Data protection

Table of contents

• Introduction and overview
• Area of application
• Legal basis
• Contact details of the person responsible
• Storage duration
• Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation
• Security of data processing
• Communication
• Data processing agreement (DPA)
• Cookies
• Web Analytics Introduction
• Social media introduction
• Blogs and publication media Introduction
• Cookie Consent Management Platform Introduction
• Security & Anti-Spam
• Web design introduction
• Explanation of terms used

Introduction and overview

We have prepared this privacy policy (version 13.05.2024-112786187) 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 commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – 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 provide you with comprehensive information about the data we process about you.

Data protection declarations usually sound very technical and use legal jargon.
This privacy policy, on the other hand, is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible.
Where it is conducive to transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly way, links to further information are provided and graphics are used.
We thus inform you in clear and simple language that we only process personal data as part of our business activities if there is a corresponding legal basis.
This is certainly not possible by providing explanations that are as concise, unclear and legally technical as possible, as is often standard 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 that you did not yet know.
If you still have any questions, please contact the responsible body named below or in the legal notice, follow the links provided and look at further information on third-party websites.
Our contact details can of course also be found in the legal notice.

Area of application

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

• all online presences (websites, online stores) that we operate
• Social media presences and email communication
• Mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

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

Legal basis

In the following privacy policy, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.
As far as EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of April 27, 2016.
You can of course read this EU General Data Protection Regulation online at 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) GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose.
   An example would be the storage of the data you entered in a contact form.
2. Contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR): In order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you, we process your data.
   For example, if we conclude a purchase contract with you, we need personal information in advance.
3. Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we process your data.
   For example, we are legally obliged to keep invoices for accounting purposes.
   These usually contain personal data.
4. Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your fundamental rights, we reserve the right to process personal data.
   For example, we need to process certain data in order to operate our website securely and efficiently.
   This processing is therefore a legitimate interest.

Other conditions such as recording in the public interest, the exercise of official authority and the protection of vital interests do not generally apply to us.
If such a legal basis is relevant, it will be indicated at the appropriate point.

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

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

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

Contact details of the person responsible

If you have any questions about data protection or the processing of personal data, you will find the contact details of the person or body responsible below:
Emerald Horizon AG
Aktiengesellschaft
Waagner-Biro-Straße 100
A-8020 Graz
Austria

Tel: +43 316 574648
E-mail: office@emerald-horizon.com
Imprint: https://www.emerald-horizon.com/impressum/

Storage duration

It is a general criterion for us that we only store personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products.
This means that we delete personal data as soon as the reason for the data processing 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.

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

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

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

In accordance with Articles 13, 14 GDPR, we inform you of the following rights to which you are entitled in order to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:

• According to Article 15 GDPR, you have a right to information as to whether we process your data.
  If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and the following information:
  • the purpose for which we carry out the processing
  • the categories, i.e. the types of data that are 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 analyzed in order to create a personal profile of you.
• According to Article 16 GDPR, you have a right to rectification of data, which means that we must correct data if you find errors.
• According to Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”), which specifically means that you may request the erasure of your data.
• According to Article 18 GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but no longer use it.
• According to Article 20 GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a commonly used format upon request.
• According to Article 21 GDPR, you have the right to object, which will result in a change to the 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 can object to the processing. We will then check as quickly as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
  • If data is used for direct marketing purposes, 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 then no longer use your data for profiling.
• According to Article 22 GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (e.g. profiling).
• According to Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint.
  This means that you can lodge a complaint with the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

In short: You have rights – do not hesitate to contact the responsible office listed above!

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that your data protection rights have been violated in any other way, you can lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority.
For Austria, this is the data protection authority, whose website can be found at https://www.dsb.gv.at/.
In Germany, there is a data protection officer for each federal state.
For more information, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI).
The following local data protection authority is responsible for our company:

Austria Data Protection Authority

Head: Dr. Matthias Schmidl
Address: Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna
Telephone number: +43 1 52 152-0
E-mail address: dsb@dsb.gv.at
Website: https://www.dsb.gv.at/

Security of data processing

In order to protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organizational measures.
Where possible, we encrypt or pseudonymize personal data.
In this way, we make it as difficult as possible for third parties to infer personal information from our data.

Art. 25 GDPR speaks here of “data protection by design and by default” and thus means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to the server room) should always be designed with security in mind and appropriate measures should be taken.
If necessary, we will discuss specific measures below.

TLS encryption with https

TLS, encryption and https sound very technical – and they are.
We use HTTPS (the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure stands for “secure hypertext transfer protocol”) to transmit data tap-proof on the Internet.
This means that the complete transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – nobody can “eavesdrop”.

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and comply with data protection by design(Article 25(1) GDPR).
By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data.
You can recognize the use of this data transmission security by the small lock symbol at the top left of the browser, to the left of the Internet address (e.g. For example, examplepage.com) and the use of the https scheme (instead of http) as part of our Internet address.
If you would like to know more about encryption, we recommend a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to obtain good links to further information.

Communication

Communication summary 👥 Data subjects: Anyone who communicates with us by telephone, email or online form 📓 Data processed: e.g. telephone number, name, email address, form data entered. You can find more details on this in the respective contact type used 🤝 Purpose: Processing of communication with customers, business partners, etc. 📅 Storage period: Duration of the business case and the statutory provisions ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

If you contact us and communicate with us by telephone, e-mail or online form, personal data may be processed.

The data is processed for the handling and processing of your question and the associated business transaction.
The data will be stored for as long as required by law.

Affected persons

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

Telephone

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

e-mail

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

Online forms

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

Legal basis

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

• Art. 6 para.
  1 lit.
  a GDPR (consent): You give us your consent to store your data and to use it for purposes relating to the business transaction;
• Art. 6 para.
  1 lit.
  b GDPR (contract): It is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or a processor, such as the telephone provider, or we need to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as the preparation of an offer;
• Art. 6 para.
  1 lit.
  f GDPR (legitimate interests): We want to handle customer inquiries and business communication in a professional manner.
  This requires certain technical facilities such as e-mail programs, exchange servers and mobile network operators in order to be able to operate communication efficiently.

Data processing agreement (DPA)

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

Who are processors?

As a company and website owner, we are responsible for all data that we process from you.
In addition to 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, public authority, agency or other body which 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.

To make the terminology easier to understand, 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 web host or cloud provider)

Content of an order processing contract

As mentioned above, we have concluded a DPA with our partners who act as processors.
This states above all that the processor processes the data to be processed exclusively in accordance with the GDPR.
The contract must be concluded in writing, although the electronic conclusion of the contract is also deemed to be “in writing” in this context.
The processing of personal data only takes place on the basis of the contract.
The contract must contain the following:

• Commitment to us as the controller
• Obligations and rights of the controller
• Categories of data subjects
• Type of personal data
• Type and purpose of data processing
• Subject and duration of data processing
• Place of data processing

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

• to ensure data security measures
• take possible technical and organizational 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 commissioned with the written consent of the controller

You can find out 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

Cookies Summary 👥 Data subject: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Depending on the cookie in question. You can find more details on this below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📓 Processed data: Depending on the cookie used. You can find more details on this below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📅 Storage period: depending on the respective cookie, can vary from hours to years ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are cookies?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cookie data can look like this, for example:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152112786187-9
Purpose: Differentiation of website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

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

What types of cookies are there?

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

A distinction can be made between 4 types of cookies:

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

Purposeful cookies
These cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages.
These cookies are also used to measure the loading time and the behavior of the website with different browsers.

Targeted cookies
These cookies ensure better user-friendliness.
For example, entered locations, font sizes or form data are saved.

Advertising cookies
These cookies are also known as targeting cookies.
They are used to deliver customized advertising to the user.
This can be very practical, but also very annoying.

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

If you would like to know more about cookies and are not afraid of technical documentation, we recommend https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6265, the Request for Comments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) called “HTTP State Management Mechanism”.

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the cookie in question.
You can find more details on this below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

What data is processed?

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

Storage duration of cookies

The storage period depends on the cookie in question and is specified 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 you withdraw your consent, whereby the legality of the storage until then remains unaffected.

Right to object – how can I delete cookies?

You decide how and whether you want to use cookies.
Regardless of which service or website the cookies come from, you always have the option of deleting, deactivating or only partially allowing 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: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Deleting and managing cookies

If you generally do not want to have cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set.
You can then decide for each individual cookie whether or not to allow it.
The procedure differs depending on the browser.
It is best to search for the instructions in Google using the search term “delete cookies Chrome” or “deactivate 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(1)(a) GDPR).
However, there are still very different reactions to these directives within the EU countries.
In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 165 para.
3 of the Telecommunications Act (2021).
In Germany, the cookie directives have not been implemented as national law.
Instead, this directive was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG).

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

If cookies that are not absolutely necessary are used, this will only take place with your consent.
The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
a GDPR.

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

Web analytics introduction

Web Analytics Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subject: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the website. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics containing data such as access locations, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior and IP addresses. You can find more details on this in the respective web analytics tool used. 📅 Storage period: depending on the web analytics tool used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web analytics?

We use software on our website to evaluate the behavior of website visitors, known as web analytics or web analysis for short.
This involves collecting data that is stored, managed and processed by the respective analytics tool provider (also known as a tracking tool).
The data is used to create analyses of user behavior on our website and made available to us as the website operator.
In addition, most tools offer various testing options.
For example, we can test which offers or content are best received by our visitors.
To do this, we show you two different offers for a limited period of time.
After the test (known as an A/B test), we know which product or content our website visitors find more interesting.
For such test procedures, as well as for other analytics procedures, user profiles can also be created and the data stored in cookies.

Why do we use web analytics?

With our website, we have a clear goal in mind: we want to deliver the best web offering on the market for our industry.
In order to achieve this goal, we want to offer the best and most interesting services on the one hand and make sure that you feel completely at ease on our website on the other.
With the help of web analysis tools, we can take a closer look at the behavior of our website visitors and then improve our website accordingly for you and for us.
For example, we can see how old our visitors are on average, where they come from, when our website is visited the most or which content or products are particularly popular.
All this information helps us to optimize the website and thus adapt it to your needs, interests and wishes.

What data is processed?

Exactly which data is stored depends, of course, on the analysis tools used.
As a rule, however, the content you view on our website, which buttons or links you click on, when you access a page, which browser you use, which device (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) you use to visit the website or which computer system you use are stored, for example.
If you have agreed that location data may also be collected, this may also be processed by the web analysis tool provider.

Your IP address is also stored.
According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), IP addresses are personal data.
However, your IP address is usually stored pseudonymized (i.e. in an unrecognizable and shortened form).
For the purpose of testing, web analysis and web optimization, no direct data such as your name, age, address or e-mail address is stored.
All this data, if collected, is stored in pseudonymized form.
This means that you cannot be identified as a person.

The following example shows schematically how Google Analytics works as an example of client-based web tracking with Java Script code.

How long the respective data is stored always depends on the provider.
Some cookies only store data for a few minutes or until you leave the website, while other cookies can store data for several years.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below if we have further information on this.
In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products.
If required by law, for example in the case of accounting, this storage period may also be exceeded.

Right of objection

You also have the right and the option to withdraw 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 by cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser.

Legal basis

The use of web analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up.
According to Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
a GDPR (consent) represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors in order to improve our offer technically and economically.
With the help of web analytics, we can detect errors on the website, identify attacks and improve efficiency.
The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
f GDPR (legitimate interests) .
Wir setzen die Tools gleichwohl nur ein, soweit sie eine Einwilligung erteilt haben.

Since web analytics tools use cookies, we recommend that you also read our general privacy policy on cookies.
To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Information on special web analytics tools, if available, can be found in the following sections.

Google Analytics privacy policy

Google Analytics Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subject: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the website. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics containing data such as locations of access, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior and click behavior. You can find more details on this below in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: individually adjustable, by default Google Analytics stores 4 data for 14 months ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Analytics?

On our website we use the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics in the version Google Analytics 4 (GA4) of the American company Google Inc.
For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services.
Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website.
However, by combining various technologies such as cookies, device IDs and login information, you can be identified as a user across different devices.
This means that your actions can also be analyzed across platforms.

For example, when you click on a link, this event is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics.
The reports we receive from Google Analytics enable us to better tailor our website and our service to your wishes.
In the following, we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and inform you in particular about which data is processed and how you can prevent this.

Google Analytics is a tracking tool that is used to analyze the traffic on our website.
These measurements and analyses are based on a pseudonymous user identification number.
This number does not contain any personal data such as name or address, but is used to assign events to an end device.
GA4 uses an event-based model that records detailed information on user interactions such as page views, clicks, scrolling and conversion events.
GA4 also incorporates various machine learning functions to better understand user behavior and certain trends.
GA4 relies on modeling with the help of machine learning functions.
This means that missing data can also be extrapolated on the basis of the collected data in order to optimize the analysis and also to be able to make forecasts.

For Google Analytics to work in principle, a tracking code is built into the code of our website.
When you visit our website, this code records various events that you perform on our website.
With GA4’s event-based data model, we as website operators can define and track specific events in order to obtain analyses of user interactions.
In addition to general information such as clicks or page views, specific events that are important for our business can also be tracked.
Such specific events can be, for example, the sending of a contact form or the purchase of a product.

As soon as you leave our website, this data is sent to the Google Analytics servers and stored there.

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

• Target group reports: Target group reports allow us to get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
• Ad reports: Ad reports make it easier for us to analyze and improve our online advertising.
• Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports provide us with helpful information on how we can get more people interested in our service.
• Behavioral reports: This tells us how you interact with our website. We can see which path you take on our site and which links you click on.
• Conversion reports: Conversion is a process in which you perform a desired action as a result of a marketing message. For example, when you convert from a mere website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. With the help of these reports, we learn more about how our marketing measures are received by you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
• Real-time reports: Here we always know immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

In addition to the analysis reports mentioned above, Google Analytics 4 also offers the following functions, among others:

• Event-based data model: This model captures very specific events that can take place on our website. For example, playing a video, purchasing a product or subscribing to our newsletter.
• Advanced analytics: These functions allow us to understand your behavior on our website or certain general trends even better. For example, we can segment user groups, carry out comparative analyses of target groups or track your path on our website.
• Predictive modeling: Based on collected data, missing data can be extrapolated through machine learning to predict future events and trends. This can help us to develop better marketing strategies.
• Cross-platform analysis: Data can be collected and analyzed from both websites and apps. This gives us the opportunity to analyze user behavior across platforms, provided you have of course consented to data processing.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

The statistically analyzed data gives us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website.
On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that it can be found more easily by interested people on Google.
On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor.
We therefore know exactly what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service.
The data also helps us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures more individually and cost-effectively.
After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

What data is stored by Google Analytics?

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

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

Through identifiers such as cookies, app instance IDs, user IDs or user-defined event parameters, your interactions are measured across platforms if you have given your consent.
Interactions are all types of actions that you perform on our website.
If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated via Google Analytics may be linked to third-party cookies.
Google does not pass on any Google Analytics data unless we as the website operator authorize this.
Exceptions may be made if required by law.

According to Google, no IP addresses are logged or stored in Google Analytics 4.
However, Google uses the IP address data to derive location data and deletes it immediately afterwards.
All IP addresses collected from users in the EU are therefore deleted before the data is stored in a data center or on a server.

Since Google Analytics 4 focuses on event-based data, the tool uses significantly fewer cookies compared to previous versions (such as Google Universal Analytics).
Nevertheless, there are some specific cookies that are used by GA4.
These include, for example:

Name: _ga
Wert: 2.1326744211.152112786187-5
Intended use: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID.
It is basically used to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152112786187-1
Purpose: The cookie is alsoused to distinguish website visitors
Expiry date: after 24 hours

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

Note: This list cannot claim to be exhaustive, as Google is constantly changing its choice of cookies.
The aim of GA4 is also to improve data protection.
The tool therefore offers a number of options for controlling data collection.
For example, we can set the storage duration ourselves and also control data collection.

Here we show you an overview of the most important types of data that are collected with Google Analytics:

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heatmaps.
Heatmaps allow you to see exactly those areas that you click on.
This gives us information about where you are “traveling” on our site.

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

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

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

Location: IP addresses are not logged or stored in Google Analytics.
However, shortly before the IP address is deleted, derivations are used for location data.

Technical information: Technical information includes your browser type, your internet provider or your screen resolution.

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

Other data includes contact details, any ratings, playing media (e.g. when you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media or adding it to your favorites.
The list is not exhaustive and is only intended to provide a general overview of data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has distributed its servers all over the world.
Here you can read exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed on different physical data carriers.
This has the advantage that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against manipulation.
There are appropriate emergency programs for your data in every Google data center.
If, for example, the hardware at Google fails or natural disasters paralyze servers, the risk of a service interruption at Google remains low.

The retention period of the data depends on the properties used.
The storage period is always defined separately for each individual property.
Google Analytics offers us four options to control the storage period:

• 2 months: this is the shortest storage period.
• 14 months: by default, GA4 stores the data for 14 months.
• 26 months: data can also be stored for 26 months.
• Data is only deleted when we delete it manually

In addition, there is also the option that data will only be deleted if you no longer visit our website within the period selected by us.
In this case, the retention period is reset each time you visit our website again within the specified period.

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to obtain information about your data and to update, delete or restrict it.
You can use the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics JavaScript (analytics.js, gtag.js) to prevent Google Analytics 4 from using your data.
You can download and install the browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.
Please note that this add-on only deactivates data collection by Google Analytics.

If you want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the relevant links to the instructions for the most popular browsers in the “Cookies” section.

Legal basis

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up.
According to Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
a GDPR (consent) represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors in order to improve our offer technically and economically.
With the help of Google Analytics, we can detect errors on the website, identify attacks and improve efficiency.
The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
f GDPR (legitimate interests) .
Wir setzen Google Analytics gleichwohl nur ein, soweit Sie eine Einwilligung erteilt haben.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places.
Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA.
You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

In addition, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR).
Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there.
Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual 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 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: 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 Analytics.
If you would like to find out more about the tracking service, we recommend these two links: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/de/ and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de.

If you want to find out more about data processing, use the Google privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Data processing agreement (DPA) Google Analytics

We have concluded a data processing agreement (DPA) with Google in accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
You can find out exactly what a DPA is and, in particular, what must be included in a DPA in our general section “Data processing agreement (DPA)”.

This contract is required by law because Google processes personal data on our behalf.
It clarifies that Google may only process data that it receives from us in accordance with our instructions and must comply with the GDPR.
You can find the link to the order data processing conditions at https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/

Google Analytics reports on demographic characteristics and interests

We have activated the functions for advertising reports in Google Analytics.
The reports on demographic characteristics and interests contain information on age, gender and interests.
This allows us to get a better picture of our users without being able to assign this data to individual persons.
You can find out more about the advertising functions at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=de_AT&utm_id=ad.

You can stop the use of the activities and information of your Google account under “Settings for advertising” at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated via a checkbox.

Google Analytics in consent mode

Depending on your consent, your personal data will be processed by Google Analytics in the so-called consent mode.
You can choose whether or not to consent to Google Analytics cookies.
This also allows you to choose which of your data Google Analytics may process.
The data collected is mainly used to measure user behavior on the website, to display targeted advertising and to provide us with web analytics reports.
As a rule, you consent to data processing by Google via a cookie consent tool.
If you do not consent to data processing, only aggregated data will be collected and processed.
This means that data cannot be assigned to individual users and therefore no user profile is created for you.
You can also only consent to statistical measurement.
No personal data is processed and therefore not used for advertising or advertising success.

Google Analytics IP anonymization

We have implemented IP address anonymization from Google Analytics on this website.
This function was developed by Google so that this website can comply with the applicable data protection regulations and recommendations of the local data protection authorities if they prohibit the storage of the full IP address.
The anonymization or masking of the IP takes place as soon as the IP addresses arrive in the Google Analytics data collection network and before any storage or processing of the data takes place.

You can find more information on IP anonymization at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=de.

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subject: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimize the website. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics containing data such as locations of access, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior and IP addresses. More details on this can be found below and in the Google Analytics privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: depending on the properties used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Site Kit?

We have integrated the WordPress plugin Google Site Kit from the American company Google Inc.
has been integrated into our website.
For the European region, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services.
With Google Site Kit, we can quickly and easily view statistics from various Google products such as Google Analytics directly in our WordPress dashboard.
The tool or the tools integrated into Google Site Kit also collect personal data from you, among other things.
In this privacy policy, we explain why we use Google Site Kit, how long and where data is stored and which other data protection texts are relevant for you in this context.

Google Site Kit is a plugin for the WordPress content management system.
With this plugin, we can view important website analysis statistics directly in our dashboard.
These are statistics that are collected by other Google products.
First and foremost Google Analytics.
In addition to Google Analytics, the Google Search Console, Page Speed Insight, Google AdSense, Google Optimize and Google Tag Manager services can also be linked to Google Site Kit.

Why do we use Google Site Kit on our website?

As a service provider, it is our job to offer you the best possible experience on our website.
We want you to feel comfortable on our website and find exactly what you are looking for quickly and easily.
Statistical evaluations help us to get to know you better and to adapt our offer to your wishes and interests.
We use various Google tools for these evaluations.
Site Kit makes our work much easier in this respect because we can view and analyze the statistics of Google products directly in the dashboard.
We no longer have to register for the respective tool separately.
Site Kit therefore always provides a good overview of the most important analysis data.

What data is stored by Google Site Kit?

If you have actively consented to tracking tools in the cookie notice (also called script or banner), Google products such as Google Analytics will set cookies and send data from you, for example about your user behavior, to Google, where it will be stored and processed.
This also includes storing personal data such as your IP address.

For more detailed information on the individual services, we have separate text sections in this privacy policy.
For example, take a look at our privacy policy for Google Analytics.
Here we go into great detail about the data collected.
You can find out how long Google Analytics stores, manages and processes data, which cookies may be used and how you can prevent data storage.
We also have separate privacy policies with comprehensive information for other Google services such as Google Tag Manager and Google AdSense.

Below we show you examples of Google Analytics cookies that can be set in your browser if you have consented to data processing by Google.
Please note that these cookies are only a selection:

Name: _ga
Wert:2.1326744211.152112786187-2
Intended use: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID.
It is basically used to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Value:2.1687193234.152112786187-7
Purpose: This cookie is alsoused to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
Value: 1
Purpose: This cookie is used to reduce the request rate.
Expiry date: after 1 minute

How long and where is the data stored?

Google stores collected data on its own Google servers, which are distributed worldwide.
Most of the servers are located in the United States and it is therefore easily possible that your data is also stored there.
At https://www.google.com/about /datacenters/locations/?hl=de you can see exactly where the company provides servers.

Data collected by Google Analytics is stored for a standardized period of 26 months.
Your user data will then be deleted.
The retention period applies to all data linked to cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You always have the right to receive information about your data and to have your data deleted, corrected or restricted.
You can also deactivate, delete or manage cookies in your browser at any time.

If you want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies, you will find the relevant links to the instructions for the most popular browsers in the “Cookies” section.

Legal basis

The use of Google Site Kit requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie pop-up.
According to Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
a GDPR (consent) represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analyzing the behavior of website visitors in order to improve our offer technically and economically.
With the help of Google Site Kit, we can detect errors on the website, identify attacks and improve efficiency.
The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
f GDPR (legitimate interests) .
Wir setzen Google Site Kit gleichwohl nur ein, soweit Sie eine Einwilligung erteilt haben.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places.
Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA.
You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

In addition, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR).
Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there.
Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual 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 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: 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/.

To find out more about data processing by Google, we recommend that you read Google’s comprehensive privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Social media introduction

Social media privacy policy summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimization of our services, contact with visitors, interested parties, etc., advertising 📓 Processed data: Data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, contact details, data on user behavior, information on your device and your IP address. You can find more details on this in the respective social media tool used. 📅 Storage period: depending on the social media platforms used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is social media?

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

Why do we use social media?

For years, social media platforms have been the place where people communicate and get in touch online.
Our social media presence allows us to bring our products and services closer to interested parties.
The social media elements integrated on our website help you to switch to our social media content quickly and without complications.

The data that is stored and processed through your use of a social media channel is primarily for the purpose of carrying out web analyses.
The aim of these analyses is to be able to develop more precise and personalized marketing and advertising strategies.
Depending on your behavior on a social media platform, the evaluated data can be used to draw conclusions about your interests and create user profiles.
This also enables the platforms to present you with customized advertisements.
Cookies are usually set in your browser for this purpose, which store data on your usage behavior.

As a rule, we assume that we remain responsible under data protection law, even if we use the services of a social media platform.
However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that in certain cases the operator of the social media platform may be jointly responsible with us within the meaning of Art. 26 GDPR.
If this is the case, we will point this out separately and work on the basis of an agreement to this effect.
The essence of the agreement is then reproduced below for the platform concerned.

Please note that when using the social media platforms or our built-in elements, your data may also be processed outside the European Union, as many social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, are American companies.
As a result, you may not be able to claim or enforce your rights in relation to your personal data as easily.

What data is processed?

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

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

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

As social media tools may use cookies, we also recommend that you read our general privacy policy on cookies.
To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

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

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

Facebook privacy policy

Facebook privacy policy summary 👥 Data subject: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our services 📓 Processed data: Data such as customer data, user behavior data, information about your device and your IP address. More details can be found below in the privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: until the data is no longer useful for Facebook’s purposes ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are Facebook tools?

We use selected tools from Facebook on our website.
Facebook is a social media network of the company Meta Platforms Inc.
or, for the European region, Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland.
With the help of these tools, we can offer you and people who are interested in our products and services the best possible offer.

If data is collected and forwarded from you via our embedded Facebook elements or via our Facebook page (fan page), both we and Facebook Ireland Ltd. are responsible for this.
Facebook is solely responsible for the further processing of this data.
Our joint obligations are also set out in a publicly accessible agreement at https://www.facebook.com/legal/controller_addendum.
This states, for example, that we must clearly inform you about the use of Facebook tools on our site.
Furthermore, we are also responsible for ensuring that the tools are securely integrated into our website in accordance with data protection law.
Facebook, on the other hand, is responsible for the data security of Facebook products, for example.
If you have any questions about data collection and data processing by Facebook, you can contact the company directly.
If you address the question to us, we are obliged to forward it to Facebook.

Below we provide an overview of the various Facebook tools, what data is sent to Facebook and how you can delete this data.

In addition to many other products, Facebook also offers the so-called “Facebook Business Tools”.
This is the official name of Facebook.
However, as the term is hardly known, we have decided to simply call them Facebook tools.
These include, among others:

• Facebook pixel
• Social plug-ins (such as the “Like” or “Share” button)
• Facebook login
• account kit
• APIs (programming interface)
• SDKs (collection of programming tools)
• Platform integrations
• plugins
• codes
• specifications
• Documentation
• Technologies and services

Through these tools, Facebook expands services and has the ability to obtain information about user activity outside of Facebook.

Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?

We only want to show our services and products to people who are really interested in them.
With the help of advertisements (Facebook ads), we can reach precisely these people.
However, Facebook needs information about people’s wishes and needs in order to show users suitable advertising.
The company is therefore provided with information about user behavior (and contact details) on our website.
As a result, Facebook collects better user data and can show interested people suitable advertising about our products or services.
The tools thus enable customized advertising campaigns on Facebook.

Facebook calls data about your behavior on our website “event data”.
This is also used for measurement and analysis services.
Facebook can thus create “campaign reports” on our behalf about the impact of our advertising campaigns.
Furthermore, analytics give us a better insight into how you use our services, website or products.
This allows us to optimize your user experience on our website with some of these tools.
For example, you can use the social plug-ins to share content on our site directly on Facebook.

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

By using individual Facebook tools, personal data (customer data) can be sent to Facebook.
Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number and IP address may be sent.

Facebook uses this information to match the data with the data it has about you (if you are a Facebook member).
Before customer data is transmitted to Facebook, it is hashed.
This means that a data set of any size is transformed into a character string.
This is also used to encrypt data.

In addition to the contact data, “event data” is also transmitted.
“Event data” refers to the information that we receive about you on our website.
For example, which subpages you visit or which products you buy from us.
Facebook does not share the information it receives with third parties (such as advertisers) unless the company has explicit permission or is legally obliged to do so.
“Event data” can also be linked to contact details.
This allows Facebook to offer better personalized advertising.
After the aforementioned matching process, Facebook deletes the contact data again.

In order to deliver optimized ads, Facebook only uses the event data if it has been combined with other data (collected by Facebook in other ways).
Facebook also uses this event data for security, protection, development and research purposes.
Much of this data is transferred to Facebook via cookies.
Cookies are small text files that are used to store data or information in browsers.
Depending on the tools used and whether you are a Facebook member, different numbers of cookies are stored in your browser.
We go into more detail about individual Facebook cookies in the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools.
You can also find general information about the use of Facebook cookies at https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies.

How long and where is the data stored?

In principle, Facebook stores data until it is no longer needed for its own services and Facebook products.
Facebook has servers all over the world where its data is stored.
However, customer data is deleted within 48 hours after it has been compared with the company’s own user data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to information, correction, transferability and deletion of your data.

The data will only be completely deleted if you delete your Facebook account completely.
And this is how deleting your Facebook account works:

1) Click on Settings on the right-hand side of Facebook.

2) Then click on “Your Facebook information” in the left-hand column.

3) Now click on “Deactivation and deletion”.

4) Now select “Delete account” and then click on “Continue and delete account”

5) Now enter your password, click on “Next” and then on “Delete account”

The data that Facebook receives via our site is stored using cookies (e.g. for social plugins).
You can deactivate, delete or manage individual or all cookies in your browser.
Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways.
In the “Cookies” section, you will find the relevant links to the instructions for the most popular browsers.

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated Facebook tools, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR).
In principle, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners.
Nevertheless, we only use the tools if you have given your consent.
Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data.
We therefore recommend that you read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and take a look at Facebook’s privacy policy or cookie guidelines.

Facebook also processes your data in the USA, among other places.
Facebook or Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA.
You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Facebook also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR).
Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there.
Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual clauses, Facebook 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: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Facebook data processing conditions, which refer to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

We hope we have provided you with the most important information about the use and data processing by the Facebook tools.
If you would like to find out more about how Facebook uses your data, we recommend that you read the data policy at https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy/.

Instagram privacy policy

Instagram privacy policy summary 👥 Data subject: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our services 📓 Processed data: Data such as user behavior data, information about your device and your IP address. More details can be found below in the privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: until Instagram no longer needs the data for its purposes ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Instagram?

We have integrated Instagram functions on our website.
Instagram is a social media platform of the company Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA.
Since 2012, Instagram has been a subsidiary of Meta Platforms Inc.
and is one of the Facebook products.
Embedding Instagram content on our website is called embedding.
This allows us to show you content such as buttons, photos or videos from Instagram directly on our website.
When you visit web pages on our website that have an Instagram function integrated, data is transmitted to Instagram, stored and processed.
Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook.
Your data is therefore processed across all Facebook companies.

In the following, we want to give you a more detailed insight into why Instagram collects data, what data is involved and how you can largely control data processing.
Since Instagram belongs to Meta Platforms Inc.
we obtain our information from the Instagram guidelines on the one hand, but also from the Meta data protection guidelines themselves on the other.

Instagram is one of the best-known social media networks in the world.
Instagram combines the advantages of a blog with the benefits of audiovisual platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo.
You can upload photos and short videos to “Insta” (as many users casually call the platform), edit them with various filters and also share them on other social networks.
And if you don’t want to be active yourself, you can also just follow other interesting users.

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

Instagram is the social media platform that has really gone through the roof in recent years.
And of course we have also responded to this boom.
We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website.
That’s why a varied presentation of our content is a matter of course for us.
The embedded Instagram functions allow us to enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting content from the Instagram world.
As Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook, the data collected can also be useful to us for personalized advertising on Facebook.
This means that only people who are genuinely interested in our products or services receive our advertisements.

Instagram also uses the collected data for measurement and analysis purposes.
We receive summarized statistics and thus more insight into your wishes and interests.
It is important to note that these reports do not identify you personally.

What data is stored by Instagram?

When you visit one of our pages that has Instagram functions (such as Instagram images or plug-ins), your browser automatically connects to Instagram’s servers.
In the process, data is sent to Instagram, stored and processed.
This happens regardless of whether you have an Instagram account or not.
This includes information about our website, your computer, purchases made, advertisements you see and how you use our services.
The date and time of your interaction with Instagram are also stored.
If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram stores significantly more data about you.

Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data.
We assume that this is exactly the case with Instagram.
Customer data includes, for example, name, address, telephone number and IP address.
This customer data is only transmitted to Instagram once it has been hashed.
Hashing means that a data record is converted into a character string.
This allows the contact data to be encrypted.
The “event data” mentioned above is also transmitted.
By “event data”, Facebook – and consequently Instagram – means data about your user behavior.
Contact data may also be combined with event data.
The contact data collected is compared with the data that Instagram already has about you.

The collected data is transmitted to Facebook via small text files (cookies), which are usually set in your browser.
Depending on the Instagram functions used and whether you have an Instagram account yourself, different amounts of data are stored.

We assume that Instagram processes data in the same way as Facebook.
This means that if you have an Instagram account or have visited www.instagram.com, Instagram has at least set a cookie.
If this is the case, your browser sends information to Instagram via the cookie as soon as you come into contact with an Instagram function.
This data is deleted or anonymized after 90 days at the latest (after reconciliation).
Although we have looked closely at Instagram’s data processing, we cannot say exactly what data Instagram collects and stores.

Below we will show you the minimum cookies that are set in your browser when you click on an Instagram function (such as a button or an Insta image).
In our test, we assume that you do not have an Instagram account.
If you are logged in to Instagram, significantly more cookies will of course be set in your browser.

These cookies were used in our test:

Name: csrftoken
Value: “”
Purpose: This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent falsification of requests.
However, we were unable to find out more about this.
Expiration date: after one year

Name: mid
Value: “”
Purpose: Instagram sets this cookie to optimize its own services and offers in and outside of Instagram.
The cookie defines a unique user ID.
Expiration date: after the end of the session

Name: fbsr_112786187124024
Value: not specified
Purpose: This cookie stores the log-in request for users of the Instagram app.
Expiration date: after the end of the session

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

Name: urlgen
Value: “{“194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe112786187”
Purpose: This cookie isused for Instagram’s marketing purposes.
Expiry date: at the end of the session

Note: We cannot claim completeness here.
Which cookies are set in individual cases depends on the embedded functions and your use of Instagram.

How long and where is the data stored?

Instagram shares the information received between the Facebook companies with external partners and with people you connect with worldwide.
Data processing is carried out in compliance with our own data policy.
For security reasons, among others, your data is distributed on Facebook servers around the world.
Most of these servers are located in the USA.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to access, portability, rectification and erasure of your data.
You can manage your data in the Instagram settings.
If you want to completely delete your data on Instagram, you must permanently delete your Instagram account.

And this is how deleting your Instagram account works:

First open the Instagram app.
Go to the bottom of your profile page and click on “Help section”.
You will now be taken to the company’s website.
On the website, click on “Manage your account” and then on “Delete your account”.

If you delete your account completely, Instagram will delete posts such as your photos and status updates.
Information that other people have shared about you does not belong to your account and is therefore not deleted.

As mentioned above, Instagram stores your data primarily via cookies.
You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies in your browser.
Depending on your browser, the management always works a little differently.
In the “Cookies” section, you will find the relevant links to the instructions for the most popular browsers.

You can also set up your browser so that you are always informed when a cookie is to be set.
Then you can always decide individually whether you want to allow the cookie or not.

Legal basis

If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR).
In principle, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners.
Nevertheless, we only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent.
Most social media platforms also set cookies in your browser to store data.
We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider.

Instagram also processes your data in the USA, among other places.
Instagram or Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data of EU citizens to the USA.
You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Instagram also uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR).
Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there.
Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Instagram 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 others: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

We have tried to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Instagram.
You can find out more about Instagram’s data policy at https://privacycenter.instagram.com/policy/.

Blogs and publication media Introduction

Blogs and publication media Privacy policy summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimization of our services as well as communication between website visitors, security measures and administration 📓 Processed data: Data such as contact details, IP address and published content. You can find more details on this in the tools used. 📅 Storage period: depending on the tools used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b. GDPR (contract)

What are blogs and publication media?

We use blogs or other means of communication on our website with which we can communicate with you on the one hand and you with us on the other.
We may also store and process your data in the process.
This may be necessary so that we can display content appropriately, communication works and security is increased.
In our data protection text, we provide a general description of which of your data may be processed.
Exact details on data processing always depend on the tools and functions used.
You can find detailed information on data processing in the data protection notices of the individual providers.

Why do we use blogs and publication media?

Our greatest concern with our website is to offer you interesting and exciting content and at the same time your opinions and content are also important to us.
That’s why we want to create a good interactive exchange between us and you.
With various blogs and publication options, 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 which data is processed always depends on the communication functions we use.
Very often, the IP address, user name and published content are stored.
This is primarily done 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 information 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 if 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 option to withdraw 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 by cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser.

As publication media may also use cookies, we also recommend that you read our general privacy policy on cookies.
To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

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

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

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

Blog posts and comment functions Privacy policy

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

Cookie Consent Management Platform Introduction

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

What is a Cookie Consent Management Platform?

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

Why do we use a cookie management tool?

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

What data is processed?

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

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

Legal basis

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

AdSimple Consent Manager Privacy Policy

AdSimple Consent Manager Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subject: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Obtaining consent for certain cookies and thus the use of certain tools 📓 Processed data: Data for managing the cookie settings set, such as IP address, time of consent, type of consent, individual consents. You can find more details on this in this privacy policy 📅 Storage period: the cookie used expires after one year ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is the AdSimple Consent Manager?

We use the AdSimple Consent Manager of the software development and online marketing company AdSimple GmbH, Fabriksgasse 20, 2230 Gänserndorf on our website.
The AdSimple Consent Manager offers us, among other things, the opportunity to provide you with a comprehensive and data protection-compliant cookie notice so that you can decide for yourself which cookies you allow and which you do not.
By using this software, data is sent from you to AdSimple and stored.
In this privacy policy, we inform you why we use the AdSimple Consent Manager, what data is transferred and stored and how you can prevent this data transfer.

The AdSimple Consent Manager is a software that scans our website and identifies and categorizes all existing cookies.
In addition, as a website visitor, you are informed about the use of cookies via a cookie notice script and decide for yourself which cookies you allow and which you do not.

Why do we use the AdSimple Consent Manager on our website?

We want to offer you maximum transparency in the area of data protection.
To ensure this, we first need to know exactly which cookies have ended up on our website over time.
Because AdSimple’s Consent Manager regularly scans our website and identifies all cookies, we have full control over these cookies and can therefore act in compliance with the GDPR.
This enables us to inform you precisely about the use of cookies on our website.
Furthermore, you will always receive an up-to-date and data protection-compliant cookie notice and can decide for yourself which cookies you accept or block using a checkbox system.

What data is stored by the AdSimple Consent Manager?

If you consent to cookies on our website, the following cookie will be set by the AdSimple Consent Manager:

Name: acm_status
Value: “:true, “statistics”:true, “marketing”:true, “socialmedia”:true, “settings”:true}
Purpose: Your consent status is stored in this cookie.
This allows our website to read and follow the current status on future visits.
Expiration date: after one year

How long and where is the data stored?

All data collected by the AdSimple Consent Manager is transferred and stored exclusively within the European Union.
The data collected is stored on AdSimple’s servers at Hetzner GmbH in Germany.
Only AdSimple GmbH and Hetzner GmbH have access to this data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access and delete your personal data at any time.
You can prevent data collection and storage, for example, by rejecting the use of cookies via the cookie hint script.
Another option to prevent data processing or to manage it according to your wishes is provided by your browser.
Depending on the browser, cookie management works slightly differently.
In the “Cookies” section, you will find the relevant links to the instructions for the most popular browsers.

Legal basis

If you consent to cookies, your personal data will be processed and stored via these cookies.
If we are permitted to use cookies on the basis of your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR)
cookies, this consent is also the legal basis for the use of cookies and the processing of your data.
The AdSimple Consent Manager is used to manage consent to cookies and to enable you to give your consent.
The use of this software enables us to operate the website in an efficient and legally compliant manner, which constitutes a legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).

We hope we have provided you with a good overview of the data traffic and data processing by the AdSimple Consent Manager.
If you would like to find out more about this tool, we recommend you visit the description page at https://www.adsimple.at/consent-manager/.

BorlabsCookie privacy policy

We use BorlabsCookie on our website, which is, among other things, a tool for storing your cookie consent.
The service provider is the German company Borlabs – Benjamin A. Bornschein, Rübenkamp 32, 22305 Hamburg, Germany.

You can find out more about the data processed through the use of BorlabsCookie in the privacy policy at https://de.borlabs.io/datenschutz/.

Security & Anti-Spam

Security & Anti-Spam Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Cyber security 📓 Data processed: Data such as your IP address, name or technical data such as browser version More details can be found below and in the individual data protection texts. 📅 Storage period: Most of the data is stored until it is no longer required to fulfill the service ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is security & anti-spam software?

With so-called security and anti-spam software, you and we can protect ourselves from various spam or phishing emails and possible other cyberattacks.
Spam refers to advertising emails from a mass mailing that you did not request yourself.
Such emails are also known as data junk and can also cause costs.
Phishing emails, on the other hand, are messages that aim to build trust via fake messages or websites in order to obtain personal data.
Anti-spam software generally protects against unwanted spam messages or malicious emails that could introduce viruses into our system.
We also use general firewall and security systems to protect our computers from unwanted network attacks.

Why do we use security & anti-spam software?

We attach great importance to security on our website.
After all, it’s not just about our security, but above all about yours.
Unfortunately, cyber threats are now part of everyday life in the world of IT and the Internet.
Hackers often try to steal personal data from an IT system with the help of a cyber attack.
And that is why a good defense system is absolutely essential.
A security system monitors all incoming and outgoing connections to our network or computer.
To achieve even greater security against cyber attacks, we also use other external security services in addition to the standardized security systems on our computer.
This prevents unauthorized data traffic and protects us from cybercrime.

What data is processed by security & anti-spam software?

Exactly which data is collected and stored depends of course on the respective service.
However, we always strive to use only programs that collect data very sparingly or only store data that is necessary for the performance of the service offered.
In principle, the service may store data such as name, address, IP address, e-mail address and technical data such as browser type or browser version.
Any performance and log data may also be collected in order to detect possible incoming threats in good time.
This data is processed as part of the services and in compliance with the applicable laws.
This also includes the GDPR for US providers (via the standard contractual clauses).
In some cases, these security services also work with third-party providers who may store and/or process data under instructions and in accordance with the data protection guidelines and other security measures.
Data is usually stored via cookies.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below if we have further information on this.
For example, security programs store data until you or we revoke the data storage.
In general, personal data is only stored for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of the services.
In many cases, unfortunately, we do not receive precise information from the providers about the length of storage.

Right of objection

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

As such security services may also use cookies, we recommend that you read our general privacy policy on cookies.
To find out exactly which of your data is stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

We use the security services mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in a good security system against various cyber attacks.

Certain processing operations, in particular the use of cookies and the use of security functions, require your consent.
If you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated security services, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR).
Most of the services we use set cookies in your browser to store data.
We therefore recommend that you read our data protection text on cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie guidelines of the respective service provider.

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

Web design introduction

Web design privacy policy summary 👥 Data subject: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: To improve the user experience 📓 Processed data: Which data is processed depends heavily on the services used. In most cases, this includes the IP address, technical data, language settings, browser version, screen resolution and browser name. You can find more details on this in the respective web design tools used. 📅 Storage period: depends on the tools used ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web design?

We use various tools on our website that serve our web design.
Web design is not, as is often assumed, just about making our website look pretty, but also about functionality and performance.
But of course the right look of a website is also one of the major 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 aim of web design is 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 website visitors have on a website.
Usability is a sub-item of user experience.
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 find what you are looking for quickly and easily.
In order to offer you the best possible experience on our website, we also use 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 plugins 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.
This is why good and professional web design has become increasingly important for us.
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 services if you feel completely at ease.

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 naturally depends heavily on the tools used.
Below you can see exactly which tools we use for our website.
For more detailed information about data processing, we recommend that you also read the privacy policies of the tools used.
In most cases, this will tell you what data is processed, whether cookies are used and how long the data is stored.
Fonts such as Google Fonts 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.
If cookies are used, for example, the storage period can be as short as one minute or as long as a few years.
Please find out more about this.
We recommend that you read our general text section on cookies as well as the data protection declarations of the tools used.
There you can 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 to provide the service.
Data can also be stored for longer if required by law.

Right of objection

You also have the right and the option to withdraw 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 by cookies by managing, deactivating or deleting cookies in your browser.
Under web design elements (mostly fonts), however, there is also data that cannot be deleted quite so easily.
This is the case when data is automatically collected directly when a page is accessed 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 contact support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of web design tools, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent.
According to Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
a GDPR (consent), this consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when it is collected by web design tools.
We also have a legitimate interest in improving the web design on our website.
After all, only then can we provide you with an attractive and professional website.
The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
f GDPR (legitimate interests).
Nevertheless, we only use web design tools if you have given your consent.
We would like to emphasize this again here in any case.

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

Google Fonts privacy policy

Google Fonts Privacy Policy Summary 👥 Data subject: Visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our services 📓 Processed data: Data such as IP address and CSS and font requests More details can be found below in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: Font files are stored by Google for one year ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are Google Fonts?

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

You do not need to log in or enter a password to use Google fonts.
Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser.
The files (CSS, fonts) are requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com.
According to Google, requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services.
If you have a Google account, you do not need to worry that your Google account data will be transmitted to Google while using Google Fonts.
Google records the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this data securely.
We will take a closer look at exactly how the data is stored.

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

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

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

With Google Fonts, we can use fonts on our own website without having to upload them to our own server.
Google Fonts is an important component in keeping the quality of our website high.
All Google fonts are automatically optimized 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 visually distort texts or entire websites.
Thanks to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), there are no cross-platform problems with Google Fonts.
Google Fonts supports all common browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) and works reliably on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod).
We use Google Fonts so that we can present our entire online service as beautifully and uniformly as possible.

What data is stored by Google?

When you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded via a Google server.
This external call transmits data to the Google server.
In this way, Google also recognizes 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.
Incidentally, API stands for “Application Programming Interface” and is used, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software sector.

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

However, it should be noted that every 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.
It is not clear whether this data is also stored or whether it is 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 the fonts with the help of a Google stylesheet.
A stylesheet is a format template that can be used to quickly and easily 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 websites refer to the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and immediately reappear on all other websites visited later.
Sometimes Google updates font files to reduce the file size, increase language coverage and improve the design.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The data that Google stores for one day or one year cannot simply be deleted.
The data is automatically transmitted to Google when the page is accessed.
To delete this data prematurely, you must contact Google support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=112786187.
In this case, you can only prevent data storage if you do not visit our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unrestricted access to all fonts.
This means we have unlimited access to a sea of fonts and can therefore get the most out of our website.
You can find out more about Google Fonts and other questions at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=112786187.
Although Google addresses data protection issues there, it does not provide any really detailed information about data storage.
It is relatively difficult to get really precise information from Google about stored data.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Fonts, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent.
According to Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
a GDPR (consent) represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when Google Fonts is used to collect data.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Font to optimize our online service.
The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para.
1 lit.
f GDPR (legitimate interests) .
Wir setzen Google Font gleichwohl nur ein, soweit Sie eine Einwilligung erteilt haben.

Google also processes your data in the USA, among other places.
Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA.
You can find more information on this at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

In addition, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 (2) and (3) GDPR).
Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there.
Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the standard contractual 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 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: 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/.

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

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

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

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts used to also be called Google Web Fonts.
This is an interactive directory with over 800 fonts that Google provides free of charge.
With Google Fonts, you could use fonts without uploading them to your own server.
However, in order to prevent any transfer of information to Google servers in this respect, we have downloaded the fonts to our server.
In this way, we act in compliance with data protection regulations and do not send any data to Google Fonts.

Explanation of terms used

We always endeavor to write our privacy policy as clearly and comprehensibly 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 find an alphabetical list of important terms used, which we may not have sufficiently addressed in the previous privacy policy.
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 if necessary.

Supervisory authority

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

‘supervisory authority’ means an independent public authority established by a Member State in accordance with Article 51;

Explanation: “Supervisory authorities” are always independent state institutions that are also authorized to issue instructions in certain cases.
They serve to carry out so-called state supervision and are located in ministries, special departments or other authorities.
For data protection in Austria, there is an Austrian data protection authority; for Germany, there is a separate data protection authority for each federal state.

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 that we process from you.
In addition to controllers, there may also be so-called processors.
This includes any company or person that processes personal data on our behalf.
In addition to service providers such as tax consultants, processors can therefore also be hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

Supervisory authority concerned

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“supervisory authority concerned” means a supervisory authority which is concerned by the processing of personal data because

a)

the controller or processor is established on the territory of the Member State of that supervisory authority

b)

such processing has or is likely to have a significant impact on data subjects residing in the Member State of that supervisory authority, or

c)

a complaint has been lodged with that supervisory authority;

Explanation: In Germany, each federal state has its own supervisory authority for data protection.
So if your company headquarters (main office) is in Germany, the relevant supervisory authority of the federal state is generally your point of contact.
In Austria, there is only one supervisory authority for data protection for the entire country.

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 the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her;

Explanation: As a rule, such consent is given via a cookie consent tool on websites.
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 data processing.
In most cases, you can also make individual settings and decide for yourself which data processing you allow and which you do not.
If you do not give your consent, your personal data may not 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” 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:

• Your name
• Your address
• E-mail address
• Postal address
• Telephone number
• Date of birth
• Identification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, identity card number or matriculation number
• Bank details such as account number, credit information, account balances, etc.

According to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) , your IP address is also considered personal data.
IT experts can use your IP address to determine at least the approximate location of your device and, subsequently, you as the owner of the connection.
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, which are also particularly worthy of 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 (i.e. information on mental, physical or behavioral characteristics that can identify a person).
  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 form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyze or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location or movements;

Explanation: Profiling involves collecting various pieces of information about a person in order to find out more about them.
In the web sector, profiling is often used for advertising purposes or for credit checks.
For example, web and advertising analysis programs collect data about your behavior and interests on a website.
This results in a special user profile that can be used to target advertising to a specific target group.

Person 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 nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law;

Explanation: In our case, we are responsible for the processing of your personal data and are therefore the “controller”.
If we pass on collected data to other service providers for processing, they are “processors”.
An “order processing contract (AVV)” must be signed for this.

Processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“processing” any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, 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 refer to processing in our privacy policy, we mean any kind of data processing.
As mentioned above in the original GDPR declaration, this includes not only the collection but also the storage and processing of data.

All texts are protected by copyright.

Source: Created with the Data Protection Generator Austria by AdSimple