Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Personal data (hereinafter generally referred to as “Data”) is processed by us only to the extent necessary and for the purpose of providing a functional and user-friendly website, including its content and the services offered there.

According to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation (hereinafter “GDPR”), “processing” means any operation or set of operations performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or any other form of making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction.

With the following privacy policy, we inform you, in particular, about the type, scope, purpose, duration, and legal basis of the processing of personal data, insofar as we either alone or jointly with others determine the purposes and means of processing. In addition, we inform you below about third-party components used by us for optimization purposes and to increase user experience quality, insofar as these third parties process data on their own responsibility.

Our privacy policy is structured as follows:

I. Information about us as the Data Controller
II. Rights of Users and Data Subjects
III. Information on Data Processing

I. Information about us as the Data Controller

The controller of this website in terms of data protection law is:

II. Rights of Users and Data Subjects

With regard to the data processing described in more detail below, users and data subjects have the right:

• to obtain confirmation as to whether personal data concerning them are being processed, to receive information about such processed data, further information about the data processing, and copies of the data (see also Article 15 GDPR);
• to request correction or completion of incorrect or incomplete data (see also Article 16 GDPR);
• to request immediate deletion of the data concerning them (see also Article 17 GDPR), or, alternatively, if further processing is necessary pursuant to Article 17(3) GDPR, to request restriction of processing pursuant to Article 18 GDPR;
• to receive the data concerning them that they have provided and to have those data transmitted to another controller (see also Article 20 GDPR);
• to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if they believe that the data concerning them are processed in violation of data protection law (see also Article 77 GDPR).

Furthermore, the controller is obliged to inform all recipients to whom data have been disclosed about any rectification or erasure of data or restriction of processing carried out in accordance with Articles 16, 17(1), and 18 GDPR. This obligation does not apply if notification proves impossible or involves disproportionate effort. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the user has a right to be informed about these recipients.

Users and data subjects also have the right to object under Article 21 GDPR to the future processing of data concerning them, provided that the data are processed by the controller pursuant to Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. In particular, an objection to data processing for direct marketing purposes is permissible.

III. Information on Data Processing

Data processed when you use our website will be deleted or blocked as soon as the purpose of storage is fulfilled, provided that no legal retention obligations prevent deletion and unless otherwise specified below for particular processing operations.

Subscription to Posts

If you publish posts on our website, we also offer you the option to subscribe to any follow-up posts from third parties. In order to inform you of these follow-up posts by e-mail, we process your e-mail address.

The legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(a) GDPR. You may revoke your consent to this subscription at any time with effect for the future in accordance with Article 7(3) GDPR. To do so, you simply need to inform us of your revocation or click the unsubscribe link contained in the respective e-mail.

Cookie Manager

To obtain consent for the use of technically non-necessary cookies on the website, the controller employs a cookie manager.

When the website is accessed, a cookie with preference information is placed on the user’s device so that on subsequent visits, the consent query does not have to be repeated.

This cookie is necessary to lawfully obtain the user’s consent.

The user can prevent or terminate the installation of the cookies by configuring their browser settings.

Cookies

a) Session Cookies

We use so-called cookies on our website. Cookies are small text files or other storage technologies that are placed on and stored by your web browser on your device. Through these cookies, certain information about you—such as your browser data, location data, or IP address—is processed in an individualized manner.

This processing makes our website more user-friendly, efficient, and secure because it, for example, enables the display of our website in different languages or offers a shopping cart function.

The legal basis for this processing is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR if these cookies process data for the initiation or execution of a contract.

If the processing does not serve contractual initiation or execution, our legitimate interest is to improve the functionality of our website. The legal basis is then Article 6(1)(f) GDPR.

When you close your web browser, these session cookies are deleted.

b) Third-Party Cookies

Where applicable, our website also uses cookies from partner companies with which we collaborate for advertising, analytics, or functionality purposes.

For details on the purposes and legal bases of processing such third-party cookies, please refer to the information below.

c) Options to Disable Cookies

You can prevent or restrict the installation of cookies by configuring your web browser accordingly. You can also delete already stored cookies at any time. The necessary steps and measures depend on the specific web browser you use. For questions, please use the help function or documentation of your web browser or contact its manufacturer or support. Flash cookies cannot be disabled via the browser settings. Instead, you must change the settings of your Flash player. The necessary steps depend on your specific Flash player. For questions, please also use the help function or documentation of your Flash player or contact the manufacturer or user support.

If you disable or restrict the installation of cookies, however, this may result in not all functions of our website being fully usable.

Newsletter

If you register for our free newsletter, the data queried from you—namely your e-mail address and, optionally, your name and mailing address—will be transmitted to us. At the same time, we store the IP address of the internet connection from which you access our website, as well as the date and time of your registration. During the subsequent registration process, we will obtain your consent to receive the newsletter, describe its content in detail, and refer to this privacy policy. The data collected in this context are used exclusively for sending the newsletter—they will not be shared with third parties.

The legal basis for this is Article 6(1)(a) GDPR.

You may revoke your consent to receive the newsletter at any time with effect for the future in accordance with Article 7(3) GDPR. To do so, you simply need to inform us of your revocation or click the unsubscribe link contained in each newsletter.

Server Log Data

For technical reasons, in particular to ensure a secure and stable website, data are transmitted from your web browser to us or to our webspace provider. These so-called server log files record, among other things, the type and version of your web browser, the operating system, the website from which you accessed our site (referrer URL), the website(s) of our website you visit, the date and time of each acc