Legal

Information in accordance with §5 of the E-Commerce Act, §14 of the Unternehmensgesetzbuch, §63 of the Commercial Code and disclosure requirements under §25 of the Media Act.

Tree.ly GmbH Littengasse 2b/c 6850 Dornbirn Austria FN 569098 i ATU77531618

Corporate register number: FN 569098 i Corporate register court: Feldkirch Company location: 6850 Dornbirn

Phone: +43 5572 908502 Email: office@tree.ly

Managing directors: Christian Lutz & Jodok Batlogg

Member of: WKO Vorarlberg
Laws re. professions: Gewerbeordnung: www.ris.bka.gv.at

Supervisory/Trade authority: Bezirkshauptmannschaft Dornbirn

Contact details of the data protection controller
If you have any question about data protection, please find the contact details of the body or person responsible for data protection below:
Tree.ly GmbH
Littengasse 2b/c
6850 Dornbirn
FN 569098 i
ATU77531618
Authorized to represent: Jodok Batlogg
E-Mail: office@tree.ly
Phone: +43 5572 908502
Company details: https://tree.ly/legal

Tree.ly Deutschland GmbH Belziger Straße 69-71 10823 Berlin Germany

You can find our Terms and Conditions here.

All texts are copyrighted.

Source: Created with the Impressum Generator by AdSimple

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

We have written this privacy policy (version 27.09.2021-111839724) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – process, will process in the future and what legal options you have. The terms used are to be considered as gender-neutral.
In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about any personal data we process about you.

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

Scope

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

• ‌

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

• ‌

  Social media presences and email communication

• ‌

  mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

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

Legal bases

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

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

1. ‌

   1

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

2. ‌

   2

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

3. ‌

   3

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

4. ‌

   4

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

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

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

• ‌

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

• ‌

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

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

Contact details of the data protection controller

If you have any questions about data protection, you will find the contact details of the responsible person or controller below:
Tree.ly GmbH Sebastianstraße 6b 6850 Dornbirn Authorised to represent: Jodok Batlogg Email: office@tree.ly
Phone: +43 5572 908502 Company details: https://tree.ly/impressum/

Storage Period

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

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

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

Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation

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

• ‌

  right to rectification (article 16 GDPR)

• ‌

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

• ‌

  right to restrict processing (article 18 GDPR)

• ‌

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

• ‌

  right to data portability (article 20 GDPR)

• ‌

  Right to object (article 21 GDPR)

• ‌

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

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

Austria Data protection authority

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

Data transfer to third countries

We only transfer or process data to countries outside the EU (third countries) if you consent to this processing, if this is required by law or if it is contractually necessary. In any case, we generally only do so to the permitted extent. In most cases, your consent is the most important reason for data being processed in third countries. When personal data is being processed in third countries such as the USA, where many software manufacturers offer their services and have their servers located, your personal data may be processed and stored in unexpected ways.

We want to expressly point out, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. Data processing by US services (such as Google Analytics) may result in data processing and retention without the data having undergone anonymisation processes. Furthermore, US government authorities may be able to access individual data. The collected data may also get linked to data from other services of the same provider, should you have a user account with the respective provider. We try to use server locations within the EU, whenever this is offered and possible.

We will provide you with more details about data transfer to third countries in the appropriate sections of this privacy policy, whenever applicable.

Security of data processing operations

In order to protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organisational measures. We encrypt or pseudonymise personal data wherever this is possible. Thus, we make it as difficult as we can for third parties to extract personal information from our data.

Article 25 of the GDPR refers to “data protection by technical design and by data protection-friendly default” which means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to server rooms) appropriate safeguards and security measures shall always be placed. If applicable, we will outline the specific measures below.

TLS encryption with https

The terms TLS, encryption and https sound very technical, which they are indeed. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to securely transfer data on the Internet.
This means that the entire transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – nobody can “listen in”.

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and meet privacy requirements through technology design Article 25 Section 1 GDPR). With the use of TLS (Transport Layer Security), which is an encryption protocol for safe data transfer on the internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential information.
You can recognise the use of this safeguarding tool by the little lock-symbol 🔒, which is situated in your browser’s top left corner in the left of the internet address (e.g. examplepage.uk), as well as by the display of the letters https (instead of http) as a part of our web address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend you to do a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to find good links to further information.

Communications

Communications Overview
👥 Affected parties: Anyone who communicates with us via phone, email or online form
📓 Processed data: e. g. telephone number, name, email address or data entered in forms. You can find more details on this under the respective form of contact
🤝 Purpose: handling communication with customers, business partners, etc.
📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the business case and the legal requirements
⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

If you contact us and communicate with us via phone, email or online form, your personal data may be processed.

The data will be processed for handling and processing your request and for the related business transaction. The data is stored for this period of time or for as long as is legally required.

Affected persons

The above-mentioned processes affect all those who seek contact with us via the communication channels we provide.

Telephone

When you call us, the call data is stored in a pseudonymised form on the respective terminal device, as well as by the telecommunications provider that is being used. In addition, data such as your name and telephone number may be sent via email and stored for answering your inquiries. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Email

If you communicate with us via email, your data is stored on the respective terminal device (computer, laptop, smartphone, …) as well as on the email server. The data will be deleted as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Online forms

If you communicate with us using an online form, your data is stored on our web server and, if necessary, forwarded to our email address. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Legal bases

Data processing is based on the following legal bases:

• ‌

  Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent): You give us your consent to store your data and to continue to use it for the purposes of the business case;

• ‌

  Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract): For the performance of a contract with you or a processor such as a telephone provider, or if we have to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as preparing an offer;

• ‌

  Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests): We want to conduct our customer inquiries and business communication in a professional manner. Thus, certain technical facilities such email programs, Exchange servers and mobile network operators are necessary to efficiently operate our communications.

Cookies

Cookies Overview
👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: depending on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.
📓 Processed data: Depending on the cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.
📅 Storage duration: can vary from hours to years, depending on the respective cookie
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are cookies?

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

Whenever you surf the Internet, you are using a browser. Common browsers are for example, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text-files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

It is important to note that cookies are very useful little helpers. Almost every website uses cookies. More precisely, these are HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other uses. HTTP cookies are small files that our website stores on your computer. These cookie files are automatically placed into the cookie-folder, which is the “brain” of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. Moreover, to define a cookie, one or multiple attributes must be specified.

Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you re-open our website to visit again, your browser submits these “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are familiar to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, while in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in one single file.

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

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

This is an example of how cookie-files can look:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152111839724-9
Purpose: Differentiation between website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

A browser should support these minimum sizes:

• ‌

  At least 4096 bytes per cookie

• ‌

  At least 50 cookies per domain

• ‌

  At least 3000 cookies in total

Which types of cookies are there?

The exact cookies that we use, depend on the used services, which will be outlined in the following sections of this privacy policy. Firstly, we will briefly focus on the different types of HTTP-cookies.

There are 4 different types of cookies:

**Essential cookies
**These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functions of a website. They are needed when a user for example puts a product into their shopping cart, then continues surfing on different websites and comes back later in order to proceed to the checkout. These cookies ensure the shopping cart does not get deleted, even if the user closes their browser window.

**Purposive cookies
**These cookies collect information about user behaviour and whether the user receives any error messages. Furthermore, these cookies record the website’s loading time as well as its behaviour in different browsers.

**Target-orientated cookies
**These cookies ensure better user-friendliness. Thus, information such as previously entered locations, fonts sizes or data in forms stay stored.

**Advertising cookies
**These cookies are also known as targeting cookies. They serve the purpose of delivering customised advertisements to the user. This can be very practical, but also rather annoying.

Upon your first visit to a website you are usually asked which of these cookie-types you want to accept. Furthermore, this decision will of course also be stored in a cookie.

If you want to learn more about cookies and do not mind technical documentation, we recommend https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265, the Request for Comments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) called “HTTP State Management Mechanism”.

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.

Which data are processed?

Cookies are little helpers for a wide variety of tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell which data is generally stored in cookies, but in the privacy policy below we will inform you on what data is processed or stored.

Storage period of cookies

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

You can also influence the storage duration yourself. You can manually erase all cookies at any time in your browser (also see “Right of objection” below). Furthermore, the latest instance cookies based on consent will be erased is after you withdraw your consent. The legality of storage will remain unaffected until then.

Right of objection – how can I erase cookies?

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser in a way to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This gives you the opportunity to manually decide to either permit or deny the placement of every single cookie. This procedure varies depending on the browser. Therefore, it might be best for you to search for the instructions in Google. If you are using Chrome, you could for example put the search term “delete cookies Chrome” or “deactivate cookies Chrome” into Google.

Legal basis

The so-called “cookie directive” has existed since 2009. It states that the storage of cookies requires your consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR). Within countries of the EU, however, the reactions to these guidelines still vary greatly. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 96 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this guideline was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG).

For absolutely necessary cookies, even if no consent has been given, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to offer our visitors a pleasant user experience on our website. For this, certain cookies often are absolutely necessary.

This is exclusively done with your consent, unless absolutely necessary cookies are used. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (a) of the GDPR.

In the following sections you will find more detail on the use of cookies, provided the used software does use cookies.

Web hosting

Web hosting Overview
👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website
🤝 Purpose: professional hosting of the website and security of operations
📓 Processed data: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. You can find more details on this below or at the respective web hosting provider.
📅 Storage period: dependent on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web hosting?

Every time you visit a website nowadays, certain information – including personal data – is automatically created and stored, including on this website. This data should be processed as sparingly as possible, and only with good reason. By website, we mean the entirety of all websites on your domain, i.e. everything from the homepage to the very last subpage (like this one here). By domain we mean example.uk or examplepage.com.

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

The web browser has to connect to another computer which stores the website’s code: the web server. Operating a web server is complicated and time-consuming, which is why this is usually done by professional providers. They offer web hosting and thus ensure the reliable and flawless storage of website data.

Whenever the browser on your computer establishes a connection (desktop, laptop, smartphone) and whenever data is being transferred to and from the web server, personal data may be processed. After all, your computer stores data, and the web server also has to retain the data for a period of time in order to ensure it can operate properly.

Illustration:

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of data processing are:

1. ‌

   1

   Professional hosting of the website and operational security

2. ‌

   2

   To maintain the operational as well as IT security

3. ‌

   3

   Anonymous evaluation of access patterns to improve our offer, and if necessary, for prosecution or the pursuit of claims.li>

Which data are processed?

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

• ‌

  the full address (URL) of the accessed website (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/ examplesubpage.html?tid=111839724)

• ‌

  browser and browser version (e.g. Chrome 87)

• ‌

  the operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)

• ‌

  the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL) (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/ icamefromhere.html/)

• ‌

  the host name and the IP address of the device from the website is being accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)

• ‌

  date and time

• ‌

  in so-called web server log files

How long is the data stored?

Generally, the data mentioned above are stored for two weeks and are then automatically deleted. We do not pass these data on to others, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed by the authorities in the event of illegal conduct.

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

Legal basis

The lawfulness of processing personal data in the context of web hosting is justified in Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (safeguarding of legitimate interests), as the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary to present the company in a safe and user-friendly manner on the internet, as well as to have the ability to track any attacks and claims, if necessary.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Privacy Policy

We use Amazon Web Services (AWS) for our website, which is a web hosting provider, among other things. The provider of this service is the American company Amazon Web Services, Inc., 410 Terry Avenue North, Seattle WA 98109, USA.

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

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

You can find out more about the data that are processed through the use of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in their Privacy Policy at https://aws.amazon.com/privacy/?nc1=h_ls.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

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

What is Google Analytics?

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

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

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

• ‌

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

• ‌

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

• ‌

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

• ‌

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

• ‌

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

• ‌

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

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

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

What data is stored by Google Analytics?

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

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

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

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Name: _ga
Value: 2.1326744211.152111839724-5
Purpose: By deafault, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga, to save the user ID. It generally serves the purpose of differentiating between website visitors.
Expiration date: After 2 years

Name: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152111839724-1
Purpose: This cookie also serves the purpose of differentiating between website users
Expiration date: After 24 hours

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

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

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

• ‌

  Deletion after 14 months

• ‌

  Deletion after 26 months

• ‌

  Deletion after 38 months

• ‌

  Deletion after 50 months

• ‌

  No automatical deletion

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

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

Google Analytics Reports on demographic characteristics and interests

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

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

Google Analytics‘ Data Processing Amendment

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

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

Google Analytics Google Signals Privacy Policy

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

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

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

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

Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy

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

What is Google Tag Manager?

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

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

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

Why do we use Google Tag Manager for our website?

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

What data is stored by Google Tag Manager?

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

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

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

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

Email-Marketing

Email Marketing Overview
👥 Affected parties: newsletter subscribers
🤝 Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of events that are relevant to the system
📓 Processed data: data entered during registration, but at least the email address. You can find more details on this in the respective email marketing tool used.
📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the subscription
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Email-Marketing?

We use email marketing to keep you up to date. If you have agreed to receive our emails or newsletters, your data will be processed and stored. Email marketing is a part of online marketing. In this type of marketing, news or general information about a company, product or service are emailed to a specific group of people who are interested in it.

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

The registration for newsletters generally works with the help of the so-called “double opt-in procedure”. After you have registered for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an email, via which you can confirm the newsletter registration. This ensures that you own the email address you signed up with, and prevents anyone to register with a third-party email address. We or a notification tool we use, will log every single registration. This is necessary so we can ensure and prove, that registration processes are done legally and correctly. In general, the time of registration and registration confirmation are stored, as well as your IP address. Moreover, any change you make to your data that we have on file is also logged.

Why do we use Email-Marketing?

Of course, we want to stay in contact with you and keep you in the loop of the most important news about our company. For this, we use email marketing – often just referred to as “newsletters” – as an essential part of our online marketing. If you agree to this or if it is permitted by law, we will send you newsletters, system emails or other notifications via email. Whenever the term “newsletter” is used in the following text, it mainly refers to emails that are sent regularly. We of course don’t want to bother you with our newsletter in any way. Thus, we genuinely strive to offer only relevant and interesting content. In our emails you can e.g. find out more about our company and our services or products. Since we are continuously improving our offer, our newsletter will always give you the latest news, or special, lucrative promotions. Should we commission a service provider for our email marketing, who offers a professional mailing tool, we do this in order to offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our email marketing is to inform you about new offers and also to get closer to our business goals.

Which data are processed?

If you subscribe to our newsletter via our website, you then have to confirm your membership in our email list via an email that we will send to you. In addition to your IP and email address, your name, address and telephone number may also be stored. However, this will only be done if you agree to this data retention. Any data marked as such are necessary so you can participate in the offered service. Giving this information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will prevent you from using this service. Moreover, information about your device or the type of content you prefer on our website may also be stored. In the section “Automatic data storage” you can find out more about how your data is stored when you visit a website. We record your informed consent, so we can always prove that it complies with our laws.

Duration of data processing

If you unsubscribe from our e-mail/newsletter distribution list, we may store your address for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests, so we can keep proof your consent at the time. We are only allowed to process this data if we have to defend ourselves against any claims.

However, if you confirm that you have given us your consent to subscribe to the newsletter, you can submit an individual request for erasure at any time. Furthermore, if you permanently object to your consent, we reserve the right to store your email address in a blacklist. But as long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course keep your email address on file.

Withdrawal – how can I cancel my subscription?

You have the option to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to the newsletter subscription. This usually only takes a few seconds or a few clicks. Most of the time you will find a link at the end of every email, via which you will be able to cancel the subscription. Should you not be able to find the link in the newsletter, you can contact us by email and we will immediately cancel your newsletter subscription for you.

Legal basis

Our newsletter is sent on the basis of your consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). This means that we are only allowed to send you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. Moreover, we may also send you advertising messages on the basis of Section 7 (3) UWG (Unfair Competition Act), provided you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your email address for direct mail.

If available – you can find information on special email marketing services and how they process personal data, in the following sections.

MailChimp Privacy Policy

MailChimp Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: newsletter subscribers
🤝 Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of events that are relevant to the system
📓 Processed data: data entered during registration, but at least the email address.
📅 Storage duration: for the subscription period
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is MailChimp?

Like many other websites, we use the services of the newsletter company MailChimp on our website. The operator of MailChimp is the company The Rocket Science Group, LLC, 675 Ponce de Leon Ave NE, Suite 5000, Atlanta, GA 30308 USA. With the aid of MailChimp we can easily send you interesting news via newsletter. For the use of the service we do not have to install anything but can still access a pool of very efficient features. In the following we will give more details on this email marketing service and will inform you about the most important data protection aspects.

MailChimp is a cloud-based newsletter management service. “Cloud-based“ means that we do not need to install MailChimp on our own computer or server. Instead, we use the service on an external server, or more specifically via an IT infrastructure, which is available via the internet. Using a software this way is also called SaaS (software as a service).

MailChimp allows us to chose from a wide range of different email types. Depending on what goal we want to reach with our newsletter, we can run individual campaigns, regular campaigns, auto responders (automated emails), A/B tests, RSS campaigns (mailings at pre-set times and frequencies) and follow-up campaigns.

Why do we use MailChimp on our website?

The reason we would use any newsletter service is so we can stay in contact with you. We want to keep you on the loop about what news or attractive offers we have for you at the time. As we constantly seek out the easiest and best solutions for our marketing measures, we have decided on MailChimp as our newsletter management service. While the software is very easy to use, it offers many helpful features. For example, it allows us to create interesting and attractive newsletters in only a short time. With integrated design templates we can create every newsletter in an individual way. Due to the “responsive design” feature, our contents are also presented in a readable and pleasant way on your smartphone (or any other mobile device).

With tools such as A/B testing or the extensive analysis options, we can swiftly tell how you like our newsletters. This means that we can react if necessary and improve our offer or our services.

Another advantage is MailChimp’s “cloud system”. The data is not stored and processed directly on our server. We can retrieve the data from external servers and therefore save our memory space and also decrease maintenance effort.

What data is stored by MailChimp?

Rocket Science Group LLC (MailChimp) operate online platforms which enable us to get in contact with you, provided you subscribed to our newsletter. If you become a subscriber of our newsletter via our website, by email you agree to become a member of a MailChimp email list. Then, MailChimp saves your subscription data and your IP address, so it can verify your entry into the list provider. Moreover, MailChimp stores your email address, your name, your physical address and demographic information, such as language or location.

This information is used to send emails to you and to allow certain other MailChimp functions (e.g. the evaluation of newsletters).

MailChimp also shares information with third parties to improve its services. Moreover, MailChimp shares certain data with advertising partners of third parties to get a better understanding of its clients’ interests, in order to provide relevant contents and target-oriented advertising.

With so-called “web beacons” (small graphics in HTML emails), MailChimp can determine if an email has arrived, has been opened or if links have been clicked. This information is then stored on MailChimp’s servers. That way we receive statistical evaluations and can see how you liked our newsletter. Therefore, we can tailor our offer better to your wishes and improve our service.

Moreover, MailChimp are allowed to use this data for improving their own service. Thus, they can for example technically optimise the distribution or determine the location (or the country) of the recipient.

The following cookies can be set by MailChimp. This list is not exhaustive and is merely an exemplary selection:

Name: AVESTA_ENVIRONMENT
Value: Prod
Purpose: This cookie is necessary to provide the services of MailChimp. It is always set when a user registers for a newsletter mailing list.
Expiry date: at the end of the session

Name: ak_bmsc
Value: F1766FA98C9BB9DE4A39F70A9E5EEAB55F6517348A7000001111839724-3
Purpose: The cookie is used to differentiate a human from a bot. That way secure reports on the use of a website can be created.
Expiry date: after 2 hours

Name: bm_sv
Value: A5A322305B4401C2451FC22FFF547486~FEsKGvX8eovCwTeFTzb8//I3ak2Au…
Purpose: This cookie comes from MasterPass Digital Wallet (a MasterCard service) and is used to offer a secure and easy virtual payment process to visitors. For this purpose, the user is anonymously identified on the website.
Expiry date: after 2 hours

Name: _abck
Value: 8D545C8CCA4C3A50579014C449B045111839724-9
Purpose: We could not find any further information about the purpose of this cookie.
Expiry date: after one year

For better display you might sometimes open our newsletter via a specified link. This can be the case if your email program does not work or if the newsletter is not displayed correctly. The newsletter will then be shown via a MailChimp website. MailChimp also uses cookies on its websites (small text files which save data on your browser).
Personal data can be processed by MailChimp and their partners (e.g. Google Analytics). MailChimp is responsible for the collection of this data and we have no influence on it. MailChimp’s “Cookie Statement” (at: https://mailchimp.com/legal/cookies/) tells you exactly how and why the company uses cookies.

How long and where is the data stored?

Since MailChimp is an American company, all retained data is stored on American servers.

Generally, the data stays permanently stored on MailChimp’s servers and is deleted only when you request it. You can have your contact information with us deleted. This permanently removes all your personal data for us and anonymises you in MailChimp’s reports. However, you can also request the erasure of your data permanently at MailChimp. Then all your data are removed from there and we receive a notification from MailChimp. After we receive the email we have 30 days to delete your contact details from all integrations.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

You can withdraw your approval for the receipt of our newsletters anytime, by clicking the link in the lower area of the received newsletter email. When you click on the unsubscribe link, your data with MailChimp gets deleted.

When you land on a MailChimp website via a link in our newsletter and cookies are consequently set in your browser, you can delete or deactivate these cookies anytime.

Depending on the browser, the deactivation or deletion differs slightly. The following instructions show how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies, you can set up your browser in a way so it would notify you whenever a potential cookie is about to be set. This lets you decide upon the placement of every single cookie.

Legal basis

MailChimp sends our newsletter on the basis of your consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). This means that we are only allowed to mail you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. If consent is not required, the newsletter is sent on the basis of legitimate interest in direct marketing (Article 6 (1) (f)), provided this is legally permitted. We record your registration process so we can keep proof of compliance with our laws.

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

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

You can find out more on MailChimp’s use of cookies at https://mailchimp.com/legal/cookies/. Furthermore, at https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/ you can find more information on data protection at MailChimp (Privacy).

Content Delivery Networks

Content Delivery Networks Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Service performance optimisation (to increase website loading speeds)
📓 Processed data: data such as your IP address
You can find more details on this below as well as in the individual Privacy Policies.
📅 Storage period: most data is stored until it is no longer needed for the provision of the service.
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is a Content Delivery Network?

On our website we use a so-called content delivery network or CDN. This helps to load our website quickly and easily, regardless of your location. Moreover, your personal data will also be stored, managed and processed on the respective CDN provider’s servers. In the following, we will go into more general detail on this service and the data processing associated with it. You can find detailed information on how your data is handled in the provider’s Privacy Policy.

Each content delivery network (CDN) is a network of regionally distributed servers that are connected to each other via the internet. Through this network, website content (especially very large files) can be delivered quickly and smoothly, even when large loading peaks occur. To make this possible, CDNs create a copy of our website on their servers. The website can be delivered quickly because these servers are distributed all around the world. Any data transfer to your browser is therefore significantly shortened by the CDN.

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

A fast loading website is part of our service. Of course, we know how annoying it is when a website loads at a snail’s pace. Most of the time, you lose your patience and click away before the website is fully loaded. But of course we want to avoid that. Therefore, to us a fast loading website is an obligatory part of our website offer. With the use of a content delivery network, our website loads significantly faster in your browser. Furthermore, CDNs are particularly helpful when you are abroad, as the website is always delivered from a server in your area.

Which data are processed?

If you access a website or its content and it gets cached in a CDN, the CDN forwards the request to the server closest to you which then delivers the content. Content delivery networks are built in a way that JavaScript libraries can be downloaded and hosted on npm and Github servers. Alternatively, WordPress plugins can also be loaded on most CDNs, provided they are hosted on WordPress.org. Moreover, your browser can send personal data to the content delivery network we use. This includes data such as IP addresses, browser type, browser version, the accessed website or the time and date of the page visit. This data is collected and stored by the CDN. Whether cookies are used for data storage depends on the network that is being used. For more information on this, please read the Privacy Policy of the respective service.

Right to object

If you want to prevent this data transfer altogether, you can use a JavaScript blocker (see for example https://noscript.net/) on your computer. However, our website can then of course no longer offer its usual service (such as a fast loading speeds).

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of a content delivery network, your consent represents the the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. a (consent) your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it can occur when collected by a content delivery network.

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

Provided this information is available, you can find out more about the particular content delivery networks in the following sections.

Cookie Consent Management Platform

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

What is a cookie consent management platform?

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

Why do we use a cookie management tool?

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

Which data are processed?

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

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

Legal basis

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

Social Media

Social Media Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: Service presentation and optimisation, staying in contact with visitors, interested parties, etc. as well as advertising
📓 Processed data: data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, contact data, data on user behaviour, information about your device and your IP address.
You can find more details on this directly at the respective social media tool used.
📅 Storage period: depending on the social media platforms used
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Social Media?

In addition to our website, we are also active on various social media platforms. For us to be able to target interested users via social networks, user data may be processed. Additionally, elements of social media platforms may be embedded directly in our website. This is e.g. the case if you click a so-called social button on our website and are forwarded directly to our social media presence. So-called social media are websites and apps on which registered members can produce and exchange content with other members, be it openly or in certain groups and networks.

Why do we use Social Media?

For years, social media platforms have been the place where people communicate and get into contact online. With our social media presence, we can familiarise interested people better with our products and services. The social media elements integrated on our website help you switch to our social media content quickly and hassle free.

The data that is retained and processed when you use a social media channel is primarily used to conduct web analyses. The aim of these analyses is to be able to develop more precise and personal marketing and advertising strategies. The evaluated data on your behaviour on any social media platform can help to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests. Moreover, so-called user profiles can be created. Thus, the platforms may also to present you with customised advertisements. For this, cookies are usually placed in your browser, which store data on your user behaviour.

We generally assume that we will continue to be responsible under Data Protection Law, even when using the services of a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that, within the meaning of Art. 26 GDPR, in certain cases the operator of the social media platform can be jointly responsible with us. Should this be the case, we will point it out separately and work on the basis of a related agreement. You will then find the essence of the agreement for the concerned platform below.

Please note that when you use social media platforms or our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, as many social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, are American companies. As a result, you may no longer be able to easily claim or enforce your rights regarding your personal data.

Which data are processed?

Exactly which data are stored and processed depends on the respective provider of the social media platform. But usually it is data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, data you enter in contact forms, user data such as which buttons you click, what you like or who you follow, when you visited which pages, as well as information about your device and IP address. Most of this data is stored in cookies. Should you have a profile on the social media channel you are visiting and are logged in, data may be linked to your profile.

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

If you want to know exactly which data is stored and processed by social media providers and how you can object to the data processing, we recommend you to carefully read the privacy policy of the respective company. We also recommend you to contact the provider directly if you have any questions about data storage and data processing or if you want to assert any corresponding rights.

Duration of data processing

Provided we have any further information on this, we will inform you about the duration of the data processing below. The social media platform Facebook example stores data until they are no longer needed for the company’s own purposes. However, customer data that is synchronised with your own user data is erased within two days. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This storage period can also be exceeded however, if it is required by law, such as e.g. in the case of accounting.

Right to object

You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers such as embedded social media elements at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can e.g. also prevent data collection via cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser.

Since cookies may be used with social media tools, we also recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies. If you want to find out which of your data is stored and processed, we advise you to read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

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

in the following section you can find information on special social media platforms – provided this information is available.

Instagram Privacy Policy

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

What is Instagram?

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

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

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

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

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

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

What data is stored by Instagram?

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

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

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

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

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

The following cookies were used in our test:

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

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

Name: fbsr_111839724124024
Value: no information
Purpose: This cookie stores the login request of Instagram app users.Expiry date: after end of session

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

Name: urlgen
Value: “{”194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe111839724”
Purpose: This cookie serves Instagram’s marketing purposes.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

How long and where are these data stored?

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

And this is how an Instagram account can be deleted:

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

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

LinkedIn Privacy Policy

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

What is LinkedIn?

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

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

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

Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?

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

What data are stored by LinkedIn?

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

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

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

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

Name: bcookie
Value: =2&34aab2aa-2ae1-4d2a-8baf-c2e2d7235c16111839724-
Purpose: This cookie is a so-called “browser ID cookie” and stores your identification number (ID).
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

Name: lidc
Value: 1818367:t=1571904767:s=AQF6KNnJ0G111839724…
Purpose:This cookie is used for routing. Routing records how you found your way to LinkedIn and how you navigate through the website.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

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

Name: JSESSIONID
Value: ajax:1118397242900777718326218137
Purpose: This is a session cookie that LinkedIn uses to maintain anonymous user sessions through the server.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

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

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

How long and where are the data stored?

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

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

How to access account data in your LinkedIn profile:

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

Twitter Privacy Policy

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

What is Twitter?

We have incorporated Twitter functions on our website. These are, for example, embedded tweets, timelines, buttons or hashtags. Twitter is a short message service and social media platform from the firm Twitter Inc., One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2 D02 AX07, Ireland.

To our knowledge, in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, a mere integration of the Twitter function does not transfer any personal data or data about your web activities to Twitter. Only when you interact with the Twitter functions, such as by clicking a button, data could be sent to Twitter and get saved as well as processed there. We have no influence on this processing of data and do not bare any responsibility for it. Within this privacy statement, we want to give you an overview of what data Twitter stores, what Twitter does with this data and how you can largely protect yourself from data transmission.

For some, Twitter is a news service, for others, a social media platform, and for others still it is a microblogging service. All these terms are justified and mean pretty much the same.

Both individuals as well as companies use Twitter for communicating with interested people via short messages. Twitter only allows 280 characters per message. These messages are called “tweets”. In contrast to Facebook, for example, the service does not focus on the expansion of a network of “friends”, but strives to be regarded as an open, worldwide news platform. On Twitter you can also have an anonymous account and tweets can be deleted by both, either the company or the users themselves.

Why do we use Twitter on our website?

Like many other websites and companies, we try to use different channels for offering our services and communicating with our customers. Twitter is a truly useful “small” news service, which is why it has grown dear to us. We regularly tweet or retweet exciting, funny or interesting content. We understand that you do not have the time to follow every channel after channel, as you surely have enough other things to do. That is why we also have integrated Twitter functions to our website. That way, you can experience our Twitter activities “on site” or come to our Twitter page via a direct link. With the integration, we want to strengthen the service and user-friendliness on our website.

What data is stored by Twitter?

You will find integrated Twitter functions on some of our subpages. If you interact with Twitter content, such as by clicking a button, Twitter may collect and save data. This can happen even if you don’t have a Twitter account yourself. Twitter calls this data “log data”. It includes demographic data, browser cookie IDs, your smartphone’s ID, hashed email addresses, and information on which pages you have visited on Twitter and what actions you have taken there. Of course, Twitter stores more data if you have a Twitter account and are logged in. This retention is usually done via cookies. Cookies are small text files that are usually set in your browser and transmit various information to Twitter.

We will now show you which cookies are placed if you are not logged in to Twitter but visit a website with built-in Twitter functions. Please consider this list as an example. We do not claim for this list to be extensive, since the array of cookies always changes and depends on your individual actions with Twitter content.

The following cookies have been used in our test:

Name: personalization_id
Value: “v1_cSJIsogU51SeE111839724”
Purpose: This cookie stores information on how you use the website and what ad may have led you to Twitter.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: lang
Value: en
Purpose: This cookie stores your default or preferred language.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: guest_id
Value: 111839724v1%3A157132626
Purpose: This cookie is set to identify you as a guest.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: fm
Value: 0
Purpose: Unfortunately, we could not find out the purpose of this cookie.Expiry date: after end of session

Name: external_referer
Value: 1118397242beTA0sf5lkMrlGt
Purpose: This cookie collects anonymous data, such as how often you visit Twitter and how long you visit Twitter.
Expiry date: after 6 days

Name: eu_cn
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie stores user activity and is used for Twitter’s various advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: ct0
Value: c1179f07163a365d2ed7aad84c99d966
Purpose: Unfortunately we could not find any information on this cookie.
Expiry date: after 6 hours

Name: _twitter_sess
Value: 53D%253D–dd0248111839724-
Purpose: With this cookie you can use functions within Twitter’s website.
Expiry date: after end of session

Note: Twitter also works with third parties. Therefore, we have recognized the three Google Analytics cookies _ga, _gat, _gid in our test.

On the one hand, Twitter uses the collected data for gaining better understand on user behaviour, and thus to improve their own services and advertising offers. On the other hand, the data are also used for internal security measures.

How long and where are the data stored?

When Twitter collects data from other websites, after a maximum of 30 days, they will be deleted, summarised or otherwise concealed. Twitter’s servers are in various server centres in the United States. Accordingly, it can be assumed that the gathered data will be collected and stored in America. In our research we could not clearly determine whether Twitter also owns servers in Europe. Generally, Twitter may keep collected data stored until either the data are no longer useful to the company, until you delete the data or until a potential legal deletion period has been reached.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

In their Privacy Policy, Twitter repeatedly emphasise that they do not save data from external website visits, provided you or your browser are in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. However, if you interact directly with Twitter, the company will of course store your data.

If you have a Twitter account, you can manage your data by clicking on “More” under the “Profile” button. Then click on “Settings and privacy”. Here you can manage data processing individually.

If you do not have a Twitter account, you can go to twitter.com and click “Settings”. At “Personalisation and data” you can manage data that is collected on you.

As mentioned above, most data are stored via cookies, which you can manage, deactivate or delete in your browser. Please note that when changing cookie settings in your browser, the edits will only affect that very browser. This means that if you use another browser in the future, you will have to manage your cookie settings there again. In the following you will find instructions for managing cookies in the most popular browsers.

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

You can also set your browser to notify you about each individual cookie. This lets you decide individually whether you want to allow or deny a cookie.

Twitter also uses the data for personalised advertising in-and outside of Twitter. You can switch off personalised advertising in the settings under “Personalization and data”. If you use Twitter on a browser, you can deactivate personalised advertising at http://optout.aboutads.info/?c=2&lang=EN.

Legal basis

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

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

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

We hope we could give you a basic overview of Twitter’s data processing. We do not receive any data from Twitter and are not responsible for what Twitter does with your data. If you have any further questions on this topic, we recommend you to read Twitter’s privacy statement at https://twitter.com/en/privacy.

Vimeo Privacy Policy

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

What is Vimeo?

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

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

Why do we use Vimeo on our website?

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

What data is stored on Vimeo?

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

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

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

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

Name: vuid
Value: pl1046149876.614422590111839724-4Purpose: This cookie collects information about your actions on websites that have a Vimeo video embedded to them.Expiry date: after 2 years

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

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

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

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

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1522249635.1578401280111839724-7
Purpose: This cookie is a third-party cookie from Google. By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Thus, it serves to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: _gcl_au
Value: 1.1.770887836.1578401279111839724-3
Purpose: This third-party cookie from Google AdSense is used to improve the efficiency of ads on websites.
Expiry date: after 3 months

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

YouTube Privacy Policy

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

What is YouTube?

We have integrated YouTube videos to our website. Therefore, we can show you interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal, which has been a subsidiary company of Google LLC since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. When you visit a page on our website that contains an embedded YouTube video, your browser automatically connects to the servers of YouTube or Google. Thereby, certain data are transferred (depending on the settings). Google is responsible for YouTube’s data processing and therefore Google’s data protection applies.

In the following we will explain in more detail which data is processed, why we have integrated YouTube videos and how you can manage or clear your data.

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

Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?

YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and best content. We strive to offer you the best possible user experience on our website, which of course includes interesting videos. With the help of our embedded videos, we can provide you other helpful content in addition to our texts and images. Additionally, embedded videos make it easier for our website to be found on the Google search engine. Moreover, if we place ads via Google Ads, Google only shows these ads to people who are interested in our offers, thanks to the collected data.

What data is stored by YouTube?

As soon as you visit one of our pages with an integrated YouTube, YouTube places at least one cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged into your YouTube account, by using cookies YouTube can usually associate your interactions on our website with your profile. This includes data such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, technical information such as browser type, screen resolution or your Internet provider. Additional data can include contact details, potential ratings, shared content via social media or YouTube videos you added to your favourites.

If you are not logged in to a Google or YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier linked to your device, browser or app. Thereby, e.g. your preferred language setting is maintained. However, many interaction data cannot be saved since less cookies are set.

In the following list we show you cookies that were placed in the browser during a test. On the one hand, we show cookies that were set without being logged into a YouTube account. On the other hand, we show you what cookies were placed while being logged in. We do not claim for this list to be exhaustive, as user data always depend on how you interact with YouTube.

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y111839724-1
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video that was viewed.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

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

Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 95Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie tries to estimate the user’s internet bandwith on our sites (that have built-in YouTube videos).
Expiry date: after 8 months

Further cookies that are placed when you are logged into your YouTube account:

Name: APISID
Value: zILlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7111839724-
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile on your interests. This data is then used for personalised advertisements.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: CONSENT
Value: YES+AT.de+20150628-20-0
Purpose: The cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to the use of various Google services. CONSENT also provides safety measures to protect users from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 19 years

Name: HSID
Value: AcRwpgUik9Dveht0I
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile on your interests. This data helps to display customised ads.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

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

Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI111839724-
Purpose: This cookie stores your Google Account ID and your last login time, in a digitally signed and encrypted form.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

How long and where is the data stored?

The data YouTube receive and process on you are stored on Google’s servers. Most of these servers are in America. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en you can see where Google’s data centres are located. Your data is distributed across the servers. Therefore, the data can be retrieved quicker and is better protected against manipulation.

Google stores collected data for different periods of time. You can delete some data anytime, while other data are automatically deleted after a certain time, and still other data are stored by Google for a long time. Some data (such as elements on “My activity”, photos, documents or products) that are saved in your Google account are stored until you delete them. Moreover, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser, or app, even if you are not signed into a Google Account.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

Generally, you can delete data manually in your Google account. Furthermore, in 2019 an automatic deletion of location and activity data was introduced. Depending on what you decide on, it deletes stored information either after 3 or 18 months.

Regardless of whether you have a Google account or not, you can set your browser to delete or deactivate cookies placed by Google. These settings vary depending on the browser you use. The following instructions will show how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies, you can set your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be set. This will enable you to decide to either allow or permit each individual cookie.

Legal basis

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

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

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

Since YouTube is a subsidiary company of Google, Google’s privacy statement applies to both. If you want to learn more about how your data is handled, we recommend the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

Video Conferencing & Streaming

Video Conferencing & Streaming Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: users of our video conferencing or streaming tools
🤝 Purpose: communication and presentation of content
📓 Processed data: Access statistics such as your name, address, contact details, email address, telephone number or IP address. You can find more details on this directly at the video conference or streaming tool that is being used.
📅 Storage duration: depending on the video conferencing or streaming tool
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract)

What are video conferences & streamings?

We use software programs that enable us to hold video conferences, online meetings, webinars and to utilise display sharing and/or streaming. In a video conference or a streaming, information is transmitted simultaneously via sound and moving images. With such video conference or streaming tools, we can communicate quickly and easily with customers, business partners, clients and employees via the Internet. Of course, when selecting the service provider, we consider the given legal framework.

Generally, third-party providers can process data as soon as you interact with the software program. Third-party video conference providers or streaming solutions use your data and metadata for different purposes. The data helps to e.g. make the tool more secure and to improve the service. Most of the time, the data may also be used for the respective third-party provider’s own marketing purposes.

Why do we use video conferencing & streaming on our website?

We want to communicate digitally, quickly, easily and securely with you, our customers and our business partners. This works best with video conferencing solutions that are very easy to use. Most tools also work directly in your browser and with just a few clicks you can get right to your video meeting. The tools also offer helpful additional features such as chat and screen sharing functions or the possibility of sharing content between meeting participants.

Which data are processed?

If you join our video conference or streaming, your data will also be processed and stored on the servers of the respective service provider.

The exact data that gets stored depends on the respective software. Each provider stores and processes data differently. Generally, however, most providers store your name, address, contact details such as your email address or telephone number and your IP address. Information about the device you are using may also get stored, along with usage data, such as which websites you visit, when you visit a website or which buttons you click. Data that is shared within the video conference (photos, videos, texts) may also be retained.

Duration of data processing

Below we will inform you about the duration of the data processing of the service that is being used, provided we have further information on this. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. Moreover, it is possible that the provider may store your data according to their own requirements, which we have no influence on.

Right to object

You always have the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can always contact the person responsible for the respective video conferencing or streaming tool. You can find contact details either in our specific privacy policy or on the website of the relevant provider.

In your browser you can erase, deactivate or manage cookies that providers use for their functions. This works slightly different, depending on which browser you are using. Please note, however, that functions may not keep working as usual after doing so.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by the respective video or streaming solution, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). We may also offer a video conference as part of our services, if there has been a contractual agreement with you in advance (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR). Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners, provided you have priorly given consent. Most video or streaming solutions also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

Provided it is available, you can find information on special video conference and streaming solutions in the following sections.

Zoom Privacy Policy

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

What is Zoom?

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

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

Why do we use Zoom on our website?

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

What data is stored by Zoom?

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

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

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

Recruiting Tools Privacy Policy

Recruiting Tools Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: Users who conduct a job application process online or use a recruiting tool
🤝 Purpose: job application process handling
📓 Processed data: data such as name, address, contact details, email address or telephone number. You can find more details about this directly from the respective recruiting tool.
📅 Storage period: if the application is successful, data is retained until the end of the employment relationship. Otherwise the data will be erased after the application process.
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR (contract), Art. 9 paragraph 2 lit. a. GDPR (processing of special categories)

What are recruiting tools?

Various companies offer software programs that can make application processes much easier. Most systems offer options to filter searches through databases of potential candidates. This enables us to quickly and efficiently find employees who are a great fit for our company. When using recruiting tools or online forms, applicants’ personal data is transmitted, retained and managed. In this general Privacy Policy we also refer to the classic application process via email or online form in addition to recruiting tools. You can find more detailed information on recruiting tools in the Privacy Policies of the respective providers.

Why do we use recruiting tools?

To search for suitable applicants and to administer all application documents, we use software programs and platforms that specialize in application management, taking into account all legal guidelines. So-called recruiting tools usually make the application process easier because the software takes on many administrative tasks and optimizes processes in the application process. In some cases, this enables us to find suitable employees for our company more quickly.

For the conditions of the recruiting process, we refer in detail to the respective job advertisements.

Which data are processed?

If you apply with us, you of course also have to provide us with your data so we can assess your application accordingly. The exact details you provide us depends on the job posting or on the information required in the online form.

Generally, this involves data such as name, address, date of birth and proof of the qualifications required for the job. During the application process, however, not only basic personal data such as name or address may be transmitted, but information about applicants’ health or ethnicity may also be requested so both parties can exercise the applicant’s rights in relation to labor law, social security and social protection, while ensuring to meet the corresponding obligations. These data are called “data of special categories”.

Your application’s data are sent to us via the online form in encrypted nature. Alternatively, you can send your application to us by email. If you opt for the latter, your data will be transmitted in encrypted form, but will not be retained in encrypted form by the servers used to send and receive it.

Duration of data processing

If your application is successful, we can process the data you provide for the employment relationship. If the application does not meet the requirements, we will erase the data we received. The data will also be erased if you withdraw your application. If you agree to join our pool of applicants, we will store your data in this context until you leave the pool of applicants. The same rules apply to the withdrawal as well as to the revocation of your consent.

Right to object

You always have the right and the option to withdraw your consent. The data will be deleted after 6 months at the latest, so we can answer any questions you may have about the application and meet our obligations to provide proof. We also archive invoices for possible reimbursement of travel expenses due to tax law requirements.

Legal basis

If we include you in our application pool, this is done on the basis of your consent (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). We would like to note, that your consent to our application pool is voluntary and has no influence on the application process. Moreover, you can revoke your consent at any time.

In the event of the protection of vital interests, data processing takes place in accordance with Article 9 (2) c. GDPR. For the purposes of health care, occupational medicine, medical diagnostics, care or treatment in the health or social sector or for the administration of systems and services in the health or social sector, personal data is processed in accordance with Art. 9 para. 2 lit. h. GDPR. If you voluntarily provide data of special categories, data processing takes place on the basis of Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. a. GDPR.

Provided this information is available, you can find out more about the special recruiting tools in the following sections.

LinkedIn Recruiter Privacy Policy

On our website we use the LinkedIn Recruiter recruiting tool. The provider of this service is the American company LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

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

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

You can find out more about the data that is processed by LinkedIn Recruiter in their Privacy Policy at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Stack Overflow Privacy Policy

We use the job application management software Stack Overflow. The provider of this service is the American company Stack Exchange Inc., 110 William Street, 28th Floor, New York, NY 10038, USA.

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

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

You can find out more about the data that is processed through the use of Stack Overflow in their Privacy Policy at https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy .

Google Maps Privacy Policy

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

What is Google Maps?

On our website we use Google Maps of the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). With the use of Google Maps, we can show you locations in a better way and can therefore adjust our service to your needs. Due to the utilisation of Google Maps, data gets transferred to Google and is saved on Google’s servers. In the following, we want to explain in 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 maps service of the company Google Inc. With Google Maps you can search for exact locations of cities, sights, accommodations or businesses online via a PC, a tablet or an app. If businesses are represented on Google My Business, the respective location as well as other information about the company are shown there. In order to show route directions, a location’s map sections can be integrated in a website through a HTML-code. Google Maps depicts the earth’s surface as either a road map or as air and satellite images. Due to the street view and high-quality satellite images, it is possible for exact representations to be made.

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

The efforts we make on this page have the goal of giving you a useful and meaningful experience on our website. Through the integration of Google Maps, we can offer you essential information on various locations. Therefore, you can spot our office address with one glance. Furthermore, the route directions always show you the best and fastest way to us. You can retrieve the route directions for traveling either by car, by public transport, on foot or by bike. The integration of Google Maps is a part of our customer service.

What data is stored by Google Maps?

For Google Maps to offer its full services, the company must collect and store your data. This includes your entered search terms, your IP-address as well as your longitude and latitude coordinates. When you use the route-planner function, the entered start address is stored also. However, this data retention happens on Google Maps‘ websites. We can only inform you about it but cannot influence it in any way. Since we have included Google Maps on our website, Google will set at least one cookie (Name: NID) into your browser. This cookie saves data on your user behaviour. Google primarily uses this data to optimise ist own services and to provide you with individual, personalised advertisements.

The following cookies are set in your browser due to the integration of Google Maps:

Name: NID
Value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ111839724-5
Purpose: Google uses NID in order to adjust advertisments to your Google searches. With the cookie’s help Google “remembers“ your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. That way you always receive customised adertisments. The cookie contains a unique ID, wich Google uses to collect your personal settings for advertising porposes.
Expiration date: after 6 months

Note: We cannot guarantee completeness of the information on saved data. This is, because especially concerning the use of cookies, changes can happen anytime. To identify the cookie NID, a test page was created, to which Google Maps was included.

How long and where is the data stored?

There are Google servers in data centres across the entire planet. However, most servers are in America. For this reason, your data is widely stored in the USA. Here you can read in detail about where the Google servers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en

Google distributes data to various data carriers. This makes it possible to retrieve the data faster and to better protect it from possible attempted manipulations. Every server has emergency programs. Thus, should for example a problem with Google’s hardware occur or should a natural disaster impact the servers, any data will quite certainly stay protected.

Moreover, Google saves some data for a specified period. With some other data on the other hand, Google only offers the opportunity for deleting it manually. Furthermore, the company anonymises information (e.g. advertising data) in server logs, by deleting a part of the IP-address and cookie information after 9 to 18 months.

How can I erase my data, or prevent data retention?

Due to the automatic delete function for location and activity data, which was introduced in 2019, information that is used for determining your location and web or app activity is saved for either 3 or 18 months, depending on your preferred decision, and is deleted thereafter. Furthermore, it is possible to delete this data manually from your browser history via your Google account anytime. If you want to prevent the determination of your location altogether, you must pause the category “Web and app activity” in your Google account. Click on “Data and personalisation” and then choose the option “Activity controls”. Here you can switch the activities on or off.

Moreover, in your browser you can deactivate, delete or manage individual cookies. This function can differ a little, depending on what browser you are using. The following instructions will show you how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to permit any cookies, you can set up your browser in a way that ensures you get informed whenever a cookie is about to be placed. That way you can decide to either permit or refuse every single cookie.

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 to insecure third countries must not simply be transferred to, stored and processed there unless there are suitable guarantees (such as EU Standard Contractual Clauses) between us and the non-European service provider.

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

If you want to find out more about Google’s data processing, we recommend you to read the company’s own Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Mapbox API Privacy Policy

Mapbox API Privacy Policy Overview
👥 Affected parties: website visitors
🤝 Purpose: service optimisation
📓 Processed data: data such as IP address, browser information, operating system, content of the request, restricted location and usage data
You can find more details on this in the Privacy Policy below.
📅 Storage period: IP addresses are deleted after 30 days, ID data after 36 months
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Mapbox API?

On our website we use the Mapbox API by the American software company Mapbox Inc., 740 15th Street NW, 5th Floor, District of Columbia 20005, USA. Mapbox is an online map tool (open source mapping) that is accessed via an interface (API). When using this tool, your IP address will be forwarded to Mapbox, where it will be stored. In this privacy policy you will find out more on the functions of the tool as well as to why we use it. Above all, you will get more details on which of your data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Mapbox is an American software company that offers custom online maps for websites. For example, Mapbox allows us to illustrate content on our website or to display directions graphically. Specific small code snippets (JavaScript code) make the integration of maps to our website very easy. What is more, among other things Mapbox offers a mobile-friendly environment, visualises data and provides route information in real time.

Why do we use Mapbox API on our website?

We strongly believe that the comprehensive service we offer with our products and services should also extend to our website. In fact, we want all our content to be of use to you. Of course this also includes maps that show you the way to our business.

What data are stored by Mapbox API?

If you open one of our subpages containing an online map by Mapbox, data about your user behaviour may be collected and stored. This is essential for the integrated online maps to work properly. Moreover, Mapbox may pass on the collected data (excluding personal data) to third parties. This may happen either if the data transfer is necessary for legal reasons, or if Mapbox explicitly instructs another company to do so. Any map contents are transmitted directly to your browser and thus integrated into our website.

Mapbox automatically collects certain technical information when requests are made to the APIs. This includes your IP address, browser information, your operating system, the request’s content, restricted location and usage data, the URL of the website you visited and the date and time of your website visit. According to Mapbox, this data is only used to improve their own products. Mapbox also collects randomly generated IDs in order to analyse user behaviour and determine the number of active users.

If you use one of our subpages and interact with an online map, Mapbox will set the following cookie in your browser:

Name: ppcbb-enable-content-mapbox_js
Value: 1605795587111839724-4
Purpose: We have not yet been able to find out more detailed information about the purpose of this cookie.
Expiry date: after one year

Note: In our tests we did not find any cookie in the Chrome browser, however, we did find it in other browsers.

Where and how long are data stored?

The collected data is stored and processed on American servers which are operated by Mapbox. For security reasons, your IP address is stored for 30 days, after which it is deleted. Randomly generated IDs (no personal data) that analyse the use of the APIs are deleted after 36 months.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

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

You reserve the right to access your personal data at any time, as well as to object to them being used and processed. Any cookies that the Mapbox API may set can be managed, deleted or deactivated in your browser at any time. However, this may prevent the service from working properly. The process of managing, deleting or deactivating cookies works a little differently for each browser. Below you will find links to the instructions for the most popular browsers:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

If you want to find out more about data processing by Mapbox, we recommend you to read the company’s Privacy Policy at https://www.mapbox.com/legal/privacy .

OpenStreetMap Privacy Policy

We have included map sections of the online map tool “OpenStreetMap” to our website. It is a so-called open source mapping, which we can access via an API (interface). This feature is offered by OpenStreetMap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Center, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WS, United Kingdom. By using this map function, your IP address will be forwarded to OpenStreetMap. In this privacy policy we will explain why we use the functions of the OpenStreetMap tool, where which data is stored and how you can prevent data storage.

What is OpenStreetMap?

The OpenStreetMap project was launched in 2004. Its aim is to create a free world map. Users all around the world have been collecting data about buildings, forests, rivers and roads. Therefore, an extensive digital world map has been created by users over the years. Of course, the map is not complete, but it contains a lot of data for most regions.

Why do we use OpenStreetMap on our website?

The primary intention of your website is to be helpful to you. We think this can only be the case when information can be found quickly and easily. On the one hand, of course, this concerns our services and products. On the other hand, there should also be other helpful information available to you. That is why we also use OpenStreetMap’s map service. Thanks to this, we can for example show you exactly how to find our company. The map shows you the best way to get to us and makes your journey very smooth and easy.

What data is stored by OpenStreetMap?

When you visit one of our websites that include OpenStreetMap, your user data is transmitted to the service where it is stored. OpenStreetMap collects information about your interactions with the digital map, your IP address, your browser, device type, operating system and on which day and at what time you used the service. Tracking software is also used to record user interactions. For this regard, the company specifiies the “Piwik” analysis tool in its own privacy policy.

The collected data are then accessible to the relevant employee groups of the OpenStreetMap Foundation. According to the company, personal data will not be passed on to other people or companies, unless it is legally required. The third-party provider Piwik stores your IP address, but in a shortened form.

The following cookies may be set in your browser if you inerace with OpenStreetMap on our website:

Name: _osm_location
Value: 9.63312%7C52.41500%7C17%7CM
Purpose: This cookie is required to unlock OpenStreetMap’s contents.
Ablaufdatum: after 10 years

If you want to view the map in full screen, you will be linked to OpenStreetMap’s website. There, the following cookies may be stored in your browser:

Name: _osm_totp_token
Value: 148253111839724-2
Purpose:This cookie is used to ensure the operation of the map section.
Expiry date:after one hour

Name: _osm_session
Value: 1d9bfa122e0259d5f6db4cb8ef653a1c
Purpose: With the help of this cookie, session information (i.e. user behavior) can be stored.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: _pk_id.1.cf09
Value: 4a5.1593684142.2.1593688396.1593688396111839724-9
Purpose:This cookie is set by Piwik to save or measure user data such as click behavior.
Expiry date: after one year

How long and where are the data stored?

The API servers, databases, and servers of auxiliary services are currently located in the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and the Netherlands. Your IP address and user information, which are saved in an abbreviated version by the web analysis tool Piwik, will be deleted after 180 days.

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

You have the right to both access your personal data and to object to its use and processing at any time. You can also always manage, delete, or deactivate cookies that may be set by OpenStreetMap in your browser. As a result, however, the service may no longer work to their full extent. The management, deletion or deactivation of cookies works differently in every browser. Below you will find links to the instructions of the most popular browsers:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

For more information on OpenStreetMap’s data processing, we recommend the company’s privacy policy at https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy.

Cadastral data

For our forest climate protection projects in Austria, we use data from the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying.

All texts are copyrighted.

Source: Created with the Datenschutz Generator by AdSimple