Privacy policy

Introduction

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

The terms used are not gender-specific.

Status: 5 October 2019

Content overview

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Person responsible

Overview of processing operations

The overview below summarises the types of data processed and the purposes of their processing and refers to the data subjects.

Types of data processed

  • Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses).
  • Content data (e.g. text inputs, photographs, videos).
  • Contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers).
  • Meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • Use data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times).
  • Contract data (e.g. subject of contract, term, customer category).
  • Payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history).

Categories of data subjects

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  • Business and contractual partners.
  • Interested parties.
  • Customers.
  • Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).

Purposes of the processing

  • Affiliate tracking.
  • Provision of our online service and user experience.
  • Office and organisational procedures.
  • Content Delivery Network (CDN).
  • Contact requests and communication.
  • Contractual performance and service.
  • Management and response to requests.

Relevant legal bases

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Below we share the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on the basis of which we process personal data. Please note that in addition to the provisions of the GDPR, the national data protection provisions in your or our country of residence and domicile may apply.

  • Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a DSGVO) – The data subject has given consent to the processing of personal data relating to him or her for a specific purpose or purposes

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  • Contractual performance and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6(1) p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO) – Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or for the implementation of pre-contractual measures taken at the data subject’s request.
  • Legal obligation (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. c. DSGVO) – Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.
  • Rightful interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO) – Processing is necessary for the purposes of protecting the legitimate interests of the controller or of a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data.

Security measures

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We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of protection appropriate to the risk, in accordance with the law, taking into account the state of the art, the cost of implementation and the nature, scope, circumstances and purposes of the processing, as well as the different probabilities of occurrence and the level of risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons.

The measures include, in particular, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data by controlling physical and electronic access to the data as well as access to, input of, disclosure of, assurance of availability of and segregation of the data. We also have procedures in place to ensure the exercise of data subjects’ rights, the deletion of data and responses to data compromise. Furthermore, we take into account the protection of personal data already during the development or selection of hardware, software as well as procedures in accordance with the principle of data protection, through technology design and through data protection-friendly default settings.

Shortening of the IP address: If it is possible for us or if it is not necessary to store the IP address, we will shorten your IP address or have it shortened. In the case of IP address shortening, also known as “IP masking”, the last octet, i.e. the last two numbers of an IP address, are deleted (in this context, the IP address is an identifier individually assigned to an Internet connection by the online access provider). The shortening of the IP address is intended to prevent or make it significantly more difficult to identify a person by their IP address.

SSL encryption (https): In order to protect your data transmitted via our online offer, we use SSL encryption. You can recognise such encrypted connections by the prefix https:// in the address line of your browser.

Data processing in third countries

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

Subject to explicit consent or contractually or legally required transfer, we only process or allow the data to be processed in third countries with a recognised level of data protection, which includes US processors certified under the “Privacy Shield”, or on the basis of special guarantees, such as e.g. contractual obligation through so-called standard protection clauses of the EU Commission, the existence of certifications or binding internal data protection regulations (Art. 44 to 49 DSGVO, information page of the EU Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection_de ).

Use of cookies

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Cookies are text files that contain data from websites or domains visited and are stored by a browser on the user’s computer. The primary purpose of a cookie is to store information about a user during or after their visit within an online service. Stored information may include, for example, language settings on a website, login status, a shopping cart or where a video was watched. We also include in the term cookies other technologies that perform the same functions as cookies (e.g. where user details are stored using pseudonymous online identifiers, also known as “user IDs”).

The following cookie types and functions are distinguished:

  • Temporary cookies (also: session cookies): Temporary cookies are deleted at the latest after a user has left an online offer and closed his browser.
  • Permanent cookies: Permanent cookies remain stored even after the browser is closed. For example, the login status can be saved or preferred content can be displayed directly when the user visits a website again. Likewise, the interests of users used for range measurement or marketing purposes can be stored in such a cookie.

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  • First-party cookies: First-party cookies are set by ourselves.
  • Third-party cookies (also: third-party cookies): Third-party cookies are mainly used by advertisers (so-called third parties) to process user information.
  • Necessary (also: essential or absolutely necessary) cookies: Cookies may, on the one hand, be absolutely necessary for the operation of a website (e.g. in order to store logins or other user input or for security reasons)

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  • Statistics, marketing and personalisation cookies: Furthermore, cookies are usually also used in the context of range measurement and when a user’s interests or behaviour (e.g. viewing certain content, using functions, etc.) on individual websites are stored in a user profile. Such profiles are used, for example, to show users content that matches their potential interests. This procedure is also referred to as “tracking”, i.e. following the potential interests of users. . Insofar as we use cookies or “tracking” technologies, we will inform you separately in our data protection declaration or in the context of obtaining consent.

Notes on legal bases: The legal basis on which we process your personal data using cookies depends on whether we ask you for consent. If this is the case and you consent to the use of cookies, the legal basis for processing your data is your declared consent. Otherwise, the data processed with the help of cookies is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. in the business operation of our online offer and its improvement) or, if the use of cookies is necessary to fulfil our contractual obligations.

General information on revocation and objection (opt-out): Depending on whether the processing is based on consent or legal permission, you have the option at any time to revoke any consent given or to object to the processing of your data by cookie technologies (collectively referred to as “opt-out”). You can initially declare your objection by means of your browser settings, e.g. by deactivating the use of cookies (whereby this may also restrict the functionality of our online offer). An objection to the use of cookies for online marketing purposes can also be declared by means of a variety of services, especially in the case of tracking, via the websites http://optout.aboutads.info and http://www.youronlinechoices.com/. In addition, you can obtain further instructions on how to object as part of the information on the service providers and cookies used.

Processing of cookie data on the basis of consent: Before we process data in the context of the use of cookies or have them processed, we ask users for consent that can be revoked at any time. Before consent has been given, cookies are only used if they are necessary for the operation of our online offer. Their use is based on our interest and the interest of the users in the expected functionality of our online offer.

  • Types of data processed: Usage data (e.g. web pages visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses)

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  • People concerned: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. a DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Commercial and business services

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We process data of our contractual and business partners, e.g. customers and interested parties (collectively referred to as “contractual partners”) in the context of contractual and comparable legal relationships as well as related measures and in the context of communication with contractual partners (or pre-contractual), e.g. to answer enquiries.

We process this data to fulfil our contractual obligations, to secure our rights and for the purposes of the administrative tasks associated with this information as well as for business organisation. We only disclose the data of the contractual partners to third parties within the scope of the applicable law to the extent that this is necessary for the aforementioned purposes or for the fulfilment of legal obligations or with the consent of the contractual partners (e.g. to participating telecommunications, transport and other auxiliary services as well as subcontractors, banks, tax and legal advisors, payment service providers or tax authorities). The contractual partners will be informed about further forms of processing, e.g. for marketing purposes, within the framework of this data protection declaration.

We inform the contractual partners which data is required for the aforementioned purposes before or in the course of data collection, e.g. in online forms, by means of special labelling (e.g. colours) or symbols (e.g. asterisks or similar), or in person.

We delete the data after the expiry of legal warranty and comparable obligations, i.e. generally after 4 years, unless the data is stored in a customer account, e.g. as long as it must be kept for legal archiving reasons (e.g. for tax purposes generally 10 years). We delete data disclosed to us by the contractual partner within the scope of an order in accordance with the specifications of the order, generally after the end of the order.

Insofar as we use third-party providers or platforms to provide our services, the terms and conditions and data protection notices of the respective third-party providers or platforms apply in the relationship between the users and the providers.

Agency services: We process our clients’ data within the scope of our contractual services, which may include, for example, conceptual and strategic consulting, campaign planning, software and design development/consulting or maintenance, implementation of campaigns and processes, handling, server administration, data analysis/consulting services and training services.

  • Types of data processed: Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), contract data (e.g. subject matter of contract, term, customer category).
  • People concerned: Interested parties, business and contractual partners.
  • Purposes of processing: Contractual performance and service, contact requests and communication, office and organisational procedures, administration and response to requests.

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  • Legal basis: Contractual performance and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legal obligation (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. c. DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Payment service provider

In the context of contractual and other legal relationships, due to legal obligations or otherwise on the basis of our legitimate interests, we offer efficient and secure payment options to data subjects and use other payment service providers in addition to banks and credit institutions for this purpose (collectively “payment service providers”).

The data processed by the payment service providers includes inventory data, such as the name and address, bank data, such as account numbers or credit card numbers, passwords, TANs and checksums, as well as the contract, total and recipient-related details. The information is required to carry out the transactions. However, the data entered is only processed by the payment service providers and stored with them. I.e. we do not receive any account or credit card related information, but only information with confirmation or negative information of the payment. Under certain circumstances, the data may be transmitted by the payment service providers to credit agencies. The purpose of this transmission is to check identity and creditworthiness. Please refer to the terms and conditions and data protection information of the payment service providers.

The terms and conditions and data protection information of the respective payment service providers apply to the payment transactions and can be accessed within the respective websites or transaction applications. We also refer to these for further information and the assertion of revocation, information and other data subject rights.

  • Types of data processed: Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history), contract data (e.g. subject matter of contract, term, customer category), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • People concerned: customers, interested parties.
  • Purposes of processing: Contractual performance and service, contact requests and communication, affiliate follow-up.
  • Legal basis: Contractual performance and pre-contractual enquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. b. DSGVO), Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

Provision of the online offer and web hosting

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In order to provide our Online Offer securely and efficiently, we use the services of one or more web hosting providers from whose servers (or servers managed by them) the Online Offer can be accessed. For these purposes, we may use infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space and database services as well as security services and technical maintenance services.

The data processed in the course of providing the hosting service may include all information relating to the users of our online service that is generated in the course of use and communication. This regularly includes the IP address, which is necessary to be able to deliver the contents of online offers to browsers, and all entries made within our online offer or from websites.

E-mail sending and hosting: The web hosting services we use also include the sending, receiving and storage of e-mails. For these purposes, the addresses of the recipients and senders as well as further information regarding the e-mail dispatch (e.g. the providers involved) and the contents of the respective e-mails are processed. The aforementioned data may also be processed for the purpose of recognising SPAM. Please note that e-mails on the Internet are generally not sent in encrypted form. As a rule, e-mails are encrypted in transit, but (unless a so-called end-to-end encryption procedure is used) not on the servers from which they are sent and received. We can therefore not assume any responsibility for the transmission path of the e-mails between the sender and the reception on our server.

Collection of access data and log files: We ourselves (or our web hosting provider) collect data on every access to the server (so-called server log files). The server log files may include the address and name of the web pages and files accessed, the date and time of access, the amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user’s operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page) and, as a rule, IP addresses and the requesting provider.

The server log files may be used for security purposes, e.g. to avoid overloading the servers (especially in the event of abusive attacks, so-called DDoS attacks) and to ensure the utilisation of the servers and their stability.

Content Delivery Network: We use a “Content Delivery Network” (CDN). A CDN is a service with the help of which the content of an online offer, especially large media files such as graphics or programme scripts, can be delivered faster and more securely with the help of regionally distributed servers connected via the Internet.

  • Types of data processed: Content data (e.g. text input, photographs, videos), usage data (e.g. web pages visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • People concerned: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: Content Delivery Network (CDN).
  • Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Plugins and embedded functions and content

We embed functional and content elements in our online offer that are obtained from the servers of their respective providers (hereinafter referred to as “third-party providers”). These can be, for example, graphics, videos or social media buttons and posts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “content”).

The integration always requires that the third-party providers of this content process the IP address of the user, as without the IP address they could not send the content to their browser. The IP address is thus required for the presentation of these contents or functions. We endeavour to only use content whose respective providers only use the IP address to deliver the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as “web beacons”) for statistical or marketing purposes. The “pixel tags” can be used to analyse information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user’s device and may contain, among other things, technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of our online offer as well as be linked to such information from other sources.

Notes on legal bases: Insofar as we ask users for their consent to the use of third-party providers, the legal basis for the processing of data is consent. Otherwise, users’ data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in efficient, economic and recipient-friendly services). In this context, we would also like to refer you to the information on the use of cookies in this privacy policy.

  • Types of data processed: Usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
  • People concerned: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
  • Purposes of processing: Provision of our online offer and user experience, contractual performance and service.
  • Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 p. 1 lit. f. DSGVO).

Services used and service providers:

Deletion of data

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The data we process will be deleted in accordance with the law as soon as their consents permitted for processing are revoked or other permissions cease to apply (e.g. if the purpose for processing this data has ceased to apply or it is not necessary for the purpose).

If the data are not deleted because they are required for other and legally permissible purposes, their processing will be limited to these purposes. I.e. the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be retained for reasons of commercial or tax law or whose storage is necessary for the assertion, exercise or defence of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person.

Further information on the deletion of personal data can also be found in the individual data protection notices of this privacy policy.

Modifying and updating the Privacy Notice

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We encourage you to periodically review the content of our Privacy Policy. We adapt the privacy statement as soon as the changes in the data processing carried out by us make this necessary. We will inform you as soon as the changes require an act of cooperation on your part (e.g. consent) or other individual notification.

Where we provide addresses and contact details of companies and organisations in this privacy statement, please note that the addresses may change over time and please check the details before contacting us.

Rights of data subjects

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As a data subject, you are entitled to various rights under the GDPR, in particular under Articles 15 to 18 and 21 of the GDPR:

  • Right of objection: you have the right to object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to the processing of personal data concerning you which is carried out on the basis of Article 6(1)(e) or (f) of the DSGVO; this also applies to profiling based on these provisions. If the personal data concerning you are processed for the purpose of direct marketing, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you for the purpose of such marketing; this also applies to profiling insofar as it is related to such direct marketing.

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  • Right to withdraw consent: You have the right to withdraw consent given at any time.
  • Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation as to whether data in question is being processed and to information about this data, as well as further information and a copy of the data in accordance with the legal requirements.
  • Right to rectification: You have the right, in accordance with the law, to request that data concerning you be completed or that inaccurate data concerning you be rectified.
  • Right to erasure and restriction of processing: You have the right, in accordance with the law, to request that data concerning you be erased without delay, or alternatively, in accordance with the law, to request restriction of the processing of the data.
  • Right to data portability: You have the right to receive data concerning you, which you have provided to us, in a structured, common and machine-readable format in accordance with the legal requirements, or to demand that it be transferred to another responsible party.
  • Complaint to supervisory authority: You also have the right, in accordance with the law, to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or place of the alleged infringement, if you consider that the processing of personal data concerning you infringes the GDPR.

Definitions of terms

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This section provides you with an overview of the terms used in this privacy notice. Many of the terms are taken from the law and defined primarily in Art. 4 GDPR. The legal definitions are binding. The following explanations, on the other hand, are primarily intended to help you understand them. The terms are sorted alphabetically.

  • Affiliate tracking: In the context of affiliate tracking, links with the help of which the linking websites refer users to websites with product or other offers are logged. The operators of the respective linking websites can receive a commission if users follow these so-called affiliate links and subsequently take advantage of the offers (e.g. buy goods or use services). For this purpose, it is necessary for the providers to be able to track whether users who are interested in certain offers subsequently take advantage of them at the instigation of the affiliate links. It is therefore necessary for the functionality of affiliate links that they are supplemented by certain values that become part of the link or are stored elsewhere, e.g. in a cookie. The values include, in particular, the source website (referrer), the time, an online identifier of the operator of the website on which the affiliate link was located, an online identifier of the respective offer, an online identifier of the user as well as tracking-specific values, such as, for example, advertising media ID, partner ID and categorisations.
  • Content Delivery Network (CDN): A “Content Delivery Network” (CDN) is a service with the help of which content of an online offer, in particular large media files, such as graphics or programme scripts can be delivered faster and more securely with the help of regionally distributed servers connected via the Internet.
  • Personal data: “Personal data” means 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 (e.g. a cookie) or an e-mail address. (e.g. cookie) or to one or more particular characteristics that are an expression of that natural person’s physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity.
  • Controller: A “controller” is 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.
  • Processing: “Processing” means any operation or set of operations which is performed upon personal data, whether or not by automatic means. The term is broad and covers virtually any handling of data, be it collection, analysis, storage, transmission or erasure.