Data collection on our website

Cookies

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

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

You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie.

Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

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

Server log files

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

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

These data will not be combined with data from other sources. The basis for data processing is Art. 6 (1) (f) DSGVO, which allows the processing of data to fulfill a contract or for measures preliminary to a contract.

Contact form

Should you send us questions via the contact form, we will collect the data entered on the form, including the contact details you provide, to answer your question and any follow-up questions. We do not share this information without your permission. We will, therefore, process any data you enter onto the contact form only with your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time. An informal e-mail making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

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

Registration on this website or our partner portals

You can register on our website in order to access additional functions offered here. The input data will only be used for the purpose of using the respective site or service for which you have registered. The mandatory information requested during registration must be provided in full. Otherwise, we will reject your registration.

To inform you about important changes such as those within the scope of our site or technical changes, we will use the e-mail address specified during registration. We will process the data provided during registration only based on your consent per Art. 6 (1)(a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time with future effect. An informal email making this request is sufficient. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

We will continue to store the data collected during registration for as long as you remain registered on our website. Statutory retention periods remain unaffected.

Social media

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Analytics and advertising

Google Analytics This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service. It is operated by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Google Analytics uses so-called "cookies". These are text files that are stored on your computer and that allow an analysis of the use of the website by you. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

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

IP anonymization We have activated the IP anonymization feature on this website. Your IP address will be shortened by Google within the European Union or other parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area prior to transmission to the United States. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address sent to a Google server in the US and shortened there. Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website to evaluate your use of the website, to compile reports on website activity, and to provide other services regarding website activity and Internet usage for the website operator. The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with any other data held by Google.

Browser plugin You can prevent these cookies being stored by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser. However, we wish to point out that doing so may mean you will not be able to enjoy the full functionality of this website. You can also prevent the data generated by cookies about your use of the website (incl. your IP address) from being passed to Google, and the processing of these data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link:https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

Objecting to the collection of data You can prevent the collection of your data by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set to prevent your data from being collected on future visits to this site: Disable Google Analytics .

For more information about how Google Analytics handles user data, see Google's privacy policy: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en.

Outsourced data processing We have entered into an agreement with Google for the outsourcing of our data processing and fully implement the strict requirements of the German data protection authorities when using Google Analytics.

Demographic data collection by Google AnalyticsThis website uses Google Analytics' demographic features. This allows reports to be generated containing statements about the age, gender, and interests of site visitors. This data comes from interest-based advertising from Google and third-party visitor data. This collected data cannot be attributed to any specific individual person. You can disable this feature at anytime by adjusting the ads settings in your Google account or you can forbid the collection of your data by Google Analytics as described in the section "Refusal of data collection".

Google Analytics RemarketingOur websites use the features of Google Analytics Remarketing combined with the cross-device capabilities of Google AdWords and DoubleClick. This service is provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043,USA.

This feature makes it possible to link target audiences for promotional marketing created with Google Analytics Remarketing to the cross device capabilities of Google AdWords and Google DoubleClick. This allows advertising to be displayed based on your personal interests, identified based on your previous usage and surfing behavior on one device (e.g. your mobile phone), on other devices (such as a tablet or computer).

Once you have given your consent, Google will associate your web and app browsing history with your Google Account for this purpose. That way, any device that signs in to your Google Account can use the same personalized promotional messaging.

To support this feature, Google Analytics collects Google authenticated IDs of users that are temporarily linked to our Google Analytics data to define and create audiences for cross-device ad promotion.

You can permanently opt out of cross-device remarketing/targeting by turning off personalized advertising in your Google Account; follow this link: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/onweb/.

The aggregation of the data collected in your Google Account data is based solely on your consent, which you may give or withdraw from Google per Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. For data collection operations not merged into your Google Account (for example, because you do not have a Google Account or have objected to the merge), the collection of data is based on Art. 6(1) (f) DSGVO. The website operator has a legitimate interest in analyzing anonymous user behavior for promotional purposes. For more information and the Google Privacy Policy, go to: https://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/.

Google AdWords and Google Conversion TrackingThis website uses Google AdWords. AdWords is an online advertising program from Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheater Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States ("Google").

As part of Google AdWords, we use so-called conversion tracking. When you click on an ad served by Google, a conversion tracking cookie is set. Cookies are small text files that your internet browser stores on your computer. These cookies expire after 30 days and are not used for personal identification of the user. Should the user visit certain pages of the website and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and the website can tell that the user clicked on the ad and proceeded to that page. Each Google AdWords advertiser has a different cookie. Thus, cookies cannot be tracked using the website of an AdWords advertiser. The information obtained using the conversion cookie is used to create conversion statistics for the AdWords advertisers who have opted for conversion tracking. Customers are told the total number of users who clicked on their ad and were redirected to a conversion tracking tag page. However, advertisers do not obtain any information that can be used to personally identify users. If you do not want to participate in tracking, you can opt-out of this by easily disabling the Google Conversion Tracking cookie by changing your browser settings. In doing so, you will not be included in the conversion tracking statistics.

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

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

You can configure your browser to inform you about the use of cookies so that you can decide on a case-by-case basis whether to accept or reject a cookie.

Alternatively, your browser can be configured to automatically accept cookies under certain conditions or to always reject them, or to automatically delete cookies when closing your browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of this website.

Facebook PixelOur website measures conversions using visitor action pixels from Facebook, Facebook Inc., 1601 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA ("Facebook"). These allow the behavior of site visitors to be tracked after they click on a Facebook ad to reach the provider's website. This allows an analysis of the effectiveness of Facebook advertisements for statistical and market research purposes and their future optimization.

The data collected is anonymous to us as operators of this website and we cannot use it to draw any conclusions about our users' identities. However, the data are stored and processed by Facebook, which may make a connection to your Facebook profile and which may use the data for its own advertising purposes, as stipulated in the Facebook privacy policy . This will allow Facebook to display ads both on Facebook and on third-party sites. We have no control over how this data is used. Check out Facebook's privacy policy to learn more about protecting your privacy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

You can also deactivate the custom audiences remarketing feature in the Ads Settings section at https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. You will first need to log into Facebook.

If you do not have a Facebook account, you can opt out of usage-based advertising from Facebook on the website of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/.

Newsletter

MailChimpThis website uses the services of MailChimp to send newsletters. This service is provided by Rocket Science Group LLC, 675Ponce De Leon Ave NE, Suite 5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA.

MailChimp is a service which organizes and analyzes the distribution of newsletters. If you provide data (e.g. your e-mail address) to subscribe to our newsletter, it will be stored on MailChimp servers in the USA.

MailChimp is certified under the EU-US Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield is an agreement between the European Union (EU)and the US to ensure compliance with European privacy standards in the United States.

We use MailChimp to analyze our newsletter campaigns. When you open an email sent by MailChimp, a file included in the email (called a web beacon) connects to MailChimp's servers in the United States. This allows us to determine if a newsletter message has been opened and which links you click on. In addition, technical information is collected (e.g. time of retrieval, IP address, browser type, and operating system). This information cannot be assigned to a specific recipient. Itis used exclusively for the statistical analysis of our newsletter campaigns. The results of these analyses can be used to better tailor future newsletters to your interests.

If you do not want your usage of the newsletter to be analyzed by MailChimp, you will have to unsubscribe from the newsletter. For this purpose, we provide a link in every newsletter we send. You can also unsubscribe from the newsletter directly on the website.

Data processing is based on Art. 6 (1) (a) DSGVO. You may revoke your consent at any time by unsubscribing to the newsletter. The data processed before we receive your request may still be legally processed.

The data provided when registering for the newsletter will be used to distribute the newsletter until you cancel your subscription when said data will be deleted from our servers and those of MailChimp. Data we have stored for other purposes(e.g. email addresses for the members area) remains unaffected.

For details, see the MailChimp privacy policy at https://mailchimp.com/legal/terms/.

Completion of a data processing agreementWe have entered into a data processing agreement with MailChimp, in which we require MailChimp to protect the data of our customers and not to disclose said data to third parties. This agreement may be viewed at the following link: https://mailchimp.com/legal/forms/data-processing-agreement/sample-agreement/.

Plugins and tools

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

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

If your browser does not support web fonts, a standard font is used by your computer. Further information about handling user data, can be found at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq and in Google's privacy policy at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/.

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

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

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

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

Information