Privacy Policy

Automatic data storage

Nowadays, when you visit websites, certain information is automatically created and stored, including on this website.

When you visit our website, as you are doing right now, our web server (computer on which this website is stored) automatically stores data such as

- the address (URL) of the visited web page

- browser and browser version

- the operating system used

- the address (.URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL)

- the host name and IP address of the device from which access is made

- the date and time

- in files (web server log files)

As a rule, web server log files are stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not pass on this data, but we cannot exclude the possibility that this data may be viewed in the event of unlawful behavior.

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.

What exactly are cookies?

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

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

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

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

For example, cookie data may look like this

Name: _ga

Wert: GA1.2.1326744211.152111512372-9

Purpose: to distinguish website visitors

Expiration date: after 2 years

We can distinguish 4 types of cookies:

1. indispensable cookies: these cookies are necessary to ensure basic functions of the website. For example, these cookies are needed when a user adds a product to the shopping cart, then continues browsing on other pages, and only later goes to the checkout. These cookies do not delete the shopping cart even if the user closes his browser window.

2. purpose cookies: these cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages. In addition, these cookies are also used to measure the loading time and behavior of the website with different browsers.

3. target-oriented cookies: these cookies provide a better user experience. For example, entered locations, font sizes or form data are saved.

4. advertising cookies: these cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to deliver customized advertising to the user. This can be very convenient, but also very annoying.

Usually, when you visit a website for the first time, you are asked which of these cookie types you want to allow. And of course, this decision is also stored in a cookie.

How can I delete cookies?

How and whether you want to use cookies is up to you. Regardless of which service or website the cookies come from, you always have the option to delete, disable or only partially allow cookies. For example, you can block third-party cookies but allow all other cookies.

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

- Chrome: Delete, enable and manage cookies in Chrome.

- Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari.

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

- Internet Explorer: delete and manage cookies

- Microsoft Edge: delete and manage cookies

If you generally don't want cookies, you can set your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether or not to allow it. The procedure varies depending on the browser. It is best to search for the instructions in Google using the search term "delete cookies Chrome" or "disable cookies Chrome" in the case of a Chrome browser.

What about my privacy?

Since 2009, there are the so-called "Cookie Guidelines". This states that storing cookies requires consent from you. Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these directives. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 96 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (TKG).

If you want to know more about cookies and are not afraid of 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".

Storage of personal data

Personal data that you submit to us electronically on this website, such as name, e-mail address, address or other personal information in the context of submitting a form or commenting on the blog, will be used by us together with the time and IP address only for the purpose stated in each case, kept secure and not disclosed to third parties.

We thus use your personal data only for communication with those visitors who expressly request contact and for the processing of the services and products offered on this website. We do not disclose your personal data without your consent, but we cannot exclude the possibility that this data may be accessed in the event of unlawful conduct.

If you send us personal data by e-mail - thus away from this website - we cannot guarantee secure transmission and protection of your data. We recommend that you never send confidential data by e-mail without encryption.

Rights according to the Data Protection Act

According to the provisions of the GDPR and the Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG), you are generally entitled to the following rights:

- Right to rectification (Article 16 DSGVO).

- Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") (Article 17 DSGVO)

- Right to restriction of processing (Article 18 DSGVO)

- Right to notification - obligation to notify in connection with the rectification or erasure of personal data or the restriction of processing (Article 19 GDPR)

- Right to data portability (Article 20 GDPR)

- Right to object (Article 21 GDPR)

- Right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing - including profiling (Article 22 GDPR).

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that your data protection rights have otherwise been violated in any way, you may lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority, which in Austria is the Data Protection Authority, whose website can be found at https://www.dsb.gv.at/.

Evaluation of visitor behavior

In the following privacy policy, we inform you whether and how we evaluate data from your visit to this website. The evaluation of the collected data is generally anonymous and we cannot draw any conclusions about your person from your behavior on this website.

You can find out more about ways to object to this analysis of visit data in the following privacy policy.

TLS encryption with https

We use https to transmit data tap-proof on the Internet (data protection by design of technology Article 25(1) DSGVO). By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data. You can recognize the use of this data transmission protection by the small lock symbol in the upper left corner of the browser and the use of the scheme https (instead of http) as part of our internet address.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

On our website we use Google Fonts. These are the "Google Fonts" of the company Google Inc. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services.

For the use of Google Fonts you do not have to log in or provide a password. Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser. The files (CSS, fonts) are requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, the requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services. If you have a Google account, you do not need to worry that your Google account information, while using Google Fonts, will be transmitted to Google. Google records the usage of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this data securely. We'll look at exactly what the data storage looks like in more detail.

What are Google Fonts?

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

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

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

Google Fonts allows us to use fonts on our own website, and not have to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important component to keep the quality of our website high. All Google Fonts are automatically optimized for the web and this saves data volume and is a great advantage especially for mobile use. When you visit our site, the low file size ensures a fast loading time. Furthermore, Google Fonts are secure web fonts. Different image synthesis systems (rendering) in different browsers, operating systems and mobile devices can lead to errors. Such errors can sometimes visually distort texts or entire web pages. Thanks to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), there are no cross-platform problems with Google Fonts. Google Fonts supports all major browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) and works reliably on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod). So, we use Google Fonts so that we can present our entire online service as beautifully and consistently as possible.

What data is stored by Google?

When you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded via a Google server. Through this external call, data is transmitted to the Google servers. In this way, Google also recognizes that you or your IP address is visiting our website. The Google Fonts API is designed to reduce the use, storage, and collection of end-user data to what is necessary for proper font delivery. API, by the way, stands for "Application Programming Interface" and is used, among other things, as a data transmitter in software.

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

However, it is still important to remember that each Google Font request also automatically transmits information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution, and browser name to Google's servers. Whether this data is also stored cannot be clearly determined or is not clearly communicated by Google.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google stores requests for CSS assets for one day on its servers, which are mainly located outside the EU. This allows us to use fonts with the help of a Google stylesheet. A stylesheet is a format template that can be used to easily and quickly change the design or font of a website, for example.

The font files are stored by Google for one year. Google thus pursues the goal of fundamentally improving the loading time of web pages. If millions of web pages refer to the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and immediately reappear on all other web pages visited later. Sometimes Google updates font files to reduce file size, increase language coverage, and improve design.

You can also read about what data is basically collected by Google and what it is used for at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

On our website, we use Google Fonts from Google Inc. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for the European region. We have embedded the Google Fonts locally, i.e. on our web server - not on Google's servers. As a result, there is no connection to Google servers and thus no data transfer or storage.

What are Google Fonts?

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

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unlimited access to all fonts. So we have unlimited access to a sea of fonts to get the most out of our website. You can find out more about Google Fonts and other issues at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=111512372.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

We use on our website the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) of the American company Google Inc. For the European area the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. For example, when you click on a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. Using the reports we receive from Google Analytics, we can better tailor our website and service to your preferences. In the following, we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and, in particular, inform you about what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a tracking tool used to analyze traffic to our website. In order for Google Analytics to work, a tracking code is built into the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various actions you take on our website. Once you leave our website, this data is sent to Google Analytics servers and stored there.

Google processes the data and we receive reports about your user behavior. These reports may include, but are not limited to, the following:

- Audience reports: through audience reports, we get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.

- Ad reports: Ad reports help us analyze and improve our online advertising.

- Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports give us helpful information on how to attract more people to our service.

- Behavior reports: This is where we learn how you interact with our website. We can track the path you take on our site and which links you click.

- Conversion reports: Conversion is when you take a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, you go from being just a website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us learn more about how our marketing efforts are working for you. This is how we aim to increase our conversion rate.

- Real-time reports: Here we always know immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are reading this text.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

The statistically evaluated data shows us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that it can be found more easily by interested people on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. Thus, we know very well what we need to improve on our website in order to provide you with the best possible service. The data also helps us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures in a more individual and cost-effective way. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

What data is stored by Google Analytics?

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

Through identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs, your interactions on our website are measured. Interactions are all types of actions that you perform on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated through Google Analytics may be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not share Google Analytics data unless we, as the website operator, authorize it. Exceptions may occur if required by law.

Here we show you an overview of the most important data collected by Google Analytics:

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

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

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

- Account creation: when you create an account or make an order on our website, Google Analytics collects this data.

- IP address: The IP address is only shown in a shortened form so that no clear assignment is possible.

- Location: The IP address can be used to determine the country and your approximate location. This process is also referred to as IP location determination.

- Technical information: Technical information includes, but is not limited to, your browser type, internet service provider, or screen resolution.

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

Other data include contact details, any ratings, playing media (for example, if you play a video via our site), sharing content via social media or adding to your favorites. The enumeration does not claim to be complete and only serves as a general orientation of the data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has your servers spread all over the world. Most servers are located in America and consequently your data is mostly stored on American servers. You can find out exactly where Google's data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de.

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

Google Analytics has a standard retention period of 26 months for your user data. Then your user data is deleted. However, we have the option to choose the retention period of user data ourselves. We have five variants available for this purpose:

- Deletion after 14 months

- Deletion after 26 months

- Deletion after 38 months

- Deletion after 50 months

- No automatic deletion

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

Google Analytics is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which governs the accurate and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information about this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=111512372. We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information about Google Analytics data processing. If you want to learn more about the tracking service, we recommend these two links: https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/us/ and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9019185?hl=en#zippy=%2Cin-this-article

Google Analytics IP anonymization

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

More information on IP anonymization can be found at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052/

Google Analytics reports on demographic characteristics and interests.

We have enabled promotional reporting features in Google Analytics. The demographic characteristics and interests reports contain information on age, gender and interests. This allows us - without being able to assign this data to individual persons - to get a better picture of our users. You can learn more about advertising features at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482/

You can stop the use of the activities and information of your Google account under "Advertising settings" at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated via checkbox.

Google Analytics deactivation link

If you click on the following deactivation link, you can prevent Google from collecting further visits to this website. Attention: Deleting cookies, using the incognito/private mode of your browser, or using a different browser will result in data being collected again.

Deactivate Google Analytics

We have entered into a direct customer agreement with Google for the use of Google Analytics by accepting the "Data Processing Addendum" in Google Analytics.

You can find out more about the data processing addendum for Google Analytics here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3379636/

Google Analytics Google Signals Privacy Policy

We have enabled Google signals in Google Analytics. This updates existing Google Analytics features (advertising reports, remarketing, cross-device reports, and interest and demographic reports) to provide aggregated and anonymized data from you, provided you have allowed personalized ads in your Google account.

What makes this special is that it is cross-device tracking. That means your data can be analyzed across devices. By enabling Google signals, data is collected and linked to the Google account. Google can thus recognize, for example, if you view a product on our website via a smartphone and only buy the product later via a laptop. Thanks to the activation of Google signals, we can launch cross-device remarketing campaigns that would otherwise not be possible in this form. Remarketing means that we can also show you our offer on other websites.

In Google Analytics, Google signals also collect other visitor data such as location, search history, YouTube history and data about your actions on our website. This gives us better advertising reports from Google and more useful information about your interests and demographics. This includes your age, what language you speak, where you live, or what gender you are. Furthermore, social criteria such as your profession, your marital status or your income are also added. All these characteristics help Google Analytics to define groups of people or target groups.

The reports also help us to better assess your behavior, your wishes and interests. This allows us to optimize and adapt our services and products for you. By default, this data expires after 26 months. Please note that this data collection only occurs if you have allowed personalized advertising in your Google account. This is always aggregated and anonymous data and never individual person data. In your Google account, you can manage this data or also delete it.

Facebook Pixel Privacy Policy

We use the Facebook pixel from Facebook on our website. For this purpose, we have implemented a code on our website. The Facebook pixel is a snippet of JavaScript code that loads a collection of functions that allow Facebook to track your user actions, provided you have come to our website via Facebook ads. For example, when you purchase a product on our website, the Facebook pixel is triggered and stores your actions on our website in one or more cookies. These cookies allow Facebook to match your user data (customer data such as IP address, user ID) with your Facebook account data. Then Facebook deletes this data again. The collected data is anonymous and not visible to us and can only be used in the context of ad placements. If you yourself are a Facebook user and are logged in, the visit to our website is automatically assigned to your Facebook user account.

We want to show our services or products only to those people who are really interested in them. With the help of Facebook pixels, our advertising measures can be better tailored to your wishes and interests. Thus, Facebook users (if they have allowed personalized advertising) get to see suitable advertising. Furthermore, Facebook uses the collected data for analysis purposes and its own advertisements.

If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements yourself at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. If you are not a Facebook user, you can basically manage your usage-based online advertising on http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/. There you have the option to deactivate or activate providers.

If you want to learn more about Facebook's data protection, we recommend that you read the company's own data policies at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

Facebook Automatic Advanced Matching Privacy Policy

We have also enabled Automatic Advanced Matching as part of the Facebook Pixel feature. This feature of the Pixel allows us to send hashed emails, name, gender, city, state, zip code, and date of birth or phone number as additional information to Facebook if you have provided us with this data. This activation allows us to tailor advertising campaigns on Facebook more accurately to people interested in our services or products.

Google Tag Manager privacy policy

For our website, we use the Google Tag Manager of the company Google Inc. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. This Tag Manager is one of many helpful marketing products from Google. Through Google Tag Manager, we can centrally incorporate and manage code sections from various tracking tools that we use on our website.

In this privacy policy, we want to explain in more detail what Google Tag Manager does, why we use it, and in what form data is processed.

What is the Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager is an organizational tool that allows us to incorporate and manage website tags centrally and through a user interface. Tags are small sections of code that, for example, record (track) your activities on our website. For this purpose, JavaScript code sections are inserted into the source code of our page. The tags often come from Google-internal products such as Google Ads or Google Analytics, but tags from other companies can also be included and managed via the manager. Such tags perform different tasks. They can collect browser data, feed marketing tools with data, embed buttons, set cookies and also track users across multiple websites.

Why do we use Google Tag Manager for our website?

As the saying goes: organization is half the battle! And of course, this also applies to the maintenance of our website. In order to make our website as good as possible for you and all the people who are interested in our products and services, we need various tracking tools such as Google Analytics. The collected data from these tools show us what you are most interested in, where we can improve our services and which people we should still show our offers to. And for this tracking to work, we need to embed appropriate JavaScript codes into our website. In principle, we could include each code section of each tracking tool separately in our source code. However, this requires quite a lot of time and it's easy to lose track. That's why we use the Google Tag Manager. We can easily incorporate the necessary scripts and manage them from one place. Moreover, Google Tag Manager offers an easy-to-use interface and you don't need any programming skills. This is how we manage to keep order in our tag jungle.

What data is stored by Google Tag Manager?

The Tag Manager itself is a domain that does not set any cookies and does not store any data. It acts as a mere "manager" of the implemented tags. The data is collected by the individual tags of the various web analytics tools. The data is virtually passed through to the individual tracking tools in the Google Tag Manager and is not stored.

However, the situation is quite different with the embedded tags of the various web analytics tools, such as Google Analytics. Depending on the analysis tool, various data about your web behavior is usually collected, stored and processed with the help of cookies. For this, please read our privacy texts on the individual analysis and tracking tools that we use on our website.

In the account settings of the Tag Manager, we have allowed Google to receive anonymized data from us. However, this is only about the use and usage of our Tag Manager and not your data stored via the code sections. We allow Google and others to receive selected data in anonymized form. We thus consent to the anonymous sharing of our website data. Which summarized and anonymous data is forwarded exactly, we could not find out - despite long research. In any case, Google deletes all information that could identify our website. Google combines the data with hundreds of other anonymous website data and creates user trends as part of benchmarking measures. Benchmarking compares our own results with those of our competitors. Processes can be optimized on the basis of the information collected.

How long and where is the data stored?

When Google stores data, this data is stored on Google's own servers. The servers are distributed all over the world. Most of them are located in America. You can find out exactly where Google servers are located at https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/

How long the individual tracking tools store data from you can be found in our individual privacy texts for the individual tools.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The Google Tag Manager itself does not set cookies, but manages tags from various tracking websites. In our privacy texts for the individual tracking tools, you will find detailed information on how you can delete or manage your data.

Google is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. For more information, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=111512372. If you would like to learn more about Google Tag Manager, we recommend the FAQs at https://www.google.com/intl/de/tagmanager/faq.html.

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy

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

What is Google Site Kit?

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

Why do we use Google Site Kit on our website?

As a service provider, it's our job to give you the best possible experience on our website. You should feel comfortable on our website and find exactly what you are looking for quickly and easily. Statistical evaluations help us to get to know you better and to adapt our offer to your wishes and interests. We use various Google tools for these evaluations. Site Kit makes our work much easier in this regard, because we can view and analyze the statistics of Google products right in the dashboard. So we don't have to log in separately for each tool. Site Kit thus always provides a good overview of the most important analysis data.

What data is stored by Google Site Kit?

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

Data collected by Google Analytics is kept for a standard 26 months. After that, your user data is deleted. The retention period applies to all data associated with cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs.

Google is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which governs the accurate and secure transfer of personal data. For more information, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=111512372. To learn more about Google's data processing, we encourage you to review Google's comprehensive privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy/

Hotjar Privacy Policy

We use Hotjar of the company Hotjar Limited (Level 2, St Julian's Business Centre, 3, Elia Zammit Street, St Julian's STJ 1000, Malta) on our website to statistically analyze visitor data. Hotjar is a service that analyzes the behavior and feedback of you, the user, on our website through a combination of analytics and feedback tools. We receive reports and visuals from Hotjar that show us where and how you "move" on our site. Personal data is automatically anonymized and never reaches Hotjar's servers. This means you are not personally identified as a site user and we still learn a lot about your user behavior.

What is Hotjar?

As mentioned in the section above, Hotjar helps us analyze the behavior of our site visitors. These tools that Hotjar offers include heatmaps, conversion funnels, visitor recording, incoming feedback, feedback polls, and surveys (you can get more information about them at https://www.hotjar.com/). Thus, Hotjar helps us to provide you with a better user experience and service. So, on the one hand, it provides a good analysis about online behavior, on the other hand we also get a good feedback about the quality of our website. Because besides all the analysis aspects, of course we simply want to know your opinion about our website. And with the feedback tool, that's exactly what we can do.

Why do we use Hotjar on our website?

In recent years, the importance of user experience on websites has increased significantly. And for good reason. A website should be built in such a way that you, as a visitor, feel comfortable and find your way around easily. Thanks to Hotjar's analytics and feedback tools, we can make our website and our offer more attractive. Heatmaps from Hotjar prove to be particularly valuable for us. Heatmaps are a form of representation for the visualization of data. Through the heatmaps of Hotjar, we see, for example, very precisely what you like to click, tap and where you scroll.

What data does Hotjar store?

As you browse our website, Hotjar automatically collects information about your user behavior. In order to be able to collect this information, we have included our own tracking code on our website. The following information may be collected about your computer or browser.

- IP address of your computer (collected and stored in an anonymous format)

- screen size

- Browser info (which browser, which version, etc.)

- Your location (but only the country)

- Your preferred language setting

- Visited web pages (sub-pages)

- Date and time of access to one of our subpages (web pages)

In addition, cookies also store data that is placed on your computer (usually in your browser). No personal data is collected in them. In principle, Hotjar does not pass on any collected data to third parties. However, Hotjar explicitly points out that it is sometimes necessary to share data with Amazon Web Services. Then parts of your information are stored on their servers. However, Amazon is bound by a confidentiality obligation not to disclose this data.

Only a limited number of people (Hotjar employees) have access to the stored information. The Hotjar servers are protected by firewalls and IP restrictions (access only to approved IP addresses). Firewalls are security systems that protect computers from unwanted network access. They are intended to serve as a barrier between Hotjar's secure internal network and the Internet. Furthermore, Hotjar also uses third-party companies, such as Google Analytics or Optimizely, for its services. These companies may also store information that your browser sends to our website.

How long and where is the data stored?

We have included a tracking code on our website that is transmitted to Hotjar servers in Ireland (EU). This tracking code contacts Hotjar's servers and sends a script to your computer or device that you use to access our site. The script collects certain data related to your interaction with our website. This data is then sent to Hotjar's servers for processing. Hotjar has imposed on itself a 365-day data retention period. This means that all data collected by Hotjar that is older than one year is automatically deleted.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Hotjar does not store any personal data about you for analysis. The company even advertises with the slogan "We track behavior, not individuals". You also always have the option to prevent the collection of your data. To do so, you just need to go to the "Opt-out page" and click on "Disable Hotjar". Please note that deleting cookies, using the private mode of your browser or using a different browser will cause data to be collected again. Furthermore, you can also activate the "Do Not Track" button in your browser. In the Chrome browser, for example, you have to click on the three bars in the top right corner and go to "Settings". There, in the "Privacy" section, you will find the option "Send a "Do Not Track" request with browser accesses". Now just enable this button and no data will be collected by Hotjar.

More details about the privacy policy and what data is collected in what way by Hotjar can be found at https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy?tid=111512372.

Newsletter Privacy Policy

When you sign up for our newsletter, you submit the above personal information and give us the right to contact you by email. We use the data stored in the course of the newsletter registration exclusively for our newsletter and do not pass it on to third parties.

If you unsubscribe from the newsletter - you will find the link for this at the bottom of each newsletter - we will delete all data that was stored with the registration to the newsletter.

Google AdSense Privacy Policy

We use Google AdSense on this website. This is an advertising program of the company Google Inc. In Europe, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. Google AdSense allows us to display ads on this website that match our theme. In this way, we offer you ads that ideally represent a real added value for you. In the course of this privacy policy on Google AdSense, we explain why we use Google AdSense on our website, which of your data is processed and stored, and how you can prevent this data storage.

What is Google AdSense?

The advertising program Google AdSense has been around since 2003. In contrast to Google Ads (formerly: Google AdWords), you cannot place ads yourself here. Google AdSense is used to display advertisements on websites, such as ours. The biggest advantage of this advertising service compared to some others is that Google AdSense only shows you ads that match our content. Google has its own algorithm that calculates which ads you will see. Of course, we only want to show you ads that you are interested in and that offer you added value. Google checks which ads are suitable for our website and for our users based on your interests or your user behavior and based on our offer. At this point, we would like to mention that we are not responsible for the selection of the advertisements. We only offer the advertising space with our website. The selection of the displayed advertising is made by Google. Since August 2013, the ads are also adapted to the respective user interface. That is, whether you visit our website from your smartphone, your PC or laptop, the ads adapt to your device.

Why do we use Google AdSense on our website?

Running a quality website requires a lot of dedication and great effort. Basically, we are never done working on our website. We always try to maintain our site and keep it as up-to-date as possible. Of course, we also want to achieve economic success with this work. That's why we decided to use advertisements as a source of income. However, the most important thing for us is not to disturb your visit on our website by these ads. With the help of Google AdSense you will only be offered advertisements that match our topics and your interests.

Similar to Google indexing for a website, a bot examines the relevant content and offers of our website. Then the advertisements are adjusted in terms of content and presented on the website. In addition to content overlap between ads and website offers, AdSense also supports interest-based targeting. This means that Google also uses your data to offer to advertise tailored to you. So you get advertising that ideally offers you real value and we have a higher chance to earn a little bit.

What data is stored by Google AdSense?

In order for Google AdSense to display customized advertising tailored to you, cookies are used, among other things. Cookies are small text files that store certain information on your computer.

In AdSense, cookies are intended to enable better advertising. The cookies do not contain any personally identifiable data. However, it should be noted that Google considers data such as "pseudonymous cookie IDs" (name or other identifier is replaced by a pseudonym) or IP addresses as non-personally identifiable information. However, under the GDPR, these data may be considered personal data. Google AdSense sends a cookie to the browser after every impression (this is always the case when you see an ad), every click and every other activity that leads to a call to the Google AdSense servers. If the browser accepts the cookie, it is stored there.

Third-party vendors may, as part of AdSense, place and read cookies on your browser or use web beacons to store data they obtain through ad delivery on the website. Web beacons are small graphics that do log file analysis and log file recording. This analysis enables statistical analysis for online marketing.

Google may collect certain information about your user behavior on our website through these cookies. This includes:

- Information about how you interact with an ad (clicks, impression, mouse movements).

- Information about whether an ad has already appeared in your browser at an earlier time. This data helps us to avoid displaying an ad to you more often.

In doing so, Google analyzes and evaluates the data on the displayed ads and your IP address. Google uses the data primarily to measure the effectiveness of an ad and to improve the advertising offer. This data is not linked to personal data that Google may have about you via other Google services.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google collects your IP address and various activities you perform on the website. Cookies store this information about interactions on our website. According to Google, the company collects and stores the specified information in a secure manner on Google's in-house servers in the United States.

If you do not have a Google account or are not logged in, Google stores the collected data with a unique identifier (ID) mostly on your browser. The unique IDs stored in cookies are used, for example, to ensure personalized advertising. If you are logged into a Google account, Google may also collect personal data.

You can delete some of the data that Google stores at any time (see next section). Much of the information stored in cookies is automatically deleted after a certain period of time. However, there is also data that is stored by Google for a longer period of time. This is the case when Google, due to economic or legal necessities, has to store certain data over an indefinite, longer period of time.

Which data Google basically collects and what they use this data for, you can read at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy.

We use Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) as an online marketing measure to advertise our products and services. In this way, we want to draw more people's attention to the high quality of our offerings on the Internet. As part of our advertising measures through Google Ads, we use the conversion tracking of the company Google Inc. on our website. In Europe, however, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With the help of this free tracking tool, we can better adapt our advertising offer to your interests and needs. In the following article, we will go into more detail about why we use conversion tracking, what data is stored in the process and how you can prevent this data storage.

What is Google Ads conversion tracking?

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is the in-house online advertising system of Google Inc. We are convinced of the quality of our offer and want as many people as possible to get to know our website. In the online sector, Google Ads offers the best platform for this. Of course, we also want to get an accurate overview of the cost-benefit factor of our advertising campaigns. That's why we use the conversion tracking tool from Google Ads.

But what is a conversion actually? A conversion occurs when you go from being a purely interested website visitor to an acting visitor. This happens whenever you click on our ad and subsequently perform another action, such as visiting our website. With Google's conversion tracking tool, we record what happens after a user clicks on our Google Ads ad. For example, we can see whether products are purchased, services are used or whether users have signed up for our newsletter.

Why do we use Google Ads conversion tracking on our website?

We use Google Ads to draw attention to our offer on other websites. The goal is to ensure that our advertising campaigns reach only those people who are interested in our offers. With the conversion tracking tool, we can see which keywords, ads, ad groups and campaigns lead to the desired customer actions. We see how many customers interact with our ads on a device and then make a conversion. Through this data, we can calculate our cost-benefit factor, measure the success of individual advertising measures and consequently optimize our online marketing measures. We can also use the data obtained to make our website more interesting for you and adapt our advertising offer even more individually to your needs.

What data is stored with Google Ads conversion tracking?

We have included a conversion tracking tag or code snippet on our website to better analyze certain user actions. Now, when you click on one of our Google Ads ads, the cookie "Conversion" is stored on your computer (usually in the browser) or mobile device by a Google domain. Cookies are small text files that store information on your computer.

As soon as you complete an action on our website, Google recognizes the cookie and saves your action as a so-called conversion. As long as you surf our website and the cookie has not yet expired, we and Google recognize that you have found us through our Google Ads ad. The cookie is read and sent back to Google Ads with the conversion data. It is also possible that other cookies are used to measure conversions. The conversion tracking of Google Ads can be further refined and improved with the help of Google Analytics. For ads that Google displays in various locations on the web, cookies named "__gads" or "_gac" may be set under our domain. Since September 2017, various campaign information from analytics.js is stored with the _gac cookie. The cookie stores this data as soon as you visit one of our pages for which the automatic tagging of Google Ads has been set up. Unlike cookies set for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies when you are on our website. We do not collect or receive any personal data. We receive a report from Google with statistical evaluations. For example, we learn the total number of users who clicked on our ad and we see which advertising measures were well received.

How long and where is the data stored?

At this point, we would like to point out that we have no influence on how Google uses the collected data. According to Google, the data is encrypted and stored on secure servers. In most cases, conversion cookies expire after 30 days and do not transmit any personal data. The cookies named "Conversion" and "_gac" (which is used in conjunction with Google Analytics) have an expiration date of 3 months.

Through the certification for the American-European data protection agreement "Privacy Shield", the American group Google LLC must comply with the data protection laws applicable in the EU. If you would like to learn more about data protection at Google, we recommend the general data protection declaration of Google: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Embedded social media elements Privacy policy

We embed elements of social media services on our website to display images, videos and texts.

By visiting pages that display these elements, data is transmitted from your browser to the respective social media service and stored there. We do not have access to this data.

The following links will take you to the pages of the respective social media services where it is explained how they handle your data:

- Instagram privacy policy: https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875

- For YouTube, the Google privacy policy applies: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de

- Facebook privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy

- Twitter privacy policy: https://twitter.com/de/privacy

Facebook privacy policy

We use selected tools from Facebook on our website. Facebook is a social media network of the company Facebook Ireland Ltd, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2 Ireland. With the help of these tools we can offer you and people who are interested in our products and services the best possible offer. Below we provide an overview of the different Facebook tools, what data is sent to Facebook and how you can delete this data.

What are Facebook tools?

Among many other products, Facebook also offers the so-called "Facebook Business Tools". This is the official name of Facebook. However, since the term is hardly known, we decided to just call them Facebook Tools. Among them are:

- Facebook Pixel

- Social plug-ins (such as the "Like" or "Share" button).

- Facebook Login

- account kit

- APIs (programming interface)

- SDKs (collection of programming tools)

- Platform integrations

- plugins

- Codes

- specifications

- documentations

- Technologies and services

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

Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?

We want to show our services and products only to people who are really interested in them. With the help of advertisements (Facebook Ads) we can reach exactly these people. However, in order to show suitable ads to users, Facebook needs information about people's wants and needs. Thus, information about user behavior (and contact data) on our website is made available to the company. As a result, Facebook collects better user data and can show interested people the appropriate advertising about our products or services. The tools thus enable tailored advertising campaigns on Facebook.

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

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

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

Facebook uses this information to match the data with the data it itself has from you (if you are a Facebook member). Before customer data is sent to Facebook, a process called "hashing" takes place. This means that a data record of any size is transformed into a character string. This also serves to encrypt data.

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

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

How long and where is the data stored?

Basically, Facebook stores data until it is no longer needed for its own services and Facebook products. Facebook has servers spread all over the world where its data is stored. However, customer data is deleted within 48 hours after it has been matched with its own user data.

Facebook is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which governs the accurate and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information about this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC. We hope we have brought you closer to the most important information about the use and data processing by Facebook tools. If you want to learn more about how Facebook uses your data, we recommend that you read the Data Policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Facebook Social Plug-ins Privacy Policy

So-called social plug-ins of the company Facebook Inc. are installed on our website. You can recognize these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, such as the "Like" button (the hand with raised thumb) or by a clear "Facebook Plug-in" label. A social plug-in is a small part of Facebook that is integrated into our site. Each plug-in has its own function. The most commonly used functions are the well-known "Like" and "Share" buttons.

The following social plug-ins are offered by Facebook:

- "Save" button

- "Like" button, share, send and quote.

- Page plug-in

- Comments plug-in

- Messenger plug-in

- Embedded posts and video player

- Groups plug-in

Visit https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins for more information on how each plug-in is used. We use the social plug-ins on the one hand to provide you with a better user experience on our site, and on the other hand because Facebook can optimize our advertisements through them.

If you have a Facebook account or have visited facebook.com before, Facebook has already set at least one cookie in your browser. In this case, your browser sends information to Facebook via this cookie as soon as you visit our site or interact with social plug-ins (e.g. the "Like" button).

The information received is deleted again or anonymized within 90 days. According to Facebook, this data includes your IP address, which website you visited, the date, the time and other information concerning your browser.

To prevent Facebook from collecting a lot of data during your visit to our website and connecting it with Facebook data, you must log out of Facebook during your website visit (log out).

If you are not logged into Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser will send less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. Nevertheless, data such as your IP address or which website you visit may be transmitted to Facebook. We would still like to explicitly point out that we do not know exactly about the exact content of the data. However, we try to inform you as best as possible about the data processing according to our current state of knowledge. You can also read about how Facebook uses the data in the company's data policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements yourself at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. If you are not a Facebook user, you can manage your usage-based online advertising at http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/grundsätzlich. There you have the option to deactivate or activate providers.

If you want to learn more about Facebook's privacy policy, we recommend that you read the company's own data policy at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

Facebook Login Privacy Policy

We have integrated the convenient Facebook Login on our site. This allows you to easily log in to our site using your Facebook account without having to create another user account. If you decide to make your registration via the Facebook Login, you will be redirected to the social media network Facebook. There, the registration takes place via your Facebook user data. Through this login process, data about you or your user behavior is stored and transmitted to Facebook.

On the one hand, the Facebook login offers you a quick and easy registration process, and on the other hand, it gives us the opportunity to share data with Facebook. This allows us to better adapt our offer and our advertising campaigns to your interests and needs. Data that we receive from Facebook in this way is public data such as

- Your Facebook name

- your profile picture

- a stored e-mail address

- friend lists

- button information (e.g. "Like" button)

- birthday date

- language

- Place of residence

In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activities on our website. This includes information about the device you are using, which of our sub-pages you visit or which products you have purchased from us.

By using Facebook Login, you consent to the data processing. You can revoke this agreement at any time. If you want to learn more information about data processing by Facebook, we recommend the Facebook privacy policy at https://de-de.facebook.com/policy.php.

Provided you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements yourself at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen.

Instagram privacy policy

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

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

What is Instagram?

Instagram is one of the most popular social media networks in the world. Instagram combines the advantages of a blog with those of audiovisual platforms like YouTube or Vimeo. You can upload photos and short videos on "Insta" (as many of the users casually call the platform), edit them with various filters and also distribute them on other social networks. And if you don't want to be active yourself, you can just follow other interesting users.

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

Instagram is that social media platform that really went through the roof in the last few years. And of course, we have also responded to this boom. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website. That's why a varied preparation of our content is a matter of course for us. Through the embedded Instagram features, we can enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting content from the Instagram world. Since Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook, the data collected can also serve us for personalized advertising on Facebook. This way, only people who are really interested in our products or services receive our ads.

Instagram also uses the collected data for measurement and analysis purposes. We get aggregate statistics and thus more insight about your preferences and interests. It's important to note that these reports do not identify you personally.

What data is stored by Instagram?

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

Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data. We assume that this is exactly the case with Instagram. Customer data is, for example, name, address, phone number and IP address. This customer data will only be transmitted to Instagram if you have been "hashed" beforehand. Hashing means that a data record is transformed into a character string. This makes it possible to encrypt the contact data. In addition, the "event data" mentioned above is also transmitted. By "event data" Facebook - and consequently Instagram - understands data about your user behavior. It may also happen that contact data is combined with event data. The collected contact data is matched with the data that Instagram already has from you.

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

We assume that Instagram's data processing works the same as Facebook's. This means that if you have an Instagram account or have visited www.instagram.com, Instagram has at least set a cookie. If this is the case, your browser sends info to Instagram via the cookie as soon as you come into contact with an Instagram function. At the latest after 90 days (after matching), this data is deleted again or anonymized. Although we have intensively studied Instagram's data processing, we cannot say exactly what data Instagram collects and stores.

In the following, we show you cookies that are set in your browser at least when you click on an Instagram function (such as button or an Insta image). In our test, we assume that you do not have an Instagram account. Of course, if you are logged into Instagram, significantly more cookies are set in your browser.

How long and where is the data stored?

Instagram shares the information it receives between Facebook companies with external partners and with people you connect with around the world. The data processing is done in compliance with its own data policy. Your data is distributed on Facebook servers around the world, partly for security reasons. Most of these servers are located in the United States.

Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook Inc. and Facebook is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. This framework ensures proper data transfer between the U.S. and the European Union. You can learn more about it at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC. We have tried to bring you closer to the most important information about Instagram's data processing. Auf https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875

you can learn even more about Instagram's data policies.

LinkedIn Privacy Policy

We use social plug-ins of the social media network LinkedIn, of the company LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA on our website. The social plug-ins may be feeds, sharing content or linking to our LinkedIn page. The social plug-ins are clearly marked with the familiar LinkedIn logo and allow, for example, interesting content to be shared directly via our website. For the European Economic Area and Switzerland, LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company Wilton Place in Dublin is responsible for data processing.

By embedding such plug-ins, data can be sent to LinkedIn, stored and processed there. In this privacy policy, we want to inform you about what data is involved, how the network uses this data and how you can manage or prevent data storage.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the largest social network for business contacts. Unlike Facebook, for example, the company focuses exclusively on building business contacts. Companies can present services and products on the platform and establish business relationships. Many people also use LinkedIn to look for jobs or to find suitable employees for their own company. In Germany alone, the network has over 11 million members. In Austria, there are about 1.3 million.

Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?

We know how busy you are. That's why you can't follow all social media channels individually. Even if it would be worth it, as in our case. Because time and again we post interesting news or reports that are worth spreading. That's why we've made it possible on our website to share interesting content directly on LinkedIn or to link directly to our LinkedIn page. We consider built-in social plug-ins as an extended service on our website. The data that LinkedIn collects also helps us to show possible advertising measures only to people who are interested in our offer.

What data is stored by LinkedIn?

Only through the mere integration of the social plug-ins LinkedIn does not store any personal data. LinkedIn calls this data generated by plug-ins passive impressions. However, when you click on a social plug-in to share our content, for example, the platform stores personal data as so-called "active impressions". And this is regardless of whether you have a LinkedIn account or not. If you are logged in, the collected data is assigned to your account.

Your browser establishes a direct connection to LinkedIn's servers when you interact with our plug-ins. In this way, the company logs various usage data. In addition to your IP address, this can be login data, device information or info about your internet or mobile provider, for example. If you access LinkedIn services via your smartphone, your location (after you have allowed this) can also be determined. LinkedIn may also share this data in "hashed" form with third-party advertisers. Hashing means turning a record into a string of characters. This can be used to encrypt the data in such a way that individuals can no longer be identified.

Most data about your user behavior is stored in cookies. These are small text files that are usually set in your browser. Furthermore, LinkedIn can also use web beacons, pixel tags, display tags and other device identifiers.

How long and where is the data stored?

In principle, LinkedIn retains your personal data for as long as the company considers it necessary to provide its own services. However, LinkedIn deletes your personal data when you delete your account. In some exceptional cases, LinkedIn retains some data in aggregate and anonymized form even after you delete your account. Once you delete your account, other people will not be able to see your data within one day. LinkedIn generally deletes data within 30 days. However, LinkedIn retains data if it is necessary due to legal obligation. Data that can no longer be assigned to individuals remain stored even after the account is closed. The data is stored on various servers in America and presumably also in Europe.

LinkedIn is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. This framework ensures proper data transfer between the U.S. and the European Union. You can learn more about it at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000L0UZAA0. We have tried to bring you closer to the most important information about LinkedIn's data processing. At https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy you can learn even more about the data processing of the social media network LinkedIn.

YouTube privacy policy

We have incorporated YouTube videos on our website. This allows us to present interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal that has been a subsidiary of Google since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. When you call up a page on our website that has a YouTube video embedded, your browser automatically connects to the YouTube or Google servers. In the process, various data are transferred (depending on the settings). Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all data processing in the European area.

In the following, we would like to explain in more detail what data is processed, why we have embedded YouTube videos and how you can manage or delete your data.

What is YouTube?

On YouTube, users can watch, rate, comment on and upload videos themselves free of charge. Over the past few years, YouTube has become one of the most important social media channels in the world. In order for us to display videos on our website, YouTube provides a snippet of code that we have included on our site.

Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?

YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and the best content. We are committed to providing you with the best possible user experience on our website. And of course, interesting videos can't be missing from that. With the help of our embedded videos, we provide you with other helpful content in addition to our text and images. In addition, the embedded videos make our website easier to find on the Google search engine. Also, when we run ads via Google Ads, Google - thanks to the collected data - can really only show these ads to people who are interested in our offers.

What data is stored by YouTube?

As soon as you visit one of our pages that has a YouTube video embedded, YouTube sets at least one cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged into your YouTube account, YouTube can usually assign your interactions on our website to your profile using cookies. This includes data such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, technical information such as browser type, screen resolution or your internet provider. Other data may include contact details, any ratings, sharing content via social media or adding to your favorites on YouTube.

If you are not logged into a Google account or a YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier associated with your device, browser, or app. For example, your preferred language setting is retained. But a lot of interaction data can't be stored because fewer cookies are set.

How long and where is the data stored?

The data that YouTube receives from you and processes is stored on Google servers. Most of these servers are located in America. You can see exactly where Google data centers are located at https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de. Your data is distributed across the servers. Thus, the data can be retrieved more quickly and is better protected against manipulation.

Google stores the collected data for different lengths of time. Some data you can delete at any time, others are automatically deleted after a limited time, and still others are stored by Google for a longer period of time. Some data (such as items from "My Activity", photos or documents, products) stored in your Google Account will remain stored until you delete it. Even if you are not signed into a Google account, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser or app.

If you generally don't want cookies, you can set your browser to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you allow it or not. Since YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, there is a common privacy policy. If you want to learn more about how your data is handled, we recommend the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Vimeo privacy policy

We also use videos from the company Vimeo on our website. The video portal is operated by Vimeo LLC, 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA. With the help of a plug-in, we can show you interesting video material directly on our website. In the process, certain data may be transferred from you to Vimeo. In this privacy policy, we will show you what data is involved, why we use Vimeo and how you can manage or prevent your data or the data transfer.

What is Vimeo?

Vimeo is a video platform that was founded in 2004 and has enabled streaming of videos in HD quality since 2007. Since 2015, it has also been possible to stream in 4k Ultra HD. The portal is free to use, but paid content can also be published. Compared to the market leader YouTube, Vimeo prioritizes high-quality content. On the one hand, the portal offers a lot of artistic content, such as music videos and short films, and on the other, documentaries on a wide variety of topics that are worth knowing.

Why do we use Vimeo on our website?

The goal of our web presence is to provide you with the best content possible. And to do so as easily accessible as possible. Only when we have achieved this, we are satisfied with our service. The video service Vimeo helps us to achieve this goal. Vimeo gives us the opportunity to present you with high-quality content directly on our website. Instead of just giving you a link to an interesting video, you can watch the video right there on our site. This expands our service and makes it easier for you to access interesting content. Thus, in addition to our texts and images, we also offer video content.

What data is stored on Vimeo?

When you call up a page on our website that has a Vimeo video embedded, your browser connects to Vimeo's servers. This results in a data transmission. This data is collected, stored and processed on the Vimeo servers. Regardless of whether you have a Vimeo account or not, Vimeo collects data about you. This includes your IP address, technical info about your browser type, operating system or very basic device information. Furthermore, Vimeo stores information about which website you use the Vimeo service and which actions (web activities) you perform on our website. These web activities include, for example, session duration, bounce rate or which button you clicked on our website with built-in Vimeo function. Vimeo may track and store these actions using cookies and similar technologies.

If you are logged into Vimeo as a registered member, more data can usually be collected because more cookies may have already been set in your browser. In addition, your actions on our website are directly linked to your Vimeo account. To prevent this, you must log out of Vimeo while "surfing" our website.

Vimeo uses this data, among other things, to improve its own service, to communicate with you and to set its own targeted advertising measures. Vimeo emphasizes on its website that only first-party cookies (i.e., cookies from Vimeo itself) are used for embedded videos, as long as you do not interact with the video.

Vimeo is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which governs the accurate and secure transfer of personal data. For more information, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt00000008V77AAE&status=Active. You can learn more about Vimeo's use of cookies at https://vimeo.com/cookie_policy and read information about Vimeo's privacy policy at https://vimeo.com/privacy.

Google reCAPTCHA Privacy Policy

Our primary goal is to secure and protect our website for you and for us in the best possible way. To ensure this, we use Google reCAPTCHA of the company Google Inc. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With reCAPTCHA we can determine whether you are really a flesh and blood human being and not a robot or other spam software. By spam we mean any unsolicited information sent to us electronically. With the classic CAPTCHAS, you usually had to solve text or image puzzles to verify the information. With reCAPTCHA from Google, we usually don't have to bother you with such puzzles. Here, in most cases, it is enough to simply check a box to confirm that you are not a bot. With the new Invisible reCAPTCHA version, you don't even have to set a checkmark anymore. You'll learn exactly how this works and, more importantly, what data is used to do it later in this privacy policy.

What is reCAPTCHA?

reCAPTCHA is a free captcha service from Google that protects websites from spam software and abuse by non-human visitors. The most common use of this service is when you fill out forms on the web. A captcha service is a kind of automatic Turing test, designed to ensure that an action on the Internet is performed by a human and not by a bot. In the classic Turing test (named after computer scientist Alan Turing), a human determines the distinction between a bot and a human. In captchas, the computer or a software program also does this. Classic captchas work with small tasks that are easy for humans to solve, but present significant difficulties for machines. With reCAPTCHA, you no longer have to actively solve puzzles. The tool uses modern risk techniques to distinguish humans from bots. Here, you only need to check the "I am not a robot" text box, or with Invisible reCAPTCHA, even that is no longer necessary. With reCAPTCHA, a JavaScript element is included in the source code and then the tool runs in the background and analyzes your user behavior. From these user actions, the software calculates a so-called captcha score. Google uses this score to calculate even before the captcha is entered how likely you are to be a human. reCAPTCHA, or captchas in general, are always used when bots could manipulate or abuse certain actions (such as registrations, surveys, etc.).

Why do we use reCAPTCHA on our website?

We only want to welcome flesh and blood people to our site. Bots or spam software of any kind may confidently stay at home. That's why we pull out all the stops to protect ourselves and offer the best possible user experience for you. For this reason we use Google reCAPTCHA from Google. This way we can be pretty sure that we remain a "bot-free" website. By using reCAPTCHA, data is transmitted to Google to determine whether you are actually human. reCAPTCHA is therefore used to ensure the security of our website and, by extension, your security. For example, without reCAPTCHA, it could happen that a bot registers as many e-mail addresses as possible during registration in order to "spam" forums or blogs with unwanted advertising content. With reCAPTCHA we can avoid such bot attacks.

What data is stored by reCAPTCHA?

reCAPTCHA collects personal data from users to determine whether the actions on our website really come from people. Thus, the IP address and other data required by Google for the reCAPTCHA service may be sent to Google. IP addresses are almost always shortened beforehand within the member states of the EU or other contracting states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area before the data ends up on a server in the USA. The IP address is not combined with other data from Google unless you are logged in with your Google account while using reCAPTCHA. First, the reCAPTCHA algorithm checks whether Google cookies from other Google services (YouTube. Gmail, etc.) are already placed on your browser. Then, reCAPTCHA places an additional cookie on your browser and collects a snapshot of your browser window.

The following list of collected browser and user data, does not claim to be exhaustive. Rather, it is examples of data that, to our knowledge, Google processes.

- Referrer URL (the address of the page from which the visitor came)

- IP address (e.g. 256.123.123.1)

- Information about the operating system (the software that enables the operation of your computer. Known operating systems are Windows, Mac OS X or Linux)

- Cookies (small text files that store data in your browser)

- Mouse and keyboard behavior (every action you perform with the mouse or keyboard is stored)

- Date and language settings (which language or date you have preset on your PC is saved)

- All JavaScript objects (JavaScript is a programming language that allows websites to adapt to the user. JavaScript objects can collect all kinds of data under one name)

- Screen resolution (shows how many pixels the image display consists of)

It is undisputed that Google uses and analyzes this data even before you click on the "I am not a robot" checkbox. With the Invisible reCAPTCHA version even the ticking is omitted and the whole recognition process runs in the background. How much and which data Google stores exactly, Google does not tell you in detail.

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

If you do not want any data about you and your behavior to be transmitted to Google, you must log out of Google completely and delete all Google cookies before you visit our website or use the reCAPTCHA software. Basically, as soon as you visit our site, the data is automatically transmitted to Google. To delete this data again, you must contact Google support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=111512372.

So, when you use our website, you agree that Google LLC and its agents automatically collect, process and use data.

You can learn a little more about reCAPTCHA on Google's web developer page at https://developers.google.com/recaptcha/. Google does go into more detail about the technical development of reCAPTCHA here, but you will search in vain for precise information about data storage and privacy-related issues there as well. A good overview of the basic use of data at Google can be found in the in-house privacy policy at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

Klarna Checkout Privacy Policy

We use the online payment system Klarna Checkout of the Swedish company Klarna Bank AB on our website. Klarna Bank has its principal place of business at Sveavägen 46, 111 34 Stockholm, Sweden. If you choose to use this service, among other things, personal data will be sent to Klarna, stored and processed. In this Privacy Policy, we would like to provide you with an overview of Klarna's data processing.

What is Klarna Checkout?

Klarna Checkout is a payment system for orders in an online store. In this process, the user chooses the payment method and Klarna Checkout handles the entire payment process. Once a user has made a payment through the Checkout system and provided the relevant data, future online purchases can be made even faster and easier. The Klarna system then recognizes the existing customer already after entering the e-mail address and postal code.

Why do we use Klarna Checkout for our website?

Our goal with our website and our integrated online store is to provide you with the best possible service. This includes, in addition to the overall experience on the website and in addition to our offers, a smooth, fast and secure payment processing of your orders. To ensure this, we use the Klarna Checkout payment system.

What data is stored by Klarna Checkout?

As soon as you decide to use the Klarna payment service and pay via the Klarna Checkout payment method, you also transmit personal data to the company. On the Klarna Checkout page, technical data such as browser type, operating system, our Internet address, date and time, language settings, time zone settings and IP address are collected from you and transmitted to and stored on Klarna's servers. This data is stored even if you have not yet completed an order.

When you order a product or service through our store, you must enter personal data in the fields provided. This data is processed by Klarna for payment processing. In the process, the following personal data (as well as general product information) may be specifically stored and processed by Klarna for creditworthiness and identity checks:

Contact information: Name, date of birth, national ID number, title, billing and shipping address, email address, telephone number, nationality or salary.

Payment information such as credit card details or your account number.

Product information such as shipment number, type of item and price of the product.

In addition, there is also data that can be collected optionally, provided you make a conscious decision to do so. These are, for example, political, religious or ideological beliefs or various health data.

Klarna may also collect data itself or through third parties (such as through us or through public databases) about the goods or services you purchase or order, in addition to the data mentioned above. This can be, for example, the shipment number or the type of item ordered, but also information about your creditworthiness, about your income or credit grants. Klarna may also share your personal data with service providers such as software providers, data storage providers or us as a merchant.

When data is automatically entered into a form, cookies are always involved. If you do not want to use this feature, you can always disable these cookies. Further down in the text you will find instructions on how to basically delete, disable or manage cookies in your browser. Our tests have shown that no cookies are set by Klarna directly. If you choose the payment method "Klarna Sofort" and click on "Order", you will be redirected to the Sofort website. After the successful payment you will get to our thank you page.

How long and where is the data stored?

All collected data is stored within the legal obligation to retain it. This obligation can last between three and ten years.

Klarna/Sofort GmbH tries to store data only within the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA). If data is transferred outside the EU/EEA, the data protection must comply with the GDPR, the country must be in an EU adequacy decision or have the US Privacy Shield certificate.

If you want to learn more about the data processing by the "Sofortüberweisung" of the company Sofort GmbH, we recommend the privacy policy at https://www.sofort.de/datenschutz.html.

Stripe privacy policy

We use a payment tool of the American technology company and online payment service Stripe on our website. For customers within the EU, Stripe Payments Europe (Europe Ltd., 1 Grand Canal Street Lower, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, Ireland) is responsible. This means that if you choose Stripe as your payment method, your payment will be processed through Stripe Payments. In doing so, data necessary for the payment process will be forwarded to Stripe and stored. In this privacy policy, we provide you with an overview of this data processing and storage by Stripe and explain why we use Stripe on our website.

What is Stripe?

The technology company Stripe provides payment solutions for online payments. With Stripe it is possible to accept credit and debit card payments in our web store. Stripe takes care of the entire payment process. A big advantage of Stripe is for example that you never have to leave our website or store during the payment process and the payment processing is very fast.

Why do we use Stripe for our website?

Of course, we want to offer the best possible service with our website and our integrated online store, so that you feel comfortable on our site and use our offers. We know that your time is precious and therefore especially payment processing needs to be fast and smooth. In addition to our other payment providers, we have found a partner in Stripe that ensures secure and fast payment processing.

What data is stored by Stripe?

If you choose Stripe as your payment method, personal data will also be transmitted from you to Stripe and stored there. This is transaction data. This data includes the payment method (i.e. credit card, debit card or account number), bank code, currency, amount and date of payment. In the case of a transaction, your name, e-mail address, billing or shipping address, and sometimes your transaction history may also be transmitted. This data is necessary for authentication. Stripe may also collect your name, address, phone number, and country in addition to technical data about your device (such as IP address) for fraud prevention, financial reporting, and to fully provide its services.

Stripe does not sell any of your data to independent third parties, such as marketing agencies or other companies that have nothing to do with the Stripe company. However, the data may be shared with internal departments, a limited number of external Stripe partners, or for regulatory compliance purposes, for example. Stripe also uses cookies to collect data.

How long and where is the data stored?

Personal data is generally stored for the duration of the service provision. That is, the data is stored until we terminate our relationship with Stripe. However, in order to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, Stripe may also store personal data beyond the duration of the service provision. Because Stripe is a global company, data may also be stored in any country where Stripe provides services. Thus, data may also be stored outside your country, for example in the USA.

We have now given you a general overview of how Stripe processes and stores data. If you want to obtain even more and even more detailed information, the detailed Stripe privacy statement at https://stripe.com/at/privacy serves as a good source.

jQuery CDN Privacy Policy

In order to deliver our website or all of our individual subpages (web pages) to you quickly and smoothly on different devices, we use services from jQuery CDN of the company jQuery Foundation. jQuery is distributed via the Content Delivery Network (CDN) of the American software company StackPath (LCC 2012 McKinney Ave. Suite 1100, Dallas, TX 75201, USA). Through this service, personal data of you is stored, managed and processed.

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) is a network of regionally distributed servers connected via the Internet. Through this network, content, especially very large files, can be delivered quickly even during large peak loads.

jQuery uses JavaScript libraries to deliver our website content quickly. To do this, a CDN server loads the necessary files. As soon as a connection to the CDN server is established, your IP address is captured and stored. This only happens if this data is not already stored in your browser as a result of a past website visit.

StackPath's privacy policy explicitly mentions that StackPath uses aggregated and anonymized data from various services (such as jQuery) to enhance security and for its own services. However, this data cannot identify you as an individual.

If you do not want this data transfer to occur, you always have the option to install Java script blockers such as ghostery.com or noscript.net. However, you can also simply disable the execution of JavaScript codes in your browser. If you decide to disable JavaScript codes, the usual functions will also change. For example, a website will no longer load as quickly.

StackPath is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which governs the accurate and secure transfer of personal data. For more information, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000CbahAAC&status=Active.

For more information about StackPath's privacy practices, visit https://www.stackpath.com/legal/privacy-statement/ and about jQuery, visit https://openjsf.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/84/2019/11/OpenJS-Foundation-Privacy-Policy-2019-11-15.pdf.

Source: Created with the privacy generator from AdSimple®.