Privacy Policy

1. An overview of data protection

General

The following gives a simple overview of what happens to your personal information when you visit our website. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. Detailed information on the subject of data protection can be found in our privacy policy found below.

Data collection on our website

Who is responsible for the data collection on this website?

The data collected on this website are processed by the website operator. The operator’s contact details can be found in the website’s required legal notice.

How do we collect your data?

Some data are collected when you provide it to us. This could, for example, be data you enter on a contact form.

Other data are collected automatically by our IT systems when you visit the website. These data are primarily technical data such as the browser and operating system you are using or when you accessed the page. These data are collected automatically as soon as you enter our website.

What do we use your data for?

Part of the data is collected to ensure the proper functioning of the website. Other data can be used to analyze how visitors use the site.

What rights do you have regarding your data?

You always have the right to request information about your stored data, its origin, its recipients, and the purpose of its collection at no charge. You also have the right to request that it be corrected, blocked, or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in the legal notice if you have further questions about the issue of privacy and data protection. You may also, of course, file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities.

Analytics and third-party tools

When visiting our website, statistical analyses may be made of your surfing behavior. This happens primarily using cookies and analytics. The analysis of your surfing behavior is usually anonymous, i.e. we will not be able to identify you from this data. You can object to this analysis or prevent it by not using certain tools. Detailed information can be found in the following privacy policy.

You can object to this analysis. We will inform you below about how to exercise your options in this regard.

2. General information and mandatory information

Data protection

The operators of this website take the protection of your personal data very seriously. We treat your personal data as confidential and in accordance with the statutory data protection regulations and this privacy policy.

If you use this website, various pieces of personal data will be collected. Personal information is any data with which you could be personally identified. This privacy policy explains what information we collect and what we use it for. It also explains how and for what purpose this happens.

Please note that data transmitted via the internet (e.g. via email communication) may be subject to security breaches. Complete protection of your data from third-party access is not possible.

Notice concerning the party responsible for this website

The party responsible for processing data on this website is:

The responsible party is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others decides on the purposes and means of processing personal data (names, email addresses, etc.).

Revocation of your consent to the processing of your data

Many data processing operations are only possible with your express consent. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

Right to file complaints with regulatory authorities

If there has been a breach of data protection legislation, the person affected may file a complaint with the competent regulatory authorities. The competent regulatory authority for matters related to data protection legislation is the data protection officer of the German state in which our company is headquartered. A list of data protection officers and their contact details can be found at the following link: https://www.bfdi.bund.de/DE/Infothek/Anschriften_Links/anschriften_links-node.html.

Right to data portability

You have the right to have data which we process based on your consent or in fulfillment of a contract automatically delivered to yourself or to a third party in a standard, machine-readable format. If you require the direct transfer of data to another responsible party, this will only be done to the extent technically feasible.

SSL or TLS encryption

This site uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and for the protection of the transmission of confidential content, such as the inquiries you send to us as the site operator. You can recognize an encrypted connection in your browser’s address line when it changes from “http://” to “https://” and the lock icon is displayed in your browser’s address bar.

If SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data you transfer to us cannot be read by third parties.

Information, blocking, deletion

As permitted by law, you have the right to be provided at any time with information free of charge about any of your personal data that is stored as well as its origin, the recipient and the purpose for which it has been processed. You also have the right to have this data corrected, blocked or deleted. You can contact us at any time using the address given in our legal notice if you have further questions on the topic of personal data.

Opposition to promotional emails

We hereby expressly prohibit the use of contact data published in the context of website legal notice requirements with regard to sending promotional and informational materials not expressly requested. The website operator reserves the right to take specific legal action if unsolicited advertising material, such as email spam, is received.

3. Data collection on our website

Cookies

Some of our web pages use cookies. Cookies do not harm your computer and do not contain any viruses. Cookies help make our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser.

Most of the cookies we use are so-called “session cookies.” They are automatically deleted after your visit. Other cookies remain in your device’s memory until you delete them. These cookies make it possible to recognize your browser when you next visit the site.

You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

Cookies which are necessary to allow electronic communications or to provide certain functions you wish to use (such as the shopping cart) are stored pursuant to Art. 6 paragraph 1, letter f of DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in the storage of cookies to ensure an optimized service provided free of technical errors. If other cookies (such as those used to analyze your surfing behavior) are also stored, they will be treated separately in this privacy policy.

Server log files

The website provider automatically collects and stores information that your browser automatically transmits to us in “server log files”. These are:

• Browser type and browser version
• Operating system used
• Referrer URL
• Host name of the accessing computer
• Time of the server request
• IP address

These data will not be combined with data from other sources.

The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.

Contact form

Should you send us questions via the contact form, we will collect the data entered on the form, including the contact details you provide, to answer your question and any follow-up questions. We do not share this information without your permission.

We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will retain the data you provide on the contact form until you request its deletion, revoke your consent for its storage, or the purpose for its storage no longer pertains (e.g. after fulfilling your request). Any mandatory statutory provisions, especially those regarding mandatory data retention periods, remain unaffected by this provision.

Registration with Facebook Connect

Instead of registering directly on our website, you may also register using Facebook Connect. This service is provided by Facebook Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland.

If you decide to register with Facebook Connect and click on the “Login with Facebook” or “Connect with Facebook” buttons, you will be automatically redirected to the Facebook platform. There you can log in with your Facebook username and password. This will link your Facebook profile to our website or services. This link gives us access to your data stored on Facebook. Including especially your:

• Facebook name
• Facebook profile picture
• Facebook cover picture
• Email address provided to Facebook
• Facebook ID
• Facebook friends
• Facebook Likes
• Birthday
• Gender
• Country
• Language

This data will be used to set up, provide, and personalize your account.

For more information, see Facebook’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. These can be found at https://de-de.facebook.com/about/privacy/ and https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms/.

Leaving comments on this website

If you use the comment function on this site, the time at which you created the comment and your email address will be stored along with your comment, as well as your username, unless you are posting anonymously.

Storage of the IP address

Our comment function stores the IP addresses of those users who post comments. Since we do not check comments on our site before they go live, we need this information to be able to pursue action for illegal or slanderous content.

How long comments are stored

The comments and the associated data (e.g. IP address) are stored and remain on our website until the content commented upon has been completely deleted or the comments are required to be removed for legal reasons (slander, etc.).

Legal basis

The comments are stored based on your consent per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

4. Social media

Facebook plugins (Like & Share buttons)

Our website includes plugins for the social network Facebook, Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA. The Facebook plugins can be recognized by the Facebook logo or the Like button on our site. For an overview of Facebook plugins, see https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/.

When you visit our site, a direct connection between your browser and the Facebook server is established via the plugin. This enables Facebook to receive information that you have visited our site from your IP address. If you click on the Facebook “Like button” while you are logged into your Facebook account, you can link the content of our site to your Facebook profile. This allows Facebook to associate visits to our site with your user account. Please note that, as the operator of this site, we have no knowledge of the content of the data transmitted to Facebook or of how Facebook uses these data. For more information, please see Facebook’s privacy policy at https://de-de.facebook.com/policy.php.

If you do not want Facebook to associate your visit to our site with your Facebook account, please log out of your Facebook account.

Twitter plugin

Functions of the Twitter service have been integrated into our website and app. These features are offered by Twitter Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. When you use Twitter and the “Retweet” function, the websites you visit are connected to your Twitter account and made known to other users. In doing so, data will also be transferred to Twitter. We would like to point out that, as the provider of these pages, we have no knowledge of the content of the data transmitted or how it will be used by Twitter. For more information on Twitter’s privacy policy, please go to https://twitter.com/privacy.

Your privacy preferences with Twitter can be modified in your account settings at https://twitter.com/account/settings.

Google+ plugin

Our pages use Google+ functions. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Collection and disclosure of information: Using the Google +1 button allows you to publish information worldwide. By means of the Google+ button, you and other users can receive custom content from Google and our partners. Google stores both the fact that you have +1’d a piece of content and information about the page you were viewing when you clicked +1. Your +1 can be displayed together with your profile name and photo in Google services, for example in search results or in your Google profile, or in other places on websites and advertisements on the Internet.

Google records information about your +1 activities to improve Google services for you and others. To use the Google + button, you need a globally visible, public Google profile that must contain at least the name chosen for the profile. This name is used by all Google services. In some cases, this name may also replace a different name that you have used to share content via your Google account. The identity of your Google profile can be shown to users who know your email address or other information that can identify you.

Use of collected data: In addition to the uses mentioned above, the information you provide is used in accordance with the applicable Google data protection policies. Google may publish summary statistics about users’ +1 activity or share it with users and partners, such as publishers, advertisers, or affiliate websites.

Instagram plugin

Our website contains functions of the Instagram service. These functions are offered by Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA.

If you are logged into your Instagram account, you can click the Instagram button to link the content of our pages with your Instagram profile. This means that Instagram can associate visits to our pages with your user account. As the provider of this website, we expressly point out that we receive no information on the content of the transmitted data or its use by Instagram.

For more information, see the Instagram Privacy Policy: https://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/.

Tumblr plugin

Our pages use the buttons of the Tumblr service. It is operated by Tumblr, Inc., 35 East 21st St., 10th Floor, New York, NY 10010, USA.

These functions allow you to share a post or a page on Tumblr or to follow the provider on Tumblr. When you visit one of our websites using the Tumblr button, the browser establishes a direct connection to the Tumblr servers. We have no influence on the amount of data that Tumblr gathers and transmits with the plugin. Based on our current knowledge, we believe that the user’s IP address and the URL of the respective website are transmitted.

Further information can be found in Tumblr’s privacy policy at https://www.tumblr.com/policy/de/privacy.

LinkedIn plugin

Our site uses functions from the LinkedIn network. The service is provided by LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Each time one of our pages containing LinkedIn features is accessed, your browser establishes a direct connection to the LinkedIn servers. LinkedIn is informed that you have visited our web pages from your IP address. If you use the LinkedIn “Recommend” button and are logged into your LinkedIn account, it is possible for LinkedIn to associate your visit to our website to your user account. We would like to point out that, as the provider of these pages, we have no knowledge of the content of the data transmitted or how it will be used by LinkedIn.

More information can be found in the LinkedIn privacy policy at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.

XING Plugin

Our website uses features provided by the XING network. The provider is XING AG, Dammtorstraße 29-32, 20354 Hamburg, Germany.

Each time one of our pages containing XING features is accessed, your browser establishes a direct connection to the XING servers. To the best of our knowledge, no personal data is stored in the process. In particular, no IP addresses are stored nor is usage behavior evaluated.

For more information about data protection and the XING Share button, please see the XING privacy policy at https://www.xing.com/app/share?op=data_protection.

Pinterest plugin

Our website contains functions of the Pinterest social network, operated by Pinterest Inc., 635 High Street, Palo Alto, CA, 94301, USA.

When you visit a page containing the Pinterest social plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to the Pinterest servers. The plugin transmits this log data to Pinterest servers in the United States. This log data may include your IP address, the address of the websites visited, which also includes Pinterest features, browser type and settings, the date and time of the request, how you use Pinterest, and cookies.

More information about the purpose, scope and further processing and use of data by Pinterest, as well as your rights and options to protect your privacy, can be found in the privacy notices of Pinterest: https://about.pinterest.com/de/privacy-policy.

5. Analytics and advertising

WordPress Stats

This website uses the WordPress Stats tool to perform statistical analyses of visitor traffic. This service is provided by Automattic Inc., 60 29th Street # 343, San Francisco, CA 94110-4929, USA.

WordPress Stats uses cookies that are stored on your computer and allow an analysis of the use of the website. The information generated by the cookies about the use of our website is stored on servers in the USA. Your IP address will be anonymized after processing and before storage.

WordPress Stats cookies remain on your device until you delete them.

The storage of “WordPress Stats” cookies is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising.

You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. The functionality of our services may be limited when cookies are disabled.

You can object to the collection and use of your data at any time with future effect by clicking on this link and setting an opt-out cookie in your browser: https://www.quantcast.com/opt-out/.

If you delete the cookies on your computer, you will have to set the opt-out cookie again.

Google AdSense

This website uses Google AdSense, a service for including advertisements from Google Inc. (“Google”). It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Google AdSense uses so-called “cookies”, which are text files stored in your computer that enable an analysis of the way you use the website. Google AdSense also uses so-called web beacons (invisible graphics). Through these web beacons, information such as the visitor traffic on these pages can be evaluated.

The information generated by cookies and web beacons relating to your use of this website (including your IP address), and delivery of advertising formats, is transmitted to a Google server in the US and stored there. This information can be passed on from Google to contracting parties of Google. However, Google will not merge your IP address with other data you have stored.

AdSense cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising.

You can prevent the installation of cookies by setting your browser software accordingly. Please be aware that in this case, you may not be able to make full use of all the features of this website. By using this website, you agree to the processing of data relating to you and collected by Google as described and for the purposes set out above.

Google AdWords and Google Conversion Tracking

This website uses Google AdWords. AdWords is an online advertising program from Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States (“Google”).

As part of Google AdWords, we use so-called conversion tracking. When you click on an ad served by Google, a conversion tracking cookie is set. Cookies are small text files that your internet browser stores on your computer. These cookies expire after 30 days and are not used for personal identification of the user. Should the user visit certain pages of the website and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and the website can tell that the user clicked on the ad and proceeded to that page.

Each Google AdWords advertiser has a different cookie. Thus, cookies cannot be tracked using the website of an AdWords advertiser. The information obtained using the conversion cookie is used to create conversion statistics for the AdWords advertisers who have opted for conversion tracking. Customers are told the total number of users who clicked on their ad and were redirected to a conversion tracking tag page. However, advertisers do not obtain any information that can be used to personally identify users. If you do not want to participate in tracking, you can opt-out of this by easily disabling the Google Conversion Tracking cookie by changing your browser settings. In doing so, you will not be included in the conversion tracking statistics.

Conversion cookies are stored based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing user behavior to optimize both its website and its advertising.

For more information about Google AdWords and Google Conversion Tracking, see the Google Privacy Policy: https://www.google.de/policies/privacy/.

You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie. Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

Google reCAPTCHA

We use “Google reCAPTCHA” (hereinafter “reCAPTCHA”) on our websites. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”).

reCAPTCHA is used to check whether the data entered on our website (such as on a contact form) has been entered by a human or by an automated program. To do this, reCAPTCHA analyzes the behavior of the website visitor based on various characteristics. This analysis starts automatically as soon as the website visitor enters the website. For the analysis, reCAPTCHA evaluates various information (e.g. IP address, how long the visitor has been on the website, or mouse movements made by the user). The data collected during the analysis will be forwarded to Google.

The reCAPTCHA analyses take place completely in the background. Website visitors are not advised that such an analysis is taking place.

Data processing is based on Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in protecting its site from abusive automated crawling and spam.

For more information about Google reCAPTCHA and Google’s privacy policy, please visit the following links: https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/ and https://www.google.com/recaptcha/intro/android.html.

6. Plugins and tools

YouTube

Our website uses plugins from YouTube, which is operated by Google. The operator of the pages is YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a YouTube plugin, a connection to the YouTube servers is established. Here the YouTube server is informed about which of our pages you have visited.

If you’re logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your YouTube account.

YouTube is used to help make our website appealing. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

Further information about handling user data, can be found in the data protection declaration of YouTube under https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy.

Vimeo

Our website uses features provided by the Vimeo video portal. This service is provided by Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA.

If you visit one of our pages featuring a Vimeo plugin, a connection to the Vimeo servers is established. Here the Vimeo server is informed about which of our pages you have visited. In addition, Vimeo will receive your IP address. This also applies if you are not logged in to Vimeo when you visit our website or do not have a Vimeo account. The information is transmitted to a Vimeo server in the US, where it is stored.

If you are logged in to your Vimeo account, Vimeo allows you to associate your browsing behavior directly with your personal profile. You can prevent this by logging out of your Vimeo account.

For more information on how to handle user data, please refer to the Vimeo Privacy Policy at https://vimeo.com/privacy.

Google Web Fonts

For uniform representation of fonts, this page uses web fonts provided by Google. When you open a page, your browser loads the required web fonts into your browser cache to display texts and fonts correctly.

For this purpose your browser has to establish a direct connection to Google servers. Google thus becomes aware that our web page was accessed via your IP address. The use of Google Web fonts is done in the interest of a uniform and attractive presentation of our website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

If your browser does not support web fonts, a standard font is used by your computer.

Further information about handling user data, can be found at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and in Google’s privacy policy at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

Google Maps

This site uses the Google Maps map service via an API. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

To use Google Maps, it is necessary to save your IP address. This information is generally transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there. The provider of this site has no influence on this data transfer.

The use of Google Maps is in the interest of making our website appealing and to facilitate the location of places specified by us on the website. This constitutes a justified interest pursuant to Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO.

Further information about handling user data, can be found in the data protection declaration of Google at https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

SoundCloud

On our pages, plugins of the SoundCloud social network (SoundCloud Limited, Berners House, 47-48 Berners Street, London W1T 3NF, UK) may be integrated. The SoundCloud plugins can be recognized by the SoundCloud logo on our site.

When you visit our site, a direct connection between your browser and the SoundCloud server is established via the plugin. This enables SoundCloud to receive information that you have visited our site from your IP address. If you click on the “Like” or “Share” buttons while you are logged into your SoundCloud account, you can link the content of our pages to your SoundCloud profile. This means that SoundCloud can associate visits to our pages with your user account. We would like to point out that, as the provider of these pages, we have no knowledge of the content of the data transmitted or how it will be used by SoundCloud. For more information on SoundCloud’s privacy policy, please go to https://soundcloud.com/pages/privacy.

If you do not want SoundCloud to associate your visit to our site with your SoundCloud account, please log out of your SoundCloud account.

Spotify

Features of the Spotify music service are included on our pages. This service is provided by Spotify AB, Birger Jarlsgatan 61, 113 56 Stockholm, Sweden. The Spotify plugins can be recognized by the green logo on our site. For an overview of the Spotify Plugins, see https://developer.spotify.com.

Thus, when you visit our pages about the plugin a direct connection can be established between your browser and the Spotify server. This enables Spotify to receive information that you have visited our site from your IP address. If you click the Spotify button while you are logged into your Spotify account, you can link the content of our pages to your Spotify profile. This means that Spotify can associate visits to our pages with your user account.

More information can be found in the Spotify privacy policy at https://www.spotify.com/de/legal/privacy-policy/.

If you do not want Spotify to associate your visit to our site with your Spotify account, please log out of your Spotify account.

7. Online marketing and affiliate programs

Amazon affiliate program

The site operators participating in the Amazon EU partner program. Our pages contain advertisements and links to the sites run by amazon.de through which we can earn referral fees. Amazon uses cookies to trace the origin of the orders. As a result, Amazon can detect that you clicked the affiliate link on our website.

The storage of Amazon cookies is based on Art. 6 (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in this service since it only receives credit for referral fees if these cookies are set.

To obtain more information about how Amazon uses your data, see the Amazon privacy policy at https://www.amazon.de/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=footer_privacy?ie=UTF8&nodeId=3312401.