- Data Protection & Privacy - Yachting and Sailing Charters and Tours - Four Season Yachting - Yachting and Sailing Charters and Tours

Data privacy statement

This data privacy statement clarifies the type, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data (hereinafter referred to as “data”) within our online offer and the associated webpages, functions and content as well as external online presences, such as our social media profile (hereinafter referred to collectively as “online offer”). With regard to the terms used, e.g. “processing” or “person responsible”, we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Person responsible

four seasons yachting GmbH
Uwe Barchfeld
Alte Berliner Straße 43
34298 Helsa

Geschäftsführer: Herr Uwe Barchfeld
Contact:
Phone: +49 (0) 5605 926152
Telefax: +49 (0) 5605 926156
E-mail:
Impressum: four season yachting GmbH Imprint

Types of data processed:

– Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses),

– Contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers),

– Content data (e.g. text input, photographs, videos),

– Usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times),

– Meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses),

Purpose of processin,

– Provision of the online offer, its functions and contents,

– Answering of contact requests and communication with users,

– Security measures,

– Reach measurement / marketing.

Terms used

“Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter “data subject”); a natural person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, online identifier (e.g. a cookie) or to one or more specific characteristics which express the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person, is regarded as identifiable.

“Processing” means any operation or set of operations which is carried out with or without the aid of automated processes and involves personal data. The term is broad and covers practically every handling of data.

The “person responsible“ 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.

Applicable legal bases

In accordance with Art. 13 GDPR we inform you about the legal basis of our data processing. If the legal basis is not mentioned in the data privacy statement, the following shall apply: The legal basis for obtaining consent is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a and Art. 7 GDPR, the legal basis for processing in order to fulfil our services and carry out contractual measures as well as answer enquiries is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR, the legal basis for processing in order to fulfil our legal obligations is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c GDPR and the legal basis for processing in order to safeguard our legitimate interests is Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR. In the event that vital interests of the data subject or another natural person make processing of personal data necessary, Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. d GDPR serves as the legal basis.

Safety precautions

We ask you to inform yourself regularly about the content of our data privacy statement. We will adapt the data privacy statement as soon as the changes to the data processing carried out by us make this necessary. We will inform you as soon as the changes require your cooperation (e.g. consent) or other individual notification.

Cooperation with contract processors and third parties

Insofar as we disclose data to other persons and companies (contract processors or third parties) within the scope of our processing, transfer them to them or otherwise grant them access to the data, this shall only take place on the basis of legal permission (e.g. if a transfer of the data to third parties, such as payment service providers, pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR is necessary for the performance of the contract), if you have consented to this, if a legal obligation provides for this or on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. when using agents, web hosts, etc.).

If we commission third parties with the processing of data on the basis of a so-called “data processing agreement”, this is done on the basis of Art. 28 GDPR.

Transfers to third countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e. outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or if this is done in the context of the use of third party services or disclosure or transfer of data to third parties, this will only take place if it is done in order to fulfil our (pre)contractual obligations, on the basis of your consent, a legal obligation or on the basis of our legitimate interests. Subject to legal or contractual permissions, we process or allow the data to be processed in a third country only if the special requirements of Art. 44 ff. of the GDPR are met. This means that processing takes place, for example, on the basis of special guarantees, such as the officially recognised determination of a data protection level corresponding to the EU (e.g. for the USA by the “Privacy Shield”) or compliance with officially recognised special contractual obligations (so-called “standard contractual clauses”).

Rights of data subjects

You have the right to request confirmation as to whether the data in question will be processed and to be informed of this data and to receive further information and a copy of the data in accordance with Art. 15 GDPR.

In accordance with Art. 16 GDPR, you have the right to request the completion of data concerning you or the rectification of incorrect data concerning you.

Pursuant to Art. 17 GDPR, you have the right to demand that the data concerned be deleted immediately or, alternatively, to demand that the processing of the data be restricted pursuant to Art. 18 GDPR.

You have the right to request to receive the data concerning you which you have provided to us in accordance with Art. 20 GDPR and to request its transfer to other persons responsible.

Pursuant to Art. 77 GDPR, you also have the right to file a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

Right of withdrawal

You have the right to revoke consents granted pursuant to Art. 7 Para. 3 GDPR with effect for the future.

Right of objection

You may object at any time to the future processing of the data concerning you in accordance with Art. 21 GDPR. The objection can be made in particular against the processing for purposes of direct marketing.

Cookies and right to object to direct advertising

“Cookies” are small files that are stored on the user’s computer. Different data can be stored within the cookies. A cookie is primarily used to store information about a user (or the device on which the cookie is stored) during or after the user’s visit to an online offer. Temporary cookies, or “session cookies” or “transient cookies”, are cookies that are deleted after a user leaves an online offer and closes his browser. The content of a shopping basket in an online shop or a login status, for example, can be stored in such a cookie. Cookies are referred to as “permanent” or “persistent” if they remain stored even after the browser is closed. For example, the login status can be saved if users visit it after several days. The interests of the users can also be stored in such a cookie, which are used for range measurement or marketing purposes. “Third party cookies” are cookies that are offered by providers other than the person responsible for operating the online offer (otherwise, if they are only the latter’s cookies, they are referred to as “first party cookies”).

We may use temporary and permanent cookies and explain this in our privacy policy.

If users do not wish cookies to be stored on their computer, they are asked to deactivate the corresponding option in the system settings of their browser. Stored cookies can be deleted in the system settings of the browser. The exclusion of cookies can lead to functional restrictions of this online offer.

A general objection to the use of cookies for online marketing purposes can be raised for a large number of services, especially in the case of tracking, via the US website https://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU website https://www.youronlinechoices.com/. In addition, cookies can be saved by deactivating them in the browser settings. Please note that in this case not all functions of this online offer can be used.

Deletion of data

The data processed by us will be deleted in accordance with Art. 17 and 18 GDPR or their processing will be restricted. Unless expressly stated in this data privacy statement, the data stored by us will be deleted as soon as they are no longer required for their intended purpose and there is no legal obligation to retain them. If the data are not deleted because they are required for other and legally permissible purposes, their processing will be restricted. This means that the data will be blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be stored for commercial or tax reasons.

According to legal requirements in Germany, the data will be stored especially for 10 years according to §§ 147 Para. 1 AO, 257 Para. 1 No. 1 und 4, Para. 4 HGB (German Commercial Code) (books, records, management reports, accounting vouchers, trade books, documents relevant for taxation etc.) and 6 years according to § 257 Para. 1 No. 2 und 3, Para. 4 HGB (German Commercial Code) (commercial letters).

In accordance with legal requirements in Austria, the documents will be stored in particular for 7 years in accordance with § 132 Para. 1 BAO (Austrian Fiscal Code) (accounting documents, receipts/invoices, accounts, receipts, business papers, list of income and expenses etc.) for 22 years in connection with real estate and for 10 years for documents in connection with electronically provided services, telecommunications, radio and television services which are provided to non-entrepreneurs in EU member states and for which the Mini-One-Stop-Shop (MOSS) is used.

Business-related processing

Additionally we process

– contract data (for example, contract object, validity period, customer category),

– payment data (e.g. bank details, payment history)

of our customers, interested parties and business partners for the purpose of providing contractual services, service and customer care, marketing, advertising and market research.

Hosting

The hosting services used by us serve the provision of the following services: Infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space and database services, security services as well as technical maintenance services which we use for the purpose of operating this online offer.

We process or our hosting provider processes inventory data, contact data, content data, contract data, usage data, meta and communication data of customers, interested parties and visitors to this online offer on the basis of our legitimate interests in the efficient and secure provision of this online offer in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR ICW Art. 28 GDPR (conclusion of data processing agreement).

Collection of access data and log files

On the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, we collect or our hosting provider collects data on each access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). The access data includes the name of the accessed website, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, user’s operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provision.

Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g. to clarify abuse or fraud) for a maximum period of 7 days and is then deleted. Data whose further storage is necessary for evidence purposes are excluded from deletion until the respective incident has been finally clarified.

Agency services

We process the data of our customers within the scope of our contractual services, which include 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.

We process inventory data (e.g. customer master data, such as names or addresses), contact data (e.g. e-mail, telephone numbers), content data (e.g. text entries, photographs, videos), contract data (e.g. subject of contract, duration), payment data (e.g. bank details, payment history), usage and metadata (e.g. within the scope of evaluating and measuring the success of marketing measures). We do not process any special categories of personal data, unless these are part of a commissioned processing. Affected parties include our customers, interested parties and their customers, users, website visitors or employees as well as third parties. The purpose of the processing is the provision of contractual services, billing and our customer service. The legal basis of the processing results from Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contractual services), Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR (analysis, statistics, optimisation, security measures). We process data which are necessary for the justification and fulfilment of the contractual services and point out the necessity of their specification. Disclosure to external parties shall only take place if it is necessary within the framework of an order. When processing the data provided to us within the framework of an order, we shall act in accordance with the instructions of the customer and the statutory requirements for order processing pursuant to Art. 28 GDPR and shall not process the data for purposes other than those specified in the order.

We delete the data after expiry of statutory warranty and comparable obligations. The necessity of storing the data is reviewed every three years; in the case of legal archiving obligations, deletion takes place after their expiration (6 J according to § 257 Para. 1 HGB, 10 J according to § 147 Para. 1 AO). In the case of data which has been disclosed to us by the client within the scope of an order, we delete the data in accordance with the specifications of the order after the end of the order.

Broker services

We process the data of our customers, clients and interested parties (uniformly referred to as “customers”) in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b. GDPR in order to provide them with our contractual or pre-contractual services. The data processed, the type, scope and purpose and the necessity of their processing are determined by the underlying order. This basically includes the inventory and master data of the customers (name, address, etc.) as well as the contact data (e-mail address, telephone, etc.), the contract data (content of the order, fees, terms, information on the brokered companies/insurers/services) and payment data (commissions, payment history, etc.). We may also process information on the characteristics and circumstances of persons or items belonging to them if this is part of our order. This may include, for example, information on personal circumstances, mobile or immovable property.

As part of our assignment it may also be necessary for us to process special categories of data in accordance with Art. 9 Para. 1 GDPR, in particular information on the health of a person. In accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a., Art. 7, Art. 9 Para. 2 lit. a GDPR, we obtain the express consent of the customer, if necessary.

Insofar as required by contract fulfilment or by law, we disclose or transmit customer data to providers of brokered services/objects, insurers, reinsurers, broker pools, technical service providers, other service providers, such as cooperating associations, as well as financial service providers, credit institutions and capital investment companies, social insurance carriers, tax authorities, tax consultants, legal advisors, auditors, insurance ombudsmen and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) within the scope of coverage enquiries, conclusion and execution of contracts. We can also commission sub-contractors such as sub-brokers. We obtain the consent of the customer if the disclosure/transmission requires the consent of the customer (which may be the case, for example, in the case of special categories of data pursuant to Art. 9 GDPR).

The data will be deleted after expiry of statutory warranty and comparable obligations, whereby the necessity of data retention is reviewed every three years; otherwise the statutory retention obligations apply.

In the case of statutory archiving obligations, deletion shall take place after their expiration. According to German law in the insurance and financial sector, consulting protocols for 5 years, broker contract notes for 7 years and broker contracts for 5 years as well as generally 6 years for documents relevant to commercial law and 10 years for documents relevant to tax law are subject to retention.

Provision of contractual services

We process inventory data (e.g. names and addresses as well as contact data of users), contract data (e.g. services used, names of contact persons, payment information) for the purpose of fulfilling our contractual obligations and services in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b. GDPR. The entries marked as mandatory in online forms are required for the conclusion of the contract.

When using our online services, we store the IP address and the time of the respective user action. The storage takes place on the basis of our legitimate interests as well as the user’s protection against misuse and other unauthorised use. This data will not be passed on to third parties unless it is necessary to pursue our claims or there is a legal obligation to do so pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c GDPR.

We process usage data (e.g. the visited websites of our online offer, interest in our products) and content data (e.g. entries in the contact form or user profile) for advertising purposes in a user profile in order to display the user, e.g. product information based on the services they have previously used.

The data will be deleted after statutory warranty and comparable obligations have expired; the necessity of storing the data will be reviewed every three years; in the case of statutory archiving obligations, the data will be deleted after their expiration. Information in any customer account remains in place until it is deleted.

Administration, financial accounting, office organisation, contact management

We process data in the context of administrative tasks as well as the organisation of our business, financial accounting and compliance with legal obligations, such as archiving. Here we process the same data that we process within the scope of providing our contractual services. The processing bases are Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c. GDPR, Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR. Customers, interested parties, business partners and website visitors are affected by the processing. The purpose and our interest in the processing lies in the administration, financial accounting, office organisation, archiving of data, i.e. tasks which serve the maintenance of our business activities, the performance of our tasks and the provision of our services. The deletion of the data with regard to contractual services and contractual communication corresponds to the data specified in these processing activities.

We disclose or transmit data to the tax authorities, consultants, such as tax consultants or auditors, as well as other fee offices and payment service providers.

Furthermore, on the basis of our business interests, we store information on suppliers, organisers and other business partners, e.g. for the purpose of establishing contact at a later date. This data, which is mainly company-related, is stored permanently.

Economic analyses and market research

In order to operate our business economically, to identify market trends, customer and user wishes, we analyse the data available to us on business transactions, contracts, enquiries, etc. We process inventory data, communication data, contract data, payment data, usage data, metadata on the basis of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, whereby the persons concerned include customers, interested parties, business partners, visitors and users of the online offer.

The analyses are carried out for the purpose of economic evaluations, marketing and market research. We can consider the profiles of the registered users with information, e.g. on their purchase transactions. The analyses serve us to increase user friendliness, to optimise our range of products and services and to improve business efficiency. The analyses serve us alone and are not disclosed externally unless they are anonymous analyses with summarised values.

If these analyses or profiles are person-related, they will be deleted or anonymised upon termination by the user, otherwise after two years from the conclusion of the contract. In all other respects, the macroeconomic analyses and general trend determinations are prepared anonymously wherever possible.

Registration function

Users can optionally create a user account. During the registration process, the necessary mandatory information will be provided to the users. The data entered during registration will be used for the purposes of using the offer. Users can be informed by e-mail about offer- or registration-relevant information, such as changes in the scope of the offer or technical circumstances. If users have terminated their user account, their data will be deleted with regard to the user account, subject to its retention for commercial or tax reasons pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c GDPR. It is the responsibility of the users to secure their data before the end of the contract in the event of termination. We are entitled to irretrievably delete all user data stored during the term of the contract.

When using our registration and login functions as well as the user account, we store the IP address and the time of the respective user action. The storage is based on our legitimate interests and the user’s protection against misuse and other unauthorised use. This data will not be passed on to third parties unless it is necessary to pursue our claims or there is a legal obligation to do so pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c GDPR. The IP addresses will be anonymised or deleted after 7 days at the latest.

Contact us

When contacting us (e.g. via contact form, e-mail, telephone or via social media), the user’s details will be processed for the purpose of handling the contact enquiry and processing it in accordance with Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b) GDPR. User data can be stored in a customer relationship management system (“CRM system”) or comparable enquiry organisation.

We delete the enquiries if they are no longer required. We check the necessity every two years; furthermore, the legal archiving obligations apply.

Comments and Contributions

If users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses may be stored for 7 days on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR. This is done for our safety if someone leaves illegal contents (insults, forbidden political propaganda etc.) in comments and contributions. In this case we can be prosecuted ourselves for the comment or contribution and are therefore interested in the identity of the author.

Furthermore, we reserve the right, on the basis of our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR, to process the user data for the purpose of spam recognition.

Akismet Anti-Spam Testing

Our online offer uses the “Akismet” service provided by Automattic Inc, 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. The use is based on our legitimate interests in the sense of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f) GDPR. With the help of this service, comments of real people are distinguished from spam comments. All comments are sent to a server in the USA, where they are analyzed and stored for four days for comparison purposes. If a comment has been classified as spam, the data is stored beyond this time. The data to be stored includes the name entered, the e-mail address, the IP address, the comment content, the referrer, information about the browser used, the computer system and the time of the entry.

Further information on the collection and use of data by Akismet can be found in Automattic’s privacy policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/.

Users are welcome to use pseudonyms or to refrain from entering their name or e-mail address. You can completely prevent the transmission of data by not using our comment system. That would be a shame, but unfortunately we don’t see any other alternatives that work just as effectively.

With the following information we inform you about the contents of our newsletter as well as the registration, dispatch and statistical evaluation procedures and your rights of objection. By subscribing to our newsletter, you declare your agreement with the receipt and the described procedures.

Content of the newsletter: We send newsletters, e-mails and other electronic notifications containing advertising information (hereinafter referred to as “newsletter”) only with the consent of the recipient or legal permission. If the contents of the newsletter are specifically described within the scope of registration, they are decisive for the consent of the user. In addition, our newsletters contain information about our services and us.

Double opt-in and logging: The registration to our newsletter follows a so-called double opt-in procedure. This means that you will receive an e-mail after your registration in which you will be asked to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that nobody can register with foreign e-mail addresses. The registrations for the newsletter are logged in order to be able to prove the registration process according to the legal requirements. This includes the storage of the registration and confirmation time, as well as the IP address. Likewise the changes of your data stored with the dispatch service provider are logged.

Registration data: To subscribe to the newsletter, it is sufficient to enter your e-mail address. Optionally, we ask you to enter a name in the newsletter for the purpose of addressing you personally.

The dispatch of the newsletter and the performance measurement associated with it is based on the consent of the recipients pursuant to Art. 6 Par. 1 lit. a, Art. 7 GDPR in conjunction with § 107 Par. 2 TKG (German Telecommunications Act) or on legal permission pursuant to § 107 Par. 2 and 3 TKG (German Telecommunications Act).

The registration procedure is recorded on the basis of our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 Par. 1 lit. f GDPR. Our interest is directed towards the use of a user-friendly and secure newsletter system that serves our business interests as well as the expectations of the users and furthermore allows us to provide evidence of consent.

Cancellation/revocation – You can cancel the receipt of our newsletter at any time, i.e. revoke your consent. You will find a link to cancel the newsletter at the end of each newsletter. We may store the unsubscribed addresses for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests before deleting them in order to be able to prove a previously given consent. The processing of this data is limited to the purpose of a possible defence against claims. An individual request for deletion is possible at any time, provided that the former existence of a consent is confirmed at the same time.

Newsletter – Dispatch service provider

The newsletter will be sent by the mail service provider “MailChimp”, a newsletter mailing platform of the US provider Rocket Science Group, LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE #5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA. You can view the privacy policy of the shipping service provider here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/. Die Rocket Sci-ence Group LLC d/b/a MailChimp is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee to comply with the European data protection level (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000TO6hAAG&status=Active). The dispatch service provider is used on the basis of our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR and an data processing agreement pursuant to Art. 28 Para. 3 S. 1 GDPR.

The dispatch service provider can use the recipient’s data in pseudonymous form, i.e. without allocation to a user, to optimise or improve its own services, e.g. for the technical optimisation of dispatch and the presentation of the newsletter or for statistical purposes. However, the dispatch service provider does not use the data of our newsletter recipients to write to them itself or to pass the data on to third parties.

Newsletter – Success measurement

The newsletters contain a so-called “web-beacon”, i.e. a file the size of a pixel, which is retrieved from our server or, if we use a dispatch service provider, from its server when the newsletter is opened. Within the scope of this retrieval, technical information such as information about the browser and your system, as well as your IP address and time of retrieval are first collected.

This information is used for the technical improvement of the services based on the technical data or the target groups and their reading behaviour based on their retrieval locations (which can be determined with the help of the IP address) or access times. The statistical surveys also include determining whether the newsletters are opened, when they are opened and which links are clicked. For technical reasons, this information can be assigned to the individual newsletter recipients. It is, however, neither our endeavour nor, if used, that of the dispatch service provider to observe individual users. Rather, the evaluations serve us to recognize the reading habits of our users and to adapt our content to them or to send different content according to the interests of our users.

Jetpack (WordPress Stats)

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer in the sense of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we use the Plugin Jetpack (here the subfunction “Wordpress Stats”), which includes a tool for statistical evaluation of visitor access and is made available by Automattic Inc., 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA. It uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site.

The information generated by the cookie about your use of this online offer is stored on a server in the USA. User profiles can be created from the processed data, whereby these are only used for analysis and not for advertising purposes. Further information can be found in Automattic’s privacy policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/ and information on Jetpack cookies: https://jetpack.com/support/cookies/.

Google Universal Analytics

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer in the sense of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we use Google Analytics, a web analysis service of Google LLC (“Google”). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about users’ use of the online offer is generally transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.

Google is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&status=Active).

Google will use this information on our behalf to evaluate the use of our online offer by users, to compile reports on the activities within this online offer and to provide us with other services associated with the use of this online offer and the Internet. Pseudonymous user profiles can be created from the processed data.

We use Google Analytics in the form of “universal analytics”. “Universal Analytics” refers to a Google Analytics procedure in which user analysis is performed on the basis of a pseudonymous user ID and a pseudonymous profile of the user is thus created with information from the use of various devices (so-called “cross-device tracking”).

We only use Google Analytics with enabled IP anonymization. This means that the IP address of the user is shortened by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there.

The IP address transmitted by the user’s browser is not merged with other Google data. Users may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on their browser, they may also refuse the collection of the data generated by the cookie and related to their use of the online offer by Google as well as the processing of this data by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available from the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

Further information on the use of data by Google, setting and objection options can be found in Google’s privacy policy (https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads) and in the settings for the display of advertising by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated).

The personal data of the users will be deleted or anonymized after 14 months.

Google-Re/Marketing-Services

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer in the sense of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we make use of the marketing and remarketing services (“Google Marketing Services”) of Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA, (“Google”).

Google’s marketing services allow us to display advertisements for and on our website in a more targeted manner to present users only with ads that match their interests. If, for example, a user is shown ads for products in which he or she has been interested on other websites, this is referred to as “remarketing”. For these purposes, when you visit our and other websites on which Google marketing services are active, Google executes a code directly from Google and (re)marketing tags (invisible graphics or code, also known as “web beacons”) are incorporated into the website. With their help, an individual cookie, i.e. a small file, is stored on the user’s device (comparable technologies can also be used instead of cookies). Cookies can be set by various domains, including google.com, doubleclick.net, invitemedia.com, admeld.com, googlesyndication.com or googleadservices.com. In this file it is noted which websites the user has visited, which contents he has been interested in and which offers he has clicked, furthermore technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, visiting time as well as further information about the use of the online offer. The IP address of the user is also recorded, whereby we inform within the scope of Google Analytics that the IP address within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area is shortened and only in exceptional cases completely transferred to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. The IP address will not be merged with data of the user within other Google offers. Google may also link the above-mentioned information to such information from other sources. If the user subsequently visits other websites, the ads tailored to the user’s interests may be displayed.

User data is processed pseudonymously within the framework of Google marketing services. This means, for example, that Google does not store and process the name or address of the user, but processes the relevant data cookie-related within pseudonymous user profiles. This means that, from Google’s point of view, the ads are not managed and displayed for a specifically identified person, but for the cookie holder, regardless of who the cookie holder is. This does not apply if a user has expressly permitted Google to process the data without this pseudonymisation. The information Google Marketing Services collects about users is transmitted to Google and stored on Google’s servers in the United States.

One of the Google marketing services we use is the online advertising program “Google AdWords”. In the case of Google AdWords, each AdWords customer receives a different “conversion cookie”. Cookies can therefore not be tracked via the websites of AdWords customers. The information collected through the cookie is used to generate conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have opted for conversion tracking. AdWords customers learn the total number of users who clicked on their ad and were directed to a page with a conversion tracking tag. However, you will not receive any information that personally identifies users.

We may use the Google marketing service “AdSense” to include advertisements from third parties. AdSense uses cookies to enable Google and its partner sites to serve ads based on users’ visits to this site or other sites on the Internet.

We may also use the “Google Tag Manager” to integrate and manage the Google analytics and marketing services on our website.

You can find out more about Google’s use of data for marketing purposes on the overview page: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads. Google’s privacy policy is available at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy.

If you wish to opt-out of interest-based advertising by Google marketing services, you may use the setting and opt-out and options provided by Google: https://www.google.com/ads/preferences.

Facebook pixel, custom audiences and Facebook conversion

Due to our legitimate interests in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer and for the purpose of these interests, the so-called “Facebook pixel” of the social network Facebook, which is operated by Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA, or if you are resident in the EU, Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland (“Facebook”), is used within our online service.

Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thereby provides a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active).

With the help of the Facebook pixel, Facebook is on the one hand able to determine the visitors of our online offer as a target group for the presentation of advertisements (so-called “Facebook-Ads”). Accordingly, we use the Facebook pixel to display the Facebook ads placed by us only to Facebook users who have shown an interest in our online offer or who have certain characteristics (e.g. interests in certain topics or products that are determined on the basis of the websites visited) that we transmit to Facebook (so-called “custom audiences”). Using Facebook pixels, we also wish to ensure that our Facebook ads correspond to the potential interest of users and are not annoying. The Facebook pixel also enables us to track the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes by seeing whether users were referred to our website after clicking on a Facebook ad (“conversion”).

Facebook processes the data in accordance with the Facebook Data Usage Policy. Accordingly, general information on the presentation of Facebook ads is contained in Facebook’s Data Usage Policy: https://www.facebook.com/policy.php. Specific information and details about Facebook pixels and how they work can be found in the Facebook help section: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/651294705016616.

You may object to the Facebook pixel collection and use of your data to display Facebook ads. To control what types of ads you see within Facebook, you can go to the page set up by Facebook and follow the instructions on the settings for usage-based ads: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab. The settings are platform-independent, i.e. they are applied to all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.

You may also object to the use of cookies for the purpose of reach measurement and advertising purposes via the Network Advertising Initiative’s opt-out page (https://optout.networkadvertising.org/) and the U.S. website (https://www.aboutads.info/choices) or the European website (https://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/).

Online presences in social media

We maintain online presences within social networks and platforms in order to be able to communicate with customers, interested parties and users who are active there and to inform them about our services. When calling up the respective networks and platforms, the terms and conditions and the data processing guidelines of their respective operators apply.

Unless otherwise stated in our data privacy statement, we process the data of users who communicate with us within the social networks and platforms, e.g. write articles on our online presences or send us messages.

Integration of third-party services and content

Within the scope of our online offer, on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR) we use content or service offers from third parties in order to integrate their content and services, such as videos or fonts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “content”).

This always presupposes that the third-party providers of these contents perceive the IP addresses of the users, since they would not be able to send the contents to their browsers without the IP addresses. The IP addresses are therefore required for the presentation of this content. We make every effort to use only those contents whose respective providers only use the IP address to deliver the contents. Third party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as “web beacons”) for statistical or marketing purposes. Pixel tags” can be used to evaluate 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 web pages, visit times and other information about the use of our online offer and may be linked to such information from other sources.

Vimeo

We can integrate the videos of the platform “Vimeo” of the provider Vimeo Inc., Attention: Legal Department, 555 West 18th Street New York, New York 10011, USA. Privacy policy: https://vimeo.com/privacy. We point out that Vimeo may use Google Analytics and refer to the privacy policy (https://www.google.com/policies/privacy) as well as opt-out options for Google Analytics (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en) or the settings of Google for data use for marketing purposes (https://adssettings.google.com/.).

Youtube

We integrate the videos of the platform “YouTube” of the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, opt-out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Google Fonts

We integrate the fonts (“Google Fonts”) of the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, opt-out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Google ReCaptcha

We integrate the function for recognition of bots, e.g. for entries in online forms (“ReCaptcha”) of the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, opt-out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Google Maps

We integrate the maps of the service “Google Maps” of the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. The processed data may include in particular IP addresses and location data of users, which are not collected without their consent (usually within the framework of the settings of their mobile devices). The data may be processed in the USA. Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, opt-out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Using Facebook social plugins

On the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimisation and economic operation of our online offer in the sense of Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f. GDPR), we make use of social plugins (“plugins”) of the social network facebook.com, which is operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland (“Facebook”). The plugins can display interaction elements or content (e.g. videos, graphics or text contributions) and can be recognized by one of the Facebook logos (white “f” on a blue tile, the term “Like” or a “thumb up” sign) or are marked with the addition “Facebook social plugin”. The list and appearance of the Facebook social plugins can be viewed here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/.

Facebook is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC&status=Active).

When a user calls a function of this online offer that contains such a plugin, his device establishes a direct connection with the Facebook servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted directly from Facebook to the user’s device and integrated into the online offer by the user. User profiles can be created from the processed data. We therefore have no influence on the extent of the data that Facebook collects with the help of this plugin and therefore inform the user according to our state of knowledge.

Due to the integrated plugins, Facebook receives the information that a user has called up the corresponding page of the online offer. If the user is logged in to Facebook, Facebook can assign the visit to his Facebook account. When users interact with the plug-ins, for example by clicking the Like button or commenting, the corresponding information is transferred directly from your device to Facebook and stored there. If a user is not a member of Facebook, it is still possible for Facebook to find out his or her IP address and save it. According to Facebook, only an anonymous IP address is stored in Germany.

The purpose and scope of the data collection and the further processing and use of the data by Facebook, as well as the related rights and setting options to protect the privacy of users, can be found in Facebook’s privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

If a user is a Facebook member and does not want Facebook to collect information about him or her via this online offer and link it to the member data stored on Facebook, he or she must log out of Facebook and delete his or her cookies before using our online offer. Further settings and objections to the use of data for advertising purposes are possible within the Facebook profile settings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads or via the US page https://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU page https://www.youronlinechoices.com/. The settings are platform-independent, i.e. they are adopted for all devices, such as desktop computers or mobile devices.

Twitter

Functions and contents of the Twitter service, offered by Twitter Inc., 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, San Francis-co, CA 94103, USA, can be integrated into our online offer. This may include, for example, content such as images, videos or text and buttons with which users can express their interest in the content or the authors of the content or subscribe to our contributions. If the users are members of the Twitter platform, Twitter can assign the call of the above-mentioned contents and functions to the profiles of the users there. Twitter is certified under the Privacy Shield Agreement and thus offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000TORzAAO&status=Active). Privacy policy: https://twitter.com/de/privacy, Opt-out: https://twitter.com/personalization.

Instagram

Within our online offer, functions and contents of the service Instagram, offered by Instagram Inc., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA, can be integrated. This may include, for example, content such as images, videos or text and buttons with which users can express their interest in the content or the authors of the content or subscribe to our contributions. If the users are members of the Instagram platform, Instagram can assign the call of the above contents and functions to the user profiles there. Instagram privacy policy: https://instagram.com/about/legal/privacy/.