Privacy policy
Scope
This data protection declaration informs users about the type, scope and purpose of the collection and use of personal data by the responsible provider.
- Cosphatec GmbH
Hopfenmarkt 33
20457 Hamburg
- Represented by the managing director: Frank Brauns
- Phone +49 40 3501669-0
Fax +49 40 3501669-10
- E-mail: info@cosphatec.com
Contact details of the data protection officer
- Mauß Data Protection GmbH
New Wall 10
20354 Hamburg
- Email: datenschutz@datenschutzbeauftragter-hamburg.de
Phone: 040 / 999 99 52-0
The legal basis for data protection can be found in BDSG (Federal Data Protection Act), BDSG n.F. (Federal Data Protection Act new version), DS-GVO (Basic Data Protection Regulation), and TMG (Telemedia Act). Data collection is carried out within the framework of Article 6 Paragraph 1 DS-GVO.
Data protection
We have drawn up this data protection declaration in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the basic data protection regulation (EU) 2016/679, what information we collect, how we use data and what decision-making options you have as a visitor to this website. Unfortunately, it is in the nature of things that these explanations sound very technical, but we have tried to describe the most important things as simply and clearly as possible.
Cookies
Our website uses HTTP cookies to store user-specific data.
In the following we explain what cookies are and why they are used so that you can better understand the following privacy policy.
What exactly are cookies?
Whenever you surf the Internet, you are using a browser. Some popular browsers include Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text files in your browser. These files are called cookies.
One of them cannot be dismissed: Cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. More precisely, they are HTTP cookies, as there are other cookies for other applications. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically stored in the cookie folder, quasi the “brain” of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. When defining a cookie, one or more attributes must also be specified.
Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you visit our site again, your browser transmits the “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to the cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you your accustomed standard settings. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.
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 sites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie is unique because 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 “pests”. Cookies also cannot access information on your PC.
For example, cookie data may look like this:
- – Name: _ga
– Expiry period: 2 years
– Usage: Differentiation of website visitors
– Example value: GA1.2.1326744211.152311161171
A browser should support the following minimum sizes:
- – A cookie should be able to contain at least 4096 bytes
– At least 50 cookies should be able to be stored per domain
– A total of at least 3000 cookies should be able to be stored
What types of cookies are there?
The question 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.
You can distinguish between 4 types of cookies:
Essential cookies: These cookies are necessary to ensure basic website functions. For example, these cookies are needed when a user adds a product to the shopping cart, then continues surfing on other pages and only goes to checkout later. These cookies do not delete the shopping cart, even if the user closes his browser window.
Functional Cookies : These cookies collect information about the user behaviour and whether the user gets any error messages. In addition, these cookies also measure the loading time and the behaviour of the website with different browsers.
Target-oriented cookies : These cookies ensure a better user experience. For example, entered locations, font sizes or form data are stored.
Advertising cookies : These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to deliver customized advertising to the user. This can be very practical, but also very annoying.
Usually, the first time you visit a website, you will be asked which of these types of cookie you want to allow. And of course this decision is also stored in a cookie.
How can I delete cookies?
How and if you want to use cookies is up to you. Regardless of the service or website from which the cookies originate, you always have the option to delete cookies, to allow them only partially or to deactivate them. For example, you can block third-party cookies, but allow all other cookies. If you want to find out which cookies are stored in your browser, if you want to change or delete cookie settings, you can find this in your browser settings.
If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not. The procedure varies depending on the browser. The best thing to do is to look for the instructions in Google using the search term “Delete Chrome cookies” or “Disable Chrome cookies” in the case of a Chrome browser, or replace the word “Chrome” with the name of your browser, e.g. Edge, Firefox, Safari.
What about my privacy?
The so-called “cookie guidelines” have been in place since 2009. This states that the storage of cookies requires the consent of the website visitor. Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these guidelines. In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, the implementation of this directive was largely carried out in § 15 para.3 of the Telemediengesetz (TMG).
If you want to know more about cookies and are not afraid of technical documentation, we recommend https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265, the Request for Comments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) called “HTTP State Management Mechanism”.
Storage of personal data
Personal information that is submitted to us electronically on this website, such as name, e-mail address, postal address or other personal information in the context of submitting a form or comments on the blog, together with the time and IP address, will only be used by us for the purpose stated in each case, will be stored securely and will not be disclosed to third parties.
Thus, we use personal data only for communication with those visitors who expressly request contact and for the processing of the services and products offered on this website. We do not pass on personal data without consent, but we cannot exclude the possibility that this data may be viewed in the event of unlawful behaviour.
If you send us personal data by e-mail – thus off this website – we cannot guarantee secure transmission and the protection of your data. We recommend that you never send confidential data by e-mail without encryption.
According to article 6 paragraph 1 a DSGVO (legality of processing), the legal basis is that you give us your consent to process the data you have entered. You can revoke this consent at any time – an informal e-mail is sufficient; you will find our contact details in the imprint.
Rights under the basic data protection regulation
In accordance with the provisions of the DSGVO, you are basically entitled to the following rights:
- – Right of rectification (Article 16 DSGVO)
– Right of cancellation (“right to be forgotten”) (Article 17 DPA)
– Right to restrict processing (Article 18 DSGVO)
– Right of notification – Obligation to notify in connection with the correction or deletion of personal data or the restriction of processing (Article 19 DPA)
– Right to data transferability (Article 20 DSGVO)
– Right of objection (Article 21 DSGVO)
– right not to be subject to a processing operation based solely on automated processing, including profiling
to be subject to a decision (Article 22 DSGVO)
If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or your data protection rights have otherwise been violated in any way, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI).
Evaluation of visitor behaviour
In the following data protection declaration we inform you whether and how we evaluate data of your visit to this website. The evaluation of the collected data is usually anonymous and we cannot deduce your identity from your behaviour on this website.
You can find out more about how to object to this evaluation of visit data in the following data protection declaration.
TLS encryption with https
We use https to transmit data tap-proof on the Internet (data protection through technology design article 25 paragraph 1 DSGVO). By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data. You can recognize the use of this data transmission security by the small lock symbol in the upper left corner of your browser and the use of the https scheme (instead of http) as part of our Internet address.
Google Maps Privacy Policy
On our website we use Google Maps from the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). With Google Maps we can visually improve the presentation of locations and thus improve our service. By using Google Maps, data is transferred to Google and stored on Google’s servers. Here we will go into more detail about what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored and how you can stop it.
What is Google Maps?
Google Maps is an online map service provided by Google Inc. With Google Maps, you can search the Internet for exact locations of cities, places of interest, accommodations or businesses using a PC or an app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, additional information about the company is displayed next to the location. To display directions, map sections of a location can be embedded into a website using HTML code. Google Maps displays the surface of the earth as a road map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to the Street View images and the high quality satellite images, very accurate representations are possible.
Why do we use Google Maps on our website?
All our efforts on this site are aimed at providing you with a useful and meaningful time on our site. By integrating Google Maps, we can provide you with the most important information about various locations. Thanks to Google Maps you can see at a glance where we have our headquarters. The route description always shows you the best or fastest way to reach us. You can call up the directions for routes by car, public transport, on foot or by bicycle. For us the provision of Google Maps is part of our customer service.
What data is stored by Google Maps?
In order for Google Maps to provide its full service, the company must collect and store information about you. This includes the search terms you enter, your IP address and latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the start address entered will also be saved. However, this data storage happens on the websites of Google Maps. We can only inform you about it, but we cannot influence it. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google sets at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behaviour. Google uses this data primarily to optimise its own services and to provide individual, personalised advertising for you.
- The following cookie is set in your browser due to the integration of Google Maps:
– Name: NID
– Expiry time: after 6 months
– use: NID is used by Google to match ads to your Google search. Google uses the cookie to “remember” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. So you always get customized ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect user preferences for advertising purposes.
– Example value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ311161171
Note: We cannot guarantee the completeness of the data stored. Especially when using cookies, changes in Google can never be ruled out. In order to identify the cookie NID, a separate test page was created where only Google Maps was integrated.
How long and where is the data stored?
The Google servers are located in data centers around the world. However, most servers are located in America. For this reason, your data is also increasingly stored in the USA. Here you can find out exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de
Google distributes the data on different data carriers. This means that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against any attempts at manipulation. Each data center also has special emergency programs. If, for example, there are problems with Google hardware or a natural disaster affects the servers, the data is still very likely to remain protected.
Some data is stored by Google for a set period of time. For other data, Google only offers the option to delete it manually. The company also anonymizes information (such as advertising data) in server logs by deleting part of the IP address and cookie information after 9 and 18 months, respectively.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
With the automatic deletion of location and activity data introduced in 2019, location and web/app activity information is stored for either 3 or 18 months, depending on your decision, and then deleted. You can also manually delete this data from your history at any time using your Google Account. If you want to completely stop your location tracking, you’ll need to pause the Web and App activity section of your Google Account. Click ‘Data and personalization’ and then click the ‘Activity setting’ option. Here you can turn the activities on or off.
You can also disable, delete or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on the browser you use, this works in different ways.
If you do not wish to have cookies on principle, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not.
Google is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information on this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI. If you want to learn more about Google’s data processing, we recommend that you read the company’s own privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.
Google Analytics Privacy Policy
On our website we use the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) from the American company Google LLC (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. For example, when you click on a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. The reports we receive from Google Analytics help us better tailor our website and services to your needs. In the following we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and inform you above all about what data is stored and how you can prevent this.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a tracking tool that serves to analyse the data traffic on our website. To make Google Analytics work, a tracking code is built into the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various actions that you perform on our website. As soon as you leave our website, this data is sent to the Google Analytics servers and stored there. Google processes the data and we receive reports about your user behaviour. These reports may include the following:
- – Target group reports: Through target group reports we get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
– Advertising reports: Advertising reports help us to analyse and improve our online advertising.
– Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports provide us with helpful information on how we can get more people interested in our service.
– Behavioral Reports: Here we learn how you interact with our website. We can track which path you take on our site and which links you click on.
– Conversion reports: Conversion is the process by which you perform a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you change from a mere website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us to learn more about how our marketing activities are received by 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 see how many users are reading this text.
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 give 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 understand you as a visitor better. We therefore know exactly what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also helps 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.
Which data is stored by Google Analytics?
Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID associated with your browser cookie. This allows Google Analytics to recognize you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a “returning” user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID. This makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles in the first place.
Through identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs, your interactions on our website are measured. Interactions are all kinds of actions you perform on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated by Google Analytics can be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not pass on any Google Analytics data unless we, as the website operator, give permission to do so. Exceptions may be made if required by law.
Here we show you an overview of the most important data that is collected with Google Analytics
Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heat maps. With Heatmaps you can see exactly those areas that you click on. This way we get information where you are “on the road” on our site.
Session duration: Google defines session duration as the time you spend on our site without leaving the site. If you have been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.
Bouncerate: A bouncer is when you view only one page on our site and then leave our site.
Account creation: When you create an account or place an order on our website, Google Analytics collects this data.
IP address: The IP address is only shown in abbreviated form so that no clear assignment is possible.
location: The IP address can be used to determine the country and your approximate location. This process is also known as IP location determination.
Technical Information: Technical information includes your browser type, your Internet provider or your screen resolution.
Source of origin: Google Analytics or we are naturally also interested in which website or which advertisement brought you to our site.
Further data are contact details, any ratings, playing media (e.g. when you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media or adding to your favourites. This list does not claim to be exhaustive and serves only as a general orientation for data storage by Google Analytics.
How long and where is the data stored?
Google has distributed your servers around the world. Most servers are located in America and therefore your data is usually stored on American servers. Here you can find out exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de Your data is distributed on different physical media. This has the advantage that the data can be retrieved faster and is better protected against manipulation. In every Google data centre there are appropriate emergency programs for your data. For example, if Google’s hardware fails or natural disasters paralyze servers, the risk of service interruption at Google remains low. Google Analytics has a standard retention period of 26 months for your user data. Then your user data will be deleted. However, we do have the option of choosing the retention period for user data ourselves. We have five options for this:
- – Deletion after 14 months
– Cancellation after 26 months
– Cancellation after 38 months
– Deletion after 50 months
– No automatic deletion
When the specified period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data linked to cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs (e.g. cookies from the DoubleClick domain). Reporting 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 storage?
According to the data protection law of the European Union you have the right to obtain information about your data, to update, delete or restrict it. You can use the browser add-on to disable Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js) to prevent Google Analytics 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 deactivates data collection by Google Analytics.
If you basically want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies (independent of Google Analytics), there are separate instructions for each browser.
Google Analytics is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information about this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=311161171. We hope we were able to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Google Analytics. If you want to learn more about the tracking service, we recommend these two links: http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de.
Google Analytics IP anonymization
We have implemented the IP address anonymisation of Google Analytics on this website. This function was developed by Google so that this website can comply with the applicable data protection regulations and recommendations of local data protection authorities if they prohibit the storage of the complete IP address. The anonymization or masking of the IP address takes place as soon as the IP addresses arrive in the Google Analytics data collection network and before the data is saved or processed. You can find more information about IP anonymization at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=de.
Google Analytics reports on demographic characteristics and interests
We have enabled the advertising reporting features in Google Analytics. The demographic and interest reports include information about age, gender and interests. This allows us to get a better picture of our users without having to associate this information with individual people. You can learn more about the advertising features at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=de_AT&utm_id=ad. You can opt-out of using the activities and information in your Google Account by selecting a checkbox under “Advertising preferences” on https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.
Google Analytics deactivation link
If you click on the following deactivation link, you can prevent Google from recording further visits to this website. Attention: Deleting cookies, using the incognito/private mode of your browser, or using another browser will result in data being collected again. Disable Google Analytics
Google Analytics add-on for data processing
We have concluded a direct customer agreement with Google for the use of Google Analytics by accepting the “data processing addendum” in Google Analytics. You can find more information about the data processing addendum for Google Analytics here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3379636?hl=de&utm_id=ad
Automatic data storage
When you visit websites today, certain information is automatically created and stored, including on this website.
When you visit our website as you are doing right now, our web server (the computer on which this website is stored) automatically saves data such as
- – the address (URL) of the accessed web page
– Browser and browser version
– the operating system used
– the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL)
– the host name and IP address of the device from which access is made
– Date and time
in files (web server log files).
Usually web server log files are stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not pass on this data, but cannot exclude the possibility that this data may be viewed in the event of illegal behaviour.
Facebook-Pixel Privacy Policy
We use the Facebook pixel of Facebook on our website. We have implemented a code for this on our website. The Facebook pixel is an excerpt of JavaScript code that loads a collection of functions with which Facebook can track your user actions, if you came 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 compare 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 collected data is anonymous and cannot be viewed by us and is only used for advertising purposes. If you yourself are a Facebook user and are logged in, your visit to our website is automatically assigned to your Facebook user account.
We only want to show our services or products to people who are really interested in them. With the help of Facebook pixels, our advertising measures can be better tailored to your wishes and interests. This way, Facebook users (provided they have allowed personalized advertising) can see suitable ads. Furthermore, Facebook uses the collected data for analysis purposes and its own advertisements.
If you are logged into Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements yourself at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. If you are not a Facebook user, you can generally manage your usage-based online advertising at http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/. There you have the possibility to deactivate or activate providers.
If you would like to learn more about Facebook’s privacy policy, we recommend that you review the company’s own privacy policy at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.
Facebook Automatic Advanced Matching Privacy Policy
We have also activated Automatic Advanced Matching as part of the Facebook pixel function. This pixel feature allows us to send hashed emails, name, gender, city, state, zip code and date of birth or phone number to Facebook as additional information if you have provided us with this data. This activation allows us to tailor advertising campaigns on Facebook even more precisely to people interested in our services or products.
Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy
For our website we use the Google Tag Manager of the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA). This tag manager is one of many helpful marketing products from Google. The Google Tag Manager allows us to centrally install and manage code sections of various tracking tools we use on our website.
In this privacy statement, we’d like to explain in more detail what Google Tag Manager does, why we use it, and how we process data.
What is the Google Tag Manager?
The Google Tag Manager is an organization tool that allows us to integrate and manage website tags centrally and through a single interface. Tags are small sections 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 website. The tags often come from Google 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 take over different tasks. They can collect browser data, feed marketing tools with data, integrate buttons, set cookies and also track users across multiple websites.
Why do we use the Google Tag Manager for our website?
As they say: Organization is half the battle! And that of course also applies to the maintenance of our website. To make our website as good as possible for you and all people interested in our products and services, we need various tracking tools such as Google Analytics. The data collected by these tools show us what interests you most, where we can improve our services and to which people we should still show our offers. And for this tracking to work, we have to integrate appropriate JavaScript codes into our website. Basically we could integrate each code section of the individual tracking tools separately into our source code. However, this requires a relatively large amount of time and it is easy to lose track. Therefore we use the Google Tag Manager. We can easily integrate the necessary scripts and manage them from one place. In addition, the Google Tag Manager offers an easy-to-use interface and no programming skills are required. This is how we manage to keep order in our tag jungle.
What data is stored by Google Tag Manager?
The Tag Manager itself is a domain that does not set any cookies or store any data. It acts as a mere “manager” of the implemented tags. The data captures the individual tags of the different web analysis tools. The data is virtually routed through the Google Tag Manager to the individual tracking tools and is not stored. However, the situation is completely different with the tags of the various web analysis tools, such as Google Analytics. Depending on the analysis tool, different data about your web behaviour is usually collected, saved and processed with the help of cookies. To do this, please read our data protection texts on the individual analysis and tracking tools that 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 concerns the use and usage of our Tag Manager and not your data, which is stored via the code sections. We allow Google and others to receive selected data in anonymized form. We thus agree to the anonymous transfer of our website data. We were not able to find out exactly which summarized and anonymous data is forwarded – despite long research. In any case, Google will delete all information that could identify our website. Google combines the data with hundreds of other anonymous website data and creates user trends as part of benchmarking measures. In benchmarking, we compare our own results with those of our competitors. Based on the collected information, processes can be optimized.
How long and where is the data stored?
When Google stores data, that data is stored on Google’s own servers. These servers are spread all over the world. Most are located in America. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de you can find out exactly where the Google servers are located. How long the individual tracking tools store data about you can be found in our individual privacy texts for each tool.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
The Google Tag Manager itself does not set any cookies, but manages tags of 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.
Google is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information about this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=311161171. If you want to learn more about the Google Tag Manager, we recommend the FAQs at https://www.google.com/intl/de/tagmanager/faq.html.
Newsletter Privacy Policy
If you subscribe to our newsletter, you provide the above personal data and give us the right to contact you by e-mail. We use the data stored during the registration for the newsletter exclusively for our newsletter and do not pass them on.
If you unsubscribe from our newsletter – you will find the link for this at the bottom of every newsletter – we will delete all data that was saved when you registered for the newsletter.
Embedded Social Media Elements Privacy Policy
We integrate elements of social media services on our website to display images, videos and text. When you visit pages that display these elements, data is transferred from your browser to the respective social media service and stored there. We have no access to this data. The following links will take you to the pages of the respective social media services where it is explained how they handle your data:
- – Instagram Privacy Policy: https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
– For YouTube the Google Privacy Policy applies: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de
– Facebook data policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy
– Twitter Privacy Policy: https://twitter.com/de/privacy
Facebook Privacy Policy
We use selected Facebook tools from Facebook on our website. Facebook is a social media network of the company Facebook Ireland Ltd, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2 Ireland. With the help of these tools we can offer you and people who are interested in our products and services the best possible offer. Below we provide an overview of the various Facebook tools, what data is sent to Facebook and how you can delete this data.
What are Facebook tools?
Among many other products, Facebook also offers the so-called “Facebook Business Tools”. This is the official name of Facebook. But since the term is hardly known, we have decided to call them simply Facebook Tools. Among them you will find:
- – Facebook Pixels
– social plug-ins (such as the “Like” or “Share” button)
– Facebook login
– account kit
– APIs (Application Programming Interface)
– SDKs (collection of programming tools)
– Platform Integrations
– Plugins
– Codes
– Specifications
– Documentation
– Technologies and services
Through these tools, Facebook extends services and has the ability to obtain information about user activities outside of Facebook.
Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?
We want to show our services and products only to people who are really interested in them. With the help of advertisements (Facebook Ads) we can reach exactly these people. However, in order to be able to show users suitable ads, Facebook needs information about people’s wishes and needs. For example, information about user behaviour (and contact details) is provided to the company on our website. This enables Facebook to collect better user data and to show interested people the appropriate advertising about our products or services. The tools thus enable tailored advertising campaigns on Facebook.
Facebook calls data about your behavior on our website “event data”. This data is also used for measurement and analysis services. Facebook can thus create “campaign reports” on our behalf about the impact of our advertising campaigns. Furthermore, analyses give us a better insight into how you use our services, website or products. This enables us to use some of these tools to optimize your user experience on our website. For example, you can use the social plug-ins to share content on our site directly on Facebook.
What data is stored by Facebook tools?
By using individual Facebook tools, personal data (customer data) can be sent to Facebook. Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number and IP address can be sent.
Facebook uses this information to match the data with its own data it has about you (if you are a Facebook member). Before customer data is sent to Facebook, a so-called “hashing” process takes place. This means that a data record of any size is transformed into a character string. This also serves to encrypt data.
In addition to contact data, “event data” is also transmitted. Event data” refers to the information that we receive about you on our website. For example, which subpages you visit or which products you buy from us. Facebook does not share the information it receives with third parties (such as advertisers) unless the company has explicit permission or is legally required to do so. “Event information” may also be linked to contact information. This allows Facebook to provide better personalized advertising. After the aforementioned matching process, Facebook will delete the contact information.
In order to be able to deliver advertisements in an optimized way, Facebook uses the event data only if it has been combined with other data (which has been collected by Facebook in another way). Facebook also uses this event data for security, protection, development and research purposes. Much of this data is transferred to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are small text files that are used to store data or information in browsers. Depending on the tools used and whether you are a Facebook member or not, different numbers of cookies are created in your browser. In the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools, we will go into more detail about individual Facebook cookies. General information about the use of Facebook cookies can also be found at https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies.
How long and where is the data stored?
In principle, Facebook stores data until it is no longer needed for its own services and Facebook products. Facebook has servers all over the world where your data is stored. However, customer data is deleted within 48 hours after it has been compared with your own user data. How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
According to the Data Protection Basic Regulation you have the right to information, correction, transferability and deletion of your data.
A complete deletion of your data will only take place if you completely delete your Facebook account. And this is how deleting your Facebook account works:
- 1) Click on the right side of Facebook on Settings.
2) Then click on “Your Facebook information” in the left column.
3) Now click “Deactivation and Deletion”.
4) Now select “Delete account” and then click on “Next and Delete account
5) Now enter your password, click on “Next” and then on “Delete account
The storage of the data that Facebook receives via our site is done, among other things, via cookies (e.g. in the case of social plugins). You can deactivate, delete or manage individual or all cookies in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways.
If you do not want cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not.
Facebook is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information on this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC. We hope we have provided you with the most important information about the use and data processing by the Facebook tools. If you want to learn more about how Facebook uses your data, we recommend the data guidelines at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.
Facebook Social Plug-ins Privacy Policy
So-called social plug-ins of the company Facebook Inc. are integrated on our website. You can recognize these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, such as the “Like” button (the hand with the thumb raised) or by a clear “Facebook Plug-in” label. A social plugin is a small part of Facebook that is integrated into our site. Each plug-in has its own function. The most commonly used functions are the familiar “Like” and “Share” buttons.
The following social plug-ins are offered by Facebook:
- – “Save” button
– “Like” button, share, send and quote
– Page plug-in
– Comments
– Messenger plug-in
– Embedded contributions and video players
– Group plug-in
At https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins you can find more information on how to use the individual plug-ins. We use the social plug-ins on the one hand to offer you a better user experience on our site, on the other hand because Facebook can use them to optimize our ads.
If you have a Facebook account or have visited facebook.com before, Facebook has already set at least one cookie in your browser. In this case, your browser uses this cookie to send information to Facebook whenever you visit our site or interact with social plug-ins (such as the “Like” button).
The information received is deleted or made anonymous within 90 days. According to Facebook, this data includes your IP address, which website you visited, the date, time and other information concerning your browser.
In order to prevent Facebook from collecting a lot of data during your visit to our website and linking it to Facebook data, you must log off (log out) from Facebook during your visit to the website. If you are not logged in to Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser sends less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. Nevertheless, data such as your IP address or which website you visit can be transmitted to Facebook. We would like to point out that we do not know the exact content of the data. However, according to our current state of knowledge, we try to inform you as well as possible about data processing. How Facebook uses the data, you can also read about in the company’s data policy at https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.
If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend that you read the company’s own data guidelines at https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.
YouTube Privacy Policy
We have included YouTube videos on our website. So we can present you interesting videos directly on our site. YouTube is a video portal, which is a subsidiary of Google LLC since 2006. The video portal is operated by YouTube, LLC, 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno, CA 94066, USA. When you visit a page on our website that has an embedded YouTube video, your browser automatically connects to the servers of YouTube or Google. In the process, various data is transferred (depending on the settings). Google is responsible for the entire data processing and Google’s data protection policy therefore also applies.
In the following we would like to explain to you in more detail which data is processed, why we have embedded YouTube videos and how you can manage or delete your data.
What is YouTube?
On YouTube, users can watch, rate, comment and upload videos for free. Over the last few years, YouTube has become one of the most important social media channels worldwide. To enable us to display videos on our website, YouTube provides a code snippet that we have integrated on our site.
Why do we use YouTube videos on our website?
YouTube is the video platform with the most visitors and the best content. We strive to provide the best possible user experience on our website. And of course, interesting videos should not be missing. With the help of our embedded videos, we provide you with further helpful content in addition to our texts and images. In addition, the embedded videos make our website easier to find on the Google search engine. Even if we use Google Ads to place advertisements, Google can – thanks to the data collected – really only show these ads to people who are interested in our offers.
What information does YouTube store?
When you visit one of our sites that has a YouTube video embedded, YouTube at least sets a cookie that stores your IP address and our URL. If you are logged in to your YouTube account, YouTube can associate your interactions on our site with your profile, usually using cookies. This includes information such as session duration, bounce rate, approximate location, technical information such as browser type, screen resolution, or your Internet service provider. Other data may include contact information, any ratings, sharing content through social media, or adding to your favorites on YouTube.
If you’re not signed in to a Google Account or YouTube account, Google stores data with a unique identifier associated with your device, browser, or app. For example, your preferred language setting is preserved. But much interaction data can’t be stored because fewer cookies are set.
How long and where is the data stored?
The data that YouTube receives and processes from you is stored on Google’s servers. Most of these servers are located in America. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de you can see exactly where the Google data centres are located. Your data is distributed across the servers. So the data can be retrieved faster and is better protected against manipulation.
Google stores the collected data for different lengths of time. Some data can be deleted at any time, others are automatically deleted after a limited time and some are stored by Google for a longer time. Some data (such as elements from “My activity”, photos or documents, products) stored in your Google Account will remain stored until you delete them. Even if you’re not signed in to a Google Account, you can delete some data associated with your device, browser, or app.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
Basically, you can manually delete data from your Google Account. With the automatic deletion of location and activity data introduced in 2019, information is stored for either 3 or 18 months, depending on your decision, and then deleted.
Whether or not you have a Google Account, you can configure your browser to delete or disable Google cookies. This works in different ways depending on the browser you use. If you do not want cookies, you can set your browser to notify you whenever you receive a cookie. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not. Since YouTube is a subsidiary of Google, there is a common privacy policy. If you’d like to learn more about how we handle your information, we recommend you read the privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.
LinkedIn Privacy Policy
On our website we use social plug-ins from the social media network LinkedIn, the company LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. The social plug-ins may be feeds, content sharing or linking to our LinkedIn site. The social plug-ins are clearly marked with the well-known LinkedIn logo and allow, for example, to share interesting content directly through our website. For the European Economic Area and Switzerland, LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company Wilton Place in Dublin is responsible for data processing.
By embedding such plug-ins, data can be sent to LinkedIn, stored and processed there. In this privacy policy we would like to inform you what data is involved, how the network uses this data and how you can manage or stop the data storage.
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is the largest social network for business contacts. Unlike Facebook, for example, it focuses exclusively on building business contacts. Companies can use the platform to present services and products and to establish business relationships. Many people also use LinkedIn for job search or to find suitable employees for their own company. In Germany alone, the network has over 11 million members. In Austria there are about 1.3 million.
Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?
We know how busy you are. You can’t track all social media channels one by one. Even if, as in our case, it would be worth it. Because we always post interesting news or reports that are worth spreading. That’s why we have created the possibility on our website to share interesting content directly on LinkedIn or to link directly to our LinkedIn page. We consider built-in social plug-ins as an extended service on our website. The information that LinkedIn collects also helps us to show potential advertising to people who are interested in our services.
What information does LinkedIn collect?
LinkedIn does not store any personal data simply by integrating the social plug-ins. LinkedIn calls this data, which is generated by plug-ins, passive impressions. However, if you click on a social plug-in, for example to share our content, the platform stores personal data as so-called “active impressions”. This is the case regardless of whether you have a LinkedIn account or not. If you are logged in, the data collected is associated with your account.
Your browser connects directly to LinkedIn’s servers when you interact with our plug-ins. This is how the company logs various usage data. In addition to your IP address, this may include, for example, login information, device information, or information about your Internet or mobile service provider. If you access LinkedIn services from your smartphone, your location (after you allow it) can also be determined. LinkedIn may also share this information in “hashed” form with third-party advertisers. Hashing means that a record is converted into a string. This makes it possible to encrypt the data so that people cannot be identified.
Most data about your user behaviour is stored in cookies. These are small text files that are usually set in your browser. But LinkedIn can also use web beacons, pixel tags, display tags and other device identifiers.
How long and where is the data stored?
Generally, LinkedIn will retain your personal information for as long as the company considers it necessary to provide its services. However, LinkedIn will delete your personal information when you delete your account. In some exceptional cases, LinkedIn may retain some information in aggregate and anonymous form even after you delete your account. Once you delete your account, other people will not be able to see your information within one day. LinkedIn generally deletes the data within 30 days. LinkedIn does, however, retain data when required by law. Data that can no longer be assigned to any person remains stored even after the account has been closed. The data is stored on various servers in America and probably also in Europe.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
You have the right to access and delete your personal data at any time. In your LinkedIn account you can manage, change and delete your data. You can also request a copy of your personal information from LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. This framework ensures correct data transmission between the USA and the European Union. You can learn more about it at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000L0UZAA0. We have tried to provide you with the most important information about data processing by LinkedIn. At https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy you can learn more about the data processing of the LinkedIn social media network.
XING Privacy Policy
On our website we use social plugins from the social media network Xing, the company Xing SE, Dammtorstraße 30, 20354 Hamburg, Germany. These features allow you, for example, to share content on Xing directly via our website, log in via Xing or follow interesting content. You can recognize the plug-ins by the company name or the Xing logo. When you visit a website that uses a Xing plug-in, data can be transmitted to the “Xing servers”, stored and evaluated. In this data protection declaration, we would like to inform you about what data is involved and how you can manage or prevent this data storage.
What is Xing?
Xing is a social network with its headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. The company specializes in the management of professional contacts. This means that, unlike other networks, Xing is primarily about professional networking. The platform is often used for job searches or to find employees for your own company. Xing also offers interesting content on various professional topics. The global counterpart is the American company LinkedIn.
Why do we use Xing on our website?
There is now a flood of social media channels and we are well aware that your time is very precious. Not every social media channel of a company can be closely examined. That’s why we want to make life as easy as possible for you so that you can share or follow interesting content directly on Xing through our website. With such “social plug-ins” we are expanding our service on our website. Furthermore, the data collected by Xing helps us to carry out targeted advertising measures on the platform. This means that our service is only shown to people who are really interested in it.
What data is stored by Xing?
Xing offers the Share button, Follow button and Log-in button as a plug-in for websites. As soon as you open a page where a social plug-in from Xing is installed, your browser connects to servers in a data center used by Xing. In the case of the Share button, Xing does not want to store data that could be directly related to a person. In particular, Xing does not store any IP address of yours. Furthermore, no cookies are set in connection with the Share button. Therefore, no evaluation of your user behaviour takes place. You can obtain further information about this at https://www.xing.com/app/share%3Fop%3Ddata_protection.
With the other Xing plug-ins, cookies are only set in your browser when you interact with the plug-in or click on it. Personal data such as your IP address, browser data, date and time of your page view at Xing can be stored here. If you have a XING account and are logged in, any data collected is assigned to your personal account and the data stored in it.
How long and where is the data stored?
Xing stores the data on different servers in different data centers. The company stores this data until you delete the data or until a user account is deleted. Of course, this only affects users who are already Xing members.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
You have the right to access and delete your personal data at any time. Even if you are not a Xing member, you can prevent possible data processing via your browser or manage it according to your wishes. Most data is stored via cookies. Depending on which browser you have, the administration works slightly differently. You can also basically set up your browser so that you are always informed when a cookie is to be set. Then you can always decide individually whether you want to allow the cookie or not.
We have tried to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Xing. At https://privacy.xing.com/de/datenschutzerklaerung you can learn more about the data processing of the social media network Xing.