Data Protection

We thank you for visiting our website. The secure handling of your data is particularly important to us. We would therefore like to inform you in detail about the use of your data when visiting our website. 

Legal basis for processing

Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter a GDPR serves as the legal basis for processing operations for which we obtain consent for a specific processing purpose. If the processing of personal data is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party, as is the case, for example, with processing operations required for the delivery of goods or the provision of any other service or consideration, the processing is based on Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b GDPR. The same applies to such processing operations that are necessary to carry out pre-contractual measures, such as in cases of inquiries about our products or services. If our company is subject to a legal obligation that requires the processing of personal data, such as to fulfill tax obligations, the processing is based on Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter c GDPR. In rare cases, the processing of personal data may be necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another natural person, Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter d GDPR. Ultimately, processing operations could also be based on Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter f GDPR. This legal basis applies to processing operations not covered by any of the aforementioned legal bases, if the processing is necessary to safeguard a legitimate interest of our company or a third party, provided that the interests, fundamental rights, and freedoms of the data subject do not prevail.

Disclosure of data

Your personal data will not be transferred to third parties for purposes other than those listed below. We only pass on your personal data to third parties if:

  • you have given your express consent pursuant to Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter a GDPR, 
  • the disclosure is necessary pursuant to Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter f GDPR for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims and there is no reason to assume that you have an overriding legitimate interest in not disclosing your data, 
  • there is a legal obligation for the transfer pursuant to Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter c GDPR, and 
  • this is legally permissible and necessary pursuant to Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter b GDPR for the processing of contractual relationships with you. 

Rights of data subjects

You have the right:

  • pursuant to Article 15 GDPR to request information about your personal data processed by us. In particular, you can request information about the purposes of processing, the category of personal data, the categories of recipients to whom your data has been or will be disclosed, the planned storage period, the existence of a right to rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, or objection, the existence of a right to lodge a complaint, the source of your data if it was not collected by us, and the existence of automated decision-making including profiling and, if applicable, meaningful information about its details; 
  • pursuant to Article 16 GDPR to request the immediate correction of inaccurate or completion of your personal data stored by us; 
  • pursuant to Article 17 GDPR to request the deletion of your personal data stored by us, unless the processing is necessary for exercising the right to freedom of expression and information, for compliance with a legal obligation, for reasons of public interest, or for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims; 
  • pursuant to Article 18 GDPR to request the restriction of processing of your personal data if you contest the accuracy of the data, the processing is unlawful, but you oppose its erasure and we no longer need the data, but you require it for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims, or you have objected to processing pursuant to Article 21 GDPR; 
  • pursuant to Article 20 GDPR to receive your personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format or to request the transfer to another controller; 
  • pursuant to Article 22 GDPR not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing — including profiling — which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you; 
  • pursuant to Article 7 paragraph 3 GDPR to withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future. This means that we may no longer continue the data processing that was based on this consent in the future; and 
  • pursuant to Article 77 GDPR, without prejudice to any other administrative or judicial remedy, to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. As a rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your usual place of residence or workplace or the place of the alleged infringement if you believe that the processing of personal data concerning you violates the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Cookie notice

This site uses the Cookie Consent notice to inform you about the use of cookies on this website. When the file to display this notice is accessed, your IP address together with the page (internet address) you visited is transmitted to the server providing the file.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies. A cookie is a data record that is created when visiting a website and temporarily stored on the user's system. If our website server is accessed again by the user, the user's browser sends the previously received cookie back to the server. The server can evaluate the information obtained through this process. Cookies can be used, for example, to control advertisements or to facilitate navigation on a website. Cookies are partly necessary to enable the functionality of our website operations (the legal basis being Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR — the protection of the legitimate interests of the operator of this website — we use cookies only in accordance with Article 5 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR, i.e., according to the principles of “lawfulness, fair processing, transparency”). If you wish to prevent the general use of cookies, you can do so through local settings in your internet browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or Safari). If the cookies are not technically necessary, you will find more information about cookies used by tools and plugins in this privacy policy. 

General data collection

When you access our website or retrieve a file, data about this process is stored in a log file on our web server. Specifically, the following data may be stored:

  • IP address (if possible, stored anonymously) 
  • domain name of the website from which you came 
  • names of the files retrieved 
  • date and time of retrieval 
  • name of your internet service provider 
  • and, if applicable, the operating system and browser version of your device 

We store IP addresses only for data security reasons to ensure the stability and security of our system (legal basis: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR). Statistical evaluation of anonymized data records remains reserved. 

Contact forms

If you send us inquiries via a contact form, the information you provide in the inquiry form, including the contact details you enter there, will be stored and processed by us for the purpose of handling the inquiry and in case of follow-up questions. Your data will be used exclusively for the purpose of answering and processing your request. Data processing here is carried out in accordance with Article 6 paragraph 1 sentence 1 letter a GDPR on the basis of your voluntarily given consent. You may object to this at any time (right of withdrawal).

References to third-party websites

This website offers references to third-party websites in the form of so-called links. Data is only transmitted to the link target once you click on such a link. This is technically necessary. The data transmitted includes, in particular: your IP address, the time you clicked on the link, the page on which you clicked the link, and information about your internet browser. If you do not want this data to be transmitted to the link target, do not click the link.

SSL encryption

This website uses SSL encryption (Secure Socket Layer) for transmitting data from your browser to our server and to servers that provide files which we integrate into our website. SSL ensures that data is transmitted in encrypted form. The data cannot be altered and the sender can be identified. You can recognize the presence of SSL encryption by the prefix “https” before the address of the website you are visiting in your browser.

Comment function

On certain pages or posts, there is a voluntary comment function for users who wish to share their opinion on the respective page or post. The comment will be published on the page where it was submitted after a positive review. There is no entitlement to the publication of a comment. The commenter must provide a name, which may be a pseudonym. The commenter must also provide an email address. This serves to inform them about the status of their comment, especially if a question was asked in the comment and a reply is expected. The email address will not be publicly displayed, will not be passed on to third parties, and will not be manually evaluated. The commenter’s IP address is only stored in anonymized form. The comment will be stored permanently until it is deleted by you (or an administrator). The email address provided for the comment will be stored solely for the purpose of notifying you in case of a reply to your comment. Any other data you provide for the comment will be published with the comment, if you choose to provide it. If a name is requested, you may also use a pseudonym. 

Links to other websites

Our website/application may from time to time contain links to third-party websites or to other websites owned by us. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we accept no responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these privacy policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

Google Tag Manager

We use Google Tag Manager from Google. “Google” refers to a group of companies consisting of Google Ireland Ltd., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland, as well as Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, and other affiliated companies of Google LLC. 
We have concluded a data processing agreement with Google. The Google Tag Manager is an auxiliary service and processes personal data only for technically necessary purposes. The tool is responsible for loading other components, which in turn may collect data. Google Tag Manager does not access this data. 
For more information about Google Tag Manager, please refer to Google’s privacy policy. Please note that American intelligence services may have access to personal data due to U.S. laws if this tool is used, as the exchange of data with Google via the internet protocol is unavoidable. 

Google Analytics

We use the analysis service Google Analytics. This web analysis service is operated by Google Ireland Ltd., Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (“Google”). We use Google Analytics to evaluate your use of our website and to compile reports on user activity. 
This analysis tool works primarily based on cookies. A cookie is a data record that is sent when visiting a website and temporarily stored on the user’s hard drive to enable an analysis of your use of the website. The information stored in the cookie is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. Within the scope of IP anonymization, your IP address is shortened by Google within a member state of the EU or in another state that is a party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. On our behalf, Google will use the information transmitted to produce a report on the use of the website. 
We have concluded a data processing agreement with Google. If you wish to prevent the use of cookies, you can do so by changing your local browser settings (e.g., Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera, Firefox, etc.). Furthermore, you can prevent the collection and processing of your data by Google’s cookie by downloading and installing the browser plugin offered by Google at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. 
You can prevent data collection by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set, which will prevent the future collection of your data when visiting this website: deactivate Google Analytics. 
Further information on Google’s and Google Analytics’ terms of use and privacy policy can be found at http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html and at https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/. We note that Google Analytics has been extended by the “anonymizeIp” code to ensure anonymous collection of IP addresses. 

Information about cookies

Consent category: marketing 
Cookies used (lifetime in parentheses): _ga (2 years), _gid (1 day), _gat_UA-* (1 minute), _utma (2 years), _utmb (30 minutes), _utmc (session), _utmt (10 minutes), _utmz (6 months) 
Please note that American intelligence services may have access to personal data due to the Cloud Act if this tool is used, as the exchange of data with Google via the internet protocol is unavoidable. 

Use of Facebook visitor access statistics

We use the visitor access statistics (remarketing function) “Custom Audiences” of Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA (“Facebook”), also known as the Facebook Pixel. This function allows us to target visitors to the website with advertising by showing personalized, interest-based Facebook ads to visitors to this website when they visit the social network Facebook. The function is only activated after you have given your consent. 
If the function is activated, a direct connection to a Facebook server is established when visiting this website. The Facebook server is informed about which of our internet pages you have visited. Facebook assigns this information to your personal Facebook user account. 
More information about the collection and use of data by Facebook, your rights in this regard, and ways to protect your privacy can be found in Facebook’s privacy policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/. If you do not want Facebook to assign the collected information directly to your Facebook user account, you can deactivate the “Custom Audiences” remarketing function here. You must be logged in to Facebook to do this. 
If you do not have a Facebook account, you can deactivate Facebook’s usage-based advertising here: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/. 
Please note that American intelligence services may have access to personal data due to the Cloud Act if this tool is used, as the exchange of data with Facebook via the internet protocol is unavoidable. 
Cookies used (lifetime in parentheses): ATN (2 years), AA003 (2 months), _fbp (3 months), fr (3 months) 

Security notice

We secure our website and other IT systems by appropriate technical and organizational measures against loss, destruction, unauthorized access, unauthorized modification, or unauthorized distribution of your data. However, complete protection against all risks is practically not possible despite all due care. Since complete data security cannot be guaranteed by email communication, we recommend using postal mail for transmitting confidential information. 

WordPress

We use WordPress as the content management system for our website. WordPress uses functional (necessary) cookies to ensure the login process for editors and administrators. Specifically, when attempting to log in to the WordPress administration interface, a cookie named wordpress_test_cookie is set. This cookie is used exclusively for the active session and is deleted once you close the browser. The cookie is not used for user tracking.

Changes to this privacy policy

We reserve the right to change this privacy policy if the legal situation or this online offering or the nature of data collection changes. This applies only to statements about data processing. If user consent is required or parts of the privacy policy contain provisions of the contractual relationship with users, the privacy policy will only be amended with the consent of the user.  
Please review this privacy policy as needed, especially if you are providing personal data.