Privacy Policy

This privacy policy informs users about the nature, scope and purposes of the collection and use of personal data.

The legal basis for data protection is found in the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the German Telemedia Act (TMG).

Our website can generally be used without providing personal data. Where personal data (for example name, address or email addresses) is collected on our pages, this is done on a voluntary basis wherever possible. This data is not passed on to third parties without your express consent.

Please note that data transmission over the internet (for example when communicating by email) can have security gaps. Complete protection of data against access by third parties is not possible.

We hereby expressly object to the use of contact details published under our imprint obligation by third parties for sending unsolicited advertising and information material. The operators of these pages expressly reserve the right to take legal action in the event of unsolicited advertising being sent, for example through spam emails.

The provider (or its web hosting provider) collects data on every access to the website (so-called server log files). The access data includes:

Name of the web page accessed, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user’s operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider.

The provider uses the log data only for statistical evaluations for the purpose of operating, securing and optimising the website. The provider nevertheless reserves the right to review the log data retrospectively if there is a justified suspicion of unlawful use based on specific indications.

Personal data is information that can be used to identify a person, i.e. details that can be traced back to a person. This includes the name, the email address or the telephone number. Data about preferences, hobbies, memberships or which websites someone has viewed also counts as personal data.

The provider collects, uses and passes on personal data only where this is permitted by law or where users consent to the data collection.

When contacting the provider (for example via the contact form or by email), the user’s details are stored for the purpose of processing the enquiry and in case follow-up questions arise.

When users leave comments on the blog or other contributions, their IP addresses are stored. This is done for the provider’s protection in case someone writes unlawful content in comments and contributions (insults, prohibited political propaganda, etc.). In such a case the provider itself may be held liable for the comment or contribution and is therefore interested in the identity of the author.

Users can subscribe to follow-up comments. Users receive a confirmation email to verify that they are the owner of the email address entered. Users can unsubscribe from ongoing comment subscriptions at any time. The confirmation email contains instructions on how to do so.

With our newsletter we inform you about us and our offers.

If you would like to receive the newsletter, we need a valid email address from you as well as information that allows us to verify that you are the owner of the email address provided or that its owner agrees to receive the newsletter. No further data is collected. This data is used only to send the newsletter and is not passed on to third parties.

When you sign up for the newsletter, we store your IP address and the date of registration. This is stored solely as evidence in case a third party misuses an email address and signs up to receive the newsletter without the knowledge of the authorised person.

You can revoke your consent to the storage of the data, the email address and its use for sending the newsletter at any time. You can revoke it via a link in the newsletters themselves, in your profile area or by notifying us via the contact details given above.

Third-party content, such as videos from YouTube, maps from Google Maps, RSS feeds or graphics from other websites, may be embedded within this website. This always requires the providers of this content (hereinafter “third-party providers”) to become aware of the users’ IP address, because without the IP address they could not send the content to the respective user’s browser. The IP address is therefore required to display this content. We endeavour to use only content whose respective providers use the IP address solely to deliver the content. However, we have no control over whether third-party providers store the IP address, for example for statistical purposes. Where we are aware of this, we inform users accordingly.

Cookies are small files that make it possible to store specific, device-related information on the user’s access device (PC, smartphone or similar). On the one hand they serve the user-friendliness of websites and thus the users (for example by storing login data). On the other hand they serve to record statistical data on website usage and to analyse it in order to improve the website. Users can influence the use of cookies. Most browsers have an option to restrict or completely prevent the storage of cookies. Please note, however, that use of the website, and in particular its convenience, will be restricted without cookies.

You can manage many online advertising cookies from companies via the US site http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU site http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/your-ad-choices/.

With your consent we use the Meta Pixel of Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, Merrion Road, Dublin 4, Ireland. It allows us to track the behaviour of visitors who reached us via a Facebook or Instagram ad, to build audiences for advertising and to measure the effectiveness of our ads.

The data processed includes in particular your IP address, device and browser information, pixel and cookie IDs as well as information about the pages visited and the events triggered. If you are logged in to Facebook or Instagram, Meta can assign this information to your user account. Your data may be processed in the USA by Meta Platforms, Inc.

For the collection and transfer of data via the pixel, we and Meta are joint controllers under Art. 26 GDPR; a joint controllership agreement (“Controller Addendum”) is in place for this. Meta is solely responsible for the subsequent further processing.

The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR and § 25 (1) of the German Telecommunications Digital Services Data Protection Act (TDDDG). Further information: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy

We use the Google Tag Manager of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. The Tag Manager is not itself an analytics tool and does not store any personal data; it serves to manage and deliver other services. When the Tag Manager loads, your IP address is transmitted to Google.

The Tag Manager only fires tags for which valid consent has been given. The legal basis is Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR in conjunction with § 25 (1) TDDDG.

The data entered during registration is used for the purposes of using the website. Users may be informed by email about information relevant to the website or their registration, such as changes to the scope of the offering or technical circumstances. The data collected can be seen in the input form during registration. This includes name, email address and IP address, in order to unlock premium content for the user.

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses so-called “cookies”, text files that are stored on users’ computers and that enable an analysis of their use of the website. The information generated by the cookie about users’ use of this website is generally transmitted to and stored on a Google server in the USA.

If IP anonymisation is activated on this website, however, users’ IP addresses are truncated by Google beforehand within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address transmitted to a Google server in the USA and truncated there. IP anonymisation is active on this website. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate users’ use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide the website operator with further services related to website and internet usage.

The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics is not merged with other Google data. Users can prevent the storage of cookies through the corresponding setting in their browser software; this website nevertheless points out that in this case they may not be able to use all functions of this website to their full extent. Users can also prevent the collection of the data generated by the cookie and relating to their use of the website (including their IP address) by Google, as well as the processing of this data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.

As an alternative to the browser add-on, or within browsers on mobile devices, please click this link to prevent future collection by Google Analytics within this website. An opt-out cookie will be placed on your device. If you delete your cookies, you will have to click this link again.

This website uses social plugins (“plugins”) of the social network facebook.com, operated by Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland (“Facebook”). The plugins can be recognised by one of the Facebook logos (white “f” on a blue tile, the terms “Like” or a “thumbs up” sign) or are marked with the addition “Facebook Social Plugin”. The list and appearance of the Facebook social plugins can be viewed here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/.

When a user visits a page of this website that contains such a plugin, their browser establishes a direct connection to Facebook’s servers. The content of the plugin is transmitted by Facebook directly to your browser, which embeds it in the web page. The provider therefore has no influence on the scope of the data that Facebook collects with the help of this plugin and informs users according to its state of knowledge:

Through the integration of the plugins, Facebook receives the information that a user has accessed the corresponding page of the website. If the user is logged in to Facebook, Facebook can assign the visit to their Facebook account. When users interact with the plugins, for example by pressing the Like button or posting a comment, the corresponding information is transmitted from your browser directly to Facebook and stored there. Even if a user is not a member of Facebook, there is still the possibility that Facebook will find out and store their IP address. According to Facebook, only an anonymised IP address is stored in Germany.

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

If a user is a Facebook member and does not want Facebook to collect data about them via this website and link it to their member data stored on Facebook, they must log out of Facebook before visiting the website. Further settings and objections to the use of data for advertising purposes are possible within the Facebook profile settings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=ads.

Personal data may be transferred to countries outside the EU and the EEA, in particular to the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the Cayman Islands. There is no adequacy decision of the European Commission for the United Arab Emirates or the Cayman Islands.

We base such transfers on:

an adequacy decision under Art. 45 GDPR where one exists, in particular the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for US providers certified under it,
otherwise on the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses under Art. 46 (2) (c) GDPR, supplemented by an assessment of the legal situation in the recipient country and by additional technical and organisational safeguards.
Please note that these countries may not offer a level of data protection equivalent to the GDPR, and that access by public authorities and the enforcement of your rights may be more difficult.

Users have the right, upon request and free of charge, to obtain information about the personal data stored about them. In addition, users have the right to have incorrect data corrected and to have their personal data blocked and deleted, insofar as no statutory retention obligation prevents this.