Introduction and Overview

We have written this privacy statement (version 04.09.2023-112574064) to explain to you, in accordance with the requirements of the Primary Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, what personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors (e.g. providers) we commission – process, will process in the future and what lawful options you have. The terms used are to be understood as gender-neutral.
In short: We inform you comprehensively about the data that we process about you.

Privacy statements usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. This privacy statement, on the other hand, is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. As far as it is conducive to transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly way, links to further information are provided and graphics are used. In this way, we provide information in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the course of our business activities if there is a corresponding legal basis. This is certainly not possible by providing the most concise, unclear, and legalistic explanations possible, as is often standard practice on the Internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative, and perhaps there is one or two pieces of information that you did not yet know.
If you still have questions, we would like to ask you to contact the responsible party named below or in the imprint, to follow the links provided and to look at further information on third-party sites. Our contact details can of course also be found in the imprint.

Scope of application

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

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

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

Legal basis

In the following privacy statement, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.
As far as EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 April 2016. You can, of course, read this EU General Data Protection Regulation online on EUR-Lex, the access point to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679.

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

1. 1. consent (Article 6(1) lit. a DSGVO): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of your entered data on a contact form.
   2. Contract (Article 6(1) lit. b DSGVO): In order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you, we process your data. For example, if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance.
   3. Legal obligation (Article 6(1) lit. c DSGVO): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we process your data. For example, we are legally obliged to keep invoices for accounting purposes. These usually contain personal data.
   4. Legitimate Interests (Article 6(1) lit. f DSGVO): In case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your fundamental rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we need to process certain data in order to operate our website in a secure and economically efficient manner. This processing is therefore a legitimate interest.

Other conditions such as the exercise of recordings in the public interest and exercise of official authority and the protection of vital interests do not occur with us as a rule. Insofar as such a legal basis should nevertheless be relevant, this is shown at the appropriate place.

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

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

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

Contact details of the responsible person

If you have any questions about data protection or the processing of personal data, please find below the contact details of the responsible person or body:
Interslot GmbH
Ledererhof 7/4
1010 Vienna
Austria

Authorized to represent: Interslot GmbH

E-mail:

Legal Notice: https://www.interslotgames.com/en/legal-notice/

Storage period

The fact that we store personal data only as long as it is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products applies as a general criterion with us. This means that we delete personal data as soon as the reason for processing the data no longer exists. In some cases, we are required by law to store certain data even after the original purpose has ceased to exist, for example for accounting purposes.

Should you wish your data to be deleted or revoke your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as soon as possible and to the extent that there is no obligation to store it.

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

Rights according to the General Data Protection Regulation

In accordance with Articles 13, 14 DSGVO, we inform you about the following rights you are entitled to, so that there is a fair and transparent processing of data:

• According to Article 15 of the GDPR, you have the right to know whether we process data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and the following information:
  • the purpose for which we carry out the processing;
  • the categories, i.e. the types of data that are processed;
  • who receives this data and, if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;
  • how long the data will be stored;
  • the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
  • that you can complain to a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
  • the origin of the data if we have not collected it from you;
  • whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically evaluated to arrive at a personal profile of you.
• You have a right to rectify data according to Article 16 of the GDPR, which means that we must correct data if you find errors.
• According to Article 17 of the GDPR, you have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”), which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.
• According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it any further.
• According to Article 20 DSGVO, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a common format upon request.
• According to Article 21 of the GDPR, you have a right to object, which, once enforced, entails a change in processing.
  • If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you may object to the processing. We will then check as soon as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
  • If data is used to conduct direct marketing, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may not use your data for direct marketing thereafter.
  • If data is used to perform profiling, you can object to this type of data processing at any time. We may not use your data for profiling thereafter.
• According to Article 22 of the GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example, profiling).
• According to Article 77 of the GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the data processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

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

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

Austria Data Protection Authority

Head: Mag. Dr. Andrea Jelinek

Address: Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Vienna

Phone number: +43 1 52 152-0

E-mail address:

Website:
https://www.dsb.gv.at/

Data processing security

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

Article 25 of the GDPR refers to “data protection by technical design and by data protection-friendly default settings” and thus means that both software (e.g., forms) and hardware (e.g., access to the server room) are always designed with security in mind and that appropriate measures are taken. In the following, we will go into more detail on specific measures, if necessary.

TLS encryption with https

TLS, encryption, and HTTPS sound very technical and they are. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure stands for “secure hypertext transfer protocol”) to transfer data over the Internet in a tap-proof manner.
This means that the complete transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – no one can “listen in”.

This way we have implemented an additional layer of security and comply with 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 protection of data transmission by the small lock symbol    at the top left of the browser, to the left of the Internet address (e.g. examplepage.com), and the use of the scheme https (instead of http) as part of our Internet address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to get good links to further information.

Cookies

Cookies summary. 👥 Data subjects: visitors to the website. 🤝 Purpose: depending on the cookie in question. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📓 Data processing: Depending on the cookie used in each case. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie. 📅 Storage duration: Depending on the respective cookie, it can vary from hours to years. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit.f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests).

Was sind Cookies?

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

Whenever you 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 settings you are used to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.

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

There are both first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created directly by our 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: GA1.2.1326744211.152112574064-9
Purpose: distinguishing website visitors.
Expiration date: after 2 years.

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

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

What types of cookies are there?

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

One can distinguish 4 types of cookies:

Necessary cookies.
These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functions of the website. For example, it needs these cookies when a user adds a product to the shopping cart, then continues surfing on other pages, and only later goes to the checkout. Through these cookies, the shopping cart is not deleted even if the user closes his browser window.

Purpose cookies.
These cookies collect info about user behavior and whether the user gets any error messages. In addition, these cookies are also used to measure the loading time and behavior of the website with different browsers.

Targeted cookies.
These cookies provide a better user experience. For example, entered locations, font sizes, or form data are stored.

Werbe-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 first visit a website, you are asked which of these cookie types you want to allow. And of course, this decision is also stored in a cookie.

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

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the cookie in question. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

What data is processed?

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

Storage duration of cookies

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

You can also influence the storage period yourself. You can manually delete all cookies at any time via your browser (see also “Right to object” below). Furthermore, cookies that are based on consent will be deleted at the latest after revocation of your consent, whereby the legality of the storage remains unaffected until then.

Right of objection – How can I delete cookies?

You decide how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of which service or website the cookies originate 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 determine which cookies have been stored in your browser, if you want to change or delete cookie settings, you can find this in your browser settings:

Chrome: Delete, 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.

Legal basis

Since 2009, there have been the so-called “Cookie Guidelines”. This states that saving cookies requires consent (Article 6 (1) lit. a DSGVO) 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). In Germany, the Cookie Directives were not implemented as national law. Instead, this directive was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the German Telemedia Act (TMG).

For absolutely necessary cookies, even in the absence of consent, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to provide visitors to the website with a pleasant user experience and for this, certain cookies are often absolutely necessary.

Insofar as cookies that are not absolutely necessary are used, this is only done in the case of your consent. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO.

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

Web Analytics Introduction

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

What is Web Analytics?

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

Why do we use web analytics?

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

What data is processed?

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

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

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

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

Duration of data processing

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

Right of objection

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

Legal basis

The use of web analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as may occur during the collection by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, there is a legitimate interest on our part to analyze the behavior of website visitors and thus to improve our offer technically and economically. With the help of web analytics, we detect website errors, can identify attacks, and improve economic efficiency. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we use the tools only insofar as they have given consent.

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

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

Google Analytics privacy policy

Google Analytics Privacy Policy Summary. 👥 Data subjects: Visitors to the website. 🤝 Purpose: evaluation of visitor information to optimize the web offer. 📓 Data processed: Access statistics, which include data such as locations of accesses, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior and click behavior. More details can be found further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: individually adjustable, by default Google Analytics stores 4 data for 14 months. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests).

What is Google Analytics?

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Target group reports: via target group reports we get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
• Display reports: Display reports allow us to analyze and improve our online advertising more easily.
• Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports give us helpful information on how to attract more people to our service.
• Behavior reports: This tells us how you interact with our website. We can track what path you take on our site and what links you click on.
• Conversion reports: Conversion is the name given to a process where you take a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you go from a mere 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 want to increase our conversion rate.
• Real-time reports: Here we always find out immediately what is currently happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

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

• Event-based data model: This model captures very specific events that may take place on our website. For example, playing a video, purchasing a product, or signing up for our newsletter.
• Advanced analytics: These features allow us to better understand your behavior on our website or certain general trends. For example, we can segment user groups, make comparative analyses of target groups, or track your path or path on our website.
• Predictive modeling: Based on collected data, machine learning can extrapolate missing data that predicts future events and trends. This can help us develop better marketing strategies.
• Cross-platform analytics: data collection and analysis are possible from both websites and apps. This provides us with the opportunity to analyze user behavior across platforms, provided of course that you have consented to the data processing.

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 and assigns you a user ID. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a “returning” user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID. This makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles.

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

Through identifiers such as cookies, app instance IDs, user IDs, or custom event parameters, for example, your interactions are measured across platforms if you have consented. Interactions are all types of actions you take 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.

According to Google, Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses. However, Google uses the IP address data to derive location data and deletes it immediately afterward. So all IP addresses collected from users in the EU are deleted before the data is stored in a data center or on a server.

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

Name: _ga
Wert: 2.1326744211.152112574064-5
Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish the website visitors.
Expiration date: after 2 years.

Name: _gid
Wert: 2.1687193234.152112574064-1
Purpose: The cookie is also used to distinguish website visitors.
Expiration date: after 24 hours.

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
value: 1
Purpose: Used to lower the request rate. When Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is named _dc_gtm_ <property-id>.
Expiration date: after 1 minute.

Note: This enumeration can not claim to be complete, because Google changes the choice of their cookies again and again also. The goal of GA4 is also to improve data protection. Therefore, the tool offers some options to control the data collection. For example, we can set the storage duration ourselves and also control the data collection.

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

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heatmaps. About heatmaps, you can see exactly those areas that you click. So we get information where you are “on the road” on our site.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other data are contact details, any ratings, playing media (for example, if you play a video through 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 distributed its servers all over the world. You can read exactly where Google data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de.

Their data is distributed on different physical disks. The advantage of this is that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected from tampering. In each Google data center, there are appropriate 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.

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

• 2 months: This is the shortest storage duration.
• 14 months: By default, GA4 keeps the data for 14 months.
• 26 months: You can also store the data for 26 months.
• Data will not be deleted until we delete it manually

In addition, there is also the option that data will only be deleted when you no longer visit our website within the period we have chosen. In this case, the retention period will be reset each time you visit our website again within the specified period.

Once the specified period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data 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.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

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

If you generally want to disable, delete, or manage cookies, you can find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers under the section “Cookies”.

Legal basis.

The use of Google Analytics requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as may occur during the collection by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, there is a legitimate interest on our part to analyze the behavior of website visitors and thus to improve our offer technically and economically. With the help of Google Analytics, we detect website errors, can identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Analytics if you have given your consent.

Google also processes data from you in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for the transfer of data to the USA. This may be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As a basis for data processing at recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the US. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de.

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

We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information regarding 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/de/ and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de.

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

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 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?hl=de.

Email marketing introduction

Email Marketing Summary. 👥 Data subjects: Newsletter subscribers. 🤝 Purpose: direct advertising by e-mail, notification of system-relevant events. 📓 Data processed: Data entered during registration but at least the e-mail address. More details can be found with the respective e-mail marketing tool used. 📅 Storage period: Duration of the existence of the subscription. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests).

What is email marketing?

In order to keep you up to date, we also use the option of e-mail marketing. If you have agreed to receive our e-mails or newsletters, your data will also be processed and stored. E-mail marketing is a sub-area of online marketing. It involves sending news or general information about a company, products or services by e-mail to a specific group of people who are interested in them.

If you want to participate in our e-mail marketing (usually via newsletter), you usually just have to register with your e-mail address. To do this, you fill out an online form and submit it. However, it may also happen that we ask you for your salutation and name, for example, so that we can also write to you personally.

In principle, the registration for newsletters works with the help of the so-called “double opt-in procedure”. After you have registered for our newsletter on our website, you will receive an e-mail to confirm your newsletter registration. This ensures that the e-mail address belongs to you and that no one has registered with a third-party e-mail address. We or a notification tool we use logs each individual subscription. This is necessary so that we can also prove the legally correct registration process. As a rule, the time of registration, the time of the registration confirmation and your IP address are stored. In addition, it is also logged when you make changes to your stored data.

Why do we use e-mail marketing?

We naturally want to stay in touch with you and always present you with the most important news about our company. To do this, we use, among other things, e-mail marketing – often just referred to as “newsletters” – as an essential part of our online marketing. Provided you agree to this or it is legally permitted, we will send you newsletters, system e-mails or other notifications by e-mail. When we use the term “newsletter” in the following text, we mainly mean regularly sent e-mails. Of course, we do not want to bother you in any way with our newsletters. That’s why we really always try to provide only relevant and interesting content. For example, you will learn more about our company, our services or products. Since we are always improving our offers, our newsletter will also tell you when there is news or when we are offering special, lucrative promotions. If we use a service provider that offers a professional mailing tool for our e-mail marketing, we do so in order to be able to offer you fast and secure newsletters. The purpose of our email marketing is basically to inform you about new offers and also to get closer to our business goals.

What data is processed?

When you become a subscriber to our newsletter via our website, you confirm by email that you are a member of an email list. In addition to IP address and e-mail address, your salutation, name, address and telephone number may also be stored. However, only if you agree to this data storage. The data marked as such are necessary for you to participate in the service offered. Providing this information is voluntary, but failure to provide it will result in you not being able to use the service. In addition, information about your device or your preferred content on our website may be stored. You can find out more about the storage of data when you visit a website in the section “Automatic data storage”. We record your declaration of consent so that we can always prove that this complies with our laws.

Duration of data processing

If you unsubscribe your email address from our email/newsletter distribution list, we may store your address for up to three years based on our legitimate interests so that we can still prove your consent at the time. We may only process this data if we need to defend ourselves against any claims.

However, if you confirm that you have given us your consent to subscribe to the newsletter, you can submit an individual deletion request at any time. If you permanently object to the consent, we reserve the right to store your e-mail address in a blacklist. As long as you have voluntarily subscribed to our newsletter, we will of course also keep your e-mail address.

Right of objection

You have the possibility to cancel your newsletter subscription at any time. All you have to do is revoke your consent to the newsletter subscription. This usually only takes a few seconds or one or two clicks. Most of the time, you will find a link to cancel your newsletter subscription right at the end of each email. If you really can’t find the link in the newsletter, please contact us by mail and we will cancel your newsletter subscription immediately.

Legal basis

The sending of our newsletter is based on your consent (Article 6 (1) a DSGVO). This means that we may only send you a newsletter if you have actively signed up for it beforehand. If applicable, we may also send you advertising messages, provided that you have become our customer and have not objected to the use of your email address for direct advertising.

For information on specific email marketing services and how they process personal data, please refer to the following sections, if available.

Security & Anti-Spam

Security & Anti-Spam Privacy Policy Summary. 👥 Data subjects: visitors to the website. 🤝 Purpose: cybersecurity 📓 Data Processed: Data such as your IP address, name, or technical data such as browser version. More details can be found below and in the individual privacy texts. 📅 Storage period: Most of the data is stored until it is no longer required for the fulfillment of the service. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests).

What is security & anti-spam software?

With so-called security & anti-spam software, you and we can protect ourselves from various spam or phishing emails and possible other cyberattacks. Spam means advertising mail from a mass mailing, which you did not ask for yourself. Such emails are also called data garbage and can also cause costs. Phishing emails, on the other hand, are messages that aim to build trust via fake news or websites in order to obtain personal data. Anti-spam software usually protects against unwanted spam messages or malicious mails that could introduce viruses into our system, for example. We also use general firewalls and security systems that protect our computers from unwanted network attacks.

Why do we use security and anti-spam software?

We place a particularly high value on security on our website. After all, it is not only our security that is at stake but also yours. Unfortunately, in the world of IT and the Internet, cyber threats have become part of everyday life. Hackers often try to steal personal data from an IT system with the help of a cyberattack. And that is why a good defense system is absolutely necessary. A security system monitors all incoming and outgoing connections to our network or computer. In order to achieve even greater security against cyber attacks, we also use other external security services in addition to the standardized security systems on our computers. Unauthorized data traffic is thus better prevented and we protect ourselves against cybercrime.

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

Exactly what data is collected and stored depends, of course, on the service in question. However, we always try to use only programs that collect data very sparingly or store only data that is necessary for the fulfillment of the service offered. Basically, the service may store data such as name, address, IP address, e-mail address, and technical data such as browser type or browser version. Also, any performance and log data may be collected in order to detect possible incoming threats in a timely manner. This data is processed within the scope of the services and in compliance with applicable laws. This also includes the DSGVO in the case of US providers (via the standard contractual clauses). These security services also work in some cases with third-party providers who may store and/or process data under instruction and in accordance with the privacy policy and other security measures. The data storage is mostly done via cookies.

Duration of data processing

We will inform you about the duration of data processing below, if we have further information about it. For example, security programs store data until you or we revoke the data storage. In general, personal data is only stored as long as it is absolutely necessary for the provision of services. In many cases, unfortunately, we lack precise information from the providers about the length of storage.

Right of objection

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

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

Legal basis

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

Certain processing, in particular the use of cookies as well as the use of security functions require your consent. If you have consented that data from you can be processed and stored by integrated security services, this consent is considered the legal basis of the data processing (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO). Most of the services we use set cookies in your browser to store data. That is why we recommend that you read our privacy text about cookies carefully and view the privacy policy or cookie policy of the respective service provider.

Information about specific tools – if available – can be found in the following sections.

Google reCAPTCHA privacy policy

Google reCAPTCHA privacy policy summary. 👥 Data subjects: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our service performance and protection against cyber attacks. 📓 Data processed: Data such as IP address, browser information, your operating system, limited location, and usage data. More details can be found below in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: depending on the stored data. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests).

What is reCAPTCHA?

Our primary goal is to secure and protect our website for you and for us in the best possible way. To ensure this, we use Google reCAPTCHA from 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. How this works exactly and especially which data is used for this, you will learn in the course of this privacy policy.

reCAPTCHA is a free captcha service from Google that protects websites from spam software and abuse by non-human visitors. Most commonly, this service is used 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 sent to Google to determine whether you are actually human. reCAPTCHA therefore serves the security of our website and, by extension, your security. For example, without reCAPTCHA, it could happen that a bot registers as many e-mail addresses as possible during registration in order to “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 actions on our website really originate from humans. 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 captures a snapshot of your browser window.

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

• Referrer URL (the address of the page from which the visitor comes)
• IP address (e.g. 256.123.123.1)
• Info about the operating system (the software that allows your computer to run. 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 will be 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 (indicates how many pixels the image display consists of)

Indisputably, Google uses and analyzes this data even before you click 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 of these cookies require a unique identifier for tracking purposes. Here is a list of cookies that Google reCAPTCHA has set on the demo version:

Name: IDE
Value: WqTUmlnmv_qXyi_DGNPLESKnRNrpgXoy1K-pAZtAkMbHI-112574064-8
Purpose: This cookie is set by the DoubleClick company (also owned by Google) to register and report a user’s actions on the website in dealing with advertisements. Thus, the advertising effectiveness can be measured and appropriate optimization measures can be taken. IDE is stored in browsers under the domain doubleclick.net.
Expiration date: after one year.

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

Name: ANID
Wert: U7j1v3dZa1125740640xgZFmiqWppRWKOr
Purpose: We could not find out much info about this cookie. Google’s privacy policy mentions the cookie in the context of “advertising cookies” such as “DSID”, “FLC”, “AID”, “TAID”. ANID is stored under domain google.com.
Expiration date: after 9 months.

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

Name: NID
Wert: 0WmuWqy112574064zILzqV_nmt3sDXwPeM5Q
Purpose: NID is used by Google to customize ads to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. This way you will always get tailored ads. The cookie contains a unique ID to collect personal settings of the user for advertising purposes.
Expiration date: after 6 months.

Name: DV
Wert: gEAABBCjJMXcI0dSAAAANbqc112574064-4
Purpose: Once you tick the “I am not a robot” box, this cookie will be set. The cookie is used by Google Analytics for personalized advertising. DV collects information in anonymous form and is further used to make user distinctions.
Expiration date: after 10 minutes.

Note: This enumeration can not claim to be complete, since Google experience shows that the choice of their cookies also changed again and again.

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 inquiries. 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 in to your Google account while using the reCAPTCHA plug-in, the data will be merged. The deviating data protection provisions of Google 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=112574064.

Thus, by using our website, you consent to the automatic collection, processing, and use of data by Google LLC and its agents.

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to Google reCAPTCHA being used, the legal basis of the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur during the collection by Google reCAPTCHA.

From our side, there is also a legitimate interest to use Google reCAPTCHA to optimize our online service and make it more secure. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google reCAPTCHA if you have given your consent.

Google also processes data from you in the USA, among other places. We would like to point out that according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for the transfer of data to the USA. This may be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As a basis for data processing at recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the US. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de.

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

You can learn a bit 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 Google’s basic use of data can be found in its in-house privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Online map services Introduction

Online Map Services Privacy Policy Summary. 👥 Data subjects: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: to improve the user experience. 📓 Data Processed: Which data is processed depends largely on the services used. Mostly it is IP address, location data, search items and/or technical data. You can find more details about this in the respective tools used. 📅 Storage period: depending on the tools used. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (legitimate interests).

What are online map services?

We also use online map services for our website as an extended service. Google Maps is probably the service you are most familiar with, but there are other providers that specialize in creating digital maps. Such services allow you to view locations, route maps or other geographic information directly through our website. By using an embedded map service, you no longer have to leave our website to view the route to a location, for example. In order for the online map to work on our website, map sections are embedded using HTML code. The services can then display street maps, the earth’s surface or aerial or satellite images. If you use the built-in map service, data is also transmitted to the tool used and stored there. Among this data may also be personal data.

Why do we use online map services on our website?

Generally speaking, our aim is to provide you with a pleasant time on our website. And, of course, your time is pleasant only if you can easily navigate our website and find all the information you need quickly and easily. That’s why we thought that an online map system could be another significant optimization of our service on the website. Without leaving our website, you can easily view route descriptions, locations or even points of interest with the help of the map system. Of course, it is also super convenient that you can see at a glance where we are located, so you can find us quickly and safely. As you can see, there are simply many advantages and we clearly consider online map services on our website as part of our customer service.

What data are stored by online map services?

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

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

Right of objection

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

Legal basis

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

We also have a legitimate interest in using an online map service to optimize our service on our website. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 (1) lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). However, we only ever use an online map service if you have given your consent. We definitely want to have this stated again at this point.

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

Google Maps Privacy Policy

Google Maps Privacy Policy Summary. 👥 Data subjects: visitors to the website 🤝 Purpose: Optimization of our service performance 📓 Data processed: Data such as search terms entered, your IP address, and also latitude or longitude coordinates. You can find more details about this further down in this privacy policy. 📅 Storage period: depending on the stored data. ⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (Consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests).

What is Google Maps?

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. on our website. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. Google Maps allows us to better show you locations and thus adapt our service to your needs. By using Google Maps, data is transmitted to Google and stored on Google servers. Here we will now go into more detail about what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

Google Maps is an internet map service provided by the company Google. With Google Maps, you can search for exact locations of cities, sights, accommodations or businesses online via a PC, tablet or app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, other information about the company is displayed in addition to the location. To show how to get there, map sections of a location can be embedded in a website using HTML code. Google Maps shows the earth’s surface as a street map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to the Street View images and the high-quality satellite images, very accurate representations are possible.

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

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

What data is stored by Google Maps?

In order for Google Maps to fully provide their service, the company must record and store data from you. This includes, among other things, the search terms entered, your IP address, and also the latitude or longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the start address entered is also stored. However, this data storage happens on the websites of Google Maps. We can only inform you about this but have no influence. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google sets at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behavior. Google uses this data primarily to optimize its own services and to provide individual, personalized advertising for you.

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

Name: NID
Wert: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ112574064-5
Purpose: NID is used by Google to customize ads to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. This way, you will always get tailored ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal preferences for advertising purposes.
Expiration date: after 6 months.

Note: We can not guarantee completeness in the details of the stored data. Especially when using cookies, changes can never be excluded. To identify the cookie NID, a separate test page was created, where only Google Maps was integrated.
How long and where is the data stored?
Google servers are located in data centers all over the world. However, most servers are located in America. For this reason, your data is also increasingly stored in the USA. Here you can read exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de.

Google distributes the data on different data carriers. This makes the data faster to retrieve and better protected from any tampering attempts. Each data center also has special emergency programs. If, for example, there are problems with Google’s hardware or a natural disaster paralyzes the servers, the data will pretty much remain protected anyway.

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

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

With the automatic location and activity data deletion feature introduced in 2019, location and web/app activity information will be stored for either 3 or 18 months, depending on your decision, and then deleted. In addition, you can also manually delete this data from your history at any time via your Google account. If you want to completely prevent your location tracking, you need to pause the “Web and App Activity” section in your Google Account. Click “Data and personalization” and then click the “Activity setting” option. Here you can turn the activities on or off.

In your browser, you can further disable, delete, or manage individual cookies. Depending on which browser you use, this always works slightly differently. Under the section “Cookies” you will find the corresponding links to the respective instructions of the most popular browsers.

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

Legal basis

If you have consented to Google Maps being used, the legal basis for the corresponding data processing is this consent. According to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a DSGVO (consent), this consent constitutes the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur during the collection by Google Maps.

From our side, there is also a legitimate interest to use Google Maps to optimize our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Maps if you have given your consent.

Google also processes data from you in the USA, among other places. We point out that according to the opinion of the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for the transfer of data to the USA. This may be associated with various risks for the legality and security of data processing.

As a basis for data processing at recipients located in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, i.e. in particular in the USA) or a data transfer there, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46. para. 2 and 3 DSGVO). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are templates provided by the EU Commission and are intended to ensure that your data complies with European data protection standards even if it is transferred to third countries (such as the USA) and stored there. Through these clauses, Google undertakes to comply with the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the US. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here, among other places: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de.

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

If you want to learn more about Google’s data processing, we recommend that you read the company’s in-house privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.

Explanation of terms used

We always try to make our privacy policy as clear and understandable as possible. However, especially with technical and legal topics, this is not always easy. It often makes sense to use legal terms (such as personal data) or certain technical terms (such as cookies, and IP address). However, we do not want to use these without explanation. Below you will now find an alphabetical list of important terms used that we may not have sufficiently addressed in the previous privacy policy. If these terms are taken from the GDPR and are definitions, we will also cite the GDPR texts here and add our own explanations if necessary.

Processor

Definition of terms according to Article 4 of the GDPR.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“processor” a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body that processes personal data on behalf of the controller;

Explanation: As a company and website owner, we are responsible for all the data we process from you. In addition to the responsible parties, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person that processes personal data on our behalf. Consequently, in addition to service providers such as tax advisors, processors can also be, for example, hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

Consent

Definition of term according to Article 4 of the GDPR.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“consent” of the data subject means any freely given specific, informed and unambiguous indication of his or her wishes in the form of a statement or other unambiguous affirmative act by which the data subject signifies his or her agreement to personal data relating to him or her being processed;

Explanation: As a rule, such consent is given on websites via a cookie consent tool. You probably know this. Whenever you first visit a website, you are usually asked via a banner whether you agree or consent to data processing. In most cases, you can also make individual settings and thus decide for yourself which data processing you allow and which you do not. If you do not consent, no personal data of yours may be processed. In principle, consent can of course also be given in writing, i.e. not via a tool.

Personal data

Definition of terms according to Article 4 of the GDPR.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“personal data”
any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter “data subject”); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

Explanation: Personal data are therefore all those data that can identify you as a person. This is usually data such as:

• Name
• Adresse
• E-Mail-Adresse
• Mail address
• Phone number
• date of birth
• Identification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, ID card number, or matriculation number
• Bank information such as account number, credit information, account balances, and more

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

• racial and ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or ideological beliefs
• union affiliation
• genetic data such as data taken from blood or saliva samples
• biometric data (which is information about mental, physical, or behavioral characteristics that can identify an individual).
  Health data
• Sexual orientation or sexual life data

Profiling

Definition of terms under Article 4 of the GDPR.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:

“Profiling” any automated processing of personal data that consists in using such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyze or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, conduct, location or change of location;

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

Responsible

Definition of terms according to Article 4 of the GDPR.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“Controller” means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its designation may be provided for by Union or Member State law;

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

Processing

Definition of terms according to Article 4 of the GDPR.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

“Processing”
any operation or set of operations that is performed upon personal data, whether or not by automatic means, such as collection, recording, organization, filing, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;

Note: When we refer to processing in our Privacy Policy, we mean any type of data processing. This includes, as mentioned above in the original GDPR statement, not only collecting but also storing and processing data.

Conclusion

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

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Source: Created with the Privacy Generator by AdSimple