Privacy Policy

Privacy policy

Introduction and Overview

We have written this privacy policy (version 14.03.2024-112738876) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as controllers – and the processors commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – process, will process in the future and what lawful options you have. The terms used are to be understood in a gender-neutral way.
In short, we provide you with comprehensive information about the data we process about you.

Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal terms. This privacy policy, 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. We are thus informing you 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 if you give the most concise, unclear and legal-technical explanations possible, as they are often standard on the Internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative and maybe there is one or the other piece of information that you didn't know yet. If you still have questions, we would like to ask you to contact the responsible body mentioned below or in the imprint, follow the existing links and look at further information on third-party sites. Of course, you can also find our contact details in the imprint.

Scope

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

All online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate
Social media presences and e-mail communication
mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

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

Legal bases

In the following privacy policy, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, that 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 to EU law, under 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:

Consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of your entered data of a contact form.
Contract (Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR): In order to fulfil a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you, we process your data. For example, if we enter into a purchase contract with you, we require personal information in advance.
Legal obligation (Article 6 (1) (c) GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we process your data. For example, we are legally obliged to keep invoices for accounting. These usually contain personal data.
Legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR): In the 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 perception of recordings in the public interest and the exercise of official authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually occur with us. If such a legal basis should be relevant, it will be indicated in the appropriate place.

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

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

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

Storage period

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

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

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

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

In accordance with Articles 13, 14 GDPR, we inform you of the following rights to which you are entitled in order to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:

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

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that 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 you can find under 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:

Cookies

Cookies summary
Data subjects: Visitors to the website? Purpose: depending on the specific cookie. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.? Data processed: Depends on the cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.? Storage period: depending on the respective cookie, can vary
⚖️ from hours to years Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are cookies?

Our website uses HTTP cookies to store user-specific data. 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 web, use a browser. Well-known 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 cannot be denied: Cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. To be more precise, they are HTTP cookies, as there are also 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, the "brain" of your browser, so to speak. 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 information about you, such as language or personal site settings. When you call up our site again, your browser transmits the "user-related" information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the setting you are used to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, while 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. In this case, 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. The expiration time of a cookie also varies from a few minutes to a few years. Cookies are not software programs and do not contain viruses, Trojans or other "malware". Cookies also cannot access information on your PC.

For example, this is what cookie data can look like:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152112738876-9
Purpose: Differentiation of website visitors
Expiration date: after 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

At least 4096 bytes per cookie
At least 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 used 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.

There are 4 types of cookies:

Essential cookiesThese cookies are necessary to ensure basic functionality of the website. For example, these cookies are needed when a user puts a product in the shopping cart, then continues to surf on other pages and only later goes to the checkout. These cookies do not delete the shopping cart, even if the user closes his browser window.

Useful cookiesThese cookies collect information about user behaviour 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 on different browsers.

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

Advertising cookiesThese cookies are also called targeting cookies. They serve to provide the user with individually tailored advertising. This can be very practical, but also very annoying.

Usually, when you visit a website for the first time, you will be asked which of these types of cookies you would like 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's (IETF) Request for Comments called the "HTTP State Management Mechanism".

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the respective cookie. You can find more details about this below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

What data is processed?

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

Storage period of cookies

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

They also have an influence on the storage period themselves. You can manually delete all cookies at any time via your browser (see also "Right to object" below). Furthermore, cookies based on consent will be deleted at the latest after your consent has been revoked, whereby the lawfulness of the storage remains unaffected until then.

Right to object – how can I delete cookies?

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

If you want to know which cookies have been stored in your browser when you want to change or delete cookie settings, you can find this in your browser settings:

Chrome: Delete, activate, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

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

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: How to delete and manage cookies

If you do not want cookies in principle, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. This allows you to decide whether or not to allow the cookie for each individual cookie. The procedure varies depending on the browser. The best thing to do is to search for the instructions in Google with the search term "delete cookies Chrome" or "disable cookies Chrome" in the case of a Chrome browser.

Legal basis

Since 2009, the so-called "Cookie Policy" has been in place. It states that the storage of cookies requires your consent (Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR). However, there are still very different reactions to these directives within the EU countries. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 165 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (2021). In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this directive was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG).

For strictly necessary cookies, even if no consent has been given, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to provide a pleasant user experience for visitors to the website, and certain cookies are often strictly necessary for this.

Unless absolutely necessary cookies are used, this will only happen if you give your consent. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR.

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

Web Analytics Introduction

Web Analytics Privacy Policy Summary
Data subjects: Visitors to the website? Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information for the optimization of the web offer. Processed data: Access statistics that include data such as locations of accesses, device data, access duration and time, navigation behavior, click behavior and IP addresses. You can find more details on this in the web analytics tool used in each case.? Storage period: depending on the web analytics tool
⚖️ used Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Web Analytics?

On our website, we use software to evaluate the behaviour of website visitors, known as web analytics or web analysis for short. This collects data that is stored, managed, and processed by the respective analytics tool provider (also known as a tracking tool). With the help of the data, analyses of user behaviour on our website are created 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. For this purpose, 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 well as for other analytics procedures, user profiles can also be created and the data can be stored in cookies.

Why do we do web analytics?

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

What data is processed?

Of course, exactly which data is stored depends on the analysis tools used. However, as a rule, for example, what content you view on our website, which buttons or links you click, when you call up a page, which browser you use, with which device (PC, tablet, smartphone, etc.) is stored. you are visiting the website or what computer system you are using. If you agreed that location data may also be collected, this may also be processed by the web analysis tool provider.

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

The following example schematically shows how Google Analytics works as an example of client-based web tracking with Java script 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, while other cookies can store data for several years.

Duration of data processing

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

Right to object

You also have the right and the option to withdraw 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 by 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 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors and thus improving our offer technically and economically. With the help of web analytics, we can detect website errors, identify attacks and improve profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (Legitimate Interests). Nevertheless, we only use the tools if they have given their consent.

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

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

Facebook Pixel Privacy Policy

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

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

In the following, we show you those cookies that have been set by integrating Facebook pixels on a test page. Please note that these are only example cookies. Depending on the interaction on our website, different cookies are set.

Name: _fbp
Value: fb.1.1568287647279.257405483-6112738876-7
Purpose: This cookie uses Facebook to display advertising products.
Expiration date: after 3 months

Name: fr
Value: 0aPf312HOS5Pboo2r.. Bdeiuf... 1.0.Bdeiuf.
Purpose: This cookie is used to ensure that the Facebook pixel works properly.
Expiration date: after 3 months

Name: comment_author_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062112738876-3
Value: Name of the author
Purpose: This cookie stores the text and name of a user who leaves a comment, for example.
Expiration date: after 12 months

Name: comment_author_url_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062
Value: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.testseite...%2F (Author's URL)
Purpose: This cookie stores the URL of the website that the user enters in a text field on our website.
Expiration date: after 12 months

Name: comment_author_email_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062
Value: Author's email address
Purpose: This cookie stores the user's email address if they have provided it on the website.
Expiration date: after 12 months

Note: The cookies mentioned above refer to individual user behaviour. Especially when it comes to the use of cookies, changes at Facebook can never be ruled out.

If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your advertising settings under https://www.facebook.com/adpreferences/advertisers/ yourself. If you are not a Facebook user, you can basically manage your usage-based online advertising on www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/. There you have the option of deactivating or activating providers.

Facebook processes your data in the USA, among other places. Facebook or Meta Platforms is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure data transfer of personal data of EU citizens to the USA. More information can be found on https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

In addition, Facebook uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 paras. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) 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 the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses, Facebook undertakes to comply with the European level of data protection when processing your relevant data, even if the data is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec_impl/2021/914/oj?locale=de

The Facebook Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found under https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/dataprocessing.

If you want to learn more about Facebook's privacy, we recommend checking out the company's own data policy on https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

Google Analytics Privacy Policy Summary
Data subjects: Visitors to the website? Purpose: Evaluation of visitor information for the optimization of the web offer. Processed data: Access statistics that include data such as access locations, device data, access duration and timing, navigation behavior and click behavior. You can find more details about this further down in this privacy policy.? Storage period: individually adjustable, by default Google Analytics 4 stores data for 14 months
⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (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 Europe, 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, by combining different technologies such as cookies, device IDs and login information, you as a user can be identified across different devices. This allows your actions to be analyzed across platforms.

For example, if you click on a link, this event is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. The reports we receive from Google Analytics help us better tailor our website and service to your preferences. In the following, we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and, above all, inform you about what data is processed and how you can prevent it.

Google Analytics is a tracking tool that is used to analyze the traffic of 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 about user interactions such as page views, clicks, scrolling, and conversion events. In addition, various machine learning functions have also been built into GA4 to better understand user behavior and certain trends. GA4 relies on modelling with the help of machine learning functions. This means that missing data can also be extrapolated on the basis of the collected data in order to optimize the analysis and also to be able to make forecasts.

In order 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 owners to define and track specific events to obtain analytics of user interactions. Thus, in addition to general information such as clicks or page views, special events that are important for our business can also be tracked. Such special events can be, for example, sending a contact form or purchasing 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 on your user behavior. These can include the following reports:

Audience reports: Audience reports help us get to know our users better and know more about who is interested in our service.
Ad Reporting: Ad reporting helps us analyze and improve our online advertising.
Acquisition Reports: Acquisition reports give us helpful information on how we can attract more people to our service.
Behavioral Reports: This is where we learn how you interact with our website. We can track which route you take on our site and which links you click.
Conversion reporting: Conversion is the process of taking a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a mere website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us learn more about how our marketing efforts are resonating with you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
Real-time reports: Here we always know immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are reading this text right now.

In addition to the analytics reports mentioned above, 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, buying a product, or signing up for our newsletter.
Advanced analytics features: These features allow us to better understand your behavior on our website or certain general trends. For example, we can segment user groups, carry out comparative analyses of target groups or trace your path or path on our website.
Predictive modeling: Based on collected data, machine learning can be used to extrapolate missing data that predicts future events and trends. This can help us develop better marketing strategies.
Cross-platform analysis: The collection and analysis of data from both websites and apps is possible. This gives us the opportunity to analyze user behavior across platforms, provided that you have of course consented to data processing.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

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

The statistically evaluated data gives 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. We therefore know very well what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also serves us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures more individually and cost-effectively. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

What data does Google Analytics store?

Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID associated with your browser cookie. Google Analytics recognizes you as a new user and a user ID is assigned to you. 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 is the only way to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles.

In order to be able 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 new property created, the Google Analytics 4 property is the default. Depending on the property used, data is stored for different lengths of time.

Through labels such as cookies, app instance IDs, user IDs or user-defined event parameters, your interactions are measured across platforms, if you have consented. Interactions are all kinds of actions that you take on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated via 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 be made 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 afterwards. All IP addresses collected from users in the EU are therefore deleted before the data is stored in a data center or on a server.

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

Name: _ga
Value: 2.1326744211.152112738876-5
Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the cookie _ga to store the user ID. Basically, it serves to distinguish website visitors.
Expiration date: after 2 years

Name: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152112738876-1
Purpose: The cookie is also used to distinguish website visitors
Expiry date: after 24 hours

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

Note: This list cannot claim to be complete, as Google changes the choice of its cookies from time to time. GA4 also aims to improve data protection. Therefore, the tool offers a few ways to control data collection. For example, we can set the storage duration ourselves and also control the data collection.

Here's an overview of the main types of data collected with Google Analytics:

Heat maps: Google creates so-called heat maps. Heatmaps show exactly the areas you click on. This gives us information about where you are on our site.

Session Duration: Session duration is the amount of time you spend on our site without leaving the page. If you have been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.

Bounce rate : A bounce rate is when you only look at one page on our website and then leave our website.

Account creation: When you create an account or place an order on our website, 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 may include your browser type, Internet service provider, or screen resolution.

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

Other data includes contact details, any ratings, playing media (e.g. when you play a video through our site), sharing content via social media or adding it to your favourites. The list is not exhaustive and only serves as a general orientation of data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has distributed their servers all over the world. You can read exactly where Google's data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed on different physical data carriers. This has the advantage that the data can be retrieved more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. Every Google data center has emergency programs for your data. If, for example, Google's hardware fails or natural disasters paralyze servers, the risk of a service interruption at Google remains low.

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

2 months: this is the shortest storage period.
14 months: by default, GA4 stores data for 14 months.
26 months: you can also store the data for 26 months.
Data is not deleted until we delete it manually

In addition, there is also the option that data will only be deleted if 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.

When the specified period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data that is linked to cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs (e.g. cookies of the DoubleClick domain). Report results are based on aggregated data and are stored independently of user data. Aggregated data is a fusion of individual data into a larger unit.

How can I delete my data or prevent data from being stored?

Under European Union data protection law, you have the right to access, update, delete or restrict your data. You can use the Google Analytics JavaScript Opt-Out Browser Add-on (analytics.js, gtag.js) to 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 want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies in general, you will 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 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

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

Google processes your data in the USA, among other places. Google is an active participant in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data of EU citizens to the US. More information can be found on https://commission.europa.eu/document/fa09cbad-dd7d-4684-ae60-be03fcb0fddf_en.

In addition, Google uses so-called standard contractual clauses (= Art. 46 paras. 2 and 3 GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) 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 the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual 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 USA. These clauses are based on an implementing decision of the EU Commission. You can find the decision and the corresponding standard contractual clauses here: https://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 under https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/.

We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information about data processing in Google Analytics. 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 on https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy

Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy Summary
Data subjects: Visitors to the website? Purpose: Organization of the individual tracking tools? Processed data: Google Tag Manager does not store any data itself. The data captures the tags of the web analytics tools used.? Storage period: depending on the web analytics tool
⚖️ used Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is Google Tag Manager?

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

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

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

Why do we use Google Tag Manager for our website?

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

What data does Google Tag Manager store?

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

However, the situation is completely different with the integrated tags of the various web analysis tools, such as Google Analytics. Depending on the analysis tool, various data about your web behaviour is usually collected, stored and processed with the help of cookies. To do this, please read our privacy policy on the individual analysis and tracking tools we use on our website.

In the account settings of the Tag Manager, we have allowed Google to receive anonymized data from us. However, this only applies to the use and enjoyment of our Tag Manager and not to your data, which is stored via the code sections. We enable Google and others to receive selected data in an anonymized form. We therefore agree to the anonymous disclosure of our website data. Despite long research, we were unable to find out exactly which aggregated and anonymous data is forwarded. In any case, Google deletes all information that could identify our website. Google aggregates the data with hundreds of other anonymous website data and creates user trends as part of benchmarking measures. Benchmarking compares one's own results with those of competitors. Processes can be optimized on the basis of the information collected.

How long and where is the data stored?

When Google stores data, this data is stored on Google's own servers. The servers are spread all over the world. Most of them are located in America. Under https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/locations/?hl=de you can read exactly where the Google servers are located.

You can find out how long the individual tracking tools store your data in our individual data protection texts for the individual tools.

How can I delete my data or prevent data from being stored?

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

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

Legal basis

The use of the Google Tag Manager requires your consent, which we have obtained with our cookie popup. According to Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), this consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data as it may occur when collected by web analytics tools.

In addition to consent, we have a legitimate interest in analysing the behaviour of website visitors and thus improving our offer technically and economically. With the help of Google Tag Manager, we can improve our profitability. The legal basis for this is Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR (Legitimate Interests). However, we only use Google Tag Manager if you have given your consent.

The Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which refer to the Standard Contractual Clauses, can be found under https://business.safety.google/intl/de/adsprocessorterms/.

If you want to learn more about Google Tag Manager, we recommend checking out the FAQs at https://support.google.com/tagmanager/?hl=de#topic=3441530.

You can read about the data Google collects and what they use this data for on https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Explanation of terms used

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

Processor

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation:

'processor' means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller;

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

Consent

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation:

'consent' means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes, in the form of a statement or other clear affirmative action, by which the data subject signifies that he or she agrees to the processing of personal data concerning him or her;

Explanation: As a rule, such consent is given via a cookie consent tool for websites. You probably know this. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, you will usually be asked via a banner whether you agree or consent to the data processing. 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 according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation:

'personal data' means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter referred to as 'data subject'); an identifiable natural person is one who, 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, the physiological, genetic, psychological, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

Explanation: Personal data is therefore all data that can identify you as an individual. This is usually data such as:

Name
Address
E-mail address
Postal address
Telephone number
Date of birth
Identification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, ID card number or matriculation number
Bank details such as account number, credit information, account balances and much more.

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

racial and ethnic origin
political opinions
religious or ideological beliefs
trade union membership
genetic data, such as data taken from blood or saliva samples
biometric data (this is information about psychological, physical or behavioral characteristics that can identify a person). Health
Data on sexual orientation or sex life

Profiling

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation:

"profiling" means any type of automated processing of personal data consisting in the use of such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects relating to that natural person's work performance, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements;

Explanation: Profiling is the process of gathering various pieces of information about a person in order to learn more about that person. In the web sector, profiling is often used for advertising purposes or for credit checks. Web or advertising analytics programs, for example, collect data about your behavior and interests on a website. This results in a special user profile with the help of which advertising can be played out specifically to a target group.

Person in charge

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation:

'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 persons may meet the specific criteria for its designation under Union or Member State law. ;

Explanation: In our case, we are responsible for the processing of your personal data and therefore the "controller". If we pass on collected data to other service providers for processing, they are "processors". For this purpose, a "Data Processing Agreement (DPA)" must be signed.

Processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation:

'processing' means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination; the restriction, deletion or destruction;

Note: When we talk about processing in our privacy policy, we mean any kind of data processing. As mentioned above in the original GDPR statement, this includes not only the collection but also the storage and processing of data.

All texts are protected by copyright.

Analyse der Websitenutzung über Matomo

Für die Analyse der Nutzung der Website wird Matomo (www.matomo.org), ein Web Analyse-Tools, eingesetzt. Matomo wird von uns in einer datensparsamen Konfiguration eingesetzt, sodass keine Cookies gesetzt werden gesetzt werden und wir auch keine wiederkehrenden Besucher auf der Webseite identifizieren können.

Betroffen sind insbesondere technische Daten, welche beim Besuch einer Webseite anfallen. Diese Daten werden anonymisiert, sodass es dem Websiteinhaber nicht möglich ist, Rückschlüsse auf einzelne Personen ziehen zu können.

Rechtsgrundlage für die Verarbeitung ist das berechtigte Interesse der Suppliance GmbH gemäß Artikel 6 Abs. 1 lit. f DSGVO. Das berechtigte Interesse besteht im Interesse der Suppliance GmbH eine Analyse der Nutzung der Website unter Zuhilfenahme einer datensparsamen Trackingmethode und anonymisierten Nutzerzahlen durchzuführen.

Die Daten werden von uns gelöscht, sobald sie nicht mehr benötigt werden.

Analyse der Websitenutzung über Matomo

Suppliance GmbH

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