: Distinction of website visitors
Expiration Date: after 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes

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

 

What types of cookies are there?

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

We can distinguish between 4 types of cookies:

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

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

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

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

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

If you want to know more about cookies and are not afraid of technical documentation, we recommend https://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 cookie in question. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

 

What data is processed?

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

 

Storage duration of cookies

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

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

 

Right of objection – how can I delete cookies?

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

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

Chrome: Cookies in Chrome löschen, aktivieren und verwalten

Safari: Verwalten von Cookies und Websitedaten mit Safari

Firefox: Cookies löschen, um Daten zu entfernen, die Websites auf Ihrem Computer abgelegt haben

Internet Explorer: Löschen und Verwalten von Cookies

Microsoft Edge: Löschen und Verwalten von Cookies

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

If you want to change the cookie settings, you can do so at any time via change cookies.

Change Cookies

You may choose to prevent this website from aggregating and analyzing the actions you take here. Doing so will protect your privacy, but will also prevent the owner from learning from your actions and creating a better experience for you and other users.

Opt-out complete; your visits to this website will not be recorded by the Web Analytics tool. Note that if you clear your cookies, delete the opt-out cookie, or if you change computers or Web browsers, you will need to perform the opt-out procedure again.

You may choose to prevent this website from aggregating and analyzing the actions you take here. Doing so will protect your privacy, but will also prevent the owner from learning from your actions and creating a better experience for you and other users.

You are not opted out. Uncheck this box to opt-out. You are currently opted out. Check this box to opt-in.

The tracking opt-out feature requires cookies to be enabled.

 

Legal Basis

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

For necessary cookies, even if there is no consent, there are legitimate interests (article 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to provide visitors to the website with a pleasant user experience and for this purpose certain cookies are often necessary.

Where cookies are used that are not strictly necessary, this is only done with your consent. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR.

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

 

Webhosting

Webhosting Summary 👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: To professionally host the website and secure its operation. 📓 Data processed: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. More details can be found below or with the respective web hosting provider used. 📅 Storage period: depends on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is web hosting?

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

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

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

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

To visualize:

 

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of data processing are:

1. to professionally host the website and secure its operation
2. to maintain operational and IT security
3. anonymous evaluation of access behaviour to improve our offer and, if necessary, to prosecute or pursue claims.

 

What data is processed?

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

• the complete Internet address (URL) of the website you are visiting (e.g., https://www.beispielwebsite.de/beispielunterseite.html?tid=111895324)
• browser and browser version (e.g., Chrome 87)
• the operating system used (e.g., Windows 10)
• the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL) (e.g., https://www.beispielquellsite.de/vondabinichgekommen.html/)
• the host name and IP address of the device being accessed (e.g., COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
• the date and time
• in files, the so-called web server log files

 

How long is data stored?

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

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 consent!

 

Legal basis

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

There is usually a contract between us and the hosting provider for commissioned processing in accordance with Art. 28 f. GDPR, which ensures compliance with data protection and guarantees data security.

 

Website modular systems

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

 

What are website modular systems?

We use a website modular system for our website. Modular systems are special forms of a content management system (CMS). With a modular system, website operators can create a website very easily and without programming knowledge. In many cases, web hosts also offer modular systems. By using a modular system, personal data may also be collected from you, stored, and processed. In this data protection text, we provide you with general information on data processing by modular systems. You can find more detailed information in the data protection declarations of the providers.

 

Why do we use website modular systems for our website?

The biggest advantage of a modular system is that it is easy to use. We want to offer you a clear, simple, and concise website that we can easily operate and maintain ourselves – without external support. A modular system now offers many helpful functions that we can use even without programming knowledge. This enables us to design our internet presence according to our wishes and to offer you an informative and pleasant time on our website.

 

What data is stored by a website builder system?

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

 

How long and where is the data stored?

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below in connection with the website builder system used, if we have further information about it. You can find detailed information about this in the provider’s privacy policy. In general, we only process personal data for as long as it is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. The provider may store your data according to its own guidelines, over which we have no influence.

 

Right of objection

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

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

 

Legal basis

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

If the processing of data is not absolutely necessary for the operation of the website, the data will only be processed based on your consent. This particularly applies to tracking activities. The legal basis in this regard is Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR.

With this privacy policy, we have provided you with the most important general information about data processing. If you would like more detailed information on this, you can find further information – if available – in the following section or in the provider’s privacy policy.

 

WordPress.com Privacy Policy

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

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

WordPress uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR) as the basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and therefore in particular in the USA) or for data transfers there. 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 if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, WordPress undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission.

You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The data processing agreements corresponding to the standard contractual clauses can be found at https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

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

 

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

Google Analytics Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the website. 📓 Data processed: Access statistics, which include data such as access locations, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior, and IP addresses. You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: Depends on the properties used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is Google Analytics?

We use the analytics tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) from the American company Google Inc. on our website. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. For example, if you click on a link, this action is saved in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. Using the reports we receive from Google Analytics, we can better tailor our website and service to your needs. Below, we will discuss the tracking tool in more detail and, above all, inform you about what data is saved and how you can prevent this.

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

Google processes the data and we receive reports about your user behavior. These reports may include, among others, the following:

• Audience reports: Through audience reports, we get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
• Ad Reporting: Ad reporting helps us analyze and improve our online advertising.
• Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports give us helpful information about how we can get more people excited about our service.
• Behavioral reports: This tells us how you interact with our website. We can track your path on our site and the links you click.
• Conversion reports: A conversion is a process in which you perform a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a mere website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us learn more about how our marketing efforts are being received. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
• Real-time reports: This lets us know immediately what’s happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

 

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

The statistically analyzed data provides us with a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that it is easier for interested people to find it on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us better understand you as a visitor. This means we know exactly what we need to improve on our website to provide you with the best possible service. The data also helps us implement our advertising and marketing measures in a more personalized and cost-effective way. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

 

What data does Google Analytics store?

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

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

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

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Name: _ga
Value: 2.1326744211.152111895324-5
Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga to store the user ID. It is primarily used to distinguish between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152111895324-1
Purpose: This cookie also serves to distinguish between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
Value: 1
Purpose: Used to reduce the request rate. If Google Analytics is provided via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is named _dc_gtm_ <property-id>.
Expiry date: after 1 minute

Name: AMP_TOKEN
Value: not specified
Purpose: This cookie contains a token that can be used to retrieve a user ID from the AMP Client ID service. Other possible values ​​indicate a logout, a request, or an error.
Expiry date: after 30 seconds to one year

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

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

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

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

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

Name: __utmv
Value: not specified
Purpose: This cookie is used to store custom user data. It is always updated when information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Note: This list cannot claim to be exhaustive, as Google continually changes its cookie choices.

Here we provide an overview of the most important data collected by Google Analytics:

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

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

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

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

IP address: The IP address is only displayed in abbreviated form so that a clear assignment is not possible.

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

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

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

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

 

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has distributed its servers around the world. Most servers are located in the United States, and therefore your data is mostly stored on American servers. You can find out exactly where Google’s data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed across various physical storage devices. This has the advantage that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. Every Google data center has appropriate emergency backup programs for your data. If, for example, Google’s hardware fails or natural disasters cripple servers, the risk of service interruption at Google remains low.

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

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

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

Additionally, you can choose to have data deleted only if you no longer visit our website within the period we select. In this case, the retention period will be reset each time you visit our website again within the specified period.

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

 

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

If you want to disable, delete, or manage cookies (regardless of Google Analytics), there are separate instructions for each browser:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

 

Legal Basis

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

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offering technically and economically. With the help of Google Analytics, we can detect website errors, identify attacks, and improve efficiency. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent.

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

Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR) as the basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and therefore in particular in the USA) or for data transfers there. 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 if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

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

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

 

Google Analytics Demographic and Interest Reports

We have enabled advertising reporting features in Google Analytics. Demographic and Interest Reports contain information about age, gender, and interests. This allows us to gain a better understanding of our users without being able to assign this data to specific individuals. You can learn more about advertising features at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=de_AT&utm_id=ad.

You can opt out of the use of your Google Account’s activities and information by checking the box in “Advertising Settings” at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

 

Google Analytics Opt-Out Link

By clicking the following opt-out link, you can prevent Google from tracking further visits to this website. Please note: Deleting cookies, using your browser’s incognito/private mode, or using a different browser will result in data being collected again.

Deactivate Google Analytics

 

Google Analytics Google Signals Privacy Policy

We have activated Google Signals in Google Analytics. This updates the existing Google Analytics features (advertising reports, remarketing, cross-device reporting, and reports on interests and demographics) to receive aggregated and anonymized data from you, provided you have allowed personalized ads in your Google Account.

What’s special about this is that it involves cross-device tracking. This means your data can be analyzed across devices. By activating Google Signals, data is collected and linked to your Google Account. This allows Google to recognize, for example, if you view a product on our website using a smartphone and later purchase the product using a laptop. Thanks to the activation of Google Signals, we can launch cross-device remarketing campaigns that would otherwise not be possible in this form. Remarketing means that we can also show you our offerings on other websites.

In Google Analytics, additional visitor data such as location, search history, YouTube history, and data about your actions on our website are also collected through Google Signals. This enables us to receive better advertising reports from Google and more useful information about your interests and demographic characteristics. This includes your age, language, where you live, and gender. Social criteria such as your occupation, marital status, or income are also included. All of these characteristics help Google Analytics define groups of people or target groups.

The reports also help us better assess your behavior, desires, and interests. This allows us to optimize and adapt our services and products for you. This data expires after 26 months by default. Please note that this data is only collected if you have allowed personalized advertising in your Google Account. This data is always aggregated and anonymous and never data about individuals. You can manage or delete this data in your Google Account.

 

Google Analytics IP Anonymization

We have implemented Google Analytics IP address anonymization on this website. This feature was developed by Google to enable this website to comply with applicable data protection regulations and recommendations from local data protection authorities where these prohibit the storage of the full IP address. IP anonymization or masking occurs as soon as the IP address arrives in the Google Analytics data collection network and before the data is stored or processed.

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

 

Google Analytics Data Processing Addendum

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

You can find more information about the Google Analytics Data Processing Addendum here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3379636?hl=de&utm_id=ad

 

MonsterInsights Privacy Policy

MonsterInsights Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the website. 📓 Data processed: Access statistics, which include data such as access locations, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior, and IP addresses. You can find more details below or in the Google Analytics privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: Depends on the Google Analytics properties used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is MonsterInsights?

We use the “Google Analytics Plugin for WordPress” from the American company MonsterInsights LCC (7732 Maywood Crest Dr, West Palm Beach, Florida, 33412, USA) on our website. The plugin is often simply called MonsterInsights. With the help of the plugin, your user data can be stored, managed, and processed by Google Analytics. For example, if you click on a link, Google Analytics saves this “click” via the integrated plugin and offers insightful web analytics based on the collected data. In this privacy policy, we provide more information about MonsterInsights and inform you which data is stored, where, and how.

MonsterInsights uses the Google Analytics Reporting API for its services to collect data about our website and visitor behavior. This data is analyzed and then appears as charts, graphs, and tables directly on our WordPress dashboard. For the plugin to function, a Google Analytics tracking code is embedded in our WordPress site. The plugin offers features such as page analytics, statistics, and ad tracking. With the help of the plugin, we can easily set up tracking functions such as event tracking, eCommerce tracking, or outbound link tracking for our website without any programming knowledge. We see all important statistics summarized in a single location directly in our dashboard.

 

Why do we use MonsterInsights?

MonsterInsights makes using Google Analytics much easier for us, as we can see the most important analytics directly on our dashboard and don’t have to constantly switch to Google Analytics. Google Analytics provides us with a wealth of important data about visitor behavior on our website. Using this data, we can better tailor our website and our offerings to your needs. We use the statistics obtained to make our website more interesting and to target any advertisements.

 

What data is stored by MonsterInsights or Google Analytics?

By installing the MonsterInsights plugin, a Google Analytics tracking code is embedded in our WordPress website. Google Analytics creates a random, unique ID linked to your browser cookie. This allows you to be recognized as a new visitor to our website. If you visit us again, you will be recognized as a so-called “returning” user. All collected data is then stored with this user ID. This allows pseudonymous user profiles to be created and evaluated. Your actions on our website are stored in cookies and app instance IDs. If you are linked to other Google services, the generated data may also be linked to third-party cookies.

All tracking is performed and stored by Google Analytics. MonsterInsights forwards all data directly to Google Analytics to process it on MonsterInsights’ behalf. Google only shares this data if we permit it or if it is required by law. MonsterInsights does not use its own cookies to store data; instead, the code added by MonsterInsights loads Google Analytics, which adds cookies.

For example, it collects information about the website you came to us from, the buttons and links you click, how long you stay on a particular page, and when you leave the website again. Furthermore, your IP address is displayed and stored in abbreviated form so that no clear assignment is possible. Your approximate location can also be determined from the IP address, and technical information such as device type, browser type, internet service provider, or screen resolution is also stored.

If you would like to know more about data storage and processing, we recommend you read our general privacy policy for Google Analytics.

 

How long and where is the data stored?

MonsterInsights does not store the collected data, but forwards it to Google Analytics. There, the data is stored on Google’s servers. These servers are located worldwide, but most are located in the USA. You can see exactly where the data centers are located at https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de. By default, your data is stored by Google for 26 months, but you also have the option to choose between different retention periods. Please also see our Google Analytics Privacy Policy. This retention period applies to data linked to cookies, user identification, and advertising IDs. Web analytics that appear in the form of reports are generated from aggregated data and are stored independently of your user data.

 

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access, update, delete, and restrict your data at any time. If you download and install the browser add-on https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de, you can prevent Google Analytics from using your data by deactivating Google Analytics JavaScript.

You can also generally deactivate, manage, or delete cookies via your browser. Below we show you the instructions for the most common browsers:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

 

Legal Basis

The use of MonsterInsights requires your consent, which we obtained through our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected using web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors and thus improving our offering technically and economically. With the help of MonsterInsights, we can detect website errors, identify attacks, and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use MonsterInsights if you have given your consent.

Google also processes data in the USA, among other places. 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 USA. This can entail various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

Google uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (Article 46, Paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and in particular the USA) or for data transfers there. These clauses oblige Google to comply with EU data protection standards when processing relevant data, even outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here, among other places: https://ec.europa.eu/germany/news/20210604-datentransfers-eu_de.

If you would like to learn more about the WordPress plugin MonsterInsights, we recommend visiting the website https://www.monsterinsights.com/. For more information about data processing by Google Analytics, we recommend our Google Analytics Privacy Policy, Google’s information page at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de and the Google Analytics Terms of Use website at https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/de/.

 

Email Marketing

Email Marketing Summary 👥 Affected parties: Newsletter subscribers 🤝 Purpose: Direct mailing via email, notification of system-relevant events 📓 Data processed: Data entered during registration, but at least the email address. Further details can be found in the respective email marketing tool used. 📅 Storage period: Duration of the subscription ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is Email Marketing?

To keep you up to date, we also use email marketing. If you have agreed to receive our emails or newsletters, your data will also be processed and stored. Email marketing is a subset of online marketing. It involves sending news or general information about a company, products, or services via email to a specific group of people who are interested.

If you want to participate in our email marketing (usually via newsletter), you normally just need to register with your email address. To do so, you fill out an online form and submit it. However, we may also ask you for your title and name so that we can contact you personally.

Registering for newsletters generally works using the so-called “double opt-in process.” After you have registered for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an email confirming your newsletter subscription. This ensures that the email address belongs to you and no one has registered with someone else’s email address. We or a notification tool we use logs every single registration. This is necessary so that we can prove that the registration process was legally correct. Typically, the time of registration, the time of registration confirmation, and your IP address are saved. Additionally, any changes you make to your stored data are also logged.

 

Why do we use email marketing?

We naturally want to stay in touch with you and always provide you with the most important news about our company. To this end, we use email marketing – often simply referred to as “newsletter” – as an essential part of our online marketing. If you consent to this or if it is permitted by law, we will send you newsletters, system emails, or other notifications by email. When we use the term “newsletter” in the following text, we primarily mean regularly sent emails. Of course, we do not want to bother you in any way with our newsletter. That’s why we always strive to offer only relevant and interesting content. This way, you can learn more about our company, our services, or our products. Since we’re constantly improving our offerings, you’ll always find out about new developments or special, lucrative promotions via our newsletter. If we commission a service provider that offers a professional delivery tool for our email marketing, we do so to provide you with fast and secure newsletters. The basic purpose of our email marketing is to inform you about new offers and to help us achieve our business goals.

 

What data is processed?

If you subscribe to our newsletter via our website, you will confirm your membership in an email list via email. In addition to your IP address and email address, your title, name, address, and telephone number may also be stored. However, only if you consent to this data storage. The data marked as such is necessary for you to participate in the service offered. Providing this information is voluntary; however, failure to provide it will prevent you from using the service. In addition, information about your device or your preferred content may also be stored on our website. You can find out more about the storage of data when you visit a website in the “Automatic Data Storage” section. We record your declaration of consent so that we can always prove that it complies with our laws.

 

Duration of data processing

If you unsubscribe from our email/newsletter mailing list, we may store your address for up to three years based on our legitimate interests so that we can still prove your consent at the time. We may only process this data if we need to defend ourselves against potential claims.

However, if you confirm that you have given us your consent to subscribe to the newsletter, you can submit an individual deletion request at any time. If you permanently revoke your consent, we reserve the right to store your email address on a blocked list. As long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course also retain your email address.

 

Right of Objection

You have the option to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. To do so, you simply need to revoke your consent to receive the newsletter. This usually only takes a few seconds or one or two clicks. You will usually find a link to cancel your newsletter subscription directly at the end of each email. If you really cannot find the link in the newsletter, please contact us by email and we will cancel your newsletter subscription immediately.

 

Legal Basis

Our newsletter is sent based on your consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). This means that we may only send you a newsletter if you have previously actively subscribed to it. We may also send you advertising messages based on Section 7 (3) of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG), provided you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your email address for direct marketing purposes.

Information on specific email marketing services and how they process personal data can be found – if available – in the following sections.

 

LinkedIn Privacy Policy

LinkedIn Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Optimizing our service 📓 Data processed: Data such as user behavior, information about your device, and your IP address. You can find more details below in the privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: Data is generally deleted within 30 days ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is LinkedIn?

We use social plug-ins from the social media network LinkedIn, provided by LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, on our website. These social plug-ins can include feeds, content sharing, or links to our LinkedIn page. The social plug-ins are clearly marked with the well-known LinkedIn logo and allow, for example, interesting content to be shared directly via our website. For the European Economic Area and Switzerland, LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Place, Dublin, is responsible for data processing.

By embedding such plug-ins, data can be sent to LinkedIn, stored, and processed there. In this privacy policy, we want to inform you about the type of data involved, how the network uses this data, and how you can manage or prevent data storage.

LinkedIn is the largest social network for business contacts. Unlike Facebook, for example, the company focuses exclusively on building business contacts. Companies can present services and products on the platform and establish business relationships. Many people also use LinkedIn to search for jobs or to find suitable employees for their own company. In Germany alone, the network has over 11 million members. In Austria, the number is around 1.3 million.

 

Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?

We know how busy you are. It’s impossible to follow all of your social media channels individually. Even if, as in our case, it would be worthwhile. We regularly post interesting news or reports that are worth sharing. That’s why we’ve created the option on our website to share interesting content directly on LinkedIn or to link directly to our LinkedIn page. We consider integrated social plug-ins to be an extended service on our website. The data LinkedIn collects also helps us show potential advertising campaigns only to people who are interested in our offerings.

 

What data does LinkedIn store?

Just by integrating social plug-ins, LinkedIn does not store any personal data. LinkedIn calls this data generated by plug-ins passive impressions. However, if you click on a social plug-in, for example, to share our content, the platform stores personal data as so-called “active impressions.” This happens regardless of whether you have a LinkedIn account or not. If you are logged in, the collected data is assigned to your account.

Your browser establishes a direct connection to LinkedIn’s servers when you interact with our plug-ins. The company logs various usage data. In addition to your IP address, this can include login data, device information, or information about your internet or mobile provider. If you access LinkedIn services via your smartphone, your location can also be determined (after you have given your permission). LinkedIn can also share this data in “hashed” form with third-party advertisers. Hashing means converting a data set into a string of characters. This allows the data to be encrypted so that individuals can no longer be identified.

Most data about your user behavior is stored in cookies. These are small text files that are usually placed in your browser. LinkedIn may also use web beacons, pixel tags, display tags, and other device identifiers.

Various tests also show which cookies are placed when a user interacts with a social plug-in. The data found cannot claim to be complete and serves only as an example. The following cookies were placed without being logged in to LinkedIn:

Name: bcookie
Value: =2&34aab2aa-2ae1-4d2a-8baf-c2e2d7235c16111895324-
Purpose: This cookie is a so-called “browser ID cookie” and therefore stores your identification number (ID).
Expiry date: After 2 years

Name: lang
Value: v=2&lang=de-de
Purpose: This cookie stores your default or preferred language.
Expiry date: After the end of the session

Name: lidc
Value: 1818367:t=1571904767:s=AQF6KNnJ0G111895324…
Purpose: This cookie is used for routing. Routing records how you came to LinkedIn and how you navigate through the website.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

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

Name: JSESSIONID
Value: ajax:1118953242900777718326218137
Purpose: This is a session cookie that LinkedIn uses to maintain anonymous user sessions through the server.
Expiry date: after session end

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

Name: fid
Value: AQHj7Ii23ZBcqAAAA…
Purpose: No further information could be found for this cookie.
Expiry date: after 7 days

Note: LinkedIn also works with third-party providers. That’s why we also detected the two Google Analytics cookies _ga and _gat in our test.

 

How long and where is the data stored?

In principle, LinkedIn retains your personal data for as long as the company deems it necessary to provide its own services. However, LinkedIn deletes your personal data if you delete your account. In some exceptional cases, LinkedIn retains some data in an aggregated and anonymized form even after you delete your account. Once you delete your account, other people will no longer be able to see your data within one day. LinkedIn generally deletes data within 30 days. However, LinkedIn retains data if it is legally required to do so. Data that can no longer be assigned to individuals remains stored even after the account is closed. The data is stored on various servers in the United States and presumably also in Europe.

 

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

To access the account data in your LinkedIn profile:

Click on your profile icon in LinkedIn and select the “Settings and Privacy” section. Now click on “Privacy” and then “Change” in the “How LinkedIn uses your data” section. You can quickly download selected data about your web activity and account history.

You also have the option to prevent LinkedIn from processing your data in your browser. As mentioned above, LinkedIn stores most of its data via cookies that are set in your browser. You can manage, deactivate, or delete these cookies. Depending on your browser, the process works slightly differently. You can find instructions for the most common browsers here:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

You can also configure your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. You can then decide individually whether you want to accept the cookie or not.

 

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data through integrated social media elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR). In principle, your data will also be stored and processed based on our legitimate interest (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR) in fast and effective communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, 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 that you carefully read our privacy policy regarding cookies and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

LinkedIn uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR) as the basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and therefore in particular in the USA) or for data transfers there. 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 if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, LinkedIn undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

More information about LinkedIn’s standard contractual clauses can be found at https://de.linkedin.com/legal/l/dpa or https://www.linkedin.com/legal/l/eu-sccs.

We have tried to provide you with the most important information about data processing by LinkedIn. You can learn more about the data processing practices of the social media network LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

 

Social Media

Social Media Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimization of our services, contact with visitors, interested parties, etc., advertising 📓 Data processed: Data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, contact details, user behavior data, information about your device, and your IP address. You can find more details on this in the social media tool used. 📅 Storage period: Depends on the social media platforms used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is Social Media?

In addition to our website, we are also active on various social media platforms. User data may be processed so that we can specifically address users interested in us via social networks. Furthermore, elements of a social media platform may be embedded directly into our website. This is the case, for example, if you click a so-called social button on our website and are redirected directly to our social media presence. Social media refers to websites and apps through which registered members can produce content, share content openly or in specific groups, and network with other members.

 

Why do we use social media?

For years, social media platforms have been the place where people communicate and connect online. With our social media presence, we can introduce our products and services to interested parties. The social media elements integrated into our website help you switch to our social media content quickly and easily.

The data stored and processed through your use of a social media channel primarily serves the purpose of conducting web analytics. The goal of these analyses is to develop more precise and personalized marketing and advertising strategies. Depending on your behavior on a social media platform, the evaluated data can be used to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests and create so-called user profiles. This also enables the platforms to present you with tailored advertisements. Cookies are usually placed in your browser for this purpose, which store data about your usage behavior.

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

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

 

What data is processed?

Exactly which data is stored and processed depends on the respective social media platform provider. However, it usually includes data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, data you enter into a contact form, user data such as which buttons you click, who you like or follow, when you visited which pages, information about your device, and your IP address. Most of this data is stored in cookies. Especially if you have a profile on the social media channel you visit and are logged in, data can be linked to your profile.

All data collected via a social media platform is also stored on the providers’ servers. This means that only the providers have access to the data and can provide you with the appropriate information or make changes.

If you want to know exactly which data is stored and processed by the social media providers and how you can object to data processing, you should carefully read the respective company’s privacy policy. If you have any questions about data storage and processing or wish to assert your rights, we recommend that you contact the provider directly.

 

Duration of data processing

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

 

Right of Objection

You also have the right and 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. For example, you can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating, or deleting cookies in your browser.

Since social media tools may use cookies, we also recommend our general privacy policy on cookies. To learn exactly 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 processing and storage of your data through embedded social media elements, this consent serves as the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR). In principle, if you have given your consent, your data will be stored and processed based on our legitimate interest (Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR) in fast and effective communication with you or other customers and business partners. However, we only use these tools if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you carefully read our privacy policy on cookies and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

 

Cookie Consent Management Platform

Cookie Consent Management Platform Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Obtaining and managing consent to certain cookies and thus the use of certain tools 📓 Data processed: Data for managing the configured cookie settings, such as IP address, time of consent, type of consent, and individual consents. You can find more details on this in the respective tool used. 📅 Storage period: Depends on the tool used; you should be prepared for periods of several years ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is a Cookie Consent Management Platform?

We use Consent Management Platform (CMP) software on our website to make it easier for us and you to handle scripts and cookies correctly and securely. The software automatically creates a cookie popup, scans and controls all scripts and cookies, provides you with the cookie consent required by data protection law, and helps us and you keep track of all cookies. Most Cookie Consent Management tools identify and categorize all existing cookies. You, as the website visitor, then decide for yourself whether and which scripts and cookies you allow or deny. The following graphic illustrates the relationship between browser, web server, and CMP.

 

Why do we use a cookie management tool?

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

 

What data is processed?

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

 

Duration of Data Processing

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

 

Right of Objection

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

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

 

Legal Basis

If you consent to cookies, your personal data will be processed and stored via these cookies. If we are permitted to use cookies based on your consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR), this consent also serves as the legal basis for the use of cookies and the processing of your data. Cookie consent management platform software is used to manage your consent to cookies and enable you to give your consent. The use of this software enables us to operate the website efficiently and in compliance with the law, which represents a legitimate interest (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR).

 

BorlabsCookie Privacy Policy

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

 

YouTube Privacy Policy

YouTube Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Optimizing our service 📓 Data processed: Data such as contact details, user behavior data, information about your device, and your IP address may be stored. You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: Data is generally stored as long as it is necessary for the service purpose ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is YouTube?

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

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

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

 

Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?

YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and the best content. We strive to offer you the best possible user experience on our website. And of course, interesting videos are a must. With the help of our embedded videos, we provide you with additional helpful content alongside our text and images. Furthermore, the embedded videos make our website easier to find on the Google search engine. Even if we place advertisements via Google Ads, Google – thanks to the data collected – can only show these ads to people who are interested in our offerings.

 

What data does YouTube store?

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

If you are not logged into a Google Account or a YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier linked to your device, browser, or app. For example, your preferred language setting is retained. However, much interaction data cannot be saved because fewer cookies are set.

In the following list, we show cookies that were set in the browser during a test. On the one hand, we show cookies that are set without a logged-in YouTube account. On the other hand, we show cookies that are set with a logged-in account. The list cannot claim to be complete because user data always depends on interactions on YouTube.

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y111895324-1
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics about the video viewed.
Expiry date: after the end of the session

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

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

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

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

Name: APISID
Value: zILlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7111895324-
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile of your interests. The data is used for personalized advertising.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose: This cookie stores the user’s consent status for the use of various Google services. CONSENT is also used for security purposes to verify users and protect user data from unauthorized attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years

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

Name: LOGIN_INFO
Value: AFmmF2swRQIhALl6aL…
Purpose: This cookie stores information about your login data.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI111895324-
Purpose: This cookie stores your Google Account ID and your last login time in a digitally signed and encrypted format.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

 

How long and where is the data stored?

The data that YouTube receives and processes from you is stored on Google servers. Most of these servers are located in the United States. You can see exactly where Google’s data centers are located at https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de. Your data is distributed across the servers. This makes it faster to access and better protected from manipulation.

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

 

How can I delete my data or prevent data from being stored?

In principle, you can manually delete data from your Google Account. With the automatic deletion of location and activity data, introduced in 2019, information is stored for either 3 or 18 months and then deleted, depending on your choice.

Regardless of whether you have a Google Account or not, you can configure your browser to delete or disable Google cookies. This works differently depending on the browser you use. The following instructions show how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you prefer not to accept cookies, you can set your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be placed. This allows you to decide whether to accept or reject each individual cookie.

 

Legal Basis

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

YouTube also processes data in the USA, among other places. 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 USA. This can entail various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

YouTube uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (Article 46 (2) and (3) GDPR) as the basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and in particular the USA) or for data transfers there. These clauses oblige YouTube to comply with EU data protection standards when processing relevant data, even outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here, among other places: https://ec.europa.eu/germany/news/20210604-datentransfers-eu_de.

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

 

YouTube Subscribe Button Privacy Policy

We have integrated the YouTube Subscribe Button on our website. You can usually recognize the button by the classic YouTube logo. The logo displays the words “Subscribe” or “YouTube” in white lettering against a red background, with the white “Play” symbol to the left. However, the button can also be displayed in a different design.

Our YouTube channel regularly offers you funny, interesting, or exciting videos. With the integrated “Subscribe” button, you can subscribe to our channel directly from our website without having to visit the YouTube website. We want to make access to our comprehensive content as easy as possible for you. Please note that this allows YouTube to store and process your data.

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

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5111895324Y
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics about the video viewed.
Expiry date: after the end of the session

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

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

Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 11189532495Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie attempts to estimate the user’s bandwidth on our websites (with embedded YouTube videos).
Expiry date: after 8 months

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

If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can save many of your actions/interactions on our website using cookies and associate them with your YouTube account. This gives YouTube information, for example, about how long you browse our site, what browser type you use, what screen resolution you prefer, or what actions you perform.

YouTube uses this data to improve its own services and offerings, and to provide analytics and statistics for advertisers (who use Google Ads).

 

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

Google Fonts Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Optimizing our service 📓 Data processed: Data such as IP address and CSS and font requests You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: Font files are stored by Google for one year ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What are Google Fonts?

We use Google Fonts on our website. These are the “Google Fonts” of Google Inc. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe.

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

Google Fonts (formerly Google Web Fonts) is a directory of over 800 fonts that Google makes available to its users free of charge.

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

 

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

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

 

What data does Google store?

When you visit our website, the fonts are loaded via a Google server. This external request transmits data to the Google servers. This is how Google recognizes that you or your IP address are visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to reduce the use, storage, and collection of end-user data to what is necessary for proper font delivery. API stands for “Application Programming Interface” and serves, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software sector.

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

It’s important to note, however, that every Google Font request automatically transmits information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution, and browser name to Google’s servers. Whether this data is stored is unclear, and Google doesn’t clearly communicate it.

 

How long and where is the data stored?

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

The font files are stored by Google for one year. Google’s goal with this is to fundamentally improve the loading time of websites. When millions of web pages reference the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and immediately reappear on all subsequent web pages. Google sometimes updates font files to reduce file size, increase language coverage, and improve design.

 

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The data that Google stores for one day or one year cannot simply be deleted. The data is automatically transmitted to Google when a page is accessed. To delete this data prematurely, you must contact Google Support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=111895324. In this case, you can only prevent data storage if you do not visit our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unrestricted access to all fonts. This gives us unlimited access to a sea of ​​fonts and thus gets the most out of our website. You can find more information about Google Fonts and other questions at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=111895324. While Google addresses data protection-related issues there, it does not contain truly detailed information about data storage. It is relatively difficult to obtain truly precise information about stored data from Google.

 

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Fonts, this consent forms the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected by Google Fonts.

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

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

Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR) as the basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and therefore in particular in the USA) or for data transfers there. 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 if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

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

You can also read about the data Google generally collects and what this data is used for at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

 

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

We use Google Fonts from Google Inc. on our website. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for the European region. We have embedded the Google Fonts locally, i.e., on our web server – not on Google’s servers. This means there is no connection to Google servers and therefore no data transfer or storage.

 

What are Google Fonts?

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

 

Google Maps Privacy Policy

Google Maps Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Optimizing our service 📓 Data processed: Data such as entered search terms, your IP address, and latitude and longitude coordinates. You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: Depends on the data stored ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Maps?

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. on our website. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. Google Maps allows us to show you locations more accurately and thus tailor our service to your needs. Using Google Maps, data is transferred to Google and stored on Google servers. Here, we’ll explain in more detail what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored, and how you can prevent this.

Google Maps is an internet map service provided by Google. With Google Maps, you can search for the exact locations of cities, attractions, accommodations, or businesses online using a PC, tablet, or app. If businesses are listed on Google My Business, additional information about the business is displayed in addition to the location. To show directions, map sections of a location can be embedded into a website using HTML code. Google Maps displays the Earth’s surface as a street map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to Street View images and high-quality satellite images, very accurate representations are possible.

 

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

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

 

What data does Google Maps store?

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

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

Name: NID
Value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ111895324-5
Purpose: NID is used by Google to tailor ads to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interactions with ads. This way, you always receive tailored ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Note: We cannot guarantee the completeness of the stored data. Changes can never be ruled out, especially when using cookies. To identify the NID cookie, a separate test page was created that exclusively included Google Maps.

 

How long and where is the data stored?

Google servers are located in data centers around the world. However, most servers are located in the United States. For this reason, your data is increasingly stored in the USA. You can find out exactly where Google’s data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Google distributes data across various storage devices. This makes it faster to access and better protected against any attempts at tampering. Each data center also has special emergency programs. If, for example, there are problems with Google hardware or a natural disaster shuts down the servers, the data will almost certainly remain protected.

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

 

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

You can also deactivate, delete, or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on the browser you use, this works slightly differently. The following instructions show how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

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

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

 

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Maps, this consent forms the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected by Google Maps.

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

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

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

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

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

 

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Optimizing our service and protecting against cyberattacks 📓 Data processed: Data such as IP address, browser information, your operating system, and limited location and usage data You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: Depends on the data stored ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is reCAPTCHA?

Our primary goal is to provide the best possible security and protection for you and us. To ensure this, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google Inc. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. With reCAPTCHA, we can determine whether you are actually a human being and not a robot or other spam software. Spam is defined as any unsolicited information sent to us electronically. With traditional CAPTCHAS, you usually had to solve text or image puzzles for verification. With Google reCAPTCHA, we usually don’t have to bother you with such puzzles. In most cases, simply checking a box is sufficient to confirm that you are not a bot. With the new Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you don’t even have to check a box. You can find out exactly how this works and, above all, which data is used for this purpose in the course of this privacy policy.

reCAPTCHA is a free CAPTCHA service from Google that protects websites from spam software and abuse by non-human visitors. This service is most commonly used when filling out forms on the internet. A CAPTCHA service is a type of automated Turing test designed to ensure that an action on the internet is performed by a human and not a bot. In the classic Turing test (named after computer scientist Alan Turing), a human distinguishes between a bot and a human. With CAPTCHA, a computer or software program does the same. Classic CAPTCHAs work with small tasks that are easy for humans to solve but considerable difficulty for machines. With reCAPTCHA, you no longer have to actively solve puzzles. The tool uses modern risk techniques to distinguish humans from bots. Here, you only have to check the text box “I am not a robot,” or with Invisible reCAPTCHA, even that is no longer necessary. With reCAPTCHA, a JavaScript element is embedded in the source code, and the tool then runs in the background and analyzes your user behavior. The software calculates a so-called Captcha score from these user actions. Google uses this score to calculate the probability that you are a human before you enter the Captcha. reCAPTCHA, or Captchas in general, are used whenever 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 real people to our site. Bots or spam software of all kinds can safely stay at home. That’s why we do everything we can to protect ourselves and offer you the best possible user experience. For this reason, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google. This allows us to be fairly certain that we remain a “bot-free” website. By using reCAPTCHA, data is transmitted to Google to determine whether you are actually a human. reCAPTCHA therefore serves to ensure the security of our website and, consequently, your security as well. For example, without reCAPTCHA, a bot could register as many email addresses as possible during registration and then spam forums or blogs with unwanted advertising content. With reCAPTCHA, we can prevent such bot attacks.

 

What data does reCAPTCHA store?

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

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

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

It is undisputed that Google uses and analyzes this data even before you click the “I am not a robot” checkbox. With the Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you don’t even need to check the box, and the entire recognition process runs in the background. Google doesn’t provide details about exactly how much and which data Google stores.

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

Name: IDE
Value: WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKnRNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-111895324-8
Purpose: This cookie is set by DoubleClick (also owned by Google) to register and report a user’s actions on the website when interacting with advertisements. This allows advertising effectiveness to be measured and appropriate optimization measures to be taken. IDE is stored in browsers under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiry date: after one year

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

Name: ANID
Value: U7j1v3dZa1118953240xgZFmiqWppRWKOr
Purpose: We were unable to find much information about this cookie. In Google’s privacy policy, 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 user’s consent status for the use of various Google services. CONSENT is also used for security purposes to verify users, prevent credential fraud, and protect user data from unauthorized attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years

Name: NID
Value: 0WmuWqy111895324zILzqV_nmt3sDXwPeM5Q
Purpose: NID is used by Google to tailor ads to your Google search. With the help of this cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interactions with ads. This way, you always receive tailored ads. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect the user’s personal preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Name: DV
Value: gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAANbqc111895324-4
Purpose: Once you have checked the “I am not a robot” checkbox, this cookie is set. The cookie is used by Google Analytics for personalized advertising. DV collects information in an anonymized form and is also used to differentiate between users.
Expiration date: after 10 minutes

Note: This list cannot claim to be complete, as experience has shown that Google frequently changes its cookie choices.

 

How long and where is the data stored?

By integrating reCAPTCHA, your data is transferred to the Google server. Google does not clarify where exactly this data is stored, even after repeated inquiries. Without confirmation from Google, it can be assumed that data such as mouse interaction, time spent on the website, or language settings are stored on Google’s European or American servers. The IP address that your browser transmits to Google is generally not merged with other Google data from other Google services. However, if you are logged into your Google Account while using the reCAPTCHA plug-in, the data will be merged. Google’s different privacy policy applies in this case.

 

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

If you do not want any data about you and your behavior to be transmitted to Google, you must completely log out of Google and delete all Google cookies before visiting our website or using the reCAPTCHA software. Generally, the data is automatically transmitted to Google as soon as you access our site. To delete this data, you must contact Google Support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=111895324.

By using our website, you therefore agree that Google LLC and its representatives automatically collect, process, and use data.

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

 

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google reCAPTCHA, this consent forms the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when data is collected by Google reCAPTCHA.

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

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

Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR) as the basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and therefore in particular in the USA) or for data transfers there. 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 if it is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with European data protection standards when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed, and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

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

You can learn more about reCAPTCHA on Google’s web developer page at https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/. While Google goes into more detail about the technical development of reCAPTCHA there, detailed information about data storage and data protection-related topics is also lacking there. A good overview of Google’s general use of data can be found in its own privacy policy at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

 

Mapbox API Privacy Policy

Mapbox API Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Optimizing our service 📓 Data processed: Data such as IP address, browser information, your operating system, content of the request, limited location and usage data You can find more details further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: The IP address is deleted after 30 days, ID data after 36 months ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

 

What is Mapbox API?

On our website, we use the Mapbox API from the American software company Mapbox Inc., 740 15th Street NW, 5th Floor, District of Columbia 20005, USA. Mapbox is an online mapping tool (open source mapping) that is accessed via an interface (API). Using this tool, among other things, your IP address will be forwarded to Mapbox and stored there. In this privacy policy, you will learn more about the tool’s features, why we use it, and, above all, what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Mapbox is an American software company that offers custom online maps for websites. With Mapbox, you can illustrate content on our website or, for example, graphically display directions. The maps can be easily integrated into our website using small code snippets (JavaScript code). Mapbox offers, among other things, a mobile-friendly environment, route information is provided in real time, and data is presented visually.

 

Why do we use the Mapbox API on our website?

We want to offer you a comprehensive service on our website, and this shouldn’t simply end with our services or products. No, all of our content should also be useful to you. This includes, for example, maps that show you the way to our company.

 

What data is stored by the Mapbox API?

When you visit one of our subpages that has an integrated online map from Mapbox, data about your user behavior may be collected and stored. This is necessary for the integrated online maps to function properly. Mapbox may also share collected data with third parties, but this does not include personal data. This happens either when necessary for legal reasons or when Mapbox explicitly commissions another company. The map content is sent directly to your browser and integrated into our website.

Mapbox automatically collects certain technical information when requests are made to the APIs. In addition to your IP address, this includes browser information, your operating system, the content of the request, limited location and usage data, the URL of the website visited, and the date and time of the website visit. According to Mapbox, the data is used only to improve its own products. Mapbox also collects randomly generated IDs to analyze user behavior and determine the number of active users.

When you visit one of our subpages and interact with an online map, Mapbox sets the following cookie in your browser:

Name: ppcbb-enable-content-mapbox_js
Value: 1605795587111895324-4
Purpose: We have not yet been able to obtain more detailed information about the purpose of the cookie.
Expiration date: After one year

Note: In our tests, we did not find any cookies in the Chrome browser, but we did find them in other browsers.

 

How long and where is data stored?

The collected data is stored and processed on American servers belonging to the company Mapbox. Your IP address is retained for 30 days for security reasons and then deleted. Randomly generated IDs (not personal data) that analyze API usage are deleted after 36 months.

 

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

If you do not want Mapbox to process data about you or your user behavior, you can deactivate JavaScript in your browser settings. Of course, you will then no longer be able to use the corresponding functions to their full extent.

You have the right to access your personal data and to object to its use and processing at any time. You can manage, delete, or deactivate cookies that may be set by the Mapbox API in your browser at any time. However, this may prevent the service from functioning fully. Managing, deleting, or deactivating cookies works slightly differently for each browser. Below you will find links to instructions for the most popular browsers:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

 

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the use of the Mapbox API, this consent forms the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when collected by the Mapbox API.

We also have a legitimate interest in using the Mapbox API to optimize our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the Mapbox API if you have given your consent.

Mapbox also processes data in the USA, among other places. 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 USA. This can entail various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

Mapbox uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (Article 46, Paragraphs 2 and 3 GDPR) as the basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and in particular the USA) or for data transfers there. These clauses oblige Mapbox to comply with EU data protection standards when processing relevant data, even outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here, among other places: https://ec.europa.eu/germany/news/20210604-datentransfers-eu_de.

If you would like to learn more about data processing by Mapbox, we recommend reading the company’s privacy policy at https://www.mapbox.com/legal/privacy.

All texts are protected by copyright.

Source: Created with the Privacy Generator from AdSimple