Privacy Policy

Introduction and Overview

We have written this privacy statement (version 18.06.2023-112524310) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the requirements 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 (e.g. providers) engaged by us – process, will process in the future and what lawful options you have. The terms used are to be understood as gender-neutral.
In short, we inform you comprehensively about the data we process about you.

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

Scope of application

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

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

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Contact details of the responsible person

If you have any questions about data protection or the processing of personal data, please find below the contact details of the responsible person or body:
International Federation of the Roofing Trade e.V.
Represented by Mr. Pascal Civati

Lohnerhofstraße 2,
78467 Konstanz,
Germany

Mobile: +41 76 23 142 57
E-mail: civati@ifd-roof.com
Authorised to represent: Pascal Civati
E-mail: civati@ifd-roof.com
Phone: +41 76 23 142 57
Imprint: https://ifd-roof.com/index.php/impressum/

Storage period

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

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

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

Rights according to the General Data Protection Regulation

Pursuant to Articles 13, 14 of the GDPR, we inform you about the following rights you have in order to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:

• According to Article 15 DSGVO, you have a right of access to whether we process data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to know the following information:
  • the purpose for which we are processing it;
    the categories, i.e. types, of data being processed;
  • who receives this data and, if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;
  • how long the data will be stored;
  • the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
  • that you can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
  • The origin of the data if we have not collected it from you;
  • whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically analysed to arrive at a personal profile of you.
• You have a right to rectification of data under Article 16 of the GDPR, which means that we must rectify data if you find errors.
• You have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) under Article 17 of the GDPR, which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.
• According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it any further.
• According to Article 20 of the GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a standard format upon request.
• You have a right to object under Article 21 of the GDPR, which entails a change in processing after enforcement.
  • If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you may object to the processing. We will then check as soon as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
  • If data is used to carry out direct advertising, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may then no longer use your data for direct marketing.
  • If data is used for profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for profiling thereafter.
• You may have the right under Article 22 of the GDPR not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example profiling).
• You have the right to complain under Article 77 of the GDPR. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the data processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

In short: You have rights – do not hesitate to contact the controller listed above with us!

Data transfer to third countries

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

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

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

Order processing agreement (AVV)

In this section, we would like to explain to you what a processing order is and why it is needed. Because the word “order processing agreement” is a bit of a mouthful, we will often just use the acronym AVV here in the text. Like most companies, we do not work alone, but also use the services of other companies or individuals ourselves. Through the involvement of various companies or service providers, it may be that we pass on personal data for processing. These partners then act as processors with whom we conclude a contract, the so-called order processing agreement (AVV). The most important thing for you to know is that the processing of your personal data is carried out exclusively according to our instructions and must be regulated by the GCU.

Who are processors?

As a company and website owner, we are responsible for all the data we process from you. In addition to data controllers, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person who processes personal data on our behalf. More precisely and according to the GDPR definition: any natural or legal person, authority, institution or other body that processes personal data on our behalf is considered a processor. Processors can therefore be service providers such as hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

For a better understanding of the terminology, here is an overview of the three roles in the GDPR:

Data subject (you as a customer or interested party) → controller (we as a company and client) → processor (service provider such as a web hoster or cloud provider).

Content of a processing contract

As mentioned above, we have concluded an AVV with our partners who act as processors. This states first and foremost that the processor will process the data to be processed exclusively in accordance with the GDPR. The contract must be concluded in writing; however, in this context, the electronic conclusion of the contract is also considered to be “in writing”. Only on the basis of the contract will the processing of personal data take place. The contract must contain the following:

• Binding us as the controller
• Obligations and rights of the data controller
• Categories of data subjects
• Nature of the personal data
• Nature and purpose of the data processing
• Subject and duration of data processing
• Place of performance of the data processing

Furthermore, the contract contains all obligations of the processor. The most important obligations are:

• to ensure data security measures
• to take possible technical and organisational measures to protect the rights of the data subject
• to keep a data processing register
• cooperate with the data protection supervisory authority at its request
• carry out a risk analysis in relation to the personal data received.
• Sub-processors may only be engaged with the written consent of the data controller.

You can see what such an AVV looks like in concrete terms at https://www.wko.at/service/wirtschaftsrecht-gewerberecht/eu-dsgvo-mustervertrag-auftragsverarbeitung.html, for example. A sample contract is presented here.

Cookies

Purpose of processing via cookies

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

What data is processed?

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

Storage duration of cookies

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

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

Right of objection – how can I delete cookies?

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

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

Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome.

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

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

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

Web hosting

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of the data processing are:

To professionally host the website and secure its operation
to maintain operational and IT security
Anonymous evaluation of access behaviour to improve our services and, if necessary, to prosecute or pursue claims.

What data is processed?

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

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

How long is data stored?

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

In short, your visit is logged by our provider (the 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 the processing of personal data in the context of web hosting results from Art. 6 (1) lit. f DSGVO (protection of legitimate interests), because the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary to present the company on the internet in a secure and user-friendly way and to be able to pursue attacks and claims from this if necessary.

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

World4You Privacy Policy

It is quite possible that you have already heard of the web hosting provider World4You. The web host is particularly popular in Austria. The service provider is the Austrian company World4You Internet Services GmbH, Hafenstraße 35, 4020 Linz, Austria.

Why do we use World4You?

When it comes to a website, we, probably like you, value reliability, speed and security. Even if you visit our website in the middle of the night or if we already have a lot of visitors, it has to work flawlessly. When you click on sub-pages, it must not take half an eternity for the page to load completely. And if problems do occur, there should be a good backup system that backs up our content and protects all data. In order for all this to work to our satisfaction, we naturally need a reliable web hoster. With World4You, we believe we have found a partner that meets our requirements. World4You has its own data centres and thus a fixed bandwidth, which makes a website quickly accessible. We also appreciate the company’s personal support.

Of course, you can also use this support if you have specific questions about data protection at World4You. Also recommendable is the website’s privacy policy, which you can find at https://www.world4you.com/de/unternehmen/datenschutzerklaerung.html. The FAQs at https://www.world4you.com/faq/de/dsgvo.html still have their own DSGVO section, under which you will also find a lot of useful information.

Order processing agreement (AVV) World4You

In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have concluded a contract processing agreement (CPA) with World4You (World4You Internet Services GmbH, Hafenstraße 35 , 4020 Linz, Austria). What exactly a GCU is and, above all, what must be included in a GCU, you can read in our general section “Order processing agreement (GCU)”.

This contract is required by law because World4You processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that World4You may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the order processing agreement (AVV) at https://www.world4you.com/faq/de/dsgvo/faq.stellt-world4you-eine-vereinbarung-zur-auftragsverarbeitung-zur-verfuegung.html.

Website Building Block Systems 

Why do we use website construction kit systems for our website?

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

What data is stored by a modular system?

Exactly what data is stored depends, of course, on the website construction kit system used. Each provider processes and collects different data from the website visitor. However, as a rule, technical usage information such as operating system, browser, screen resolution, language and keyboard settings, hosting provider and the date of your website visit are collected. Tracking data (e.g. browser activity, clickstream activity, session heatmaps, etc.) may also be processed. In addition, personal data may also be collected and stored. This is mostly contact data such as email address, telephone number (if you have provided it), IP address and geographical location data. You can find out exactly what data is stored in the provider’s privacy policy.

How long and where is the data stored?

We will inform you about the duration of the data processing below in connection with the website construction kit system used, provided we have further information on this. You will find detailed information about this in the provider’s privacy policy. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. It may be that the provider stores data about you according to its own specifications, over which we have no control.

Right of objection

You always have the right to information, correction and deletion of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the person responsible for the website construction system used at any time. You can find contact details either in our privacy policy or on the website of the relevant provider.

You can delete, deactivate or manage cookies that providers use for their functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Please note, however, that all functions may then no longer work as usual.

Legal basis

We have a legitimate interest in using a website construction kit in order to optimise our online service and present it to you in an efficient and user-friendly manner. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use the construction kit if you have given your consent.

Insofar as the processing of data is not absolutely necessary for the operation of the website, the data will only be processed on the basis of your consent. This applies in particular to tracking activities. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO.

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

WordPress.com Privacy Policy

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

Why do we use WordPress?

Programming is not one of our core competences. Nevertheless, we want to have a powerful and attractive website that we can manage and maintain ourselves. With a website builder or content management system like WordPress, we can do just that. With WordPress, we don’t have to be programming aces to offer you a beautiful website. Thanks to WordPress, we can operate our website quickly and easily even without any previous technical knowledge. If technical problems arise or we have special wishes for our website, there are always our experts who feel at home in HTML, PHP, CSS and Co.

How secure is the data transfer with WordPress?

WordPress processes data from you in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfer to the USA. This may entail various risks for the legality and security of data processing.
WordPress uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO) as the basis for data processing with recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular the USA) or a transfer of data there. Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data comply with European data protection standards even if they are transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, WordPress undertakes to comply with the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de
The Data Processing Agreements, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

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

WordPress.com order processing agreement (AVV)

We have concluded an order processing agreement (AVV) with WordPress.com within the meaning of Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO). You can read more about what exactly a GCU is and, in particular, what must be included in a GCU in our general section “Order processing agreement (GCU)”.

This contract is required by law because WordPress.com processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that WordPress.com may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the order processing agreement (AVV) at https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

Email marketing

Why do we use email marketing?

Of course, we want to stay in touch with you and always present you with the most important news about our company. To do this, we use, among other things, e-mail marketing – often just referred to as “newsletters” – as an essential part of our online marketing. Provided you agree to this or it is legally permitted, we will send you newsletters, system e-mails or other notifications by e-mail. When we use the term “newsletter” in the following text, we mainly mean regularly sent e-mails. Of course, we do not want to annoy you in any way with our newsletters. That is why we really always try to offer only relevant and interesting content. For example, you can learn more about our company, our services or products. Since we are always improving our offers, you will also always find out through our newsletter when there is news or when we are offering special, lucrative promotions. If we use a service provider who offers a professional mailing tool for our email marketing, we do so in order to be able to offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our email marketing is basically to inform you about new offers and also to get closer to our business goals.

What data is processed?

When you become a subscriber to our newsletter via our website, you confirm by e-mail that you are a member of an e-mail list. In addition to your IP address and e-mail address, your title, name, address and telephone number may also be stored. However, only if you agree to this data storage. The data marked as such are necessary so that you can participate in the service offered. Providing this information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will result in you not being able to use the service. In addition, information about your device or your preferred content on our website may be stored. You can find out more about the storage of data when you visit a website in the section “Automatic data storage”. We record your consent so that we can always prove that it complies with our laws.

Duration of data processing

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

However, if you confirm that you have given us your consent to subscribe to the newsletter, you can submit an individual deletion request at any time. If you permanently object to the consent, we reserve the right to store your email address in a blacklist. As long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course keep your e-mail address.

Right of objection

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 one or two clicks. In most cases, you will find a link to cancel your newsletter subscription directly at the end of each email. If you really can’t find the link in the newsletter, please contact us by email and we will cancel your newsletter subscription immediately.

Legal basis

The sending of our newsletter is based on your consent (Article 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). This means that we may only send you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. If applicable, we may also send you advertising messages if you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your email address for direct advertising.

For information on specific email marketing services and how they process personal data, where available, please see the following sections.

Blogs and publication media

Why do we use blogs and publication media?

Our biggest concern with our website is to provide you with interesting and exciting content and at the same time your opinions and content are important to us. That is why we want to create a good interactive exchange between us and you. With various blogs and publication possibilities we can achieve exactly that. For example, you can write comments on our content, comment on other comments or, in some cases, write articles yourself.

What data is processed?

Exactly what data is processed always depends on the communication functions we use. Very often, IP address, user name and the published content are stored. This is done primarily to ensure security protection, to prevent spam and to be able to take action against illegal content. Cookies can also be used for data storage. These are small text files that are stored with information in your browser. You can find more details on the data collected and stored in our individual sections and in the privacy policy of the respective provider.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, provided we have further information on this. For example, contribution and comment functions store data until you revoke the data storage. In general, personal data is only stored for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services.

Right of objection

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

Since cookies may also be used with publication media, we also recommend that you read our general data protection declaration on cookies. To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the data protection statements of the respective tools.

Legal basis

We use the communication tools mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers, business partners and visitors. Insofar as the use serves the settlement of contractual relationships or their initiation, the legal basis is furthermore Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO.

Certain processing, in particular the use of cookies and the use of comment or message functions, require your consent. If and insofar as you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by integrated publication media, this consent is considered the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). Most of the communication functions we use set cookies in your browser to store data. That is why we recommend that you read our data protection text on cookies carefully and view the data protection declaration or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

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

Blog posts and comments Privacy policy

There are various online communication tools that we may use on our website. For example, we use blog posts and comment functions. This gives you the opportunity to comment on content or write posts. If you use this function, your IP address may be stored for security reasons. This is how we protect ourselves from illegal content such as insults, unauthorised advertising or prohibited political propaganda. In order to identify whether comments are spam, we may also store and process user data on the basis of our legitimate interest. If we launch a poll, we will also store your IP address for the duration of the poll so that we can ensure that all participants really only vote once. Cookies may also be used for storage purposes. Any data we store about you (such as content or information about yourself) will remain stored until you object.

WordPress emojis privacy policy

We also use so-called emojis and smilies on our blog. We probably don’t need to explain in detail here what emojis are exactly. You know these laughing, angry or sad faces. They are graphic elements or files that we make available and are loaded from another server. The service provider for retrieving WordPress emojis and smilies is Automattic Inc, 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. This third-party provider stores your IP address in order to be able to transmit the emoji files to your browser.

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

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

The Data Processing Agreements, which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of Automattic in the Privacy Policy at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

Audio & Video Introduction

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

Of course we want to provide you with the best offer on our website. And we are aware that content is no longer conveyed simply in text and static images. Instead of just giving you a link to a video, we offer audio and video formats directly on our website that are entertaining or informative and ideally even both. This enhances our service and makes it easier for you to access interesting content. Thus, in addition to our texts and images, we also offer video and/or audio content.

What data is stored by audio & video elements?

When you call up a page on our website that has an embedded video, for example, your server connects to the service provider’s server. This also transfers data from you to the third-party provider and stores it there. Some data is collected and stored regardless of whether or not you have an account with the third-party provider. This usually includes your IP address, browser type, operating system and other general information about your end device. Furthermore, most providers also collect information about your web activity. This includes, for example, session duration, bounce rate, which button you clicked on or via which website you use the service. All this information is usually stored via cookies or pixel tags (also called web beacons). Pseudonymised data is usually stored in cookies in your browser. You can always find out exactly what data is stored and processed in the privacy policy of the respective provider.

Duration of data processing

You can find out exactly how long the data is stored on the servers of the third-party providers either below in the data protection text of the respective tool or in the data protection declaration of the provider. In principle, personal data is only processed for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services or products. As a rule, this also applies to third-party providers. In most cases, you can assume that certain data will be stored on the servers of third-party providers for several years. Data can be stored for different lengths of time specifically in cookies. Some cookies are deleted as soon as you leave the website, others may be stored in your browser for several years.

Right of objection

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

Since the integrated audio and video functions on our site usually also use cookies, you should also read our general data protection declaration on cookies. You can find out more about the handling and storage of your data in the data protection declarations of the respective third-party providers.

Legal basis

If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by integrated audio and video elements, this consent is considered the legal basis of the data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). In principle, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the integrated audio and video elements if you have given your consent.

Vimeo Privacy Policy

Why do we use Vimeo on our website?

The aim of our website is to provide you with the best possible content. And to do so as easily accessible as possible. Only when we have achieved this are we satisfied with our service. The video service Vimeo helps us to achieve this goal. Vimeo gives us the opportunity to present you with high-quality content directly on our website. Instead of just giving you a link to an interesting video, you can watch the video directly on our website. This expands our service and makes it easier for you to access interesting content. Thus, in addition to our texts and images, we also offer video content.

What data is stored on Vimeo?

When you call up a page on our website that has a Vimeo video embedded, your browser connects to the Vimeo servers. This results in a data transfer. This data is collected, stored and processed on the Vimeo 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, operating system or very basic device information. Furthermore, Vimeo stores information about which website you use the Vimeo service and what actions (web activities) you perform on our website. These web activities include, for example, session duration, bounce rate or which button you clicked on our website with a built-in Vimeo function. Vimeo may track and store these actions using cookies and similar technologies.

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

Below we show you cookies that are set by Vimeo when you are on a website with 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 way, the next time you watch a Vimeo video, you will get your preferred settings again.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: vuid
Wert: pl1046149876.614422590112524310-4
Purpose: This cookie collects information about your actions on websites that have embedded a Vimeo video.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Note: These two cookies are always set as soon as you are on a website with an embedded Vimeo video. When you watch the video and click on the button to “share” or “like” the video, for example, other cookies are set. These are also third-party cookies such as _ga or _gat_UA-76641-8 from Google Analytics or _fbp from Facebook. Exactly which cookies are set here depends on your interaction with the video.

The following list shows a sample of possible cookies that are set when you interact with the Vimeo video:

Name: _abexps
Value: %5B%5D
Purpose: This Vimeo cookie helps Vimeo to remember the settings you have made. This can be, for example, a preset language, a region or a user name. In general, the cookie stores data about 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 about how you use the Vimeo service. For example, the cookie records when you pause or replay a video.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: _ga
Wert: GA1.2.1522249635.1578401280112524310-7
Purpose: This cookie is a third-party cookie from Google. By default, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: _gcl_au
Wert: 1.1.770887836.1578401279112524310-3
Purpose: This third-party cookie from Google AdSense is used to improve the effectiveness of advertisements on websites.
Expiry date: after 3 months

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

How long and where is the data stored?

Vimeo has its headquarters in White Plains in the state of New York (USA). However, the services are offered worldwide. The company uses computer systems, databases and servers in the USA and also in other countries. Your data can therefore also be stored and processed on servers in America. The data remains stored by Vimeo until the company no longer has an economic reason for storing it. Then the data will be deleted or anonymised.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You always have the option to manage cookies in your browser according to your wishes. For example, if you do not want Vimeo to set cookies and thus collect information about you, you can delete or deactivate cookies in your browser settings at any time. Depending on the browser, this works a little differently. Please note that after deactivating/deleting cookies, various functions may no longer be available to the full extent. Under the section “Cookies” you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers.

If you are a registered Vimeo member, you can also manage the cookies used in the settings on Vimeo.

Legal basis

If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by integrated Vimeo elements, this consent is considered the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the integrated Vimeo elements if you have given your consent. Vimeo also sets cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

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

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

More information on the standard contractual clauses at Vimeo can be found at https://vimeo.com/privacy#international_data_transfers_and_certain_user_rights.

You can find out more about the use of cookies at Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/cookie_policy, and information on data protection at Vimeo can be found at https://vimeo.com/privacy.

YouTube privacy policy

Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?

YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and the best content. We are committed to providing you with the best possible user experience on our website. And of course, we can’t do without interesting videos. With the help of our embedded videos, we provide you with further helpful content in addition to our texts and images. In addition, the embedded videos make our website easier to find on the Google search engine. Also, when we run ads through Google Ads, Google – thanks to the data it collects – can really only show these ads to people who are interested in what we have to offer.

What data is stored by YouTube?

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

If you are not signed in to a Google Account or a YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier associated with your device, browser or app. For example, your preferred language setting is retained. But a lot of interaction data cannot be stored because fewer cookies are set.

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

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5Y112524310-1
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video watched.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

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

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

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

Name: APISID
Wert: zILlvClZSkqGsSwI/AU1aZI6HY7112524310-
Purpose: This cookie is used to create a profile about your interests. The data is used for personalised advertisements.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

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

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

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

Name: SID
Value: oQfNKjAsI112524310-
Purpose: This cookie stores your Google Account ID and your last login time in digitally signed and encrypted form.
Expiry date: after 2 years

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

How long and where is the data stored?

The data that YouTube receives from you and processes is stored on Google servers. Most of these servers are located in America. You can see exactly where Google’s data centres are located at https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de. Your data is distributed across the servers. This means that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against manipulation.

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Basically, you can delete data in your Google Account manually. With the automatic deletion feature of location and activity data introduced in 2019, information will be stored depending on your decision – either 3 or 18 months and then deleted.

Whether you have a Google account or not, you can configure your browser to delete or disable cookies from Google. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Under the section “Cookies” you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers.

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow it or not.

Legal basis

If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by embedded YouTube elements, this consent is considered the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). In principle, your data will also be stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. Nevertheless, we only use the embedded YouTube elements if you have given your consent. YouTube also sets cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text on cookies carefully and view the data protection declaration or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider.

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

As a basis for data processing with recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a data transfer there, YouTube uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). These clauses oblige YouTube to comply with the EU level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

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

YouTube Subscribe Button Privacy Policy

We have installed the YouTube subscribe button on our website. You can usually recognise the button by the classic YouTube logo. The logo shows the words “Subscribe” or “YouTube” in white letters against a red background and the white “Play” symbol to the left. However, the button can also be displayed in a different design.

Our YouTube channel always offers you funny, interesting or exciting videos. With the built-in “Subscribe” button, you can subscribe to our channel directly from our website and do not have to go to the YouTube website. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to access our extensive content. Please note that YouTube may store and process data about you as a result.

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

Name: YSC
Value: b9-CV6ojI5112524310Y
Purpose: This cookie registers a unique ID to store statistics of the video watched.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

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

Name: VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE
Value: 11252431095Chz8bagyU
Purpose: This cookie attempts to estimate the user’s bandwidth on our websites (with embedded YouTube video).
Expiry date: after 8 months

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

If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can save many of your actions/interactions on our website with the help of cookies and assign them to your YouTube account. YouTube thus receives information, for example, about how long you surf our site, what type of browser you use, what screen resolution you prefer or what actions you perform.

YouTube uses this data on the one hand to improve its own services and offers, and on the other hand to provide analyses and statistics for advertisers (who use Google Ads).

Web design

What is web design?

We use various tools on our website that serve our web design. Web design is not, as often assumed, only about making our website look pretty, but also about functionality and performance. But of course, making a website look good is also one of the big goals of professional web design. Web design is a branch of media design and deals with the visual as well as the structural and functional design of a website. The goal is to use web design to improve your experience on our website. In web design jargon, this is referred to as user experience (UX) and usability. User experience refers to all impressions and experiences that the website visitor experiences on a website. A sub-item of user experience is usability. This is about the user-friendliness of a website. The main focus here is on ensuring that content, subpages or products are clearly structured and that you can easily and quickly find what you are looking for. In order to offer you the best possible experience on our website, we also use so-called third-party web design tools. In this privacy policy, the category “web design” therefore includes all services that improve the design of our website. These can be, for example, fonts, various plug-ins or other integrated web design functions.

Why do we use web design tools?

How you absorb information on a website depends very much on the structure, functionality and visual perception of the website. Therefore, a good and professional web design became more and more important for us as well. We are constantly working on improving our website and also see this as an extended service for you as a website visitor. Furthermore, a beautiful and functioning website also has economic advantages for us. After all, you will only visit us and make use of our offers if you feel completely comfortable.

What data is stored by web design tools?

When you visit our website, web design elements may be integrated into our pages that can also process data. Exactly what data is involved depends, of course, on the tools used. Below you can see exactly which tools we use for our website. We recommend that you also read the respective data protection statement of the tools used for more detailed information on data processing. In most cases, you will find out there which data is processed, whether cookies are used and how long the data is stored. Fonts such as Google Fonts, for example, also automatically transmit information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name to the Google servers.

Duration of data processing

How long data is processed is very individual and depends on the web design elements used. For example, if cookies are used, the retention period can be as short as a minute or as long as a few years. Please find out more about this. On the one hand, we recommend our general text section on cookies and the data protection declarations of the tools used. There you will usually find out exactly which cookies are used and what information is stored in them. Google font files, for example, are stored for one year. This is to improve the loading time of a website. In principle, data is only stored for as long as is necessary for the provision of the service. In the case of legal requirements, data can also be stored for longer.

Right of objection

You also have the right and the possibility to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. This works either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can also prevent data collection through cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser. However, under web design elements (mostly for fonts) there is also data that cannot be deleted quite so easily. This is the case if data is automatically collected directly when a page is called up and transmitted to a third-party provider (such as Google). In this case, please contact the support of the relevant provider. In the case of Google, you can reach support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de.

Legal basis

If you have consented to web design tools being used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur when web design tools are used. From our side, there is also a legitimate interest in improving the web design on our website. After all, only then can we provide you with a beautiful and professional web offer. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use web design tools if you have given your consent. We would like to emphasise this again here in any case.

Information on specific web design tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.

Adobe Fonts Privacy Policy

We use Adobe Fonts, a web font hosting service, on our website. The service provider is the American company Adobe Inc. The Irish company Adobe Systems Software Ireland Companies, 4-6 Riverwalk, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, Ireland, is responsible for the European region.

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

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

More information on the data processed and the standard contractual clauses at Adobe can be found at https://www.adobe.com/de/privacy/eudatatransfers.html.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

Google Fonts allows us to use fonts on our own website, rather than having to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important component in keeping the quality of our website high. All Google Fonts are automatically optimised for the web and this saves data volume and is a great advantage especially for use on mobile devices. When you visit our site, the low file size ensures a fast loading time. Furthermore, Google Fonts are secure web fonts. Different image synthesis systems (rendering) in different browsers, operating systems and mobile devices can lead to errors. Such errors can sometimes distort the appearance of texts or entire web pages. Thanks to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), there are no cross-platform problems with Google Fonts. Google Fonts supports all major browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) and works reliably on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod). We therefore use Google Fonts so that we can present our entire online service as beautifully and consistently as possible.

What data is stored by Google?

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

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The data that Google stores for a day or a year cannot simply be deleted. The data is automatically transmitted to Google when the page is accessed. In order to delete this data prematurely, you need to contact Google support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=112524310. Data storage can only be prevented in this case if you do not visit our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unlimited access to all fonts. So we can access an unlimited sea of fonts and get the most out of our website. You can find out more about Google Fonts and other issues at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=112524310. There, Google does go into privacy-related matters, but really detailed information about data storage is not included. It is relatively difficult to get really precise information about stored data from Google.

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

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

Online map services 

Why do we use online map services on our website?

Generally speaking, we want you to have a pleasant time on our website. And, of course, your time is only pleasant if you can easily find your way around our website and find all the information you need quickly and easily. That’s why we thought an online map system could be another significant improvement to our website service. Without leaving our website, you can easily view route descriptions, locations or even points of interest with the help of the map system. Of course, it is also super practical that you can see at a glance where we are located, so that you can find us quickly and safely. As you can see, there are simply many advantages and we clearly consider online map services on our website as part of our customer service.

What data are stored by online map services?

When you open a page on our website that has an online map function built in, personal data may be transmitted to the respective service and stored there. In most cases, this is your IP address, which can also be used to determine your approximate position. In addition to the IP address, data such as search terms entered and latitude and longitude coordinates are also stored. If you enter an address for route planning, for example, this data is also stored. The data is not stored by us, but on the servers of the integrated tools. You can imagine it like this: You are on our website, but when you interact with a map service, this interaction actually happens on their website. In order for the service to function properly, at least one cookie is usually also set in your browser. Google Maps, for example, also uses cookies to record user behaviour in order to optimise its own service and to be able to serve personalised advertising. You can find out more about cookies in our “Cookies” section.

How long and where is the data stored?

Each online map service processes different user data. If we have further information, we will inform you about the duration of data processing below in the corresponding sections on the individual tools. In principle, personal data is only ever retained for as long as is necessary for the provision of the service. Google Maps, for example, stores certain data for a fixed period of time, while you have to delete other data yourself. With Mapbox, for example, the IP address is stored for 30 days and then deleted. As you can see, each tool stores data for a different length of time. We therefore recommend that you take a close look at the data protection statements of the tools used.

The providers also use cookies to store data on your user behaviour with the map service. You can find more general information on cookies in our “Cookies” section, but you can also find out which cookies may be used in the data protection texts of the individual providers. In most cases, however, this is only an exemplary list and is not complete.

Right of objection

You always have the possibility and also the right to access your personal data and also to object to its use and processing. You can also revoke the consent you have given us at any time. As a rule, the easiest way to do this is via the cookie consent tool. However, there are also other opt-out tools that you can use. You can also manage, delete or deactivate possible cookies set by the providers used yourself with just a few mouse clicks. However, it may then happen that some functions of the service no longer work as usual. How you manage cookies in your browser also depends on the browser you use. In the section “Cookies” you will also find links to the instructions of the most important browsers.

Legal basis

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

We also have a legitimate interest in using an online map service to optimise our service on our website. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). However, we only ever use an online map service if you have given your consent. It is important for us to state this again at this point.

You will find information on specific online map services – where available – in the following sections.

Google Maps Privacy Policy

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

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

What data is stored by Google Maps?

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

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

Name: NID
Wert: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ112524310-5
Purpose: NID is used by Google to customise advertisements to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. This way you will always get tailored ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Note: We cannot guarantee completeness in the information we store. Especially when using cookies, changes can never be excluded. In order to identify the cookie NID, a separate test page was created where only Google Maps was integrated.

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

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

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow it or not.

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

If you want to learn more about Google’s data processing, we recommend reading the company’s in-house privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Content search provider introduction

Why do we use a content search provider?

If you look around our website, you’ll quickly realise how much useful content we’ve published over the years. There are real treasures among them and we want you to find them quickly without having to click around. With a content search function directly on our website, you can quickly and easily find the content you are looking for using keywords that match the topic you are looking for. This feature is really handy and we also see it as our task to make your life on our website as pleasant and helpful as possible. That is why we have decided to integrate a content search programme into our website.

What data is processed?

When you use the search function on our website, the integrated content search provider (such as Algolia Places or Giphy) may automatically receive and store data from you. This is technical data about your browser as well as data such as your IP address, device ID and the search terms entered. Please note that IP addresses are personal data. The privacy statements of the providers state that this information is collected and stored in order to increase security and improve their own services. The automatically collected usage data, which does not include personal data and is processed in anonymised form, can also be used for analysis purposes. Some providers also pass on this anonymised data to third parties. To find out more about this, we recommend that you read the specific data protection declarations of the individual providers carefully. In order for the services to function properly, cookies are usually also set in your browser. You can find out more about cookies in our general section “Cookies”. You can find out whether and which cookies the individual search tools use – if available – below or in the corresponding data protection declarations of the integrated tools.

How long and where is the data stored?

As a general rule, each content search provider processes different data. Therefore, this general section cannot specifically address the data processing of the individual tools. However, usually the services only store personal data as long as this is necessary for the smooth functioning of the tools. Some services (such as Giphy) also retain personal data for longer periods if required by legal obligations. In depersonalised form, data is also kept longer by most providers. Content search providers may also use cookies to store various data. You can read more about this in our general section on cookies. If you want to know about the specific cookies that a search provider uses, we recommend that you read the privacy policy of the providers we use. In most cases, you will find an exemplary list of the cookies used there.

Right to object

Always be aware: if you do not want it, no personal data of yours may be processed. You always have the right to access your personal data and object to its use. You can also revoke your consent at any time via the cookie consent tool or via other opt-out options. You can also easily manage, delete or deactivate cookies used yourself via your browser. If you delete cookies, some functions of the tool may no longer work. So please do not be surprised about this. How you manage cookies in your browser also depends on the browser you use. In the section “Cookies” you will also find links to the instructions of the most important browsers.

Legal basis

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

We also have a legitimate interest in using a content search provider to optimise our service on our website. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). However, we only ever use a content search provider if you have given your consent. We definitely want to have this stated again at this point.

You will find information on specific content search providers – if available – in the following sections.

Google Custom Search Privacy Policy

Why do we use Google Custom Search on our website?

A website with a lot of interesting content often grows so large that it is possible to lose track of it all. Over time we have also accumulated a lot of valuable material and as part of our service we want you to find our content as quickly and easily as possible. The custom Google search makes finding interesting content a breeze. The built-in Google plug-in improves the overall quality of our website and makes searching easier for you.

What data is stored by Google Custom Search?

Google Custom Search only transfers data from you to Google when you actively use Google Search built into our website. This means that only when you enter a search term in the search bar and then confirm this term (e.g. click “Enter”) is your IP address sent to Google, stored and processed there in addition to the search term. Based on the cookies set (such as 1P_JAR), it can be assumed that Google also receives data on website usage. If you search for content during your visit to our website using the built-in Google search function and are logged in with your Google account at the same time, Google can also assign the collected data to your Google account. As the website operator, we have no influence on what Google does with the collected data or how Google processes the data.

The following cookies are set in your browser if you use the Google custom search and are not logged in with a Google account:

Name: 1P_JAR
Value: 2020-01-27-13112524310-5
Purpose: This cookie collects website usage statistics and measures conversions. A conversion occurs, for example, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant advertisements to users.
Expiry date: after one month

Name: CONSENT
Value: WP.282f52112524310-9
Purpose: The cookie stores the status of a user’s consent to use various Google services. CONSENT is also used for security purposes to verify users and protect user data from unauthorised attacks.
Expiry date: after 18 years

Name: NID
Value: 196=pwIo3B5fHr-8
Purpose: NID is used by Google to customise advertisements to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” the search queries you entered or your previous interaction with ads. So you always get tailored ads.
Expiry date: after 6 months

Note: This list cannot claim to be exhaustive, as Google also changes the choice of its cookies from time to time.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google servers are distributed all over the world. Since Google is an American company, most of the data is stored on American servers. You can see exactly where the Google servers are located at https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de.
Your data is distributed on different physical data carriers. This means that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against possible manipulation. Google also has appropriate emergency programmes for your data. For example, if there are internal technical problems at Google and servers stop working as a result, the risk of service interruption and data loss still remains low.
Google stores data for different lengths of time, depending on the data in question. Some data you can delete yourself, others are automatically deleted or anonymised by Google. However, there is also data that Google stores for longer if this is necessary for legal or business reasons.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to access, update, delete or restrict your data. There is some data that you can delete at any time. If you have a Google account, you can delete data about your web activity there or set it to be deleted after a certain time.
In your browser, you also have the option of deactivating cookies, deleting them or managing them according to your wishes and preferences. Under the section “Cookies” you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers.

Legal basis

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

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

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

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

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

We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Google. If you would like to learn more about this, we recommend Google’s comprehensive privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Explanation of terms used

We always try to make our privacy policy as clear and understandable as possible. However, this is not always easy, especially when it comes to technical and legal topics. It often makes sense to use legal terms (such as personal data) or certain technical terms (such as cookies, IP address). However, we do not want to use these without explanation. Below you will now find an alphabetical list of important terms used that we may not have sufficiently addressed in the previous privacy statement. If these terms have been taken from the GDPR and are definitions, we will also quote the GDPR texts here and add our own explanations where necessary.

Processor

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“processor” means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller;

Explanation: As a company and website owner, we are responsible for all data we process from you. In addition to data controllers, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person that processes personal data on our behalf. Processors can therefore include service providers such as tax advisors, hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

Consent

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“consent” of the data subject means any freely given specific, informed and unambiguous indication of his or her wishes, in the form of a statement or other unambiguous affirmative act, by which the data subject signifies his or her agreement to personal data relating to him or her being processed;

Explanation: As a rule, such consent is given on websites via a cookie consent tool. You are probably familiar with this. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, you are usually asked via a banner whether you agree or consent to the data processing. In most cases, you can also make individual settings and thus decide for yourself which data processing you permit and which you do not. If you do not consent, no personal data of yours may be processed. In principle, consent can of course also be given in writing, i.e. not via a tool.

Personal data

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter “data subject”); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

Explanation: Personal data is therefore all data that can identify you as a person. This is usually data such as:

Name
Address
E-mail address
Postal address
Telephone number
Date of birth
Identification numbers such as national insurance number, tax identification number, identity card number or matriculation number
Bank data such as account number, credit information, account balances, etc.

According to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), your IP address is also personal data. IT experts can use your IP address to determine at least the approximate location of your device and subsequently you as the connection owner. Therefore, the storage of an IP address also requires a legal basis within the meaning of the GDPR. There are also so-called “special categories” of personal data that also require special protection. These include:

racial and ethnic origin
political opinions
religious or ideological convictions
trade union membership
genetic data, such as data taken from blood or saliva samples
biometric data (which is information on mental, physical or behavioural characteristics that can identify an individual).
health data
data on sexual orientation or sexual life

Profiling

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“profiling” means any automated processing of personal data which consists in using such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects relating to that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or change of location;

Explanation: Profiling involves gathering various pieces of information about an individual in order to learn more about that individual. In the web sector, profiling is often used for advertising purposes or for credit checks. Web or advertising analysis programmes, for example, collect data about your behaviour and interests on a website. This results in a specific user profile which can be used to target advertising to a specific group.

Responsible

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“controller” means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its designation may be provided for under Union or Member State law;

Explanation: In our case, we are responsible for the processing of your personal data and therefore the “controller”. If we pass on collected data to other service providers for processing, they are “processors”. This requires the signing of a “contract for processing (GCP)”.

Processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“processing” means any operation or set of operations which is performed upon personal data, whether or not by automatic means, such as collection, recording, organisation, filing, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;

Note: When we talk about processing in our privacy policy, we mean any kind of data processing. This includes, as mentioned above in the original GDPR statement, not only the collection but also the storage and processing of data.

Conclusion

Congratulations! If you are reading these lines, you have really “fought” your way through our entire data protection declaration, or at least scrolled this far. As you can see from the scope of our privacy policy, we do not take the protection of your personal data lightly.
It is important to us to inform you to the best of our knowledge and belief about the processing of personal data. In doing so, we not only want to tell you what data is processed, but also explain the reasons for the use of various software programmes. As a rule, data protection statements sound very technical and legalistic. However, since most of you are not web developers or lawyers, we also wanted to take a different linguistic approach and explain the facts in simple and clear language. Of course, this is not always possible due to the subject matter. Therefore, the most important terms are explained in more detail at the end of the privacy policy.
If you have any questions about data protection on our website, please do not hesitate to contact us or the responsible office. We wish you a pleasant time and hope to welcome you on our website again soon.

All texts are protected by copyright.

Source: Created with the Datenschutz Generator from AdSimple