Privacy Policy

Table of contents

Privacy Policy Introduction and Overview

We have written this privacy policy (version 13.02.2023-122408546) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (data for short) we as the controller – and the processors commissioned by us (e.g. providers) – process, will process in the future and what legal options you have. The terms used are to be considered gender-neutral.
In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about any of your personal data we process.

Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. However, this privacy policy is intended to describe the most important things to you as simply and transparently as possible. So long as it aids transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly manner, links to further information are provided and graphics are used. We are thus informing in clear and simple language that we only process personal data in the context of our business activities if there is a legal basis for it. This is certainly not possible with brief, unclear and legal-technical statements, as is often standard on the internet when it comes to data protection. I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative. Maybe you will also find some information that you have not been familiar with.
If you still have questions, we kindly ask you to contact the responsible body named below or in the imprint, follow the existing links and look at further information on third-party sites. You can of course also find our contact details in the imprint.

Scope

This privacy policy applies to all personal data processed by our company and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (processors). With the term personal data, we refer to information within the meaning of Article 4 No. 1 GDPR, such as the name, email address and postal address of a person. The processing of personal data ensures that we can offer and invoice our services and products, be it online or offline. The scope of this privacy policy includes:

  • all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate
  • Social media presences and email communication
  • mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

In short: This privacy policy applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in a structured manner by the company via the channels mentioned. Should we enter into legal relations with you outside of these channels, we will inform you separately if necessary.

Legal bases

In the following privacy policy, we provide you with transparent information on the legal principles and regulations, i.e. the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, which enable us to process personal data.
Whenever EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of April 27, 2016. You can of course access the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU online at EUR-Lex, the gateway to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679.

We only process your data if at least one of the following conditions applies:

  1. Consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. An example would be the storage of data you entered into a contact form.
  2. Contract (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR): We process your data in order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you. For example, if we conclude a sales contract with you, we need personal information in advance.
  3. Legal obligation (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. c GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we will process your data. For example, we are legally required to keep invoices for our bookkeeping. These usually contain personal data.
  4. Legitimate interests (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR): In the case of legitimate interests that do not restrict your basic rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we have to process certain data in order to be able to operate our website securely and economically. Therefore, the processing is a legitimate interest.

Other conditions such as making recordings in the interest of the public, the exercise of official authority as well as the protection of vital interests do not usually occur with us. Should such a legal basis be relevant, it will be disclosed in the appropriate place.

In addition to the EU regulation, national laws also apply:

  • In Austria this is the Austrian Data Protection Act (Datenschutzgesetz), in short DSG.
  • In Germany this is the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz), in short BDSG.

Should other regional or national laws apply, we will inform you about them in the following sections.

Storage Period

It is a general criterion for us to store personal data only for as long as is absolutely necessary for the provision of our services and products. This means that we delete personal data as soon as any reason for the data processing no longer exists. In some cases, we are legally obliged to keep certain data stored even after the original purpose no longer exists, such as for accounting purposes.

If you want your data to be deleted or if you want to revoke your consent to data processing, the data will be deleted as soon as possible, provided there is no obligation to continue its storage.

We will inform you below about the specific duration of the respective data processing, provided we have further information.

Rights in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation

In accordance with Articles 13, 14 of the GDPR, we inform you about the following rights you have to ensure fair and transparent processing of data:

  • According to Article 15 DSGVO, you have the right to information about whether we are processing data about you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to know the following information:
    • for what purpose we are processing;
    • the categories, i.e. the types of data that are processed;
    • who receives this data and if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;
    • how long the data will be stored;
    • the existence of the right to rectification, erasure or restriction of processing and the right to object to processing;
    • that you can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
    • the origin of the data if we have not collected it from you;
    • Whether profiling is carried out, i.e. whether data is automatically evaluated to arrive at a personal profile of you.
  • You have a right to rectification of data according to Article 16 GDPR, which means that we must correct data if you find errors.
  • You have the right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) according to Article 17 GDPR, which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.
  • According to Article 18 of the GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but not use it further.
  • According to Article 20 of the GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that we will provide you with your data in a standard format upon request.
  • According to Article 21 DSGVO, you have the right to object, which entails a change in processing after enforcement.
    • If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you may object to the processing. We will then check as soon as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
    • If data is used to conduct direct advertising, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may then no longer use your data for direct marketing.
    • If data is used to conduct profiling, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may no longer use your data for profiling thereafter.
  • According to Article 22 of the GDPR, you may have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example, profiling).
  • You have the right to lodge a complaint under Article 77 of the GDPR. This means that you can complain to the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the data processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

In short: you have rights – do not hesitate to contact the responsible party listed above with us!

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or your data protection rights have been violated in any other way, you can complain to the supervisory authority. For Austria, this is the data protection authority, whose website can be found at https://www.dsb.gv.at/. In Germany, there is a data protection officer for each federal state. For more information, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI). The following local data protection authority is responsible for our company:

Austria Data protection authority

Manager: Mag. Dr. Andrea Jelinek

Address: Barichgasse 40-42, 1030 Wien

Phone number.: +43 1 52 152-0

E-mail address:
dsb@dsb.gv.at

Website:
https://www.dsb.gv.at/

Security of data processing operations

In order to protect personal data, we have implemented both technical and organisational measures. We encrypt or pseudonymise personal data wherever this is possible. Thus, we make it as difficult as we can for third parties to extract personal information from our data.

Article 25 of the GDPR refers to “data protection by technical design and by data protection-friendly default” which means that both software (e.g. forms) and hardware (e.g. access to server rooms) appropriate safeguards and security measures shall always be placed. If applicable, we will outline the specific measures below.

TLS encryption with https

The terms TLS, encryption and https sound very technical, which they are indeed. We use HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) to securely transfer data on the Internet.
This means that the entire transmission of all data from your browser to our web server is secured – nobody can “listen in”.

We have thus introduced an additional layer of security and meet privacy requirements through technology design Article 25 Section 1 GDPR). With the use of TLS (Transport Layer Security), which is an encryption protocol for safe data transfer on the internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential information.
You can recognise the use of this safeguarding tool by the little lock-symbol , which is situated in your browser’s top left corner in the left of the internet address (e.g. examplepage.uk), as well as by the display of the letters https (instead of http) as a part of our web address.
If you want to know more about encryption, we recommend you to do a Google search for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure wiki” to find good links to further information.

Communications

Communications Overview

👥 Affected parties: Anyone who communicates with us via phone, email or online form

📓 Processed data: e. g. telephone number, name, email address or data entered in forms. You can find more details on this under the respective form of contact

🤝 Purpose: handling communication with customers, business partners, etc.

📅 Storage duration: for the duration of the business case and the legal requirements

⚖️ Legal basis: Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), Article 6 (1) (b) GDPR (contract), Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests)

If you contact us and communicate with us via phone, email or online form, your personal data may be processed.

The data will be processed for handling and processing your request and for the related business transaction. The data is stored for this period of time or for as long as is legally required.

Affected persons

The above-mentioned processes affect all those who seek contact with us via the communication channels we provide.

Telephone

When you call us, the call data is stored in a pseudonymised form on the respective terminal device, as well as by the telecommunications provider that is being used. In addition, data such as your name and telephone number may be sent via email and stored for answering your inquiries. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Email

If you communicate with us via email, your data is stored on the respective terminal device (computer, laptop, smartphone, …) as well as on the email server. The data will be deleted as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Online forms

If you communicate with us using an online form, your data is stored on our web server and, if necessary, forwarded to our email address. The data will be erased as soon as the business case has ended and the legal requirements allow for its erasure.

Legal bases

Data processing is based on the following legal bases:

  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent): You give us your consent to store your data and to continue to use it for the purposes of the business case;
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR (contract): For the performance of a contract with you or a processor such as a telephone provider, or if we have to process the data for pre-contractual activities, such as preparing an offer;
  • Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests): We want to conduct our customer inquiries and business communication in a professional manner. Thus, certain technical facilities such email programs, Exchange servers and mobile network operators are necessary to efficiently operate our communications.

Cookies

Cookies Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: depending on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.

📓 Processed data: depends on the cookie used. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

📅 Storage duration: can vary from hours to years, depending on the respective cookie

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are 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.

Whenever you surf the Internet, you are using a browser. Common browsers are for example, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text-files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

It is important to note that cookies are very useful little helpers. Almost every website uses cookies. More precisely, these are HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other uses. HTTP cookies are small files that our website stores on your computer. These cookie files are automatically placed into the cookie-folder, which is the “brain” of your browser. A cookie consists of a name and a value. Moreover, to define a cookie, one or multiple attributes must be specified.

Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you re-open our website to visit again, your browser submits these “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are familiar to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, while in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in one single file.

The following graphic shows a possible interaction between a web browser such as Chrome and the web server. The web browser requests a website and receives a cookie back from the server. The browser then uses this again as soon as another page is requested.

HTTP cookie interaction between browser and web server

There are both first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created directly by our site, while third-party cookies are created by partner-websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie must be evaluated individually, as each cookie stores different data. The expiry 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 malware. Cookies also cannot access your PC’s information.

This is an example of how cookie-files can look:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152122408546-9
Purpose: Differentiation between website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

A browser should support these minimum sizes:

  • At least 4096 bytes per cookie
  • At least 50 cookies per domain
  • At least 3000 cookies in total

Which types of cookies are there?

The exact cookies that we use, depend on the used services, which will be outlined in the following sections of this privacy policy. Firstly, we will briefly focus on the different types of HTTP-cookies.

There are 4 different types of cookies:

Essential cookies
 These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functions of a website. They are needed when a user for example puts a product into their shopping cart, then continues surfing on different websites and comes back later in order to proceed to the checkout. These cookies ensure the shopping cart does not get deleted, even if the user closes their browser window.

Purposive cookies
 These cookies collect information about user behaviour and whether the user receives any error messages. Furthermore, these cookies record the website’s loading time as well as its behaviour in different browsers.

Target-orientated cookies
 These cookies ensure better user-friendliness. Thus, information such as previously entered locations, fonts sizes or data in forms stay stored.

Advertising cookies
These cookies are also known as targeting cookies. They serve the purpose of delivering customised advertisements to the user. This can be very practical, but also rather annoying.

Upon your first visit to a website you are usually asked which of these cookie-types you want to accept. Furthermore, this decision will of course also be stored in a cookie.

If you want to learn more about cookies and do not mind 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”.

Purpose of processing via cookies

The purpose ultimately depends on the respective cookie. You can find out more details below or from the software manufacturer that sets the cookie.

Which data are processed?

Cookies are little helpers for a wide variety of tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell which data is generally stored in cookies, but in the privacy policy below we will inform you on what data is processed or stored.

Storage period of cookies

The storage period depends on the respective cookie and is further specified below. Some cookies are erased after less than an hour, while others can remain on a computer for several years.

You can also influence the storage duration yourself. You can manually erase all cookies at any time in your browser (also see “Right of objection” below). Furthermore, the latest instance cookies based on consent will be erased is after you withdraw your consent. The legality of storage will remain unaffected until then.

Right of objection – how can I erase cookies?

You can decide for yourself how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of which service or website the cookies originate from, you always have the option of erasing, deactivating or only partially accepting cookies. You can for example block third-party cookies but allow all other cookies.

If you want to find out which cookies have been stored in your browser, or if you want to change or erase cookie settings, you can find this option in your browser settings:

Chrome: Clear, enable and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari

Firefox: Clear cookies and site data in Firefox

Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies

Microsoft Edge: Delete cookies in Microsoft Edge

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser in a way to notify you whenever a cookie is about to be set. This gives you the opportunity to manually decide to either permit or deny the placement of every single cookie. This procedure varies depending on the browser. Therefore, it might be best for you to search for the instructions in Google. If you are using Chrome, you could for example put the search term “delete cookies Chrome” or “deactivate cookies Chrome” into Google.

Legal basis

The so-called “cookie directive” has existed since 2009. It states that the storage of cookies requires your consent (Article 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR). Within countries of the EU, however, the reactions to these guidelines still vary greatly. In Austria, however, this directive was implemented in Section 96 (3) of the Telecommunications Act (TKG). In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this guideline was largely implemented in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG).

For absolutely necessary cookies, even if no consent has been given, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to offer our visitors a pleasant user experience on our website. For this, certain cookies often are absolutely necessary.

This is exclusively done with your consent, unless absolutely necessary cookies are used. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (a) of the GDPR.

In the following sections you will find more detail on the use of cookies, provided the used software does use cookies.

Registration

Registration Overview

👥 Affected parties: Anyone who registers to create an account with us, and logs in to use the account.
📓 Processed data: Personal data such as email address, name, password and other data that is collected during registration, login and account use.
🤝 Purpose: For the provision of our services, as well as to communicate with clients or customers in the scope of our services.

📅 Storage period: As long as the company account associated with the texts exists, plus a period of usually 3 years.
⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 letter b GDPR (contract), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 letter f GDPR (legitimate interests)

If you register with us and provide any personal data, this data may be processed, possibly along with your IP address. Below you can explore what we mean by the rather broad term “personal data”.

Please only enter the data we need for the registration. In case you are registering on behalf of a third party, please only enter data for which you have the approval of the party you are registering for. If possible, use a secure password that you don’t use anywhere else and an email address that you check regularly.

In the following, we will inform you about the exact type of data processing we do. After all, we want you to feel at ease with the services we provide!

What is a registration?

When you register, we retain certain of your data in order to make it easy for you to log in with us online and use your account. An account with us has the advantage that you don’t have to re-enter everything every time. It saves time and effort and ultimately prevents any issues with the provision of our services.

Why do we process personal data?

In short, we process personal data to make account registration and usage possible for you.
If we didn’t do this, you would have to enter all your data each time, wait for our approval and then enter everything again. This strenuous process would probably not only irritate us a little, but also many of our dear clients and customers.

Which data is processed?

Any data that you provided during registration or login and any data that you may enter as part of managing your account data.

During registration, we process the following types of data:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email address
  • Company name
  • Street + house number
  • Residence
  • Postcode
  • Country

During your registration, we process any data you enter, such as your username and password, along with data that is collected in the background such as your device information and IP addresses.

When using your account, we process any data you enter while using the account, as well as any data that is created while you use our services.

Storage time

We store the entered data for at least as long as the account associated with the data exists with us and is in use – and as long as there are contractual obligations between you and us. In case the contract ends, we retain the data until the respective claims get time-barred. Moreover, we store your data as long as we are subject to legal storage obligations, if applicable. Following that, we keep any accounting records (invoices, contract documents, account statements, etc.) of the contract for 10 years (§ 147 AO) and other relevant business documents for 6 years (§ 247 HGB) after accrual.

Right to object

You have registered, entered data and want to revoke the data processing? Not a problem. As you can see above, you retain this right under the General Data Protection Regulation also at and after registration, login or account creation with us. Contact the Data Protection Officer above to exercise your rights. If you already have an account with us, you can easily view and manage your data and texts in your account.

Legal Basis

By completing the registration process, you enter into a pre-contractual agreement with us, with the intention to conclude a contract of use for our platform (although there is no automatic payment obligation). You invest time to enter data and register and in return, we offer you our services after you log on to our system and view your customer account. We also meet our contractual obligations. Finally, we need to be able to email registered users about important changes. Article 6(1)(b) GDPR (implementation of pre-contractual measures, fulfilment of a contract) applies.

Where applicable, we will ask for your consent, e.g. in case you voluntarily provide more data than is absolutely necessary, or in case we may ask you if we may send you advertising. Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent) applies in this matter.

We also have a legitimate interest in knowing who who our clients or customers are, in order to get in touch if required. We also need to know who is using our services and whether they are being used in accordance with our terms of use, i.e. Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interests) applies in this matter.

Note: the following sections are to be ticked by users (as required):

Registration with real names

Since business operations require us to know who our clients or customers are, registration is only possible with your real name (full name) and not with a pseudonym.

Registration with pseudonyms

You can use a pseudonym for the registration, which means you don’t have to register with your real name. This ensures that your real name cannot be processed by us.

Storage of the IP address

During registration, login and account use, we store your IP address for security reasons in order to be able to determine legitimate use.

Public Profile

User profiles are publicly visible, i.e. parts of the profiles can also be viewed on the Internet without the need to enter a username and password.

Two Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two Factor Authentication (2FA) offers additional security when logging in, as it prevents you from logging in without a smartphone, for example. This technical measure to secure your account protects you against the loss of data or unauthorised access, even if your username and password were leaked. During your registration process, login or within the account itself y
ou can find out which 2FA is used.

Web hosting

Web hosting Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: professional hosting of the website and security of operations

📓 Processed data: IP address, time of website visit, browser used and other data. You can find more details on this below or at the respective web hosting provider.

📅 Storage period: dependent on the respective provider, but usually 2 weeks

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web hosting?

Every time you visit a website nowadays, certain information – including personal data – is automatically created and stored, including on this website. This data should be processed as sparingly as possible, and only with good reason. By website, we mean the entirety of all websites on your domain, i.e. everything from the homepage to the very last subpage (like this one here). By domain we mean example.uk or examplepage.com.

When you want to view a website on a screen, you use a program called a web browser. You probably know the names of some web browsers: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.

The web browser has to connect to another computer which stores the website’s code: the web server. Operating a web server is complicated and time-consuming, which is why this is usually done by professional providers. They offer web hosting and thus ensure the reliable and flawless storage of website data.

Whenever the browser on your computer establishes a connection (desktop, laptop, smartphone) and whenever data is being transferred to and from the web server, personal data may be processed. After all, your computer stores data, and the web server also has to retain the data for a period of time in order to ensure it can operate properly.

Illustration:

Browser and Webserver

Why do we process personal data?

The purposes of data processing are:

  1. Professional hosting of the website and operational security
  2. To maintain the operational as well as IT security
  3. Anonymous evaluation of access patterns to improve our offer, and if necessary, for prosecution or the pursuit of claims.li>

Which data are processed?

Even while you are visiting our website, our web server, that is the computer on which this website is saved, usually automatically saves data such as

  • the full address (URL) of the accessed website (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/examplesubpage.html?tid=122408546)
  • browser and browser version (e.g. Chrome 87)
  • the operating system used (e.g. Windows 10)
  • the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL) (e. g. https://www.examplepage.uk/icamefromhere.html/)
  • the host name and the IP address of the device from the website is being accessed from (e.g. COMPUTERNAME and 194.23.43.121)
  • date and time
  • in so-called web server log files

How long is the data stored?

Generally, the data mentioned above are stored for two weeks and are then automatically deleted. We do not pass these data on to others, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed by the authorities in the event of illegal conduct.

In short: Your visit is logged by our provider (company that runs our website on special computers (servers)), but we do not pass on your data without your consent!

Legal basis

The lawfulness of processing personal data in the context of web hosting is justified in Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (safeguarding of legitimate interests), as the use of professional hosting with a provider is necessary to present the company in a safe and user-friendly manner on the internet, as well as to have the ability to track any attacks and claims, if necessary.

World4You Privacy Policy

We use World4You for our website, which is a web hosting provider among other things. The provider of this service is the Austrian company World4You Internet Services GmbH, Hafenstrasse 35, 4020 Linz, Austria. You can find out more about the data that is processed by using World4You in their Privacy Policy at https://www.world4you.com/en/unternehmen/datenschutzerklaerung.html.

Website Builders Introduction

Website Builders Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: service optimisation

📓 Data processed: The data that is being processed includes but is not limited to technical usage information, browser activity, clickstream activity, session heat maps, contact details, IP addresses or geographic locations. You can find more details in the Privacy Policy below as well as in the providers’ Privacy Policies.

📅 Storage duration: depends on the provider

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests), Art. 6 (1) lit. a GDPR (consent)

What are website builders?

We use a modular website builder for our website. This is a special form of Content Management System (CMS). Website builders enable website operators to create websites very easily and without any programming knowledge. In many cases, web hosts also offer website builders. Your personal data may be collected, stored and processed if a website builder is being used. In this Privacy Policy, you will find general information about data that is processed by such modular website builder systems. You can find more information in the respective provider’s Privacy Policy.

Why do we use website builders for our website?

The greatest advantage of modular website builders is their ease of use. We want to offer you a clear, simple and nicely designed website that we can easily operate and maintain by ourselves – without needing any external support. Nowadays website builders offer many helpful functions that we can use even without having any programming knowledge. This enables us to design our website according to our wishes and therefore, to give you an informative and pleasant experience on our website.

Which data are stored by website builders?

First of all, the exact data that is stored depends on the website builder that is being used. Each provider processes and collects different data from website visitors. However, technical usage information such as users’ operating system, browser, screen resolution, language and keyboard settings, hosting provider as well as the date of the website visit are usually collected. Moreover, tracking data (e. g. browser activity, clickstream activities, session heat maps, etc.) may also be processed. The same goes for personal data, since data such as contact information e. g. email address, telephone number (if you have provided it), IP address and geographic location data may also be processed and stored. In the respective provider’s Privacy Policy you can find out exactly which of your data is getting stored.

How long and where are the data stored?

Provided that we have any further information on this, we will inform you below about the duration of the data processing associated with the website builder we use. You can find detailed information on this in the provider’s Privacy Policy. Generally, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary to provide our services and products. The provider may store your data according to their own specifications, over which we have no influence.

Right to object

You always retain the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can also contact the responsible parties at the respective website builder system at any time. You can find the corresponding contact details either in our Privacy Policy or on the website of the respective provider.

What is more, in your browser you can clear, disable or manage cookies that providers use for their functions. Depending on the browser you use, this can be done in different ways. Please note, that this may lead to not all functions working as usual anymore.

Legal Bases

We have a legitimate interest in using a website builder system to optimise our online service and present it in an efficient and user-friendly way. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we only use the website builder system if you have consented to it.

If the processing of data is not absolutely necessary for the operation of the website, your data will only be processed on the basis of your consent. This particularly applies to tracking activities. The legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR.

With this Privacy Policy, we have made you more familiar with the most important general information on data processing. If you want to find out more about this, you will find further information – if available – in the following section or in the Privacy Policy of the provider.

WordPress.com Privacy Policy

We use WordPress.com for our website, which is a modular website system. The provider of this service is the American company Automattic Inc., 60 29th Street #343, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.

WordPress.com also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

WordPress.com uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige WordPress.com to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

You can find out more about the data that is processed by using WordPress.com in their Privacy Policy at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

Payment providers

Payment Providers Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: visitors to the website

🤝 Purpose: To enable and optimise the payment process on our website

📓 Processed data: data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.), IP address and contract data

You can find more details on this directly from the payment provider tool that is being used.

📅 Storage period: depending on the payment provider that is being used

⚖️ Legal basis: Art. 6 paragraph 1 lit. b GDPR (performance of a contract)

What is a payment provider?

On our website we use online payment systems, which enable us as well as you to have a secure and smooth payment process available. Among other things, personal data may also be sent to the respective payment provider, where it may also be stored and processed. Payment providers are online payment systems that enable you to place an order via online banking. The payment processing is carried out by the payment provider of your choice. We will then receive information about the payment. This method can be used by any user who has an active online banking account with a PIN and TAN. There are hardly any banks that do not offer or accept such payment methods.

Why do we use payment providers on our website?

With both our website and our embedded online shop, we of course want to offer you the best possible service, so you can feel comfortable on our site and take advantage of our offers. We know that your time is valuable and that payment processing in particular has to work quickly and smoothly. Thus, we offer various payment providers. You can choose your preferred payment provider and pay in the usual way.

Which data are processed?

What exact data that is processed of course depends on the respective payment provider. However, generally data such as name, address, bank details (account number, credit card number, passwords, TANs, etc.) do get stored. This data is necessary for carrying out any transactions. In addition, any contract data and user data, such as when you have visited our website, what content you are interested in or which sub-pages you have clicked, may also be stored. Most payment providers also store your IP address and information about the computer you are using.

Your data is usually stored and processed on the payment providers’ servers. We, so the website operator, do not receive this data. We only get information on whether the payment has gone through or not. For identity and credit checks, it may happen for payment providers to forward data to the appropriate body. The business and privacy policy principles of the respective provider always apply to all payment transactions. Therefore, please always take a look at the general terms and conditions and the privacy policy of the payment provider. You e.g. also have the right to have data erased or rectified at any time. Please contact the respective service provider regarding your rights (right to withdraw, right of access and individual rights).

Duration of data processing

Provided we have further information on this, we will inform you below about the duration of the processing of your data. In general, we only process personal data for as long as is absolutely necessary for providing our services and products. This storage period may be exceeded however, if it is required by law, for example for accounting purposes. We keep any accounting documents of contracts (invoices, contract documents, account statements, etc.) for 10 years (Section 147 AO) and other relevant business documents for 6 years (Section 247 HGB).

Right to object

You always have the right to information, rectification and erasure of your personal data. If you have any questions, you can always contact the person that is responsible for the respective payment provider. You can find contact details for them either in our respective privacy policy or on the relevant payment provider’s website.

You can erase, deactivate or manage cookies in your browser, that payment providers use for their functions. How this works differs a little depending on which browser you are using. Please note, however, that the payment process may then no longer work.

Legal basis

For the processing of contractual or legal relationships (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR), we offer other payment service providers in addition to the conventional banking/credit institutions. In the privacy policy of the individual payment providers (such as Amazon Payments, Apple Pay or Discover) you will find a detailed overview of data processing and data storage. In addition, you can always contact the responsible parties should you have any questions about data protection issues.

Provided it is available, you can find information on the special payment providers in the following sections.

PayPal Privacy Policy

On our website we use the online payment service PayPal. The provider of this service is the American company PayPal Inc. The responsible entity for the European region is the company PayPal Europe (S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg).

PayPal also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

PayPal uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige PayPal to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

You can find out more about the data processed by using PayPal in the Privacy Policy at https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full.

Web Design Introduction

Web Design Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: improvement of user experience

📓 Processed data: depends heavily on the services used. Usually, data such as IP address, technical data, language settings, browser version, screen resolution and browser name are processed. You can find more details directly with the respective web design tools.

📅 Storage duration: depends on the tools used

⚖️ Legal bases: Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Article 6 paragraph 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What is web design?

We use various tools on our website for the purpose of our web design. Contrary to common belief, web design is not just about making our website look nice, but rather also about functionality and performance. But of course, a good-looking website is also a major goal of professional web design. Web design is a part of media design and deals with the visual as well as the structural and functional design of a website. Our aim with our web design is to improve your experience on our site. In web design jargon, this is called User Experience (UX) and usability. User Experience entails all impressions and experiences that website visitors come across on a website. What is more, usability is part of the User Experience, as it determines how user-friendly a website is. This includes the clear structuring of content, subpages or products, along with how quickly and easily the website enables you to find what you are looking for. In order to offer you the best possible experience on our website, we also use so-called third-party web design tools. Therefore, all tools and services that help improve our website’s design are classified under the category “web design”. This may, for example, include fonts, various plugins or other integrated web design functions.

Why do we use web design tools?

The way you absorb information on a website depends very much on its structure, functionality and visual perception. Therefore, good and professional web design has become increasingly important for us. We are constantly working on improving our site as a way of further extending our services for you as a website visitor. Furthermore, a beautiful and functioning website also has economic advantages for us. Needless to say, you will only visit it and take advantage of our offers if you feel completely at ease.

What data is stored by web design tools?

When you visit our website, any web design elements integrated into our pages may process your data. The exact data that is processed depends on the tools used. Below you can see exactly which tools we use for our website. For more information about data processing, we recommend you also read the respective privacy policy of the respective tools. There you can usually find out which data is processed, whether cookies are used and how long the data is stored. Moreover, fonts such as Google Fonts, for example, also automatically transmit information such as your language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name to Google’s servers.

Duration of data processing

Data processing times are very individual and depend on the web design elements used. For example, when cookies are used, the retention period can be as little as a minute, but it may also be a few years. Please make yourself familiar with this topic. You may for example read our general section on cookies as well as the Privacy Policies of the tools used. There you can likely find out exactly which cookies are used and what information is stored there. For example, Google Font files are stored for one year, in order to improve the loading speed of a website. In principle, data is only kept for as long as is necessary to provide the service. But legal requirements may require data to be stored for longer.

Right to object

You also retain the right and the option to revoke your consent to the use of cookies or third-party providers at any time. You can do this either via our cookie management tool or via other opt-out functions. You can also prevent cookies from collecting your data by managing, deactivating or deleting the cookies in your browser. However, among web design elements (typically fonts) there is also data that cannot be erased easily. This is the case whenever data is automatically collected as soon as a page is accessed and then directly transmitted to a third party (e.g. Google). In these cases, please contact the support of the respective provider. In the case of Google, you can reach support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de.

Legal Basis

If you have consented to the use of web design tools, this consent serves as the legal basis for the relevant data processing. According to Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (consent), your consent represents the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as it may occur when it is collected by web design tools. We also have a legitimate interest in web design to improve on our website. After all, only then can we provide you with a beautiful and professional web offer. The corresponding legal basis for this is Article 6 (1) (f) GDPR (legitimate interests). However, we strongly want to emphasise once more that we only use web design tools if you have given your consent.

You can find information on different web design tools – if available – in the following sections.

Typekit Fonts (Adobe) Privacy Policy

We use Adobe’s Typekit fonts on our website, which is a web font hosting service. The provider of this service is the American company Adobe Inc. The Irish company Adobe Systems Software Ireland Companies, 4-6 Riverwalk, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, Ireland, is responsible for the European region.

Adobe also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

Adobe uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as the basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (i. e. outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and thus especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) are legal templates provided by the EU Commission. Their purpose is to ensure that your data complies with European data privacy standards, even if your data is transferred to and stored in third countries (such as the USA). With these clauses, Adobe commits to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data, even if it is stored, processed and managed in the USA. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the standard contractual clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847.

For more information on the Standard Contractual Clauses at Adobe, see https://www.adobe.com/uk/privacy/eudatatransfers.html.

You can find out more about the data that is processed by Adobe in their Privacy Policy at https://www.adobe.com/uk/privacy.html.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

Google Fonts Privacy Policy Overview

👥 Affected parties: website visitors

🤝 Purpose: service optimisation

📓 Processed data: data such as IP address, CSS and font requests

You can find more details on this in the Privacy Policy below.

📅 Storage period: Google stores font files for one year

⚖️ Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are Google Fonts?

On our website we use Google Fonts, by the company Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA).

To use Google Fonts, you must log in and set up a password. Furthermore, no cookies will be saved in your browser. The data (CSS, Fonts) will be requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, all requests for CSS and fonts are fully separated from any other Google services. If you have a Google account, you do not need to worry that your Google account details are transmitted to Google while you use Google Fonts. Google records the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) as well as the utilised fonts and stores these data securely. We will have a detailed look at how exactly the data storage works.

Google Fonts (previously Google Web Fonts) is a directory with over 800 fonts that Google provides its users free of charge.

Many of these fonts have been published under the SIL Open Font License license, while others have been published under the Apache license. Both are free software licenses.

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

With Google Fonts we can use different fonts on our website and do not have to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important element which helps to keep the quality of our website high. All Google fonts are automatically optimised for the web, which saves data volume and is an advantage especially for the use of mobile terminal devices. When you use our website, the low data size provides fast loading times. Moreover, Google Fonts are secure Web Fonts. Various image synthesis systems (rendering) can lead to errors in different browsers, operating systems and mobile terminal devices. These errors could optically distort parts of texts or entire websites. Due to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN) there are no cross-platform issues with Google Fonts. All common browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) are supported by Google Fonts, and it reliably operates on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod). We also use Google Fonts for presenting our entire online service as pleasantly and as uniformly as possible.

Which data is stored by Google?

Whenever you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded by a Google server. Through this external cue, data gets transferred to Google’s servers. Therefore, this makes Google recognise that you (or your IP-address) is visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to reduce the usage, storage and gathering of end user data to the minimum needed for the proper depiction of fonts. What is more, API stands for „Application Programming Interface“ and works as a software data intermediary.

Google Fonts stores CSS and font requests safely with Google, and therefore it is protected. Using its collected usage figures, Google can determine how popular the individual fonts are. Google publishes the results on internal analysis pages, such as Google Analytics. Moreover, Google also utilises data of ist own web crawler, in order to determine which websites are using Google fonts. This data is published in Google Fonts’ BigQuery database. Enterpreneurs and developers use Google’s webservice BigQuery to be able to inspect and move big volumes of data.

One more thing that should be considered, is that every request for Google Fonts automatically transmits information such as language preferences, IP address, browser version, as well as the browser’s screen resolution and name to Google’s servers. It cannot be clearly identified if this data is saved, as Google has not directly declared it.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google saves requests for CSS assets for one day in a tag on their servers, which are primarily located outside of the EU. This makes it possible for us to use the fonts by means of a Google stylesheet. With the help of a stylesheet, e.g. designs or fonts of a website can get changed swiftly and easily.

Any font related data is stored with Google for one year. This is because Google’s aim is to fundamentally boost websites’ loading times. With millions of websites referring to the same fonts, they are buffered after the first visit and instantly reappear on any other websites that are visited thereafter. Sometimes Google updates font files to either reduce the data sizes, increase the language coverage or to improve the design.

How can I erase my data or prevent it being stored?

The data Google stores for either a day or a year cannot be deleted easily. Upon opening the page this data is automatically transmitted to Google. In order to clear the data ahead of time, you have to contact Google’s support at https://support.google.com/?hl=en-GB&tid=122408546. The only way for you to prevent the retention of your data is by not visiting our website.

Unlike other web fonts, Google offers us unrestricted access to all its fonts. Thus, we have a vast sea of font types at our disposal, which helps us to get the most out of our website. You can find out more answers and information on Google Fonts at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=122408546. While Google does address relevant elements on data protection at this link, it does not contain any detailed information on data retention.
It proofs rather difficult to receive any precise information on stored data by Google.

Legal basis

If you have consented to the use of Google Fonts, your consent is the legal basis for the corresponding data processing. According to Art. 6 Paragraph 1 lit. a GDPR (Consent) your consent is the legal basis for the processing of personal data, as can occur when it is processed by Google Fonts.

We also have a legitimate interest in using Google Font to optimise our online service. The corresponding legal basis for this is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests). Nevertheless, we only use Google Font if you have given your consent to it.

Google also processes data in the USA, among other countries. We would like to note, that according to the European Court of Justice, there is currently no adequate level of protection for data transfers to the USA. This can be associated with various risks to the legality and security of data processing.

Google uses standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission as basis for data processing by recipients based in third countries (outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and especially in the USA) or data transfer there (= Art. 46, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the GDPR). These clauses oblige Google to comply with the EU‘s level of data protection when processing relevant data outside the EU. These clauses are based on an implementing order by the EU Commission. You can find the order and the clauses here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_2847

You can find more information on which data is generally retained by Google and what this data is used at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-GB.

Explanation of the terminology used

We always strive to make our privacy policy as clear and comprehensible as possible. However, this is not always easy, especially when it comes to technical and legal matters. It is often sensible to use legal terms (such as ‘personal data)’ or certain technical terms (such as ‘cookies’ or ‘IP address’). But we don’t want to use such terms without any explanation. This is why you will find an alphabetical list of important terms used below. These are terms we may not yet have sufficiently explained in the privacy policy. In case we have adopted any of these terms from the GDPR which are definitions, we will also list the GDPR texts here and add our own further explanations if necessary.

Processor

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:


“processor” means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller;

Explanation: As a company and a website owner, we are responsible for all your data we process (i. e. the ‘controller’). In addition to the controller, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person who processes personal data on our behalf. In addition to service providers such as tax consultants, processors can also be hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

Consent

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:


“consent” of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her;

Explanation: With websites, such consent is usually given via a cookie consent tool. You’ve most certainly come across these. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, you will usually be asked via a banner whether you agree or consent to the data processing. You can usually also make individual settings and thus decide for yourself which level of data processing you want to allow. If you do not give your consent, no personal data may be processed. Consent can of course also be given in writing, i.e. not via a tool.

Personal Data

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:


“personenal data”

means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;

Explanation: Personal data is all data that can identify you as a person. This is usually data such as:

  • name
  • address
  • email address
  • postal address
  • phone number
  • birthday
  • identification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, ID card number or matriculation number
  • banking data such as account number, credit information, account balances and more.

According to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), your IP address is also personal data. IT experts can use your IP address to determine at least the approximate location of your device and subsequently your location as the connection owner. Therefore, storing an IP address also requires a legal basis within the scope of the GDPR. There are also so-called “special categories” of personal data, which are particularly worthy of protection. These include:

  • racial and ethnic origin
  • political opinions
  • religious or ideological beliefs
  • Union membership
  • genetic data such as data obtained from blood or saliva samples
  • biometric data (this is information about psychological, physical or behavioural characteristics that can identify an individual).

    health Data

  • Data relating to sexual orientation or sex life

Profiling

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:


“Profiling” means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person’s performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements;

Explanation: Profiling collects various personal data about an individual in order to learn more about that individual. On the internet, profiling is often used for advertising purposes or for credit checks. Web and advertising analysis programs e. g. collect data about your behaviour and interests on a website. This results in a special user profile that can be used to target advertising to specific target groups.

 

Controller

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:


“controller” means 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; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law;

Explanation: In our example, we are responsible for the processing of your personal data and are therefore the “controller”. If we pass on collected data to other service providers for processing, they are considered “contract processors”. For this, a “Data Processing Agreement (DPA)” must be concluded.

 

Processing

Definition according to Article 4 of the GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term means:


“processing”

means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;

Note: When we talk about processing in our Privacy Policy, we talk about any type of data processing. As mentioned above in the original GDPR declaration, this includes not only the collection but also the storage and processing of data.

Closing Remarks

Congratulations! If you are reading these lines, you have most likely familiarised yourself with our entire Privacy Policy – or at least scrolled down here. As you can see from the scope of our Privacy Policy, we do not take the protection of your personal data lightly.
We find it important to inform you about the processing of your personal data to the best of our abilities. In doing so, we not only want to tell you which data is processed but also explain to you why we use various software programs. In general, Privacy Policies have very technical and legal jargon. However, since most of you are not web developers or solicitors, we wanted to take a different approach and explain the facts in simple and clear language. Of course, this is not always possible due to the subject matter. Therefore, you can also find a more detailed explanation of the most important terms at the end of the Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions about data protection on our website, please do not hesitate to contact us or the responsible body. We wish you all the best and hope to soon welcome you to our website again.

All texts are copyrighted.