Privacy Policy

Preamble

With the following privacy policy, we would like to inform you about the types of your personal data (hereinafter also referred to as "data") that we process, for what purposes, and to what extent. The privacy policy applies to all processing of personal data carried out by us, both in the context of providing our services and in particular on our websites, in mobile applications, and within external online presences, such as our social media profiles (hereinafter collectively referred to as "online offerings").


The terms used are not gender-specific.


As of: March, 16 2023

Table of Contents

Overview of processing activities

The following summary outlines the types of data processed and the purposes of their processing, and refers to the individuals affected.

Types of data processed

Categories of data subjects

Purposes of processing

Relevant legal bases

Below you will find an overview of the legal bases of the GDPR on which we process personal data. Please note that in addition to the provisions of the GDPR, national data protection regulations may apply in your respective or our country of residence or domicile. Furthermore, if more specific legal bases are relevant in individual cases, we will inform you of these in the data protection declaration.

Contract fulfillment and pre-contractual inquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b) GDPR) - Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract.

Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR) - Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data.

In addition to the data protection regulations of the GDPR, there are also national data protection regulations in Germany. One of these laws is the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), which regulates the protection of personal data in data processing, among other thingsThe BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act) contains special provisions regarding the right to information, the right to erasure, the right to object, the processing of special categories of personal data, processing for other purposes, transmission, and automated individual decision-making, including profiling. Furthermore, it regulates the processing of data for employment purposes (§ 26 BDSG), particularly with regard to the establishment, implementation, or termination of employment relationships, as well as the consent of employees. In addition, state data protection laws of the individual federal states may also apply.

In addition to the data protection provisions of the GDPR, national data protection provisions may also apply in cases of national reference, which we also comply with.

Security measures

As required by law and considering the state of the art, implementation costs, and the nature, scope, context, and purposes of processing, as well as the likelihood and severity of the risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, we implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk.

In addition to the data protection regulations of the GDPR, there are also national data protection regulations in Germany. One of these laws is the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), which regulates the protection of personal data in data processing, among other things.

The BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act) contains special provisions regarding the right to information, the right to erasure, the right to object, the processing of special categories of personal data, processing for other purposes, transmission, and automated individual decision-making, including profiling. Furthermore, it regulates the processing of data for employment purposes (§ 26 BDSG), particularly with regard to the establishment, implementation, or termination of employment relationships, as well as the consent of employees. In addition, state data protection laws of the individual federal states may also apply. In addition to the data protection provisions of the GDPR, national data protection provisions may also apply in cases of national reference, which we also comply with. That is correct. The BDSG provides additional rules and regulations for data The BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act) contains special provisions, in particular, regarding the right to information, the right to erasure, the right to object, the processing of special categories of personal data, processing for other purposes, transmission, and automated individual decision-making, including profiling. It also regulates the processing of data for employment purposes (§ 26 BDSG), particularly with regard to the establishment, implementation, or termination of employment relationships, as well as the consent of employees. In addition, state data protection laws of the individual federal states may also apply. In addition to the data protection provisions of the GDPR, national data protection provisions may also apply in cases of national reference, which we also comply with. The BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act) contains special provisions regarding the right to information, the right to erasure, the right to object, the processing of special categories of personal data, processing for other purposes, transmission, and automated individual decision-making, including profiling. Furthermore, it regulates the processing of data for employment purposes (<§ 26 BDSG>), particularly with regard to the establishment, implementation, or termination of employment relationships, as well as the consent of employees. In addition, state data protection laws of the individual federal states may also apply. In addition to the data protection provisions of the GDPR, national data protection provisions may also apply in cases of national reference, which we also comply with.Securing the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data by controlling physical and electronic access to the data and its access, input, disclosure, availability, and separation.

Establishing procedures to ensure the exercise of data subject rights, data deletion, and responses to data threats.

Taking into account the protection of personal data when developing or selecting hardware, software, and procedures in accordance with the data protection principle of privacy by design.

Security Measures:

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures in accordance with legal requirements, taking into account the state of the art, implementation costs, and the nature, scope, circumstances, and purposes of processing as well as the varying likelihood and severity of the risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons. These measures include securing the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data by controlling physical and electronic access to the data, as well as access, input, disclosure, availability, and separation of the data. In addition, we have established procedures to ensure the exercise of data subjects' rights, deletion of data, and responses to data breaches. Furthermore, we consider data protection when developing or selecting hardware, software, and procedures in accordance with the principle of privacy by design and by default.

TLS encryption (https): To protect your data transmitted via our online offering, we use TLS encryption. You can recognize such encrypted connections by the prefix https:// in the address line of your browser.

Security Measures:

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures in accordance with legal requirements, taking into account the state of the art, implementation costs, and the nature, scope, circumstances, and purposes of processing as well as the varying likelihood and severity of the risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons. These measures include securing the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data by controlling physical and electronic access to the data, as well as access, input, disclosure, availability, and separation of the data. In addition, we have established procedures to ensure the exercise of data subjects' rights, deletion of data, and responses to data breaches. Furthermore, we consider data protection when developing or selecting hardware, software, and procedures in accordance with the principle of privacy by design and by default.

TLS encryption (https): To protect your data transmitted via our online offering, we use TLS encryption. You can recognize such encrypted connections by the prefix https:// in the address line of your browser.

Transmission of Personal Data

As part of our processing of personal data, it may be necessary to transmit the data to other entities, companies, legally independent organizational units, or individuals, or to disclose it to them. The recipients of this data may include service providers or providers of services and content that are integrated into a website for IT-related tasks. In such cases, we comply with legal requirements and conclude contracts or agreements with the recipients of your data, which serve to protect your data.

Data processing in third countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e., outside the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA)) or the processing takes place in the context of the use of third-party services or the disclosure or transfer of data to other persons, entities or companies, this is only done in accordance with the legal requirements.

Subject to express consent or contractually or legally required transfer, we process or allow the processing of data only in third countries with a recognized level of data protection, contractual obligation by so-called standard protection clauses of the EU Commission, in the presence of certifications or binding internal data protection regulations (Art. 44 to 49 DSGVO, information page of the EU Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection_de).

Deletion of data

The data processed by us will be deleted in accordance with legal requirements as soon as their consents permitted for processing are revoked or other permissions cease to apply (e.g. if the purpose of processing this data has ceased to apply or it is not required for the purpose). If the data are not deleted because they are required for other and legally permissible purposes, their processing will be limited to these purposes. That is, the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be retained for reasons of commercial or tax law or whose storage is necessary for the assertion, exercise or defense of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person.

Our privacy notices may also contain further information on the retention and deletion of data, which shall have priority for the respective processing operations.

Use of cookies

Cookies are small text files, or other storage notes that store information on end devices and read information from the end devices. E.g. to store the login status in a user account, a shopping cart content in an e-shop, the content accessed or used functions of an online offer. Cookies can further be used for various purposes, e.g. for purposes of functionality, security and comfort of online offers as well as the creation of analyses of visitor flows.

Notes on consent: We use cookies in accordance with the law. Therefore, we obtain prior consent from users, except where it is not required by law. In particular, consent is not required if the storage and reading of information, including cookies, are absolutely necessary to provide the user with a telemedia service (i.e. our online offer) expressly requested by them. The revocable consent is clearly communicated to the users and contains the information about the respective cookie use.

Notes on legal bases under data protection law: On which legal basis under data protection law we process the personal data of users using cookies depends on whether we ask users for consent. If users consent, the legal basis for the processing of your data is the declared consent. Otherwise, the data processed with the help of cookies is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. in the business operation of our online offer and improvement of its usability) or, if this is done in the context of the performance of our contractual obligations, if the use of cookies is necessary to fulfill our contractual obligations. For what purposes the cookies are processed by us, we clarify in the course of this privacy policy or in the context of our consent and processing processes.

Storage duration: With regard to the storage duration, the following types of cookies are distinguished:

Provision of Online Services and Web Hosting

We process user data in order to provide our online services to them. For this purpose, we process the user's IP address, which is necessary to transmit the contents and functions of our online services to the user's browser or device.

Further information on processing procedures, procedures, and services:

Provision of online services on proprietary/dedicated server hardware: To provide our online services, we use server hardware operated by us, as well as associated storage space, computing capacity, and software; Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR).

Collection of access data and log files: Access to our online services is logged in the form of so-called "server log files". Server log files may include the address and name of the accessed web pages and files, date and time of access, transmitted data volume, message about successful access, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), and in most cases IP addresses and the requesting provider.

The server log files can be used for security purposes, such as avoiding server overload (especially in the case of abusive attacks, such as DDoS attacks), and to ensure server load and stability; Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR); Deletion of data: Log file information is stored for a maximum of 30 days and then deleted or anonymized. Data whose further storage is necessary for evidentiary purposes is excluded from deletion until the respective incident is finally clarified. 

Blogs and publishing media

We use blogs or comparable means of online communication and publication (hereinafter "publication medium"). The data of the readers are only processed to the extent necessary for the presentation of the publication medium and for communication between authors and readers, or for security reasons. For all other purposes, we refer to the information on the processing of visitors to our publication medium in the context of these data protection notices.

Further information on processing processes, procedures, and services:

Contests and Competitions

We process personal data of participants in contests and competitions only in compliance with applicable data protection regulations, to the extent that the processing is contractually necessary for the provision, execution and handling of the contest, the participants have consented to the processing, or the processing serves our legitimate interests (such as the security of the contest or the protection of our interests against abuse through possible collection of IP addresses when submitting contest entries).

If contributions from participants are published in the context of the contests (e.g. as part of a vote or presentation of the contest entries or winners, or in reporting about the contest), we would like to point out that the names of the participants may also be published in this context. Participants can object to this at any time.

If the contest takes place within an online platform or social network (e.g. Facebook or Instagram, hereinafter referred to as "online platform"), the terms of use and data protection regulations of the respective platforms also apply. In such cases, we would like to point out that we are responsible for the information provided by the participants within the context of the contest, and requests regarding the contest should be directed to us.

The participants' data will be deleted as soon as the sweepstakes or contest has ended and the data is no longer required to inform the winners or because queries about the sweepstakes are to be expected. In principle, the data of the participants will be deleted no later than 6 months after the end of the sweepstakes. Winners' data may be retained for longer in order, for example, to be able to answer queries about the prizes or to fulfill the prize services; in this case, the retention period depends on the type of prize and is up to three years for items or services, for example, in order to be able to process warranty claims. Furthermore, the participants' data may be stored for a longer period, e.g. in the form of reporting on the sweepstakes in online and offline media.

If data was also collected for other purposes within the scope of the sweepstakes, its processing and the retention period will be governed by the data protection notices for this use (e.g. in the case of a registration for the newsletter within the scope of a sweepstakes).


Surveys and polls

We conduct surveys and polls to collect information for the respective communicated survey or poll purpose. The surveys and interviews (hereinafter "surveys") conducted by us are evaluated anonymously. Personal data is only processed insofar as this is necessary for the provision and technical implementation of the surveys (e.g. processing of the IP address to display the survey in the user's browser or to enable the survey to be resumed with the aid of a cookie).


Further information on processing, procedures and services:

Standard Contractual Clauses (Ensuring data protection level when processing in third countries): https://cloud.google.com/terms/eu-model-contract-clause. 

Web Analysis, Monitoring and Optimization

Web analysis (also known as "reach measurement") is used to evaluate the flow of visitors to our online services and may include behavior, interests, or demographic information about visitors, such as age or gender, as pseudonymous values. Using reach analysis, we can identify, for example, the time at which our online services or their features or content are most frequently used or invite reuse. We can also track which areas require optimization.

In addition to web analytics, we may also use testing procedures to test and optimize different versions of our online offering or its components.

Unless otherwise stated below, profiles, i.e. data summarized for a usage process, may be created and information may be stored in a browser or device and read from it for these purposes. The collected information includes, in particular, visited web pages and used elements as well as technical information such as the browser used, the operating system used, and information about usage times. If users have consented to the collection of their location data with us or with the providers of the services we use, location data may also be processed.

The IP addresses of the users are also stored. However, we use an IP masking procedure (i.e., pseudonymization by shortening the IP address) to protect the users. In general, no clear data of the users (such as email addresses or names) are stored during web analytics, A/B testing, and optimization, but pseudonyms. That is, we and the providers of the software used do not know the actual identity of the users, but only the information stored in their profiles for the purposes of the respective procedures.


Weitere Hinweise zu Verarbeitungsprozessen, Verfahren und Diensten:

Online marketing

We process personal data for online marketing purposes, which may include, in particular, marketing advertising space or displaying promotional and other content (collectively, "Content") based on users' potential interests and measuring its effectiveness.

For these purposes, so-called user profiles are created and stored in a file (so-called "cookie") or similar procedures are used, by means of which the information about the user relevant for the presentation of the aforementioned content is stored. This information may include, for example, content viewed, websites visited, online networks used, but also communication partners and technical information, such as the browser used, the computer system used and information on usage times and functions used. If users have consented to the collection of their location data, this may also be processed.

The IP addresses of the users are also stored. However, we use available IP masking procedures (i.e., pseudonymization by shortening the IP address) to protect users. In general, no clear data of the users (such as e-mail addresses or names) are stored in the context of the online marketing process, but pseudonyms. I.e., we as well as the providers of the online marketing procedures do not know the actual identity of the users, but only the information stored in their profiles.

The IP addresses of the users are also stored. However, we use available IP masking procedures (i.e., pseudonymization by shortening the IP address) to protect users. In general, no clear data of the users (such as e-mail addresses or names) are stored in the context of the online marketing process, but pseudonyms. I.e., we as well as the providers of the online marketing procedures do not know the actual identity of the users, but only the information stored in their profiles.

The information in the profiles is usually stored in the cookies or by means of similar procedures. These cookies can later generally also be read on other websites that use the same online marketing procedure and analyzed for the purpose of displaying content as well as supplemented with further data and stored on the server of the online marketing procedure provider.

Exceptionally, clear data can be associated with the profiles. This is the case if, for example, the users are members of a social network whose online marketing procedures we use and the network links the profiles of the users with the aforementioned data. We ask to note that users can make additional arrangements with the providers, e.g. by giving consent as part of the registration process.

In principle, we only receive access to summarized information about the success of our advertisements. However, in the context of so-called conversion measurements, we can check which of our online marketing methods have led to a so-called conversion, i.e., for example, to a conclusion of a contract with us. The conversion measurement is used solely to analyze the success of our marketing measures.

Unless otherwise stated, we ask you to assume that cookies used will be stored for a period of two years.

Further information on processing procedures, methods and services:

Social media presence (Social Media)

We maintain online presences within social networks and process data of users in this context in order to communicate with active users there or to offer information about us.

We would like to point out that user data may be processed outside the European Union. This may pose risks for users because, for example, the enforcement of user rights could be made more difficult.

In addition, user data is typically processed within social networks for market research and advertising purposes. For example, usage profiles can be created based on user behavior and resulting interests. These usage profiles can in turn be used to display advertisements both within and outside the networks, which are presumably in line with the interests of the users. Cookies are typically stored on users' computers for these purposes, in which usage behavior and interests of the users are stored. Furthermore, data may also be stored in the usage profiles independently of the devices used by the users (especially if the users are members of the respective platforms and are logged in).

For a detailed description of the respective processing methods and options for objection (opt-out), please refer to the data protection declarations and information provided by the operators of the respective networks.

Even in the case of requests for information and the assertion of data subject rights, we would like to point out that these can be most effectively asserted with the providers. Only the providers have access to the users' data and can directly take appropriate measures and provide information. If you still need assistance, you can contact us.

Further information on processing procedures, procedures and services:

Further information on processing, procedures and services:

Plugins and embedded functions as well as content

We include functional and content elements in our online offering that are obtained from the servers of their respective providers (hereinafter referred to as "third-party providers"). These may include graphics, videos, or maps (hereinafter uniformly referred to as "content").

The integration always requires that the third-party providers of this content process the IP address of the users, since they could not send the content to their browser without the IP address. The IP address is therefore necessary for the display of this content or function. We make every effort to use only those contents whose respective providers use the IP address only for the delivery of the contents. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as "web beacons") for statistical or marketing purposes. The "pixel tags" can be used to evaluate information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user's device and may contain technical information about the browser and operating system, referring web pages, visit time, and other information about the use of our online offering, as well as being linked to such information from other sources.

Additional information on processing operations, procedures, and services:

Modification and updating of the privacy policy

We ask you to regularly inform yourself about the content of our privacy policy. We will adapt the privacy policy as soon as changes to the data processing we carry out make this necessary. We will inform you as soon as the changes require your cooperation (e.g. consent) or other individual notification.

If we provide addresses and contact information of companies and organizations in this privacy policy, please note that the addresses may change over time, and we ask you to verify the information before contacting them.

Rights of the Data Subject

As a data subject under the GDPR, you have various rights, which arise in particular from Art. 15 to 21 GDPR:

Created with free Datenschutz-Generator.de by Dr. Thomas Schwenke 

The English version was translated by DeepL Translate and ChatGPT.