Privacy policy for our website

Data protection declaration for our social media appearances

Privacy Policy

1. An overview of data protection

Analytics and third-party tools

When visiting our website, statistical analyses may be made of your surfing behavior. This happens primarily using cookies and analytics. The analysis of your surfing behavior is usually anonymous, i.e. we will not be able to identify you from this data. You can object to this analysis or prevent it by not using certain tools. Detailed information can be found in the following privacy policy. You can object to this analysis. We will inform you below about how to exercise your options in this regard.

2. General information and mandatory information

SSL or TLS encryption

This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content, such as the inquiries you send to us as the site operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection in your browser’s address line when it changes from „http://“ to „https://“ and the lock icon is displayed in your browser’s address bar. If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transfer to us cannot be read by third parties.

Opposition to promotional emails

We hereby expressly prohibit the use of contact data published in the context of website legal notice requirements with regard to sending promotional and informational materials not expressly requested. The website operator reserves the right to take specific legal action if unsolicited advertising material, such as email spam, is received.

3. Data collection on our website

Cookies

Some of our web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses. Cookies help make our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser. Most of the cookies we use are so-called „session cookies.“ They are automatically deleted after your visit. Other cookies remain in your device’s memory until you delete them. These cookies make it possible to recognize your browser when you next visit the site. You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website. Cookies which are necessary to allow electronic communications or to provide certain functions you wish to use (such as the shopping cart) are stored pursuant to Art. 6 paragraph 1, letter f of DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure an optimized service provided free of technical errors. If other cookies (such as those used to analyze your surfing behavior) are also stored, they will be treated separately in this privacy policy.

Contact form

Should you send us questions via the contact form, we will collect the data entered on the form, including the contact details you provide, to answer your question and any follow-up questions. We do not share this information without your permission. We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed. We will retain the data you provide on the contact form until you request its deletion, revoke your consent for its storage, or the purpose for its storage no longer pertains (e.g. after fulfilling your request). Any mandatory statutory provisions, especially those regarding mandatory data retention periods, remain unaffected by this provision.

Registration on this website

You can register on our website in order to access additional functions offered here. The input data will only be used for the purpose of using the respective site or service for which you have registered. The mandatory information requested during registration must be provided in full. Otherwise, we will reject your registration. To inform you about important changes such as those within the scope of our site or technical changes, we will use the email address specified during registration. We will process the data provided during registration only based on your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed. We will continue to store the data collected during registration for as long as you remain registered on our website. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

4. Analytics and advertising

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Google Analytics uses so-called „cookies“. These are text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Google Analytics cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising. Browser plugin You can prevent these cookies being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website. You can also prevent the data generated by cookies about your use of the website (incl. your IP address) from being passed to Google, and the processing of these data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. Objecting to the collection of data You can prevent the collection of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set to prevent your data from being collected on future visits to this site: Disable Google Analytics. For more information about how Google Analytics handles user data, see Google’s privacy policy: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en. Outsourced data processing We have entered into an agreement with Google for the outsourcing of our data processing and fully implement the strict requirements of the German data protection authorities when using Google Analytics. Demographic data collection by Google Analytics This website uses Google Analytics‘ demographic features. This allows reports to be generated containing statements about the age, gender, and interests of site visitors. This data comes from interest-based advertising from Google and third-party visitor data. This collected data cannot be attributed to any specific individual person. You can disable this feature at any time by adjusting the ads settings in your Google account or you can forbid the collection of your data by Google Analytics as described in the section „Refusal of data collection“.

Google Analytics Remarketing

Our websites use the features of Google Analytics Remarketing combined with the cross-device capabilities of Google AdWords and DoubleClick. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. This feature makes it possible to link target audiences for promotional marketing created with Google Analytics Remarketing to the cross-device capabilities of Google AdWords and Google DoubleClick. This allows advertising to be displayed based on your personal interests, identified based on your previous usage and surfing behavior on one device (e.g. your mobile phone), on other devices (such as a tablet or computer). Once you have given your consent, Google will associate your web and app browsing history with your Google Account for this purpose. That way, any device that signs in to your Google Account can use the same personalized promotional messaging. To support this feature, Google Analytics collects Google-authenticated IDs of users that are temporarily linked to our Google Analytics data to define and create audiences for cross-device ad promotion. You can permanently opt out of cross-device remarketing/targeting by turning off personalized advertising in your Google Account; follow this link: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/. The aggregation of the data collected in your Google Account data is based solely on your consent, which you may give or withdraw from Google per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. For data collection operations not merged into your Google Account (for example, because you do not have a Google Account or have objected to the merge), the collection of data is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing anonymous user behavior for promotional purposes. For more information and the Google Privacy Policy, go to: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/.

Google AdWords and Google Conversion Tracking

This website uses Google AdWords. AdWords is an online advertising program from Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States („Google“). As part of Google AdWords, we use so-called conversion tracking. When you click on an ad served by Google, a conversion tracking cookie is set. Cookies are small text files that your internet browser stores on your computer. These cookies expire after 30 days and are not used for personal identification of the user. Should the user visit certain pages of the website and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and the website can tell that the user clicked on the ad and proceeded to that page. Each Google AdWords advertiser has a different cookie. Thus, cookies cannot be tracked using the website of an AdWords advertiser. The information obtained using the conversion cookie is used to create conversion statistics for the AdWords advertisers who have opted for conversion tracking. Customers are told the total number of users who clicked on their ad and were redirected to a conversion tracking tag page. However, advertisers do not obtain any information that can be used to personally identify users. If you do not want to participate in tracking, you can opt-out of this by easily disabling the Google Conversion Tracking cookie by changing your browser settings. In doing so, you will not be included in the conversion tracking statistics. Conversion cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising. For more information about Google AdWords and Google Conversion Tracking, see the Google Privacy Policy: https://www.google.de/policies/privacy/. You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

Facebook Pixel

Our website measures conversions using visitor action pixels from Facebook, Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA („Facebook“). These allow the behavior of site visitors to be tracked after they click on a Facebook ad to reach the provider’s website. This allows an analysis of the effectiveness of Facebook advertisements for statistical and market research purposes and their future optimization. The data collected is anonymous to us as operators of this website and we cannot use it to draw any conclusions about our users‘ identities. However, the data are stored and processed by Facebook, which may make a connection to your Facebook profile and which may use the data for its own advertising purposes, as stipulated in the Facebook privacy policy. This will allow Facebook to display ads both on Facebook and on third-party sites. We have no control over how this data is used. Check out Facebook’s privacy policy to learn more about protecting your privacy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/. You can also deactivate the custom audiences remarketing feature in the Ads Settings section at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. You will first need to log into Facebook. If you do not have a Facebook account, you can opt out of usage-based advertising from Facebook on the website of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/.

Data protection declaration for our social media appearances

This privacy policy applies to the following social media presence

Data processing through social networks

We maintain publicly available profiles in social networks. The individual social networks we use can be found below. Social networks such as Facebook, X etc. can generally analyze your user behavior comprehensively if you visit their website or a website with integrated social media content (e.g., like buttons or banner ads). When you visit our social media pages, numerous data protection-relevant processing operations are triggered. In detail: If you are logged in to your social media account and visit our social media page, the operator of the social media portal can assign this visit to your user account. Under certain circumstances, your personal data may also be recorded if you are not logged in or do not have an account with the respective social media portal. In this case, this data is collected, for example, via cookies stored on your device or by recording your IP address. Using the data collected in this way, the operators of the social media portals can create user profiles in which their preferences and interests are stored. This way you can see interest-based advertising inside and outside of your social media presence. If you have an account with the social network, interest-based advertising can be displayed on any device you are logged in to or have logged in to. Please also note that we cannot retrace all processing operations on the social media portals. Depending on the provider, additional processing operations may therefore be carried out by the operators of the social media portals. Details can be found in the terms of use and privacy policy of the respective social media portals.

Legal basis

Our social media appearances should ensure the widest possible presence on the Internet. This is a legitimate interest within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR. The analysis processes initiated by the social networks may be based on divergent legal bases to be specified by the operators of the social networks (e.g., consent within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR).

Responsibility and assertion of rights

If you visit one of our social media sites (e.g., Facebook), we, together with the operator of the social media platform, are responsible for the data processing operations triggered during this visit. You can in principle protect your rights (information, correction, deletion, limitation of processing, data portability and complaint) vis-à-vis us as well as vis-à-vis the operator of the respective social media portal (e.g., Facebook). Please note that despite the shared responsibility with the social media portal operators, we do not have full influence on the data processing operations of the social media portals. Our options are determined by the company policy of the respective provider.

Storage time

The data collected directly from us via the social media presence will be deleted from our systems as soon as you ask us to delete it, you revoke your consent to the storage or the purpose for the data storage lapses. Stored cookies remain on your device until you delete them. Mandatory statutory provisions – in particular, retention periods – remain unaffected. We have no control over the storage duration of your data that are stored by the social network operators for their own purposes. For details, please contact the social network operators directly (e.g., in their privacy policy, see below).

Your rights

You have the right to receive information about the origin, recipient and purpose of your stored personal data at any time and free of charge. You also have the right to object, the right to data portability and the right to file a complaint with the responsible regulatory agency. Furthermore, you can request the correction, blocking, deletion and, under certain circumstances, the restriction of the processing of your personal data.

Individual social networks

Facebook

We have a profile on Facebook. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland (hereinafter Meta). According to Meta’s statement the collected data will also be transferred to the USA and to other third-party countries. We have signed an agreement with Meta on shared responsibility for the processing of data (Controller Addendum). This agreement determines which data processing operations we or Meta are responsible for when you visit our Facebook Fanpage. This agreement can be viewed at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/page_controller_addendum. You can customize your advertising settings independently in your user account. Click on the following link and log in: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads. Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/legal/EU_data_transfer_addendum and https://de-de.facebook.com/help/566994660333381. Details can be found in the Facebook privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/. The company is certified in accordance with the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the US, which is intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards for data processing in the US. Every company certified under the DPF is obliged to comply with these data protection standards. For more information, please contact the provider under the following link: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/s/participant-search/participant-detail?contact=true&id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active

Instagram

We have a profile on Instagram. The provider of this service is Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. Data transmission to the US is based on the Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) of the European Commission. Details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/legal/EU_data_transfer_addendum, https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy/ and https://de-de.facebook.com/help/566994660333381. For details on how they handle your personal information, see the Instagram Privacy Policy: https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy/. The company is certified in accordance with the “EU-US Data Privacy Framework” (DPF). The DPF is an agreement between the European Union and the US, which is intended to ensure compliance with European data protection standards for data processing in the US. Every company certified under the DPF is obliged to comply with these data protection standards. For more information, please contact the provider under the following link: https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/s/participant-search/participant-detail?contact=true&id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active