Cookie Policy

Cookies, which are small amounts of data that our servers send to your computer and which allow us to better use our servers and customize their content to suit your needs. Cookies use almost every website in the world. Cookies increase user-friendliness on repeatedly visited websites and are therefore useful to you. If you use the same computer and the same Internet browser to visit our website, cookies help your computer memorize the pages you visit and your site settings.

Through our web sites, cookies of the advertising system operators on our site may also be stored on your computer. Remarketing uses Google as well. We only use remarketing data to segment visitors to deliver a more relevant ad. Segments are created based on several general patterns of visitor behavior.

Standard web browsers (Safari, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.) support cookie management. Within Browser settings, you can manually delete, block, or completely disable each cookie, block it or allow it for individual websites only. For more detailed information, please use the help of your browser. If your browser uses cookies, we will assume that you agree to the use of standard cookies by our servers.

Cookies are not used for any other than purely technical purposes, we do not associate the data obtained with them with any other data and we work with cookies in such a way that they do not allow us to identify specific individuals. Cookies cannot run programs or transfer viruses to your computer.

The following types of cookies could be set by us:

Transient Cookies

Transient cookies are automatically deleted when you close your browser. These particularly include session cookies. These store a so-called session ID which assigns the various requests from your browser during the joint session. This allows your computer to be recognized again when you return to the site. Session cookies are deleted when you log out or close the browser.

Persistent Cookies

Persistent cookies are automatically deleted after a specified period, which may vary depending on the cookie. You can delete cookies at any time using the security settings within your browser.

To the extent that personal information is collected or saved by the implemented cookies, its processing either takes place in accordance with art. 6 b) GDPR to fulfill your contract or to carry out pre-contractual measures on the request of the person in question, or in accordance with art. 6 f) in realizing our legitimate interests in maintaining the functionality of our website as well as its user-friendly and effective organization.

You can set up your browser in such a way that you are informed about the setting of cookies and can decide individually on whether to accept them or to reject the use of cookies in certain cases or completely. Every browser differs in the way it manages its cookie settings. The Help menu of your browser describes how to change the cookie settings.

Use of Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics on our website, a web analysis service from Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie on a user’s use of the website is generally transmitted to and stored on a Google server in the USA.

On our behalf, Google will use this information to evaluate the use of our website by the user, compile reports on the activities within this website and provide us with other services related to the use of this website and the Internet. Pseudonymous usage profiles of users may be created from the processed data.

We exclusively use Google Analytics with the extension “anonymizeIp()”, which ensures the anonymization of the IP address by shortening it and prevents the possibility of directly linking it to any particular individual. This means that the IP address of the user is shortened by Google within the member states of the European Union or in other nations that are party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the whole IP address first be transferred to a Google server in the USA and truncated there. In these cases, the processing takes place pursuant to art. 6 f) GDPR in realizing our legitimate interests for marketing purposes and maintaining the attractiveness of our website. The IP address sent by the user’s browser will not be connected with other data from Google.

You, as the user, can prevent the storage of cookies by selecting the corresponding settings in your browser software. In addition, you can also prevent the collection of data produced by the cookie and associated with your use of the website as well as its processing by Google by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link:

http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de

If you no longer desire the anonymized analysis of your website use by Google Analytics, you can opt out at any time effective for the future here. By clicking on the link, an opt-out cookie will be saved to your device. If you visit our website again, this cookie prevents your data from being collected. In order to prevent data collection by Universal Analytics across multiple devices, you need to carry out the opt-out on all systems used.

Google LLC, based in the USA, is certified as part of the US-European data protection agreement “Privacy Shield” which guarantees compliance with the data protection level applicable in the EU.

More information on how Google Analytics handles user data is available in the Google Privacy Policy: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de

Use of Google AdWords Conversion Tracking

We use the “Google AdWords” online advertising program and conversion tracking as part of Google AdWords on our website. Google Conversion Tracking is an analytical service provided by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). When you click on an advert delivered by Google, a cookie for the conversion tracking is stored on your computer. These cookies become invalid after 30 days, contain no personal information and therefore do not serve for personal identification.

If you visit specific pages on our website and the cookie has not yet expired, we and Google can recognize that you have clicked on the advert and have been directed to that page. Every Google AdWords customer receives a different cookie. There is therefore a possibility that cookies can be tracked via the websites of AdWords customers.

The information gathered by this conversion cookie serves to generate conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have opted in to conversion tracking. As part of this, customers can find out the total number of users who have clicked on their advert and were directed to a page using the conversion tracking tag. However, they do not receive any information that can be used to identify users personally.

If you do not want to participate in tracking, you can reject this use by preventing the installation of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings in your browser (disable option). By doing so, you will not be included in the conversion tracking statistics. You can find more detailed information as well as the Google privacy policy at: http://www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads/, http://www.google.de/policies/privacy/

Use of Google Maps

We use Google Maps (API) on our website from Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). Google Maps is a web service for displaying interactive (country) maps for presenting geographical information visually. Using this service will show you our location and facilitate finding directions to reach us. The data processing takes place pursuant to art. 6 f) GDPR in realizing our legitimate interests for marketing purposes and maintaining the attractiveness of our website.

Every time the “Google Maps” component is opened, Google sets a cookie in order to process user settings and data when displaying the page on which the “Google Maps” component is integrated. This cookie is not generally deleted on closing the browser, but instead expires after a specific period of time unless you manually delete it before such time.

If you are not in agreement with this processing of your data, the option exists to deactivate the “Google Maps” service and prevent the transmission of data to Google in this way. To do this, you have to deactivate the JavaScript function in your browser. However, please note that in this case you will not be able to use “Google Maps” or only use the service to a limited extent.

The use of “Google Maps” and the information attained via “Google Maps” is governed by Google’s terms of use

https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=de&gl=de

as well as the additional terms and conditions for “Google Maps”

https://www.google.com/intl/de_US/help/terms_maps.html

Use of Google Remarketing

We use the “Google Remarketing” service on our website, a service provided by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”). Google Remarketing can be used to activate advertisements for users who have already visited our website in the past. Within the Google advertising network, advertisements adapted to your interests can therefore be displayed on our site. Google Remarketing uses cookies for this evaluation. This makes it possible to recognize visitors if they visit sites within the advertising network of Google. In this way, advertisements can be displayed within the advertising network of Google relating to content which the visitor has previously accessed on websites within said network which also use the Google Remarketing feature. According to its own information, Google does collect personal information as part of this. You can deactivate this feature by changing the corresponding settings in https://adssettings.google.com/.

Use of Instagram

Our website uses so-called social plugins (“plugins”) by Instagram, which are operated by Instagram LLC., 1601 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA (“Instagram”). These plug-ins are marked with an Instagram logo, e.g. in the form of an “Instagram camera”.

When you visit a page of our website containing said plugin, your browser establishes a direct connection to Instagram’s servers. The contents of the plugin are sent from Instagram directly to your browser and integrated into the page. Through this integration, Instagram receives the information that your browser has accessed the corresponding page on our website, even if you do not [R7] have an Instagram account or are not currently logged in to Instagram. This information (including your IP address) is transmitted by your browser directly to an Instagram server in the USA and stored there.

If you are logged in to Instagram, Instagram can directly link your visit to our website to your Instagram account. If you interact with the plug-ins, e.g. by clicking the “Instagram” button, this information is also sent directly to an Instagram server and stored there. The information is also published on your Instagram account and displayed to your contacts there.

Please see Instagram’s privacy policy for more on the purpose and scope of data collection and the further processing and use of data by Instagram, as well as your related rights and settings options for protecting your privacy: https://help.instagram.com/155833707900388/

If you do not want Instagram to directly link the data gathered on our website to your Instagram account, you have to log out of Instagram before visiting our website. You can also completely prevent Instagram plugins from loading using add-ons for your browser.

Use of YouTube

On our website, we may use components (videos) from the company YouTube LLC, 901 Cherry Ave, 94066 San Bruno, CA, USA (“YouTube”), a company of Google LLC (“Google”), Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

[As part of this we use the option “privacy enhanced mode” provided by YouTube.]

When you visit an internet page that has an embedded video, a connection to the YouTube servers is established, and the content is displayed on the Internet page by notifying your browser.

[According to information provided by YouTube, in “privacy enhanced mode” data is only sent to the YouTube server when you watch the video, in particular which of our pages you have visited.]

If you are simultaneously logged in to YouTube, this information will be linked to your YouTube account. You can prevent this by signing out of your account before visiting our website.

For more on YouTube’s data protection, Google provides information at the following link:

https://www.google.de/intl/de/policies/privacy/