Privacy

Introduction and overview

We have prepared this privacy policy (version 27.08.2024-122864258) 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

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:

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

Contact details of the controller

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:
THE LANGUAGE EXPERTS AC OG
Baumgasse 60/64
1030 Vienna
Austria
Authorized to represent: Christina Mayer-Ritzer
E-Mail: office@thelanguageexperts.at
Phone: +43 660 4705971
Imprint: https://www.thelanguageexperts.at/
data protection

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:

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/

Order processing contract (AVV)

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:

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

You can see what such a DPA looks like in concrete terms at https://www.wko.at/service
/wirtschaftsrecht-gewerberecht/eu-dsgvo-
mustervertrag-auftragsverarbeitung.html.
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.

HTTP Cookie intercation between Browser and Webserver

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: GA1.2.1326744211.152122864258-9
Purpose: Differentiation of website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

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 para. 3 of the Telemedia Act (TMG), which has been replaced by the Digital Services Act (DDG) since May 2024.

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, insofar as the software used uses cookies.

Website builder systems Introduction

Website Building Kit Systems Privacy Policy Summary
Data subject: Visitors to the website
Purpose: Optimization of our services
Processed data: Data such as technical usage information such as browser activity, clickstream activity, session heatmaps as well as contact details, IP address or your geographical location. You can find more details on this below in this privacy policy and in the privacy policy of the providers.
Storage period: depends on the provider
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent)

What are website builder systems?

We use a modular website system for our website. Modular systems are special forms of a content management system (CMS). With a modular system, website operators can create a website very easily and without programming knowledge. In many cases, web hosters also offer modular systems. By using a modular system, your personal data can also be collected, stored and processed. In this data protection text, we provide you with general information about data processing by modular systems. You can find more detailed information in the provider’s data protection declarations.

Why do we use website builder systems for our website?

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

What data is stored by a modular system?

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

How long and where is the data stored?

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below in connection with the website building block system used, if we have further information on this. You can find detailed information about this in the provider’s privacy policy. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. The provider may store your data according to its own specifications, over which we have no influence.

Right of objection

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

You can delete, deactivate or manage cookies that providers use for their functions in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. Please note, however, that not all functions may then work as usual.

Legal basis

We have a legitimate interest in using a website building block system to optimize our online service and to present it to you in an efficient and user-friendly manner. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use the modular system if you have given your consent.

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

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

WordPress.com privacy policy

WordPress.com Privacy Policy Summary
Data subject: Visitors to the website
Purpose: Optimization of our services
Processed data: Data such as technical usage information such as browser activity, clickstream activity, session heatmaps as well as contact details, IP address or your geographical location. You can find more details below in this privacy policy.
Storage duration: It mainly depends on the type of data stored and the specific settings.
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is WordPress?

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

In 2003, the company saw the light of day and developed into one of the best-known content management systems (CMS) in the world in a relatively short space of time. A CMS is a piece of software that helps us to design our website and present content in an attractive and organized way. The content can be text, audio and video.
By using WordPress, your personal data may also be collected, stored and processed. As a rule, mainly technical data such as operating system, browser, screen resolution or hosting provider are stored. However, personal data such as IP address, geographical data or contact details may also be processed.

Why do we use WordPress on our website?

We have many strengths, but real programming is not one of our core competencies.

Nevertheless, we want to have a powerful and attractive website that we can also manage and maintain ourselves. With a modular website system or a content management system like WordPress, we can do just that. With WordPress, we don’t have to be programming aces to offer you a beautiful website. Thanks to WordPress, we can operate our website quickly and easily even without prior technical knowledge. If technical problems occur or we have special requests for our website, there are always our specialists who feel at home in HTML, PHP, CSS and co.

Thanks to the ease of use and comprehensive functions of WordPress, we can design our website according to our wishes and offer you a good user experience.

What data is processed by WordPress?

Non-personal data includes technical usage information such as browser activity, clickstream activity, session heatmaps and data about your computer, operating system, browser, screen resolution, language and keyboard settings, internet provider and date of the page visit.

Personal data is also collected. These are primarily contact data (e-mail address or telephone number, if you provide these), IP address or your geographical location.

WordPress can also use cookies to collect data. This often includes data about your behavior on our website. For example, it can record which subpages you particularly like to view, how long you spend on individual pages, when you leave a page again (bounce rate) or which default settings (e.g. language selection) you have made. Based on this data, WordPress can also better adapt its own marketing measures to your interests and user behavior. The next time you visit our website, you will therefore be shown our website as you have previously set it.

WordPress may also use technologies such as pixel tags (web beacons), for example to clearly identify you as a user and possibly offer interest-based advertising.

How long and where is the data stored?

How long the data is stored depends on various factors. So it mainly depends on the type of data stored and the specific settings of the website. In principle, WordPress deletes the data when it is no longer needed for its own purposes. There are of course exceptions, especially if legal obligations require the data to be stored for longer. Web server logs containing your IP address and technical data are deleted by WordPress or Automattic after 30 days. Automattic uses the data for this period to analyze the traffic on its own websites (e.g. all WordPress pages) and to resolve potential problems. Deleted content on WordPress websites is also kept in the recycle bin for 30 days to enable recovery, after which it may remain in backups and caches until it is deleted. The data is stored on Automattic’s American servers.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right and opportunity to access your personal data at any time and to object to its use and processing. You can also lodge a complaint with a state supervisory authority at any time.

In your browser, you also have the option of individually managing, deleting or deactivating cookies. Please note, however, that deactivated or deleted cookies may have a negative impact on the functions of our WordPress site. Depending on which browser you use, the management of cookies 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 have consented to the use of WordPress, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) is the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when it is collected by WordPress.

We also have a legitimate interest in using WordPress to optimize our online service and present it to you in an attractive manner. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use WordPress if you have given your consent.

WordPress or Automattic processes your data in the USA, among other places. Automattic 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, Automattic 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, Automattic 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

You can find more details on the privacy policy and which data is processed by WordPress and how at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

Data processing agreement (DPA) WordPress.com

We have concluded a data processing agreement (DPA) with WordPress.com 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 WordPress.com processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that WordPress.com 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 data processing agreement (DPA) at https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

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.

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.

Consent Management Platform Overview

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 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
Wert: “:true,”statistik”:true,”marketing”:
true,”socialmedia”:true,
”einstellungen”: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.

Google reCAPTCHA privacy policy

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy Summary
Data subject: Visitors to the website
Purpose: Optimization of our services and protection against cyber attacks
Processed data: Data such as IP address, browser information, your operating system, limited location and usage data
More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
Storage period: depending on the data stored
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is reCAPTCHA?

Our primary goal is to secure and protect our website for you and for us in the best possible way. To ensure this, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google Inc. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With reCAPTCHA we can determine whether you are really a flesh and blood person and not a robot or other spam software. By spam we mean any unsolicited information that is sent to us electronically. With the classic CAPTCHAs, you usually had to solve text or picture puzzles for verification. With reCAPTCHA from Google, we don’t usually have to bother you with such puzzles. In most cases, all you have to do is tick a box to confirm that you are not a bot. With the new Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you no longer even have to tick the box. You can find out exactly how this works and, above all, which data is used for this in the course of this privacy policy.

reCAPTCHA is a free captcha service from Google that protects websites from spam software and misuse by non-human visitors. This service is most commonly used when you fill out forms on the Internet. A Captcha service is a type of automatic Turing test that is designed to ensure that an action on the Internet is performed by a human and not by a bot. In the classic Turing test (named after the computer scientist Alan Turing), a human determines the difference between a bot and a human. With captchas, this is also done by a computer or a software program. Classic captchas work with small tasks that are easy for humans to solve but present considerable difficulties for machines. With reCAPTCHA, you no longer have to actively solve puzzles. The tool uses modern risk techniques to distinguish humans from bots. All you have to do here is tick the “I am not a robot” text field, and with Invisible reCAPTCHA even this is no longer necessary. With reCAPTCHA, a JavaScript element is integrated into the source code and then the tool runs in the background and analyzes your user behaviour. The software calculates a so-called captcha score from these user actions. Google uses this score to calculate the probability that you are human even before you enter the captcha. reCAPTCHA or captchas in general are always used when bots could manipulate or abuse certain actions (e.g. registrations, surveys, etc.).

Why do we use reCAPTCHA on our website?

We only want to welcome people of flesh and blood on our site. Bots and spam software of all kinds can safely stay at home. That’s why we do everything we can to protect ourselves and offer you the best possible user-friendliness. For this reason, we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google. This way we can be pretty sure that we remain a “bot-free” website. By using reCAPTCHA, data is transmitted to Google to determine whether you are actually a human being. reCAPTCHA therefore serves the security of our website and, by extension, your security. For example, without reCAPTCHA it could happen that a bot registers as many e-mail addresses as possible during registration in order to subsequently “spam” forums or blogs with unwanted advertising content. With reCAPTCHA, we can prevent such bot attacks.

What data is stored by reCAPTCHA?

reCAPTCHA collects personal data from users in order to determine whether the actions on our website actually originate from people. The IP address and other data that Google requires for the reCAPTCHA service may therefore be sent to Google. IP addresses are almost always truncated within the member states of the EU or other signatory states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area before the data is sent to a server in the USA. The IP address is not combined with other Google data unless you are logged in with your Google account while using reCAPTCHA. First, the reCAPTCHA algorithm checks whether Google cookies from other Google services (YouTube, Gmail, etc.) have already been placed on your browser. Then reCAPTCHA places an additional cookie in your browser and takes a snapshot of your browser window.

The following list of collected browser and user data does not claim to be exhaustive. Rather, they are examples of data that, to our knowledge, are processed by Google.

It is undisputed that Google uses and analyzes this data even before you click on the “I am not a robot” checkbox. With the Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you don’t even have to check the box and the entire recognition process runs in the background. Google does not tell you in detail exactly how much and what data it stores.

The following cookies are used by reCAPTCHA: Here we refer to the reCAPTCHA demo version from Google at https://www.google.com/recaptcha
/api2/demo. All these cookies require a unique identifier for tracking purposes. Here is a list of cookies that Google reCAPTCHA has set on the demo version:

Name: IDE
Wert: WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKn
RNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-122864258-8
Purpose: This cookie is set by the company DoubleClick (also owned by Google) to register and report the actions of a user on the website in relation to advertisements. This allows the effectiveness of advertising to be measured and appropriate optimization measures to be taken. IDE is stored in browsers under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiration date: after one year

Name: 1P_JAR
Value: 2019-5-14-12
Purpose: This cookie collects statistics on website usage and measures conversions. A conversion occurs, for example, when a user becomes a buyer. The cookie is also used to display relevant advertisements to users. The cookie can also be used to prevent a user from seeing the same ad more than once.
Expiration date: after one month

Name: ANID
Wert: U7j1v3dZa1228642580xgZ
FmiqWppRWKOr
Purpose: We were unable to find out much information about this cookie. In Google’s privacy policy, the cookie is mentioned in connection with “advertising cookies” such as “DSID”, “FLC”, “AID”, “TAID”. ANID is stored under domain google.com.
Expiration date: after 9 months

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

Name: NID
Value: 0WmuWqy122864258zILzqV_
nmt3sDXwPeM5Q
Purpose: NID is used by Google to customize advertisements to your Google searches. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. So you always get customized ads. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect the user’s personal settings for advertising purposes.
Expiration date: after 6 months

Name: DV
Value: gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAA
Nbqc122864258-4
Intended use: As soon as you have checked the “I am not a robot” box, this cookie is set. The cookie is used by Google Analytics for personalized advertising. DV collects information in anonymized form and is also used to make user distinctions.
Expiration date: after 10 minutes

Note: This list cannot claim to be exhaustive, as experience has shown that Google changes its choice of cookies from time to time.

How long and where is the data stored?

By inserting reCAPTCHA, data is transferred from you to the Google server. Where exactly this data is stored is not made clear by Google, even after repeated requests. Without having received confirmation from Google, it can be assumed that data such as mouse interaction, time spent on the website or language settings are stored on the European or American Google servers. The IP address that your browser transmits to Google is not merged with other Google data from other Google services. However, if you are logged in to your Google account while using the reCAPTCHA plug-in, the data will be merged. The deviating data protection provisions of Google apply.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

If you do not want any data about you and your behavior to be transmitted to Google, you must log out of Google completely and delete all Google cookies before you visit our website or use the reCAPTCHA software. In principle, the data is automatically transmitted to Google as soon as you visit our website. To delete this data, you must contact Google support at https://support.google.com/?hl=detid=122864258.

Therefore, when you use our website, you consent to Google LLC and its representatives automatically collecting, processing and using data.

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google reCAPTCHA, 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 reCAPTCHA is used to collect data.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google reCAPTCHA to optimize our online service and make it more secure. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) .
Wir setzen Google reCAPTCHA 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
.

Google 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, 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/en/adsprocessorterms/
.

You can find out more about reCAPTCHA on Google’s web developer page at https://developers.google.com/
recaptcha/
. Although Google goes into more detail here about the technical development of reCAPTCHA, you will search in vain for precise information about data storage and data protection issues. A good overview of the basic use of data at Google can be found in the company’s own privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

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 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 area. 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.

Online map services Introduction

Online map services Privacy policy summary
Data subjects: Visitors to the website
Purpose: To improve the user experience
Processed data: Which data is processed depends heavily on the services used. It is usually IP address, location data, search items and/or technical data. You can find more details on this in the respective 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 are online map services?

We also use online map services for our website as an extended service. Google Maps is probably the service you are most familiar with, but there are also other providers that specialize in creating digital maps. Such services make it possible to display locations, route plans or other geographical information directly via our website. With an integrated map service, you no longer have to leave our website to view the route to a location, for example. In order for the online map to work on our website, map sections are integrated using HTML code. The services can then display street maps, the earth’s surface or aerial or satellite images. If you use the integrated map service, data is also transferred to the tool used and stored there. This data may also include personal data.

Why do we use online map services on our website?

Generally speaking, our aim is to offer you a pleasant time on our website. And of course, your time is only pleasant if you can easily find your way around our website and find all the information you need quickly and easily. That’s why we thought that an online map system could significantly improve our service on the website. Without leaving our website, you can use the map system to easily view route descriptions, locations or even places of interest. Of course, it is also very practical that you can see at a glance where we are based so that you can find us quickly and safely. As you can see, there are simply many advantages and we clearly regard online map services on our website as part of our customer service.

What data is stored by online map services?

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

Right of objection

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

Legal basis

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

We also have a legitimate interest in using an online map service to optimize our service on our website. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only ever use an online map service if you have given your consent. We would like to make this clear at this point.

Information on special online map services – if available – can be found in the following sections.

Google Maps privacy policy

Google Maps privacy policy summary
Data subject: Visitors to the website
Purpose: Optimization of our services
Processed data: Data such as search terms entered, your IP address and also the latitude and longitude coordinates.
More details can be found below in this privacy policy.
Storage period: depending on the data stored
⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Maps?

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. on our website. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With Google Maps, we can show you locations better and thus adapt our service to your needs. By using Google Maps, data is transmitted to Google and stored on Google servers. We would now like to explain in more detail what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Google Maps is an internet map service from Google. With Google Maps, you can search online for exact locations of cities, places of interest, accommodation or businesses using a PC, tablet or app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, further information about the company is displayed in addition to the location. To display directions, map sections of a location can be integrated into a website using HTML code. Google Maps shows the earth’s surface as a street map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to the Street View images and the high-quality satellite images, very accurate representations are possible.

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

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

What data is stored by Google Maps?

In order for Google Maps to be able to offer its full service, the company must collect and store data from you. This includes the search terms entered, your IP address and also the latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the start address you enter is also saved. However, this data storage takes place on the Google Maps websites. We can only inform you about this, but cannot influence it. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google sets at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behavior. Google uses this data primarily to optimize its own services and to provide you with individual, personalized advertising.

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

Name: NID
Value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rX
gLyATyITJ122864258-5
Purpose: NID is used by Google to customize advertisements to your Google searches. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. So you always get customized ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal settings for advertising purposes.
Expiration date: after 6 months

Note: We cannot guarantee the completeness of the stored data. Changes can never be ruled out, especially when using cookies. In order to identify the NID cookie, a separate test page was created where only Google Maps was integrated.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google servers are located in data centers all over the world. However, most of the servers are located in America. For this reason, your data is increasingly stored in the USA. You can find out exactly where the Google data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/
datacenters/locations/?hl=en

Google distributes the data on different data carriers. This means that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against any attempts at manipulation. Each data center also has special emergency programs. If, for example, there are problems with the Google hardware or a natural disaster paralyzes the servers, the data is almost certainly still protected.

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

With the automatic deletion function for location and activity data introduced in 2019, location and web/app activity information is stored for either 3 or 18 months – depending on your decision – and then deleted. You can also manually delete this data from your history at any time via your Google account. If you want to completely prevent your location from being recorded, you must pause the “Web and app activity” section in your Google account. Click on “Data and personalization” and then on the “Activity settings” option. Here you can switch the activities on or off.

You can also deactivate, delete or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this always works slightly differently. 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 the use of Google Maps, 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 it may occur during the collection by Google Maps.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Maps to optimize our online service. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests) .
Wir setzen Google Maps 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
.

Google 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, 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, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/
dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en

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

If you would like to find out more about Google’s data processing, we recommend that you read the company’s own privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

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.

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.

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:

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

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.

Closing words

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

All texts are protected by copyright.

Source: Created with the data protection generator from AdSimple