We have written this data protection declaration (version 02.03.2021-111662470) to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, what information we collect, how we use data and what options you have as a visitor to this website.

Privacy statements usually sound very technical. However, this version is intended to describe the most important things as simply and clearly as possible. As far as possible, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly way. We also want to convey that we only collect and use information with this website if there is a corresponding legal basis. This is certainly not possible if you provide the briefest, technical explanations possible, as is often the standard on the internet when it comes to data protection.

I hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative and maybe there is some information that you did not know before.

 

If you still have questions, please follow the links provided and view further information on third-party sites, or simply write us an e-mail. You can find our contact details in the imprint.

 

Automatic data storage

When you visit websites these days, certain information is automatically created and stored, and this is also the case on this website. This collected data should be used as sparingly as possible and only with justification. By website, we mean, by the way, the totality of all web pages on your domain, i.e. everything from the home page (homepage) to the very last subpage (like this one). By domain, we mean, for example, example.de or musterbeispiel.com.

Even while you are visiting our website right now, our web server – that is the computer on which this website is stored – usually automatically stores data such as

• the complete internet address (URL) of the website accessed (e.g. https://www.beispielwebsite.de/beispielunterseite.html/)

• 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.beispielquellsite.de/vondabinichgekommen.html/)

• the host name and the IP address of the device from which access is made (e.g. computer name and 194.23.43.121)

• date and time

• in files known as web server log files.

By way of illustration:

 

these files are usually stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not pass on this data, but we cannot rule out the possibility that it may be viewed by the authorities in the event of unlawful behavior.

In short, your visit is logged by our provider (the company that runs our website on special computers (servers)), but we do not pass on your data!

 

Cookies

Our website uses HTTP cookies to store user-specific data.

The following is an explanation of what cookies are and why they are used, to help you understand the following data protection declaration.

What exactly are cookies?

Whenever you surf the internet, you use a browser. Well-known browsers include Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

One thing cannot be denied: cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. To be more precise, they are HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other areas of application. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically stored in the cookie folder, which is the "brain" of your browser, so to speak. A cookie consists of a name and a value. When defining a cookie, one or more attributes must also be specified.

Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language or personal page settings. When you return to our site, your browser transmits the "user-related" information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are accustomed to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file; in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.

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 is to be evaluated individually, as each cookie stores different data. The expiration 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 "pests". Cookies also cannot access information on your PC.

For example, cookie data may look like this:

Name: _ga

Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152111662470-9

Purpose: Distinguishing between website visitors

Expiration date: after 2 years

A browser should be able to support these minimum sizes:

• At least 4096 bytes per cookie

• At least 50 cookies per domain

• At least 3000 cookies in total

What types of cookies are there?

The question of which cookies we use in particular depends on the services used and is explained in the following sections of the data protection declaration. At this point, we would like to briefly discuss the different types of HTTP cookies.

There are four types of cookies:

Essential cookies

These cookies are necessary to ensure the basic functionality of the website. For example, these cookies are needed when a user places a product in the shopping cart, then continues surfing on other pages and only proceeds to checkout later. These cookies ensure that the shopping cart is not deleted even if the user closes the browser window.

Functional cookies

These cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages. These cookies also measure the loading time and the behavior of the website in different browsers.

Targeted cookies

These cookies ensure a better user experience. For example, they store locations, font sizes or form data that have been entered.

Advertising cookies

These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to deliver customized advertising to the user. This can be very useful, but also very annoying.

Usually, when you visit a website for the first time, you will be asked which of these types of cookies you wish to allow. And, of course, this decision is also stored in a cookie.

How can I delete cookies?

How and whether you want to use cookies is entirely up to you. Regardless of which service or website the cookies come from, you always have the option to delete, disable or only partially allow cookies. For example, you can block third-party cookies but allow all other cookies.

If you want to determine which cookies have been stored in your browser, change cookie settings or delete cookies, you can find this in your browser settings:

Chrome: Deleting, activating and managing cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Deleting cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Deleting and managing cookies

If you do not want any cookies at all, you can set up your browser to always notify you when a cookie is about to be placed. This way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether or not to allow it. The procedure varies depending on the browser. The best thing to do is to search for the instructions in Google using the search term "delete cookies Chrome" or "disable cookies Chrome" in the case of a Chrome browser.

What about my data protection?

The so-called "Cookie Guidelines" have been in place since 2009. These state that the storage of cookies requires your consent. Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these guidelines. In Austria, however, this guideline was implemented in § 96 para. 3 of the Telecommunications Act (TKG).

If you want to learn more about cookies and are not put off by technical documentation, we recommend https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265 the Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF) Request for Comments called "HTTP State Management Mechanism".

 

Storage of personal data

Personal data that you transmit to us electronically on this website, such as your name, email address, postal address or other personal information when submitting a form or comments on the blog, together with the time and IP address, will only be used by us for the stated purpose, stored securely and not passed on to third parties.

We use your personal data only for communicating with visitors who explicitly request contact and for processing the services and products offered on this website. We do not pass on your personal data without consent, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed in the event of unlawful behavior.

If you send us personal data by email – and therefore outside of this website – we cannot guarantee the secure transmission and protection of your data. We recommend that you never send confidential data unencrypted by email.

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

According to the provisions of the GDPR and the Austrian Data Protection Act (DSG), you have the following rights:

• Right to rectification (Article 16 GDPR)

• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") (Article 17 GDPR)

• Right to restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR)

• Right to notification – obligation to provide information in connection with the rectification or erasure of personal data or the restriction of processing (Article 19 GDPR)

• Right to data portability (Article 20 GDPR)

• Right to object (Article 21 GDPR)

• Right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling (Article 22 GDPR)

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or your data protection claims have otherwise been violated in any way, you can complain to the supervisory authority, which in Austria is the data protection authority, whose website you can find at https://www.dsb.gv.at/.

 

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

We use the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) from the American company Google Inc. on our website. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. Google Analytics collects data about your actions on our website. For example, when you click on a link, this action is stored in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. The reports we receive from Google Analytics help us to better tailor our website and services to your needs. In the following, we will take a closer look at the tracking tool and, in particular, inform you about what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a tracking tool that is used to analyze the traffic on our website. To make Google Analytics work, a tracking code is built into the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various actions that you perform on our website. As soon as you leave our website, this data is sent to the Google Analytics server and stored there.

Google processes the data and we receive reports about your user behavior. These reports may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Target group reports: Target group reports help us get to know our users better and give us a more precise idea of who is interested in our service.

• Display reports: Display reports help us to analyze and improve our online advertising.

• Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports provide us with helpful information on how we can attract more people to our service.

• Behavioral reports: These reports tell us how you interact with our website. We can see which links you click on and the path you take through our site.

• Conversion reports: A conversion is a process in which you perform a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us learn more about how our marketing efforts reach you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.

• Real-time reports: These reports tell us immediately what is currently happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are currently reading this text.

Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?

Our goal with this website is clear: We want to offer you the best possible service. The statistics and data from Google Analytics help us to achieve this goal.

The statistically evaluated data show us a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that it is easier for interested people to find on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. We therefore know exactly what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also helps us to carry out our advertising and marketing measures in a more personalized and cost-effective way. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.

What data is stored by Google Analytics?

Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID associated with your browser cookie. This is how Google Analytics recognizes you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you will be recognized as a "returning" user. All collected data is stored together with this user ID. This is what makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles in the first place.

To be able to analyze our website with Google Analytics, a property ID must be added to the tracking code. The data is then stored in the corresponding property. For each newly created property, the Google Analytics 4 property is standard. Alternatively, you can also create the Universal Analytics property. Depending on the property used, data is stored for different lengths of time.

Your interactions on our website are measured using identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs. Interactions are all types of actions that you perform on our website. If you also use other Google systems (such as a Google account), data generated by Google Analytics can be linked to third-party cookies. Google does not share Google Analytics data unless we, as the website operator, authorize it. Exceptions may occur if required by law.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

Name: _ga

Value: 2.1326744211.152111662470-5

Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to distinguish between website visitors.

Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: _gid

Value: 2.1687193234.152111662470-1

Purpose: The cookie is also used to distinguish between website visitors

Expiry date: after 24 hours

Name: _gat_gtag_UA_

Value: 1

Purpose: Used to lower the request rate. If Google Analytics is provided through Google Tag Manager, this cookie is named _dc_gtm_ .

Expiry date: after 1 minute

Name: AMP_TOKEN

Value: no information

Purpose: The cookie has a token that can be used to retrieve a user ID from the AMP client ID service. Other possible values indicate a logout, a request or an error.

Expiry date: after 30 seconds to one year

Name: __utma

Value: 1564498958.1564498958.1

Purpose: This cookie is used to track your behavior on the site and measure performance. The cookie is updated each time information is sent to Google Analytics.

Expiry date: after 2 years

Name: __utmt

Value: 1

Purpose: This cookie is used to throttle the request rate, like _gat_gtag_UA_.

Expiry date: after 10 minutes

Name: __utmb

Value: 3.10.1564498958

Purpose: This cookie is used to determine new sessions. It is updated every time new data or information is sent to Google Analytics.

Expiry date: after 30 minutes

Name: __utmc

Value: 167421564

Purpose: This cookie is used to determine new sessions for returning visitors. This is a session cookie and is only stored until you close the browser.

Expiry date: After closing the browser

Name: __utmz

Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/

Purpose: This cookie is used to identify the source of traffic to our website. This means that the cookie stores where you came from to our website. This may have been another page or an advertising campaign.

Expiry date: after 6 months

Name: __utmv

Value: not specified

Purpose: This cookie is used to store user-defined user data. It is always updated when information is sent to Google Analytics.

Expiry date: after 2 years

Note: This list cannot claim to be complete, as Google repeatedly changes the way it chooses its cookies.

Here we show you an overview of the most important data collected by Google Analytics:

Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heatmaps. Heatmaps show exactly the areas you click on. This way we get information about where you are "traveling" on our site.

Session duration: Google defines the session duration as the time you spend on our site without leaving it. If you have been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.

Bounce rate: A bounce occurs when you view only one page on our website and then leave our website.

Account creation: When you create an account or place an order on our website, Google Analytics collects this data.

IP address: The IP address is only displayed in abbreviated form so that no clear assignment is possible.

Location: The IP address can be used to determine the country and your approximate location. This process is also referred to as IP location determination.

Technical information: Technical information includes, among other things, your browser type, your internet service provider or your screen resolution.

Source of origin: Google Analytics and we are naturally also interested in which website or which advertisement you came to our site from.

Other data includes contact details, any ratings, playing media (e.g. if you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media or adding to your favorites. The list is not exhaustive and is only intended to provide a general overview of how Google Analytics stores data.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has servers all over the world. Most of the servers are in the United States, so most of your data is stored on American servers. You can find out exactly where the Google data centers are located here: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed across different physical data carriers. This has the advantage that the data can be retrieved more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. Each Google data center has appropriate emergency programs for your data. If, for example, Google's hardware fails or natural disasters paralyze servers, the risk of service interruption at Google remains low.

The retention period for the data depends on the properties used. When using the newer Google Analytics 4 properties, the retention period for your user data is set to 14 months. For other so-called event data, we have the option of choosing a retention period of 2 months or 14 months.

For Universal Analytics properties, Google Analytics has a default retention period of 26 months for your user data. After that period, your user data will be deleted. However, we have the option of choosing the retention period for user data ourselves. We have five options available to us:

• Deletion after 14 months

• Deletion after 26 months

• Deletion after 38 months

• Deletion after 50 months

• No automatic deletion

In addition, there is also the option that data will only be deleted if you no longer visit our website within the period we have selected. In this case, the retention period is reset each time you visit our website again within the specified period.

Once the specified time period has passed, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data associated with cookies, user ID, and advertising ID (e.g., DoubleClick domain cookies). Reporting results are based on aggregated data and stored independently of user data. Aggregated data is a merge of individual data into a larger unit.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

According to the data protection law of the European Union, you have the right to receive information about your data, to update it, to delete it or to restrict it. With the help of the browser add-on to deactivate Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js), you prevent Google Analytics from using your data. You can download and install the browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de. Please note that this add-on only deactivates data collection by Google Analytics.

If you generally wish to deactivate, delete or manage cookies (regardless of Google Analytics), there are separate instructions for each browser:

Chrome: Deleting, activating and managing cookies in Chrome

Safari: Managing cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Deleting cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: Deleting and managing cookies

Google Analytics is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. You can find more information at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=111662470. We hope we have been able to provide you with the most important information about Google Analytics data processing. If you would like to learn more about the tracking service, we recommend these two links: http://www.google.com/analytics/terms/de.html and https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de.

 

Google Analytics opt-out link

By clicking on the following opt-out link, you can prevent Google from collecting information about further visits to this website. Please note: Deleting cookies, using the incognito/private mode of your browser or using a different browser will result in data being collected again.

Deactivate Google Analytics

Source: Created using the data protection generator from AdSimple®