Privacy Policy and Consents
Table of Contents:
1. Purpose and responsible party
2. Basic information on data processing
3. Processing of personal data
4. Collection of access data
5. Cookies & Reach Measurement
6. Google Analytics
7. Google Re/Marketing Services
8. Facebook Social Plugins
9. Facebook Remarketing
10. Newsletter
11. Integration of Third Party Services and Content
12. User Rights and Deletion
13. Changes to the Privacy Policy
1. Purpose and responsible party
This Privacy Policy clarifies the nature, scope, and purpose of the processing (including collection, processing, and use as well as obtaining consent) of personal data within our online offering and the related websites, features, and content (hereinafter collectively referred to as „online offering“ or „website“). The Privacy Policy applies regardless of the domains, systems, platforms, and devices (e.g., desktop or mobile) on which the online offering is executed. The provider of the online offering and the data protection responsible party is [Provider Name], [Owner], [Address], (hereinafter referred to as „provider“, „we“, or „us“). For contact options, please refer to our imprint. The term „users“ includes all customers and visitors of our online offering. The terminology used, such as „users“, is to be understood as gender-neutral.
2. Basic information on data processing
We only process users‘ personal data in compliance with the relevant data protection regulations, in accordance with the principles of data minimization and avoidance. This means that user data is only processed when there is a legal permission, especially when the data is necessary for the provision of our contractual services and online services, or when there is consent. We implement organizational, contractual, and technical security measures in accordance with the state of the art to ensure compliance with data protection laws and to protect the data processed by us against accidental or intentional manipulation, loss, destruction, or unauthorized access. If content, tools, or other means from third-party providers (hereinafter collectively referred to as „third-party providers“) are used within the scope of this data protection declaration and their stated headquarters are located abroad, it must be assumed that data is transferred to the headquarters of the third-party providers. The transfer of data to third countries is either based on a legal permission, user consent, or special contractual clauses that ensure the legally required security of the data.
3. Processing of personal data
In addition to the uses explicitly mentioned in this privacy policy, personal data is processed for the following purposes based on legal permissions or user consent: – Provision, execution, maintenance, optimization, and security of our services, service, and user performance; – Ensuring effective customer service and technical support. We only transmit user data to third parties if necessary for billing purposes (e.g., to a payment service provider) or for other purposes necessary to fulfill our contractual obligations to users (e.g., providing addresses to suppliers). When contacting us (via contact form or email), the user’s information is stored for the purpose of processing the request and in case follow-up questions arise. Personal data is deleted once it has fulfilled its purpose and no retention obligations oppose deletion.
4. Collection of access data
We collect data on every access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). Access data includes the name of the accessed webpage, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, message about successful access, browser type and version, user’s operating system, referrer URL (previously visited page), IP address, and requesting provider. We use the log data in accordance with legal regulations solely for statistical evaluations for the purpose of operation, security, and optimization of our online offering, without attributing it to the individual user or creating other profiles. However, we reserve the right to subsequently review the log data if there is concrete evidence of unlawful use.
5. Cookies & Reach Measurement
Cookies are pieces of information that are transferred from our web server or third-party web servers to users‘ web browsers and stored there for later retrieval. Users are informed about the use of cookies for pseudonymous reach measurement within the scope of this privacy policy. Viewing this online offer is also possible without cookies. If users do not want cookies to be stored on their computer, they are asked to deactivate the corresponding option in their browser’s system settings. Stored cookies can be deleted in the system settings of the browser. The exclusion of cookies can lead to functional limitations of this online offer. It is possible to manage many online advertising cookies from companies via the US website http://www.aboutads.info/choices or the EU website http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/.
6. Google Analytics
We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. („Google“). Google utilizes cookies. The information generated by the cookie about the use of the online offer by users is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate the use of our online offer by users, to compile reports on activities within this online offer, and to provide us with further services related to the use of this online offer and the internet usage. Pseudonymous usage profiles of users can be created from the processed data. We only use Google Analytics with IP anonymization enabled. This means that the IP address of users will be truncated by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. The IP address transmitted by the user’s browser will not be merged with other Google data. Users can prevent the storage of cookies by setting their browser software accordingly; users can also prevent Google from collecting the data generated by the cookie and relating to their use of the online offer, as well as the processing of this data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. Further information on data usage for advertising purposes by Google, setting options, and objection possibilities can be found on Google’s websites: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/partners („Data usage by Google when you use websites or apps of our partners“), http://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads („Data usage for advertising purposes“), http://www.google.de/settings/ads („Manage information Google uses to show you ads“), and http://www.google.com/ads/preferences („Determine which ads Google shows you“).
7. Google Advertising/Marketing Services
We utilize the marketing and remarketing services (collectively „Google Marketing Services“) of Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA („Google“). The Google Marketing Services allow us to display advertisements for and on our website more targetedly, to show users only ads that potentially match their interests. For example, if users are shown ads for products they have previously shown interest in on other websites, this is referred to as „remarketing“. For these purposes, when our website and other websites where Google Marketing Services are active are accessed, Google immediately executes a code from Google, and so-called (re)marketing tags (invisible graphics or code, also referred to as „web beacons“) are integrated into the website. With their help, an individual cookie, i.e., a small file, is stored on the user’s device (instead of cookies, comparable technologies can also be used). The cookies can be set by various domains, including google.com, doubleclick.net, invitemedia.com, admeld.com, googlesyndication.com, or googleadservices.com. This file records which websites the user has visited, what content they are interested in, which offers they have clicked on, as well as technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, visit time, and further information about the use of the online service. The IP address of the user is also recorded, whereby we inform within the scope of Google Analytics that the IP address is shortened within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area and only in exceptional cases is it transmitted in full to a server of Google in the USA and shortened there. The IP address is not merged with data of the user within other offers of Google. These aforementioned information may also be linked with information from other sources. Subsequently, when the user visits other websites, advertisements tailored to their interests may be displayed to them. The data of the users are processed pseudonymously within the scope of Google Marketing Services. This means that Google does not store and process the name or email address of the users, for example, but processes the relevant data cookie-related within pseudonymous user profiles. From Google’s perspective, the ads are not managed and displayed for a specifically identified person, but for the cookie holder, regardless of who this cookie holder is. This does not apply if a user has expressly allowed Google to process the data without this pseudonymization. The information collected about the users by „DoubleClick“ is transmitted to Google and stored on Google’s servers in the USA. One of the Google Marketing Services we use is the online advertising program „Google AdWords“. In the case of Google AdWords, each AdWords customer receives a different „conversion cookie“. Therefore, cookies cannot be tracked across the websites of AdWords customers. The information obtained with the help of the cookie is used to create conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have opted for conversion tracking. AdWords customers learn the total number of users who clicked on their ad and were redirected to a page with a conversion tracking tag. However, they do not receive any information that personally identifies users. We integrate third-party advertisements based on the Google Marketing Service „DoubleClick“. DoubleClick uses cookies, which enables Google and its partner websites to serve ads based on users‘ visits to this website or other websites on the internet. Furthermore, we integrate third-party advertisements based on the Google Marketing Service „AdSense“. AdSense uses cookies, which enables Google and its partner websites to serve ads based on users‘ visits to this website or other websites on the internet. Another Google Marketing Service used by us is the „Google Tag Manager“, which allows further Google analysis and marketing services to be integrated into our website (e.g., „AdWords“, „DoubleClick“, or „Google Analytics“). For more information on data usage for marketing purposes by Google, please visit the overview page: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads, and Google’s privacy policy can be found at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy. If you wish to opt out of the collection by Google Marketing Services, you can use the settings and opt-out options provided by Google: http://www.google.com/ads/preferences.
8. Facebook Social Plugins
Our online offering uses social plugins („plugins“) from the social network facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland („Facebook“). The plugins can be recognized by one of the Facebook logos (white „f“ on a blue tile, the terms „Like,“ „Like“ or a „thumbs up“ sign) or are marked with the addition „Facebook Social Plugin.“ The list and appearance of the Facebook Social Plugins can be viewed here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/. When a user calls up a function of this online offering that contains such a plugin, their device establishes a direct connection to the servers of Facebook. The content of the plugin is transmitted directly from Facebook to the user’s device and integrated into the online offering. Usage profiles of the users can be created from the processed data. We therefore have no influence on the scope of the data that Facebook collects with the help of this plugin and inform the users according to our state of knowledge. By integrating the plugins, Facebook receives the information that a user has accessed the corresponding page of the online offering. If the user is logged into Facebook, Facebook can assign the visit to their Facebook account. If users interact with the plugins, for example by pressing the Like button or leaving a comment, the corresponding information is transmitted directly from their device to Facebook and stored there. If a user is not a member of Facebook, there is still the possibility that Facebook will obtain and store their IP address. According to Facebook, only anonymized IP addresses are stored in Germany. The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook as well as the relevant rights and setting options for the protection of users‘ privacy can be found in Facebook’s privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/. If a user is a Facebook member and does not want Facebook to collect data about them via this online offering and link it to their member data stored on Facebook, they must log out of Facebook before using our online offering and delete their cookies. Further settings and objections to the use of data for advertising purposes are possible within the Facebook profile settings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads or via the US page http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU page http://www.youronlinechoices.com/. The settings are platform-independent, i.e., they are applied to all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.
9. Facebook Remarketing
Within our online offering, so-called „Facebook pixels“ of the social network Facebook, operated by Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA, or if you are located in the EU, Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland ( „Facebook“), are used. With the help of the Facebook pixel, Facebook is able to determine the visitors of our offer as a target group for the display of advertisements, so-called „Facebook ads“. Accordingly, we use the Facebook pixel to only display the Facebook ads placed by us to those Facebook users who have also shown an interest in our online offer. This means that with the help of the Facebook pixel, we want to ensure that our Facebook ads correspond to the potential interests of users and do not appear annoying. With the help of the Facebook pixel, we can also track the effectiveness of Facebook advertisements for statistical and market research purposes by seeing whether users were redirected to our website after clicking on a Facebook advertisement. The Facebook pixel is immediately integrated by Facebook when you visit our website and can store a so-called cookie, i.e. a small file, on your device. If you subsequently log in to Facebook or visit Facebook while logged in, the visit to our offer will be noted in your profile. The data collected about you is anonymous to us, so it does not allow us to draw conclusions about the identity of the users. However, the data is stored and processed by Facebook, so that a connection to the respective user profile is possible. The processing of data by Facebook takes place within the framework of Facebook’s data usage policy. Accordingly, you will receive further information on the functioning of the remarketing pixel and generally on the display of Facebook ads in Facebook’s data usage policy: [https://www.facebook.com/policy.php](https://www.facebook.com/policy.php). You can object to the collection by the Facebook pixel and the use of your data for the display of Facebook ads. To do this, you can visit the page set up by Facebook and follow the instructions on settings for usage-based advertising: [https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads](https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads) or object via the US page [http://www.aboutads.info/choices/](http://www.aboutads.info/choices/) or the EU page [http://www.youronlinechoices.com/](http://www.youronlinechoices.com/). The settings are platform-independent, i.e. they are applied to all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.
10. Newsletter
With the following information, we inform you about the contents of our newsletter as well as the registration, dispatch, and statistical evaluation procedures, as well as your right to object. By subscribing to our newsletter, you agree to receive it and to the described procedures. Content of the newsletter: We send newsletters, emails, and other electronic notifications with promotional information (hereinafter „newsletter“) only with the consent of the recipients or legal permission. If the content of the newsletter is specifically described as part of a registration, it is decisive for the consent of the users. Otherwise, our newsletters contain the following information: our products, offers, promotions, and our company. Double opt-in and logging: The registration for our newsletter takes place in a so-called double opt-in procedure. That means, after registration, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that nobody can register with foreign email addresses. Registrations for the newsletter are logged in order to be able to prove the registration process in accordance with legal requirements. This includes the storage of the registration and confirmation time as well as the IP address. Changes to your data stored with the shipping service provider are also logged. Shipping service provider: The newsletters are sent via [name of the service provider] (hereinafter referred to as „shipping service provider“). You can view the data protection regulations of the shipping service provider here: [link]. The email addresses of our newsletter recipients, as well as their other data described in these notes, are stored on the servers of the shipping service provider. The shipping service provider uses this information to send and evaluate the newsletters on our behalf. Furthermore, according to its own information, the shipping service provider can use this data to optimize or improve its own services, for example for the technical optimization of shipping and the display of newsletters or for economic purposes, to determine from which countries the recipients come. However, the shipping service provider does not use the data of our newsletter recipients to write to them directly or to pass them on to third parties. Registration data: To register for the newsletter, it is sufficient to provide your email address. Statistical surveys and analyses – The newsletters contain a so-called „web beacon,“ i.e. a pixel-sized file that is retrieved from the shipping service provider’s server when the newsletter is opened. As part of this retrieval, technical information such as information about the browser and your system, as well as your IP address and the time of retrieval, are first collected. This information is used to technically improve the services based on technical data or the target groups and their reading behavior based on their retrieval locations (which can be determined using the IP address) or access times. The statistical surveys also include determining whether the newsletters are opened, when they are opened, and which links are clicked. Although these pieces of information can be assigned to individual newsletter recipients for technical reasons, it is neither our intention nor that of the shipping service provider to monitor individual users. The evaluations serve us much more to recognize the reading habits of our users and to adapt our content to them or to send different content according to the interests of our users. Termination/Revocation – You can cancel the receipt of our newsletter at any time, i.e. revoke your consent. At the same time, your consent to its dispatch by the shipping service provider and the statistical analyses will expire. Unfortunately, a separate revocation of the dispatch by the shipping service provider or the statistical analysis is not possible. You will find a link to unsubscribe from the newsletter at the end of each newsletter.
11. Integration of Third Party Services and Content
It may occur that within our online offering, content or services from third-party providers, such as maps or fonts from other websites, are integrated. The integration of content from third-party providers always requires that the third-party providers perceive the IP address of the users, as they could not send the content to the users‘ browser without the IP address. The IP address is therefore necessary for the display of this content. Furthermore, the providers of third-party content may set their own cookies and process the data of users for their own purposes. Usage profiles of users can be created from the processed data. We will use this content as sparingly as possible in terms of data and choose reliable third-party providers with regard to data security. The following presentation provides an overview of third-party providers and their content, along with links to their privacy policies, which provide further information on data processing and, in some cases already mentioned here, options for objection (so-called opt-out): – External fonts from Google, Inc., https://www.google.com/fonts („Google Fonts“). The integration of Google Fonts is done through a server call to Google (usually in the USA). Privacy Policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, Opt-Out: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/. – Maps from the „Google Maps“ service of the third-party provider Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, provided. Privacy Policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, Opt-Out: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/. – Videos from the „YouTube“ platform of the third-party provider Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy Policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, Opt-Out: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/.
12. User Rights and Data Deletion
Users have the right to request, free of charge, information about the personal data we have stored about them. Additionally, users have the right to correct inaccurate data, revoke consent, block and delete their personal data, and in the event of suspected unlawful data processing, the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority. Data stored by us will be deleted as soon as it is no longer necessary for its intended purpose and there are no legal retention obligations preventing deletion.
13. Changes to the Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to amend the privacy policy to adapt it to changed legal situations or changes in the service and data processing. However, this only applies to explanations regarding data processing. If user consent is required or if parts of the privacy policy contain provisions of the contractual relationship with the users, changes will only be made with the users‘ consent. Users are requested to regularly inform themselves about the content of the privacy policy.