Privacy Policy

Table of contents

• Privacy Policy Introduction and Overview
• Scope
• Legal bases
• Contact details of the data protection controller
• Storage Period
• Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation
• Data transfer to third countries
• Security of data processing operations
• Communications
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Cookies
• Web hosting
• Website Builders Introduction
• Web Analytics
• Email-Marketing
• Social Media
• Blogs and Publication Media Introduction
• Cookie Consent Management Platform
• Security & Anti-spam
• Web Design Introduction
• Miscellaneous Overview
• Explanation of the terminology used
• Closing Remarks

Privacy Policy Introduction and Overview

We have written this privacy policy (version 11.07.2024-112452513) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions 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 legal options you have. The terms used are to be considered gender-neutral.
In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about any of your personal data we process.

Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. However, this privacy policy is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. So long as it aids transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly manner, links to further information are provided and graphics are used. We are thus informing in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the context of our business activities if there is a legal basis for it. This is certainly not possible with brief, unclear and legal-technical statements, as is often standard on the internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative. Maybe you will also find some information that you have not been familiar with.
If you still have questions, we kindly ask you to contact the responsible body named below or in the imprint, follow the existing links and look at further information on third-party sites. You can of course also find our contact details in the imprint.

Scope

This privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by our company and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (processors). With the term personal data, we refer to information within the meaning of Article 4 No. 1 GDPR, such as the name, email address and postal address of a person. The processing of personal data ensures that we can offer and invoice our services and products, be it online or offline. The scope of this privacy policy includes:

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

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

Legal bases

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.
Whenever 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 access the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU online at EUR-Lex, the gateway to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679.

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

1. Consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of data you entered into a contact form.
2. Contract (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR): We process your data in order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you. For example, if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance.
3. Legal obligation (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we will process your data. For example, we are legally required to keep invoices for our bookkeeping. These usually contain personal data.
4. Legitimate interests (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your basic rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we have to process certain data in order to be able to operate our website securely and economically. Therefore, the processing is a legitimate interest.

Other conditions such as making recordings in the interest of the public, the exercise of official authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually occur with us. Should such a legal basis be relevant, it will be disclosed in the appropriate place.

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

• In Austria this is the Austrian Data Protection Act (Datenschutzgesetz), in short DSG.
• In Germany this is the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz), in short BDSG.

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

Contact details of the data protection controller

If you have any questions about data protection, you will find the contact details of the responsible person or controller below:
Waltraud Hable
Pillergasse 15-17/DG05
A-1150 Wien

E-Mail: hallo@waltraudhable.com

Company details: https://www.waltraudhable.com/impressum/

Storage Period

It is a general criterion for us to store personal data only 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 any reason for the data processing no longer exists. In some cases, we are legally obliged to keep certain data stored even after the original purpose no longer exists, such as for accounting purposes.

If you want your data to be deleted or if you want to revoke your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as soon as possible, provided there is no obligation to continue its storage.

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

Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation

In accordance with Articles 13, 14 of the GDPR, we inform you about the following rights you have to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:

• According to Article 15 DSGVO, you have the right to information about whether we are processing data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to know the following information:
  • for what purpose we are 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 evaluated to arrive at a personal profile of you.
• You have a right to rectification of data according to Article 16 GDPR, which means that we must correct data if you find errors.
• You have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) according to Article 17 GDPR, which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.
• According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it further.
• According to Article 20 of the GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a standard format upon request.
• According to Article 21 DSGVO, you have the right to object, which entails a change in processing after enforcement.
  • If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you may object to the processing. We will then check as soon as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
  • If data is used to conduct direct advertising, you may 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 to conduct profiling, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for profiling thereafter.
• According to Article 22 of the GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example, profiling).
• You have the right to lodge a complaint under Article 77 of the GDPR. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the data processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

In short: you have rights – do not hesitate to contact the responsible party listed above with us!

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or your data protection rights have been violated in any other way, you can complain to 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:

Data transfer to third countries

We only transfer or process data to countries outside the scope of the GDPR (third countries) if you consent to this processing or if there is another legal permission. This is particularly true when processing is legally required or necessary for the performance of a contractual relationship, and in any case, only to the extent permitted by law. Your consent is in most cases the primary reason for us to process data in third countries. Processing of personal data in third countries such as the USA, where many software providers offer services and have their server locations, may mean that personal data is processed and stored in unexpected ways.

We explicitly point out that, according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently only an adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA if a US company processing personal data of EU citizens in the USA is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. More information can be found at: https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en

Data processing by US services that are not active participants in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework may result in data not being anonymized and processed, if applicable. Additionally, US government authorities may potentially have access to individual data. Furthermore, it may occur that collected data is linked with data from other services of the same provider, if you have a corresponding user account. Where possible, we try to use server locations within the EU, if offered.

We will inform you in the appropriate sections of this privacy policy in more detail about data transfers to third countries, if applicable.

Security of data processing operations

In order to protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organisational measures. We encrypt or pseudonymise personal data wherever this is possible. Thus, we make it as difficult as we can for third parties to extract personal information from our data.

Article 25 of the GDPR refers to “data protection by technical design and by data protection-friendly default” which means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to server rooms) appropriate safeguards and security measures shall always be placed. If applicable, we will outline the specific measures below.

TLS encryption with https

The terms TLS, encryption and https sound very technical, which they are indeed. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to securely transfer data on the Internet.
This means that the entire transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – nobody can “listen in”.

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and meet privacy requirements through technology design Article 25 Section 1 GDPR). With the use of TLS (Transport Layer Security), which is an encryption protocol for safe data transfer on the internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential information.
You can recognise the use of this safeguarding tool by the little lock-symbol , which is situated in your browser’s top left corner in the left of the internet address (e.g. examplepage.uk), as well as by the display of the letters https (instead of http) as a part of our web address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend you to do a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to find good links to further information.

Communications

Communications Overview 👥 Affected parties: Anyone who communicates with us via phone, email or online form 🤝 Processed data: e. g. telephone number, name, email address or data entered in forms. You can find more details on this under the respective form of contact 📓 Purpose: handling communication with customers, business partners, etc. 📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the business case and the legal requirements ⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

If you contact us and communicate with us via phone, email or online form, your personal data may be processed.

The data will be processed for handling and processing your request and for the related business transaction. The data is stored for this period of time or for as long as is legally required.

Affected persons

The above-mentioned processes affect all those who seek contact with us via the communication channels we provide.

Telephone

When you call us, the call data is stored in a pseudonymised form on the respective terminal device, as well as by the telecommunications provider that is being used. In addition, data such as your name and telephone number may be sent via email and stored for answering your inquiries. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Email

If you communicate with us via email, your data is stored on the respective terminal device (computer, laptop, smartphone, …) as well as on the email server. The data will be deleted as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Online forms

If you communicate with us using an online form, your data is stored on our web server and, if necessary, forwarded to our email address. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Legal bases

Data processing 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 continue to use it for the purposes of the business case;
• Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract): For the performance of a contract with you or a processor such as a telephone provider, or if we have to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as preparing an offer;
• Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests): We want to conduct our customer inquiries and business communication in a professional manner. Thus, certain technical facilities such email programs, Exchange servers and mobile network operators are necessary to efficiently operate our communications.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA)

In this section, we would like to explain what a Data Processing Agreement is and why it is needed. As the term “Data Processing Agreement” is quite lengthy, we will often only use the acronym DPA here in this text. Like most companies, we do not work alone, but also use the services of other companies or individuals. By involving different 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). Most importantly for you to know is that any processing of your personal data takes place exclusively according to our instructions and must be regulated by the DPA.

Who are the processors?

As a company and website owner, we are responsible for any of your data that is processed by us. In addition to the controller, there may also be so-called processors involved. This includes any company or person who processes your personal data. More precisely and according to the GDPR’s definition, this means: Any natural or legal person, authority, institution or other entity that processes your personal data 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 comprehend, here is an overview of the GDPR’s three roles:

Data subject (you as a customer or interested party) → Controller (we as a company and contracting entity) → Processors (service providers such as web hosts or cloud providers)

Contents of a Data Processing Agreement

As mentioned above, we have concluded a DPA with our partners who act as processors. First and foremost, it states that the processor processes the data exclusively in accordance with the GDPR. The contract must be concluded in writing, although an electronic contract completion is also considered a “written contract”. Any processing of personal data only takes place after this contract is concluded. The contract must contain the following:

• indication 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
• location of data processing

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

• ensuring data security measures
• taking possible technical and organisational measures to protect the rights of the data subject
• maintaining a data processing record
• cooperation with the data protection authority upon request
• performing a risk analysis for any received personal data
• subprocessors may only be appointed with the written consent of the controller

You can see an example of what a DPA looks like at https://gdpr.eu/data-processing-agreement/. This link shows a sample contract.

Cookies

Cookies Overview 👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: depending on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie. 📓 Processed data: depends on the cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📅 Storage duration: can vary from hours to years, depending on the respective cookie ⚖️ 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.
In the following 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 are using a browser. Common browsers are for example, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text-files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

It is important to note that cookies are very useful little helpers. Almost every website uses cookies. More precisely, these are HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other uses. HTTP cookies are small files that our website stores on your computer. These cookie files are automatically placed into the cookie-folder, which is the “brain” of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. Moreover, to define a cookie, one or multiple attributes must be specified.

Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you re-open our website to visit again, your browser submits these “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are familiar to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, while in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in one 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. The browser then uses this 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 site, while 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 your PC’s information.

This is an example of how cookie-files can look:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152112452513-9
Purpose: Differentiation between website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

A browser should support these minimum sizes:

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

Which types of cookies are there?

The exact cookies that we use, depend on the used services, which will be outlined in the following sections of this privacy policy. Firstly, we will briefly focus on the different types of HTTP-cookies.

There are 4 different types of cookies:

Essential cookies
These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functions of a website. They are needed when a user for example puts a product into their shopping cart, then continues surfing on different websites and comes back later in order to proceed to the checkout. These cookies ensure the shopping cart does not get deleted, even if the user closes their browser window.

Purposive cookies
These cookies collect information about user behaviour and whether the user receives any error messages. Furthermore, these cookies record the website’s loading time as well as its behaviour in different browsers.

Target-orientated cookies
These cookies ensure better user-friendliness. Thus, information such as previously entered locations, fonts sizes or data in forms stay stored.

Advertising cookies
These cookies are also known as targeting cookies. They serve the purpose of delivering customised advertisements to the user. This can be very practical, but also rather annoying.

Upon your first visit to a website you are usually asked which of these cookie-types you want to accept. Furthermore, this decision will of course also be stored in a cookie.

If you want to learn more about cookies and do not mind technical documentation, we recommend https://tools.ietf.org/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 respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.

Which data are processed?

Cookies are little helpers for a wide variety of tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell which data is generally stored in cookies, but in the privacy policy below we will inform you on what data is processed or stored.

Storage period of cookies

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

You can also influence the storage duration yourself. You can manually erase all cookies at any time in your browser (also see “Right of objection” below). Furthermore, the latest instance cookies based on consent will be erased is after you withdraw your consent. The legality of storage will remain unaffected until then.

Right of objection – how can I erase cookies?

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

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

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser in a way to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This gives you the opportunity to manually decide to either permit or deny the placement of every single cookie. This procedure varies depending on the browser. Therefore, it might be best for you to search for the instructions in Google. If you are using Chrome, you could for example put the search term “delete cookies Chrome” or “deactivate cookies Chrome” into Google.

Legal basis

The so-called “cookie directive” has existed since 2009. It states that the storage of cookies requires your consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR). Within countries of the EU, however, the reactions to these guidelines still vary greatly. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 165 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (2021). In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this guideline was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG), which has been replaced by the Digital Services Act (DSA) since May 2024.

For absolutely 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 offer our visitors a pleasant user experience on our website. For this, certain cookies often are absolutely necessary.

This is exclusively done with your consent, unless absolutely necessary cookies are used. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (a) of the GDPR.

In the following sections you will find more detail on the use of cookies, provided the used software does use cookies.

Web hosting

Web hosting Overview 👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website 📓 Purpose: professional hosting of the website and security of operations 🤝 Processed data: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. You can find more details on this below or at the respective web hosting provider. 📅 Storage period: dependent on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web hosting?

Every time you visit a website nowadays, certain information – including personal data – is automatically created and stored, including on this website. This data should be processed as sparingly as possible, and only with good reason. By website, we mean the entirety of all websites on your domain, i.e. everything from the homepage to the very last subpage (like this one here). By domain we mean example.uk or examplepage.com.

When you want to view a website on a screen, you use a program called a web browser. You probably know the names of some web browsers: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.

The web browser has to connect to another computer which stores the website’s code: the web server. Operating a web server is complicated and time-consuming, which is why this is usually done by professional providers. They offer web hosting and thus ensure the reliable and flawless storage of website data.

Whenever the browser on your computer establishes a connection (desktop, laptop, smartphone) and whenever data is being transferred to and from the web server, personal data may be processed. After all, your computer stores data, and the web server also has to retain the data for a period of time in order to ensure it can operate properly.

Illustration:

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of data processing are:

1. Professional hosting of the website and operational security
2. To maintain the operational as well as IT security
3. Anonymous evaluation of access patterns to improve our offer, and if necessary, for prosecution or the pursuit of claims.li>

Which data are processed?

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

• the full address (URL) of the accessed website (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/examplesubpage.html?tid=112452513)
• browser and browser version (e.g. Chrome 87)
• the operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)
• the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL) (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/icamefromhere.html/)
• the host name and the IP address of the device from the website is being accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
• date and time
• in so-called web server log files

How long is the data stored?

Generally, the data mentioned above are stored for two weeks and are then automatically deleted. We do not pass these data on to others, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed by the authorities in the event of illegal conduct.

In short: Your visit is logged by our provider (company that runs our website on special computers (servers)), but we do not pass on your data without your consent!

Legal basis

The lawfulness of processing personal data in the context of web hosting is justified in Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (safeguarding of legitimate interests), as the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary to present the company in a safe and user-friendly manner on the internet, as well as to have the ability to track any attacks and claims, if necessary.

World4You Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy Summary for World4You 👥 Data subjects: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Website storage and accessibility on the Internet 📓 Processed data: IP address, particularly technical data 📅 Storage duration: Logfiles are deleted after 14 days ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR (Legitimate interests)

What is World4You?

You may have heard of the web hosting provider World4You, especially if you are in Austria, where the web hoster enjoys great popularity. The service provider is the Austrian company World4You Internet Services GmbH, Hafenstraße 35, 4020 Linz, Austria.

Operating in the web hosting sector since 1998, the company from the Upper Austrian capital operates multiple data centers in Austria and relies on in-house technology. This ensures a reliable operation and a fast server connection. As mentioned in our web hosting introduction, data from you is transferred to and processed on World4You’s servers, primarily involving technical data such as browser version or operating system. Additionally, personal data, including your IP address, is processed.

Why do we use World4You?

For a website, we value reliability, speed, and security, likely similar to your preferences. Regardless of whether you access our website in the middle of the night or during peak visitor times, it must function flawlessly. Clicking on subpages should not take an eternity for the page to load completely. And in case of issues, a robust backup system should secure our content and protect all data. To achieve all of this to our satisfaction, we need a reliable web host. With World4You, we believe we have found a partner that meets our requirements. World4You operates its own data centers, ensuring a consistent bandwidth for fast website accessibility. Additionally, we appreciate the personal support provided by the company.

What data does World4You process?

World4You may process personal data from you. Our web server automatically stores data while you visit our website, including personal data such as your IP address, and technical data such as the internet address of the visited website, device information like browser version, operating system, and the URL of the previously visited website. The time of accessing our website and, if applicable, location data are also captured. The IP address can be used to enhance website security, identify potential errors, and conduct anonymous statistical analyses. Cookies may be used for data storage.

How long and where are the data stored?

The data is stored on World4You’s own servers. The exact retention period depends on the type of data and individual configurations. In general, World4You stores the data for as long as necessary to fulfill its obligations. Data collected solely for providing the website is deleted after the respective session ends. For data stored in log files, deletion occurs no later than 14 days. However, data may be stored for a longer period to serve as evidence in potential legal disputes.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access, correct, delete, and restrict the processing of your personal data at any time. You can also revoke your consent to data processing at any time.

If you do not want these cookies to be set and data to be stored, you can prevent the setting of cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, managing, disabling, or deleting cookies works slightly differently.

In the “Cookies” section, you will find the respective links to the instructions for the most popular browsers.

Legal basis

From our perspective, there is a legitimate interest in using World4You to offer our online service. The corresponding legal basis is Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR (Legitimate interests).

Feel free to use the support provided if you have specific questions about data protection at World4You. It is also recommended to review the website’s privacy policy at https://www.world4you.com/en/company/data-privacy-statement. The FAQs at https://www.world4you.com/faq/en/dsgvo.html have a dedicated GDPR section where you can find additional useful information.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA) World4You

In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with World4You. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.

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

Website Builders Introduction

Website Builders Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: service optimisation 📓 Data processed: The data that is being processed includes but is not limited to technical usage information, browser activity, clickstream activity, session heat maps, contact details, IP addresses or geographic locations. You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below as well as in the providers’ Privacy Policies. 📅 Storage duration: depends on the provider ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR (consent)

What are website builders?

We use a modular website builder for our website. This is a special form of Content Management System (CMS). Website builders enable website operators to create websites very easily and without any programming knowledge. In many cases, web hosts also offer website builders. Your personal data may be collected, stored and processed if a website builder is being used. In this Privacy Policy, you will find general information about data that is processed by such modular website builder systems. You can find more information in the respective provider’s Privacy Policy.

Why do we use website builders for our website?

The greatest advantage of modular website builders is their ease of use. We want to offer you a clear, simple and nicely designed website that we can easily operate and maintain by ourselves – without needing any external support. Nowadays website builders offer many helpful functions that we can use even without having any programming knowledge. This enables us to design our website according to our wishes and therefore, to give you an informative and pleasant experience on our website.

Which data are stored by website builders?

First of all, the exact data that is stored depends on the website builder that is being used. Each provider processes and collects different data from website visitors. However, technical usage information such as users’ operating system, browser, screen resolution, language and keyboard settings, hosting provider as well as the date of the website visit are usually collected. Moreover, tracking data (e. g. browser activity, clickstream activities, session heat maps, etc.) may also be processed. The same goes for personal data, since data such as contact information e. g. email address, telephone number (if you have provided it), IP address and geographic location data may also be processed and stored. In the respective provider’s Privacy Policy you can find out exactly which of your data is getting stored.

How long and where are the data stored?

Provided that we have any further information on this, we will inform you below about the duration of the data processing associated with the website builder we use. You can find detailed information on this in the provider’s Privacy Policy. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. The provider may store your data according to their own specifications, over which we have no influence.

Right to object

You always retain the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the responsible parties at the respective website builder system at any time. You can find the corresponding contact details either in our Privacy Policy or on the website of the respective provider.

What is more, in your browser you can clear, disable or manage cookies that providers use for their functions. Depending on the browser you use, this can be done in different ways. Please note, that this may lead to not all functions working as usual anymore.

Legal Bases

We have a legitimate interest in using a website builder system to optimise our online service and present it in an efficient and user-friendly way. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the website builder system if you have consented to it.

If the processing of data is not absolutely necessary for the operation of the website, your data will only be processed on the basis of your consent. This particularly applies to tracking activities. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR.

With this Privacy Policy, we have made you more familiar with the most important general information on data processing. If you want to find out more about this, you will find further information – if available – in the following section or in the Privacy Policy of the provider.

Elementor Privacy Policy

We use the website builder system Elementor for our website. The service provider is the Israeli company Elementor Ltd., located at Rehov Tuval 40, 5252247 Ramat Gan, Israel.

Your data may be transferred to Israel. Israel is outside the scope of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However, the European Commission has decided, based on Article 45(1) of the GDPR, that Israel provides a level of protection comparable to the GDPR standards. You can view the decision here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32011D0061

To learn more about the data processed through the use of Elementor, please refer to the privacy policy at https://elementor.com/about/privacy/.

WordPress.com Privacy Policy

WordPress.com Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: service optimisation 📓 Processed data: data such as technical usage information like browser activity, clickstream activities, session heat maps and contact details, IP addresses or geographic locations. You can find more details on this in the Privacy Policy below. 📅 Storage period: It depends primarily on the type of stored data and the specific settings. ⚖️ Legal bases: 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.

Founded in 2003, the company quickly became one of the most renowned Content Management Systems (CMS) worldwide. A CMS is software that helps us design our website and present content in an organized manner. Content can include text, audio, and video.

By using WordPress, personal data may be collected, stored, and processed. Typically, technical data such as operating system, browser, screen resolution, or hosting provider is stored. However, personal data such as IP address, geographical data, or contact information may also be processed.

Why do we use WordPress on our website?

We have many strengths, but real programming is not exactly our core competence.

Nevertheless, we want to have a powerful and attractive website that we can manage and maintain ourselves. With a website builder or Content Management System like WordPress, that’s exactly possible. With WordPress, we don’t have to be programming experts to offer you a beautiful website. Thanks to WordPress, we can operate our website quickly and easily without technical expertise. If technical problems arise or we have special requests for our website, we still have our experts who feel at home in HTML, PHP, CSS, and the like.

Due to the easy usability and comprehensive features of WordPress, we can design our web presence according to our wishes and provide you with good user-friendliness.

What data does WordPress process?

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

Personal data is also collected. Primarily, this includes contact details (email address or phone number if you provide them), IP address, or your geographical location.

WordPress may also use cookies to collect data. These often include data about your behavior on our website. For example, it can be recorded which subpages you particularly like to view, how long you stay on individual pages, when you leave a page again (bounce rate), or which preferences (e.g., language selection) you have made. Based on this data, WordPress can better tailor its own marketing measures to your interests and user behavior. The next time you visit our website, WordPress will display our website according to the settings you made beforehand.

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

How long and where are the data stored?

The storage duration of the data depends on various factors. It mainly depends on the type of data stored and the specific settings of the website. In general, data is deleted by WordPress when it is no longer needed for its own purposes. There are exceptions, especially if legal obligations prescribe a longer retention of data. Web server logs containing your IP address and technical data are deleted by WordPress or Automattic after 30 days. During this time, Automattic uses the data to analyze traffic on its own websites (for example, all WordPress sites) and to address possible issues. Deleted content on WordPress websites is also kept in the trash for 30 days to enable recovery; afterward, they can remain in backups and caches until deleted. The data is stored on American servers by Automattic.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

In your browser, you also have the option to individually manage, delete, or deactivate cookies. Please note, however, that deactivated or deleted cookies may have possible negative effects on the functions of our WordPress site. Depending on which browser you use, managing cookies works slightly differently. You can find the respective links to the instructions of the most well-known browsers under the “Cookies” section.

Legal basis

If you have given your consent for WordPress to be used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), this consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur when collected by WordPress.

From our side, there is also a legitimate interest in using WordPress to optimize our online service and present it beautifully for you. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests). However, we only use WordPress to the extent that you have given your consent.

WordPress or Automattic also processes data from you in the USA. Automattic is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, regulating the correct and secure transfer of personal data from EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

In addition, Automattic uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Art. 46 para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are model templates provided by the European Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transmitted and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and through 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 European Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding Standard Contractual Clauses, among other places, here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de.

More details about the privacy policy and what data is processed in what way by WordPress can be found at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

Data Processing Agreement (DPA) WordPress.com

In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with WordPress.com. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read 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 they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://wordpress.com/support/data-processing-agreements/.

Web Analytics

Web Analytics Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimise the website. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. You can find more details on this from the respective web analytics tool directly. 📅 Storage period: depending on the respective 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, which is known as web analytics, in order to evaluate website visitor behaviour. Thus, data is collected, which the analytic tool provider (also called tracking tool) stores, manages and processes. Analyses of user behaviour on our website are created with this data, which we as the website operator receive. Most tools also offer various testing options. These enable us, to for example test which offers or content our visitors prefer. For this, we may show you two different offers for a limited period of time. After the test (a so-called A/B test) we know which product or content our website visitors find more interesting. For such testing as well as for various other analyses, user profiles are created and the respective data is stored in cookies.

Why do we run Web Analytics?

We have a clear goal in mind when it comes to our website: we want to offer our industry’s best website on the market. Therefore, we want to give you both, the best and most interesting offer as well as comfort when you visit our website. With web analysis tools, we can observe the behaviour of our website visitors, and then improve our website accordingly for you and for us. For example, we can see the average age of our visitors, where they come from, the times our website gets visited the most, and which content or products are particularly popular. All this information helps us to optimise our website and adapt it to your needs, interests and wishes.

Which data are processed?

The exact data that is stored depends on the analysis tools that are being used. But generally, data such as the content you view on our website are stored, as well as e. g. which buttons or links you click, when you open a page, which browser you use, which device (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) you visit the website with, or which computer system you use. If you have agreed that location data may also be collected, this data may also be processed by the provider of the web analysis tool.

Moreover, 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 in a pseudonymised form (i.e. in an unrecognisable and abbreviated form). No directly linkable data such as your name, age, address or email address are stored for testing purposes, web analyses and web optimisations. If this data is collected, it is retained in a pseudonymised form. Therefore, it cannot be used to identify you as a person.

The following example shows Google Analytics’ functionality as an example for client-based web tracking with JavaScript code.

The storage period of the respective data always depends on the provider. Some cookies only retain data for a few minutes or until you leave the website, while other cookies can store data for several years.

Duration of data processing

If we have any further information on the duration of data processing, you will find it below. We generally only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide products and services. The storage period may be extended if it is required by law, such as for accounting purposes for example for accounting.

Right to object

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

Legal basis

The use of Web Analytics requires your consent, which we obtained with our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a of the GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, such as by collection through Web Analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors, which enables us to technically and economically improve our offer. With Web Analytics, we can recognise website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f of the GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use these tools if you have given your consent.

Since Web Analytics tools use cookies, we recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies. If you want to find out which of your data are stored and processed, you should read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

If available, information on special Web Analytics tools can be found in the following sections.

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information to optimise the website. 📓 Processed data: Access statistics that contain data such as access location, device data, access duration and time, navigation behaviour, click behaviour and IP addresses. More details can be found below and in Google Analytics’ privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: depending on the properties used ⚖️ Legal bases: 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 of the American company Google Inc. to our website. For Europe, 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 of various Google products such as Google Analytics directly on our WordPress dashboard. The in Google Site Kit integrated tools also collect your personal data. In this privacy policy we will explain why we use Google Site Kit, how long and where your data is stored, and which other privacy policies may be relevant to 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 – primarily by Google Analytics. In addition to Google Analytics, the services Google Search Console, Page Speed Insight, Google AdSense, Google Optimize and Google Tag Manager 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. You should feel comfortable on our website. Moreover, you should be able to quickly and easily find exactly what you are looking for. 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 a lot easier because we can view and analyse the statistics of Google products on its dashboard. Therefore, we must no longer register for using the respective tools. Site Kit always provides a good overview of the most important analysis data.

What data are stored by Google Site Kit?

If you have consented to the use of tracking tools in the cookie notice (also called script or banner), cookies will be set by Google products such as Google Analytics. Also, on about you, such as your user behaviour, will be sent to Google, where it is stored and processed. This also includes personal data such as your IP address.

You can find more detailed information on the individual services in the respective separate sections of this privacy policy. In our privacy policy on Google Analytics for example, you will be able to view information on the exact types of data that are collected. You will also learn how long Google Analytics stores, manages and processes data, what cookies can be used and how you can prevent data retention. We also have respective comprehensive privacy policies for other Google services such as Google Tag Manager or Google AdSense.

In the following, we will show you exemplary Google Analytics cookies that may be set in your browser if you have consented to Google’s data processing. Please note that this list contains only a selection of potential cookies:

Name: _ga
Value:2.1326744211.152112452513-2
Purpose:Usually analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Therefore, it can differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Value:2.1687193234.152112452513-7
Purpose: This cookie does also differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 24 hours

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

How long and where are the data stored?

Google stores the collected data on its own servers, which are distributed all around the world. Most servers are in the United States, so your data may likely be stored there. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=uk you can see exactly where the company provides servers.

Data that is collected by Google Analytics is stored for a standard period of 26 months. After this time, your user data will be deleted. This retention period applies to any data linked to cookies, user identification and advertising IDs.

How can I delete my data or prevent data retention?

You always reserve the right to either receive information about your data, or to have your data deleted, rectified, or reduced. You can also deactivate, delete, or manage cookies in your browser at any time. In the following we will show you the respective instructions to do this in the most common browsers:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

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

Legal basis

The use of Google Site Kit requires your consent, which we obtained via our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), this consent is the legal basis for processing personal data, such as when it is collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors, and thus technically and economically improving our offer. With the help of Google Site Kit, we can recognise website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Site Kit if you have given us your consent.

Google processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. 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. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Google uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Google commits to maintaining the European data protection level 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://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, at: https://business.safety.google/intl/en/adsprocessorterms/

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

Email-Marketing

Email Marketing Overview 👥 Affected parties: newsletter subscribers 🤝 Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of events that are relevant to the system 📓 Processed data: data entered during registration, but at least the email address. You can find more details on this in the respective email marketing tool used. 📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the subscription ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Email-Marketing?

We use email marketing to keep you up to date. If you have agreed to receive our emails or newsletters, your data will be processed and stored. Email marketing is a part of online marketing. In this type of marketing, news or general information about a company, product or service are emailed to a specific group of people who are interested in it.

If you want to participate in our email marketing (usually via newsletter), you usually just have to register with your email address. To do this, you have to fill in and submit an online form. However, we may also ask you for your title and name, so we can address you personally in our emails.

The registration for newsletters generally works with the help of the so-called “double opt-in procedure”. After you have registered for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an email, via which you can confirm the newsletter registration. This ensures that you own the email address you signed up with, and prevents anyone to register with a third-party email address. We or a notification tool we use, will log every single registration. This is necessary so we can ensure and prove, that registration processes are done legally and correctly. In general, the time of registration and registration confirmation are stored, as well as your IP address. Moreover, any change you make to your data that we have on file is also logged.

Why do we use Email-Marketing?

Of course, we want to stay in contact with you and keep you in the loop of the most important news about our company. For this, we use email marketing – often just referred to as “newsletters” – as an essential part of our online marketing. If you agree to this or if it is permitted by law, we will send you newsletters, system emails or other notifications via email. Whenever the term “newsletter” is used in the following text, it mainly refers to emails that are sent regularly. We of course don’t want to bother you with our newsletter in any way. Thus, we genuinely strive to offer only relevant and interesting content. In our emails you can e.g. find out more about our company and our services or products. Since we are continuously improving our offer, our newsletter will always give you the latest news, or special, lucrative promotions. Should we commission a service provider for our email marketing, who offers a professional mailing tool, we do this in order to offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our email marketing is to inform you about new offers and also to get closer to our business goals.

Which data are processed?

If you subscribe to our newsletter via our website, you then have to confirm your membership in our email list via an email that we will send to you. In addition to your IP and email address, your name, address and telephone number may also be stored. However, this will only be done if you agree to this data retention. Any data marked as such are necessary so you can participate in the offered service. Giving this information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will prevent you from using this service. Moreover, information about your device or the type of content you prefer on our website may also be stored. In the section “Automatic data storage” you can find out more about how your data is stored when you visit a website. We record your informed consent, so we can always prove that it complies with our laws.

Duration of data processing

If you unsubscribe from our e-mail/newsletter distribution list, we may store your address for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests, so we can keep proof your consent at the time. We are only allowed to process this data if we have to defend ourselves against any claims.

However, if you confirm that you have given us your consent to subscribe to the newsletter, you can submit an individual request for erasure at any time. Furthermore, if you permanently object to your consent, we reserve the right to store your email address in a blacklist. But as long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course keep your email address on file.

Withdrawal – how can I cancel my subscription?

You have the option to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to the newsletter subscription. This usually only takes a few seconds or a few clicks. Most of the time you will find a link at the end of every email, via which you will be able to cancel the subscription. Should you not be able to find the link in the newsletter, you can contact us by email and we will immediately cancel your newsletter subscription for you.

Legal basis

Our newsletter is sent on the basis of your consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). This means that we are only allowed to send you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. Moreover, we may also send you advertising messages on the basis of Section 7 (3) UWG (Unfair Competition Act), provided you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your email address for direct mail.

If available – you can find information on special email marketing services and how they process personal data, in the following sections.

MailChimp Privacy Policy

MailChimp Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: newsletter subscribers 🤝 Purpose: direct marketing via email, notification of events that are relevant to the system 📓 Processed data: data entered during registration, but at least the email address. 📅 Storage duration: for the subscription period ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is MailChimp?

Like many other websites, we use the services of the newsletter company MailChimp on our website. The operator of MailChimp is the company Intuit Inc., 2700 Coast Ave, Mountain View, California 94043, USA. With the aid of MailChimp we can easily send you interesting news via newsletter. For the use of the service we do not have to install anything but can still access a pool of very efficient features. In the following we will give more details on this email marketing service and will inform you about the most important data protection aspects.

MailChimp is a cloud-based newsletter management service. “Cloud-based“ means that we do not need to install MailChimp on our own computer or server. Instead, we use the service on an external server, or more specifically via an IT infrastructure, which is available via the internet. Using a software this way is also called SaaS (software as a service).

MailChimp allows us to chose from a wide range of different email types. Depending on what goal we want to reach with our newsletter, we can run individual campaigns, regular campaigns, auto responders (automated emails), A/B tests, RSS campaigns (mailings at pre-set times and frequencies) and follow-up campaigns.

Why do we use MailChimp on our website?

The reason we would use any newsletter service is so we can stay in contact with you. We want to keep you on the loop about what news or attractive offers we have for you at the time. As we constantly seek out the easiest and best solutions for our marketing measures, we have decided on MailChimp as our newsletter management service. While the software is very easy to use, it offers many helpful features. For example, it allows us to create interesting and attractive newsletters in only a short time. With integrated design templates we can create every newsletter in an individual way. Due to the “responsive design” feature, our contents are also presented in a readable and pleasant way on your smartphone (or any other mobile device).

With tools such as A/B testing or the extensive analysis options, we can swiftly tell how you like our newsletters. This means that we can react if necessary and improve our offer or our services.

Another advantage is MailChimp’s “cloud system”. The data is not stored and processed directly on our server. We can retrieve the data from external servers and therefore save our memory space and also decrease maintenance effort.

What data is stored by MailChimp?

MailChimp operate online platforms which enable us to get in contact with you, provided you subscribed to our newsletter. If you become a subscriber of our newsletter via our website, by email you agree to become a member of a MailChimp email list. Then, MailChimp saves your subscription data and your IP address, so it can verify your entry into the list provider. Moreover, MailChimp stores your email address, your name, your physical address and demographic information, such as language or location.

This information is used to send emails to you and to allow certain other MailChimp functions (e.g. the evaluation of newsletters).

MailChimp also shares information with third parties to improve its services. Moreover, MailChimp shares certain data with advertising partners of third parties to get a better understanding of its clients’ interests, in order to provide relevant contents and target-oriented advertising.

With so-called “web beacons” (small graphics in HTML emails), MailChimp can determine if an email has arrived, has been opened or if links have been clicked. This information is then stored on MailChimp’s servers. That way we receive statistical evaluations and can see how you liked our newsletter. Therefore, we can tailor our offer better to your wishes and improve our service.

Moreover, MailChimp are allowed to use this data for improving their own service. Thus, they can for example technically optimise the distribution or determine the location (or the country) of the recipient.

The following cookies can be set by MailChimp. This list is not exhaustive and is merely an exemplary selection:

Name: AVESTA_ENVIRONMENT
Value: Prod
Purpose: This cookie is necessary to provide the services of MailChimp. It is always set when a user registers for a newsletter mailing list.
Expiry date: at the end of the session

Name: ak_bmsc
Value: F1766FA98C9BB9DE4A39F70A9E5EEAB55F6517348A7000001112452513-3
Purpose: The cookie is used to differentiate a human from a bot. That way secure reports on the use of a website can be created.
Expiry date: after 2 hours

Name: bm_sv
Value: A5A322305B4401C2451FC22FFF547486~FEsKGvX8eovCwTeFTzb8//I3ak2Au…
Purpose: This cookie comes from MasterPass Digital Wallet (a MasterCard service) and is used to offer a secure and easy virtual payment process to visitors. For this purpose, the user is anonymously identified on the website.
Expiry date: after 2 hours

Name: _abck
Value: 8D545C8CCA4C3A50579014C449B045112452513-9
Purpose: We could not find any further information about the purpose of this cookie.
Expiry date: after one year

For better display you might sometimes open our newsletter via a specified link. This can be the case if your email program does not work or if the newsletter is not displayed correctly. The newsletter will then be shown via a MailChimp website. MailChimp also uses cookies on its websites (small text files which save data on your browser).
Personal data can be processed by MailChimp and their partners (e.g. Google Analytics). MailChimp is responsible for the collection of this data and we have no influence on it. MailChimp’s “Cookie Statement” (at: https://mailchimp.com/legal/cookies/) tells you exactly how and why the company uses cookies.

How long and where is the data stored?

Since MailChimp is an American company, all retained data is stored on American servers.

Generally, the data stays permanently stored on MailChimp’s servers and is deleted only when you request it. You can have your contact information with us deleted. This permanently removes all your personal data for us and anonymises you in MailChimp’s reports. However, you can also request the erasure of your data permanently at MailChimp. Then all your data are removed from there and we receive a notification from MailChimp. After we receive the email we have 30 days to delete your contact details from all integrations.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

You can withdraw your approval for the receipt of our newsletters anytime, by clicking the link in the lower area of the received newsletter email. When you click on the unsubscribe link, your data with MailChimp gets deleted.

When you land on a MailChimp website via a link in our newsletter and cookies are consequently set in your browser, you can delete or deactivate these cookies anytime.

Depending on the browser, the deactivation or deletion differs slightly. The following instructions show how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want to allow any cookies, you can set up your browser in a way so it would notify you whenever a potential cookie is about to be set. This lets you decide upon the placement of every single cookie.

Legal basis

MailChimp sends our newsletter on the basis of your consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). This means that we are only allowed to mail you a newsletter if you have actively registered for it beforehand. If consent is not required, the newsletter is sent on the basis of legitimate interest in direct marketing (Article 6 (1) (f)), provided this is legally permitted. We record your registration process so we can keep proof of compliance with our laws.

MailChimp processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. MailChimp 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. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, MailChimp uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, MailChimp commits to maintaining the European data protection level 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://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

The Mailchimp data processing terms and conditions (Data Processing Addendum), which correspond to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://mailchimp.com/legal/data-processing-addendum/#Annex_C_-_Standard_Contractual_Clauses.

You can find out more on MailChimp’s use of cookies at https://mailchimp.com/legal/cookies/. Furthermore, at https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/ you can find more information on data protection at MailChimp (Privacy).

Data Processing Agreement (DPA) MailChimp

In accordance with Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we have entered into a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) with MailChimp. What exactly a DPA is and especially what must be included in a DPA, you can read in our general section “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)”.

This contract is required by law because MailChimp processes personal data on our behalf. It clarifies that MailChimp may only process data they receive from us according to our instructions and must comply with the GDPR. You can find the link to the Data Processing Agreement (DPA) under https://mailchimp.com/de/legal/data-processing-addendum/.

Social Media

Social Media Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Service presentation and optimisation, staying in contact with visitors, interested parties, etc. as well as advertising 📓 Processed data: data such as telephone numbers, email addresses, contact data, data on user behaviour, information about your device and your IP address. You can find more details on this directly at the respective social media tool used. 📅 Storage period: depending on the social media platforms used ⚖️ Legal bases: 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. For us to be able to target interested users via social networks, user data may be processed. Additionally, elements of social media platforms may be embedded directly in our website. This is e.g. the case if you click a so-called social button on our website and are forwarded directly to our social media presence. So-called social media are websites and apps on which registered members can produce and exchange content with other members, be it openly or in certain groups and networks.

Why do we use Social Media?

For years, social media platforms have been the place where people communicate and get into contact online. With our social media presence, we can familiarise interested people better with our products and services. The social media elements integrated on our website help you switch to our social media content quickly and hassle free.

The data that is retained and processed when you use a social media channel is primarily used to conduct web analyses. The aim of these analyses is to be able to develop more precise and personal marketing and advertising strategies. The evaluated data on your behaviour on any social media platform can help to draw appropriate conclusions about your interests. Moreover, so-called user profiles can be created. Thus, the platforms may also to present you with customised advertisements. For this, cookies are usually placed in your browser, which store data on your user behaviour.

We generally assume that we will continue to be responsible under Data Protection Law, even when using the services of a social media platform. However, the European Court of Justice has ruled that, within the meaning of Art. 26 GDPR, in certain cases the operator of the social media platform can be jointly responsible with us. Should this be the case, we will point it out separately and work on the basis of a related agreement. You will then find the essence of the agreement for the concerned platform below.

Please note that when you use 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 no longer be able to easily claim or enforce your rights regarding your personal data.

Which data are processed?

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

All data that are collected via social media platforms are also stored on the providers’ servers. This means that only the providers have access to the data and can provide you with appropriate information or make changes for you.

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

Duration of data processing

Provided we have any further information on this, we will inform you about the duration of the data processing below. The social media platform Facebook example stores data until they are no longer needed for the company’s own purposes. However, customer data that is synchronised with your own user data is erased within two days. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This storage period can also be exceeded however, if it is required by law, such as e.g. in the case of accounting.

Right to object

You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers such as embedded social media elements at any time. This can be done either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can e.g. also prevent data collection via cookies by managing, deactivating or erasing cookies in your browser.

Since cookies may be used with social media tools, we also recommend you to read our privacy policy on cookies. If you want to find out which of your data is stored and processed, we advise you to read the privacy policies of the respective tools.

Legal basis

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

in the following section you can find information on special social media platforms – provided this information is available.

Instagram Privacy Policy

Instagram Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: optimising our service 📓 Processed data: includes data on user behaviour, information about your device and IP address. More details can be found in the privacy policy below. 📅 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 functions of Instagram to our website. Instagram is a social media platform of the company Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA. Since 2012, Instagram is a subsidiary company of Facebook Inc. and is a part of Facebook’s products. The inclusion of Instagram’s contents on our website is called embedding. With this, we can show you Instagram contents such as buttons, photos or videos directly on our website. If you open websites of our online presence, that have an integrated Instagram function, data gets transmitted to, as well as stored and processed by Instagram. Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook. Therefore, your data will be processed across all Facebook firms.

In the following, we want to give you a more detailed insight on why Instagram collects data, what data these are and how you can control data processing. As Instagram belongs to Facebook Inc., we have, on the one hand received this information from the Instagram guidelines, and on the other hand from Facebook’s Data Policy.

Instagram is one of the most famous social media networks worldwide. Instagram combines the benefits of a blog with the benefits of audio-visual platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. To “Insta“ (how the platform is casually called by many users) you can upload photos and short videos, edit them with different filters and also share them to other social networks. Also, if you do not want to be active on Instagram yourself, you can just follow other interesting users.

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

Instagram is a social media platform whose success has skyrocketed within recent years. Naturally, we have also reacted to this boom. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website. Therefore, we attach great importance to diversified contents. With the embedded Instagram features we can enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting Instagram contents. Since Instagram is a subsidiary company of Facebook, the collected data can also serve us for customised advertising on Facebook. Hence, only persons who are genuinely interested in our products or services can see our ads.

Instagram also uses the collected data for tracking and analysis purposes. We receive summarised statistics and therefore more insight to your wishes and interests. It is important to mention that these reports do not identify you personally.

What data is stored by Instagram?

Whenever you land on one of our sites, which have Instagram functions (i.e. Instagram photos or plugins) integrated to them, your browser automatically connects with Instagram’s servers. Thereby, data is sent to, as well as saved and processed by Instagram. This always happens, whether you have an Instagram account or not. Moreover, it includes information on our website, your computer, your purchases, the advertisements you see and on how you use our offer. The date and time of your interaction is also stored. If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram saves significantly more data on you.

Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data. We assume this is also the case for Instagram. Customer data are for example names, addresses, phone numbers and IP addresses. These data are only transmitted to Instagram, if they have been “hashed” first. Thereby, a set of data is transformed into a string of characters, which encrypts any contact data. Moreover, the aforementioned “event data“ (data on your user behaviour) is transmitted as well. It is also possible, that contact data may get combined with event data. The collected data data is matched with any data Instagram already has on you.

Furthermore, the gathered data are transferred to Facebook via little text files (cookies) which usually get set in your browser. Depending on the Instagram function used, and whether you have an Instagram account yourself, the amount of data that gets stored varies.

We assume data processing on Instagram works the same way as on Facebook. Therefore, if you have an account on Instagram or have visited www.instagram.com, Instagram has set at least one cookie. If this is the case, your browser uses the cookie to send information to Instagram, as soon as you come across an Instagram function. No later than 90 days (after matching) the data is deleted or anonymised. Even though we have studied Instagram’s data processing in-depth, we cannot tell for sure what exact data Instagram collects and retains.

In the following we will show you a list of the least cookies placed in your browser when click on an Instagram function (e.g. button or an Insta picture). In our test we assume you do not have an Instagram account, since if you would be logged in to your Instagram account, your browser would place significantly more cookies.

The following cookies were used in our test:

Name: csrftoken
Value: “”
Purpose: This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent falsifications of requests. We could not find out more information on it.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: mid
Value: “”
Purpose: Instagram places this cookie to optimise its own offers and services in- and outside of Instagram. The cookie allocates a unique user ID.
Expiry date: after end of session

Name: fbsr_112452513124024
Value: no information
Purpose: This cookie stores the login request of Instagram app users.
Expiry date: after end of session

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

Name: urlgen
Value: “{”194.96.75.33”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe112452513”
Purpose: This cookie serves Instagram’s marketing purposes.
Expiry date: after end of session

Note: We do not claim this list to be exhaustive. The cookies that are placed in each individual case, depend on the functions embedded as well as on your use of Instagram.

How long and where are these data stored?

Instagram shares the information obtained within the Facebook businesses with external partners and persons you are globally connected with. Data processing is done according to Facebook’s internal data policy. Your data is distributed to Facebook’s servers across the world, partially for security reasons. Most of these servers are in the USA.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you have the right of information, rectification, transfer and deletion of your data. Furthermore, you can manage your data in Instagram’s settings. If you want to delete your data on Instagram completely, you will have to delete your Instagram account permanently.

And this is how an Instagram account can be deleted:

First, open the Instagram app. Then, navigate to your profile page, select the three bars in the top right, choose “Settings” and then click “Help”. Now, you will be redirected to the company’s website, where you must click on “Managing Your Account” and then “Delete Your Account”.

When you delete your account completely, Instagram deletes posts such as your photos and status updates. Any information other people shared about you are not a part of your account and do therefore not get deleted.

As mentioned before, Instagram primarily stores your data via cookies. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, managing them varies a bit. We will show you the instructions of the most relevant browsers here.

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

Generally, you can set your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. Then you can individually decide upon the permission of every cookie.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the processing and storage of your data by integrated social media elements, this consent is the legal basis for data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR) . Generally, your data is also stored and processed on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR) to maintain fast and good communication with you or other customers and business partners. We only use the integrated social media elements if you have given your consent. Most social media platforms also place cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you to read our privacy policy about cookies carefully and to take a look at the privacy policy or the cookie policy of the respective service provider.

Instagram processes data from you, among other things, in the USA. Instagram respectively 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. More information can be found at https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

Additionally, Instagram uses so-called Standard Contractual Clauses (Article 46(2) and (3) GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are template clauses provided by the EU Commission and are designed to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards, even when transferred and stored in third countries (such as the USA). Through the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Instagram commits to maintaining the European data protection level 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://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

We have tried to give you the most important information about data processing by Instagram. On https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
you can take a closer look at Instagram’s data guidelines.

Blogs and Publication Media Introduction

Blogs and Publication Media Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Presentation and optimisation of our service, along with communication between website visitors, as well as security measures and administration 📓 Data processed: Data such as contact details, IP address and published content. More details can be found under the tools used. 📅 Storage duration: depending on the tools used ⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests), Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b. GDPR (contract)

What are blogs and publishing media?

We use blogs or other means of communication on our website through which we can communicate with you – and through which you can communicate with us. Your data may also be stored and processed by us. This may be necessary in order for us to display content appropriately, make communication work smoothly and increase security. In this privacy policy, we will show you general information on which of your data may be processed. The exact information on data processing, however, always depends on the tools and functions used. You will find detailed information about data processing in the privacy policies of the individual providers.

Why do we use blogs and publication media?

Our greatest motivation for our website is to offer you interesting and exciting content. At the same time, your opinions and your content are important to us. That’s why we want to create a good interactive exchange between you and ourselves. With various blogs and publication options, we can achieve exactly that. You can e. g. post comments about our content, reply to others’ comments or, in some cases, make posts yourself.

Which data is processed?

Exactly which data is processed always depends on the communication functions we use. Very often IP address, username and published content are stored. This is done primarily to ensure security protection, prevent spam, and for us to be able to take action against any illegal content. What is more, cookies may also be used for data retention. They are small text files that are stored as information in your browser. You can find more details about the collected and stored data in our individual sections and in the privacy policies of the respective providers.

Duration of data processing

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

Right to object

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

Since cookies can also be used in publication media, we also recommend 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 this 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. Provided the use serves to process or initiate contractual relationships, the legal basis also extends to Article 6 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 lit. b. GDPR.

Certain types of processing require your consent – in particular the use of cookies and comment or message functions. Provided you have consented to your data being processed and stored by integrated publication media, this consent is the legal basis for any data processing (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). Most communication features we use set cookies in your browser to store data. We therefore recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

Information on specific 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 may use on our website. For example, we use blog posts and comment functions. This gives you the possibility to comment on our content or to write articles. If you make use of this function, your IP address may be stored for security reasons. This is how we protect ourselves from illegal content such as insults, unauthorised advertising or prohibited political propaganda. In order to recognise whether any comments are spam, we can also store and process user information on the basis of our legitimate interests. If we start a survey, we will also store your IP address for the duration of the survey so we can be sure that everyone who takes part only votes once. Moreover, cookies may also be used for storage purposes. All data that we store about you (such as content or information about you) will be stored until you object.

Cookie Consent Management Platform

Cookie Consent Management Platform Overview 👥 Affected parties: Website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Obtaining and managing consent to certain cookies and thus the use of certain tools 📓 Processed data: data for managing cookie settings such as IP address, time of consent, type of consent and individual consent. You can find more details on this directly with the tool that is being used. 📅 Storage period: depends on the tool used, periods of several years can be assumed ⚖️ Legal bases: 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 a Consent Management Platform (CMP) software on our website that makes it easier for us and you to handle the scripts and cookies used correctly and securely. The software automatically creates a cookie pop-up, scans and controls all scripts and cookies, provides you with the cookie consent required under data protection law and helps you and us 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 not. The following graphic shows the relationship between browser, web server and CMP.

Why do we use a cookie management tool?

Our goal 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 inform you as well as possible about all tools and all cookies that can save 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 actually landed on our website. Thanks to a cookie management tool, which regularly scans the website for all cookies present, we know about all cookies and can provide you with GDPR-compliant information. You can then use the consent system to accept or reject cookies.

Which data are 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 saved either in an opt-in cookie or on a server. The storage time of your cookie consent varies depending on the provider of the cookie management tool. Usually this data (e.g. pseudonymous user ID, time of consent, detailed information on the cookie categories or tools, browser, device information) is stored for up to two years.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you below about the duration of the data processing if we have further information. 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 are stored for different lengths of time. Some cookies are deleted after you leave the website, others may be stored in your browser for a few years. The exact duration of the data processing depends on the tool used, in most cases you should be prepared for a storage period of several years. In the respective data protection declarations of the individual providers, you will usually receive precise information about the duration of the data processing.

Right of objection

You also have the right and the option to revoke 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 can be found – if available – in the following sections.

Legal basis

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

Real Cookie Banner Privacy Policy

We use the consent management tool Real Cookie Banner on our website. The service provider is the German company devowl.io GmbH, located at Tannet 12, 94539 Grafling, Germany.

To learn more about the data processed through the use of Real Cookie Banner, please refer to the privacy policy at https://devowl.io/privacy-policy/.

Security & Anti-spam

Security & Anti-Spam Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: for cyber security 📓 Processed data: Data such as your IP address, name or technical data such as browser version More details can be found below and in the individual privacy policies. 📅 Duration of storage: In most cases, data is stored until it is no longer required in order to provide the service ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Security & Anti-spam software?

So-called security & Anti-spam software can protect you and us from various spam or phishing emails and other potential cyber-attacks. Spam includes advertising emails from mass mailings that you did not sign up for yourself. Such emails are also called data garbage and can also cause costs. Other spam such as phishing emails, on the other hand, are messages that aim to gain trust via fake messages or websites in order to obtain personal information. Anti-spam software usually protects against unwanted spam messages or malicious emails that could inject viruses into our system. We also use general firewall and security systems that protect our devices from unwanted network attacks.

Why do we use Security & Anti-spam software?

We put great importance on our website’s security. After all, this is not just about our safety, but also about your safety. Unfortunately, cyber threats are now part of everyday life in the world of IT and the internet. Hackers e. g. often try to steal personal data from IT systems with the help of cyber attacks. And therefore a good defence system is absolutely necessary. A security system monitors all incoming and outgoing connections to our network or computer. In order to achieve even greater security against cyber attacks, we also use other external security services on our devices in addition to standardised security systems. Unauthorised data transmissions are thus better prevented and this is how we protect ourselves from cybercrime.

Which data are processed by Security & Anti-spam software?

The data that is collected and stored of course depends on the respective service. However, we always try to only use programs that collect data very sparingly or only store data that is necessary for the fulfilment of the offered service. In general, the service may store data such as name, address, IP address, email address and technical data such as browser type or browser version. Any performance and log data may also be collected in order to identify possible incoming threats in good time. This data will be processed as part of the provided services and in compliance with applicable laws. This also includes the GDPR for US providers (via the Standard Contractual Clauses). In some cases, security services also work with third parties who may store and/or process data under instructions and in accordance with privacy policies and other security measures. Data is usually stored using cookies.

Duration of data processing

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

Right to object

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

Since cookies may also be used with security services, we recommend you read our 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 security services mainly on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR) in a good security system and protection against various cyber attacks.

Certain data processing requires your consent – in particular, the use of cookies and security functions. If you have agreed to the processing and storage of your data by integrated security services, your consent is the legal basis for data processing (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). Most of the services we use set cookies on your browser to store data. We, therefore, recommend you read our privacy policy on cookies carefully and consult the privacy policy or cookie policy of the relevant service provider.

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

Wordfence Privacy Policy

We use Wordfence, a WordPress security plug-in, for our website. The service provider is the American company Defiant, Inc., 1700 Westlake Ave N Ste 200, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.

Wordfence also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

Wordfence uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (i. e. outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and thus especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are legal templates provided by the EU Commission. Their purpose is to ensure that your data complies with European data privacy standards, even if your data is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). With these clauses, Wordfence commits to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data, even if it is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the standard contractual clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=en

The General Data Protection Regulation, which corresponds to the standard contractual clauses, can be found at https://www.wordfence.com/help/general-data-protection-regulation/.

You can learn more about the data processed using Wordfence in the Privacy Policy at https://www.wordfence.com/privacy-policy/.

Web Design Introduction

Web Design Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: improvement of user experience 📓 Processed data: depends heavily on the services used. Usually, data such as IP address, technical data, language settings, browser version, screen resolution and browser name are processed. You can find more details directly with the respective web design tools. 📅 Storage duration: depends on the tools used ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web design?

We use various tools on our website for the purpose of our web design. Contrary to common belief, web design is not just about making our website look nice, but rather also about functionality and performance. But of course, a good-looking website is also a major goal of professional web design. Web design is a part of media design and deals with the visual as well as the structural and functional design of a website. Our aim with our web design is to improve your experience on our site. In web design jargon, this is called User Experience (UX) and usability. User Experience entails all impressions and experiences that website visitors come across on a website. What is more, usability is part of the User Experience, as it determines how user-friendly a website is. This includes the clear structuring of content, subpages or products, along with how quickly and easily the website enables you to find what you are looking for. In order to offer you the best possible experience on our website, we also use so-called third-party web design tools. Therefore, all tools and services that help improve our website’s design are classified under the category “web design”. This may, for example, include fonts, various plugins or other integrated web design functions.

Why do we use web design tools?

The way you absorb information on a website depends very much on its structure, functionality and visual perception. Therefore, good and professional web design has become increasingly important for us. We are constantly working on improving our site as a way of further extending our services for you as a website visitor. Furthermore, a beautiful and functioning website also has economic advantages for us. Needless to say, you will only visit it and take advantage of our offers if you feel completely at ease.

What data is stored by web design tools?

When you visit our website, any web design elements integrated into our pages may process your data. The exact data that is processed depends on the tools used. Below you can see exactly which tools we use for our website. For more information about data processing, we recommend you also read the respective privacy policy of the respective tools. There you can usually find out which data is processed, whether cookies are used and how long the data is stored. Moreover, fonts such as Google Fonts, for example, also automatically transmit information such as your language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name to Google’s servers.

Duration of data processing

Data processing times are very individual and depend on the web design elements used. For example, when cookies are used, the retention period can be as little as a minute, but it may also be a few years. Please make yourself familiar with this topic. You may for example read our general section on cookies as well as the Privacy Policies of the tools used. There you can likely find out exactly which cookies are used and what information is stored there. For example, Google Font files are stored for one year, in order to improve the loading speed of a website. In principle, data is only kept for as long as is necessary to provide the service. But legal requirements may require data to be stored for longer.

Right to object

You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. You can do this either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can also prevent cookies from collecting your data by managing, deactivating or deleting the cookies in your browser. However, among web design elements (typically fonts) there is also data that cannot be erased easily. This is the case whenever data is automatically collected as soon as a page is accessed and then directly transmitted to a third party (e.g. Google). In these cases, please contact the support of the respective provider. In the case of Google, you can reach support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de.

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the use of web design tools, this consent serves as the legal basis for the relevant data processing. According to Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it may occur when it is collected by web design tools. We also have a legitimate interest in web design to improve on our website. After all, only then can we provide you with a beautiful and professional web offer. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we strongly want to emphasise once more that we only use web design tools if you have given your consent.

You can find information on different web design tools – if available – in the following sections.

Font Awesome Privacy Policy

Font Awesome Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: service optimisation 📓 Processed data: data such as the IP address and loaded icon files You can find more details on this in the privacy policy below. 📅 Storage period: data is stored for a few weeks in unidentifiable form ⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Font Awesome?

On our website we use Font Awesome by the American company Fonticons (307 S. Main St., Suite 202, Bentonville, AR 72712, USA). Upon your visit to one of our websites, the Font Awesome web font, i.e. the icons, are loaded via the Font Awesome Content Delivery Network (CDN). This way texts, fonts and icons are displayed appropriately on every device. In this privacy policy we will go into more detail on data storage and data processing by this service.

Icons play an increasingly important role on websites. Font Awesome is a web font specifically designed for web designers and web developers. With Font Awesome icons can for example be scaled and coloured as desired using the CSS stylesheet language. Thus, they now replace old picture icons. Font Awesome CDN is the easiest way to load icons or fonts onto your website. To do this, we only had to embed a short line of code into our website.

Why do we use Font Awesome on our website?

Font Awesome enables our websites’ content to be depicted better. This eases your navigation on our website, and helps you grasp its content better. The icons can sometimes even be used to replace whole words and save space. This is particularly useful when optimising content specifically for smartphones. The icons are inserted as HMTL code instead of as an image, which allows us to edit the icons with CSS exactly as we want. Simultaneously, Font Awesome also lets us improve our loading speed, as it only contains HTML elements and no icon images. All these advantages help us to make our website even clearer, faster and more refined for you.

Which data are stored by Font Awesome?

The Font Awesome Content Delivery Network (CDN) is used to load icons and symbols. CDNs are server networks that are distributed around the world. They make it possible to quickly load files from locations in close proximity. When you open one of our pages, the respective icons will be provided by Font Awesome.

For the web fonts to be loaded, your browser has to connect to the servers of Fonticons, Inc. For this, your IP address will be identified. Font Awesome also collects data on which icon files are downloaded, as well as when they are downloaded. Furthermore, technical data such as your browser version, screen resolution or the time when you accessed the page are also transmitted.

These data are collected and stored for the following reasons:

• to optimise Content Delivery Networks
• to identify and fix technical errors
• to protect CDNs from misuse and attacks
• to calculate fees from Font Awesome Pro customers
• to identify the popularity of icons
• to establish which computer and software you are using

If your browser does not allow web fonts, one of your PC’s standard fonts will be used automatically. Moreover, as far as we are currently aware, no cookies will be set. We are keeping in contact with Font Awesome’s privacy department and will let you know as soon as we find out more.

How long and where are the data stored?

Font Awesome stores data about the use of the Content Delivery Network also on servers in the United States of America. However, the CDN servers are located all across the world and store user data in your proximity. The data is usually only stored for a few weeks in an identifiable form. Aggregated statistics on the use of the CDNs may also be stored for longer. However, these do not include any personal data.

How can I erase my data or prevent data retention?

As far as we are aware, Font Awesome does not store any personal data via Content Delivery Networks. If you do not want data about the used icons to be stored, you will unfortunately not be able to visit our website. If your browser does not allow web fonts, no data will be transmitted or saved. In this case your computer’s default font will be used.

Legal basis

If you have agreed to the use of Font Awesome, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) this consent represents the legal basis for personal data processing, as can occur when it is collected by Font Awesome.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Font Awesome to optimise our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Font Awesome if you have given your consent to it.

Font Awesome also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

Font Awesome uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Font Awesome to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

If you want to find out more about Font Awesome and their data handling, we recommend you to read their Privacy Policy at https://fontawesome.com/privacy along with the help page at https://fontawesome.com/help.

Miscellaneous Overview

Miscellaneous Privacy Policy Overview 👥 Affected parties: website visitors 🤝 Purpose: Improvement of user experience 📓 Processed data: The processed data depends heavily on the services used. Usually, it is an IP address and/or technical data. You can find more details on this in the sections of the respective tools. 📅 Storage duration: depends on the tools used ⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is included in “Miscellaneous”?

The “Miscellaneous” category includes any services that do not fit into any of the above categories. Usually, they are various plugins and integrated elements that are meant to improve our website. Generally, these functions are obtained from third parties and integrated into our website. They may e.g. be web search services such as Algolia Place, Giphy, Programmable Search Engine or online services for weather data such as OpenWeather.

Why do we use these third parties?

With our website, we want to provide you with the best web offer in our industry. Websites have long been so much more than just a business card for companies. Instead, they are a place designed to help you find what you’re looking for. And in order to make our website even more interesting and helpful for you, we use various third-party services.

Which data is processed?

Whenever elements are integrated into our website, your IP address will be transmitted to the respective provider, where it will be stored and processed. This is necessary to send the content to your browser which will then display it for you. Moreover, service providers may also use pixel tags or web beacons. These are small graphics on websites that can record a log file and create analyses of it. Providers can improve their own marketing measures with the information they receive this way. In addition to pixel tags, this information (e.g. which button you click or when you access which page) can also be stored in cookies. In addition to data analyses on your web behaviour, technical information such as your browser type or operating system may also be stored there. Some providers can also link the data they obtain to other internal services or to third-party providers. Each provider handles your data differently. Therefore, we recommend you carefully read the privacy policies of the respective services. We make every effort to only use services that operate very carefully in regards to data protection and privacy.

Duration of data processing

Below we will inform you about the duration of data processing, provided 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.

Legal Basis

If we ask for your consent and you agree to us using a service, this consent serves as the legal basis for the processing of your data (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). In addition to your consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of our website visitors and thus technically and economically improving our offer. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use any tools if you have given your consent.

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

Explanation of the terminology used

We always strive to make our privacy policy as clear and comprehensible as possible. However, this is not always easy, especially when it comes to technical and legal matters. It is often sensible to use legal terms (such as ‘personal data)’ or certain technical terms (such as ‘cookies’ or ‘IP address’). But we don’t want to use such terms without any explanation. This is why you will find an alphabetical list of important terms used below. These are terms we may not yet have sufficiently explained in the privacy policy. In case we have adopted any of these terms from the GDPR which are definitions, we will also list the GDPR texts here and add our own further explanations if necessary.

Processor

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“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 a website owner, we are responsible for all your data we process (i. e. the ‘controller’). In addition to the controller, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person who processes personal data on our behalf. In addition to service providers such as tax consultants, processors can 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 means:

“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: With websites, such consent is usually given via a cookie consent tool. You’ve most certainly come across these. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, you will usually be asked via a banner whether you agree or consent to the data processing. You can usually also make individual settings and thus decide for yourself which level of data processing you want to allow. If you do not give your consent, no personal data may be processed. 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 means:

“personenal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘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 all data that can identify you as a person. This is usually data such as:

• name
• address
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• birthday
• identification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, ID card number or matriculation number
• banking data such as account number, credit information, account balances and more.

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

• racial and ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or ideological beliefs
• Union membership
• genetic data such as data obtained from blood or saliva samples
• biometric data (this is information about psychological, physical or behavioural characteristics that can identify an individual).
  health Data
• Data relating to sexual orientation or sex life

Profiling

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“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 analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements;

Explanation: Profiling collects various personal data about an individual in order to learn more about that individual. On the internet, profiling is often used for advertising purposes or for credit checks. Web and advertising analysis programs e. g. collect data about your behaviour and interests on a website. This results in a special user profile that can be used to target advertising to specific target groups.

 

Controller

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“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 example, 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 considered “contract processors”. For this, a “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)” must be concluded.

 

Processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“processing” means 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, organisation, 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 talk about processing in our Privacy Policy, we talk about any type 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 Remarks

Congratulations! If you are reading these lines, you have most likely familiarised yourself with our entire Privacy Policy – or at least scrolled down here. As you can see from the scope of our Privacy Policy, we do not take the protection of your personal data lightly.
We find it important to inform you about the processing of your personal data to the best of our abilities. In doing so, we not only want to tell you which data is processed but also explain to you why we use various software programs. In general, Privacy Policies have very technical and legal jargon. However, since most of you are not web developers or solicitors, we wanted to take a different approach and explain the facts in simple and clear language. Of course, this is not always possible due to the subject matter. Therefore, you can also find a more detailed explanation of the most important terms 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 body. We wish you all the best and hope to soon welcome you to our website again.

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