Privacy policy

Website analysis with Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC, after the user's consent has been obtained. The responsible bodies are Google Ireland Limited, Google Building Gordon House, 4 Barrow St, Dublin, D04 E5W5, Ireland, for users from the EU/EEA and Switzerland. Google Analytics 4 uses IP anonymisation by default, i.e. your IP address is immediately truncated when you interact with this website. Only in rare cases will your full IP be transmitted to a Google server based in the USA and truncated there. Google asserts that the IP transmitted via Google Analytics is never combined with other Google data. Google Analytics 4 is only activated with your consent via the cookie banner and can be cancelled at any time via the cookie settings.

The processed data includes: Usage data such as page views, website interaction, general location and visit duration; and Communication data such as shortened IP addresses, user agent, language settings and screen resolution. The purpose of this data processing is for Google to evaluate the use of your website on your behalf, compile reports on the activities and analyse the performance of the website. This data processing is legal, based on your consent in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR and § 25 para. 1 sentence 1 TDDDG.

Google Ireland Limited, Google LLC and Alphabet Inc are the recipients of this data. Your website usage information is usually sent to a Google server in the USA, an action legitimised by the recent adequacy decision of the European Commission of 10 July 2023, which recognises the certification of Google LLC under the EU-US Privacy Shield. In terms of data storage, any data associated with cookies is automatically deleted after a certain period of time, monthly for data that has reached its retention period and a maximum of 2 years for Google Analytics cookies.

For more information on the Google Analytics terms of use and Google's privacy policy, please visit {link}https://policies.google.com/{link-ende} and {link}https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/12017362{link-ende}.

Google Analytics uses "cookies", which are text files placed on the visitor's computer, to help the website analyse how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about the use of this website by the site visitor (including the shortened IP address) is usually transmitted to a Google server and stored there.

Google Analytics is used exclusively with the extension "_anonymiseIp()" on this website. This extension ensures anonymisation of the IP address by shortening it and excludes the possibility of direct personal identification. The extension shortens the IP address of Google within member states of the European Union or in other signatory states to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and truncated there. The IP address transmitted by the corresponding browser as part of Google Analytics is not merged with other Google data.

On behalf of the website operator, Google will use the information collected to analyse the use of the website, to compile reports on website activity and to provide other services related to website activity and internet usage to the website operator (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR). The legitimate interest in data processing lies in the optimisation of this website, the analysis of the use of the website and the adaptation of the content. The interests of users are adequately protected by pseudonymisation.

Google LLC. is certified according to the so-called Privacy Shield (list entry here) and guarantees an appropriate level of data protection on this basis. The data sent and linked to cookies, user identifiers (e.g. user ID) or advertising IDs are automatically deleted after 50 months. Data that has reached the end of its retention period is automatically deleted once a month.

The collection by Google Analytics can be prevented by the site visitor adjusting the cookie settings for this website. The collection and storage of the IP address and the data generated by cookies can also be cancelled at any time with effect for the future. The corresponding browser plugin can be downloaded and installed at the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

The website visitor can prevent the collection of data by Google Analytics on this website by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set to prevent the future collection of data when visiting this website.

Further information on the use of data by Google, setting and objection options, can be found in Google's privacy policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy) and in the settings for the display of advertisements by Google (https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated).

Spam protection with Google reCAPTCHA

We have implemented Google reCAPTCHA in forms on our website to check whether the data entered in the forms originates from human visitors or from machines or automated programmes, also known as "bots". This tool automatically analyses the behaviour of website visitors as soon as they interact with the website, using various information such as IP address, length of stay and mouse movements. The processed data includes usage data such as the website accessed, date and time of access and mouse movements as well as communication data such as IP addresses, browser type and operating system. This processing is aimed at website visitors and users of online services. The main purpose of this processing is to prevent misuse of our contact form and thereby increase security. The legal basis for this is our legitimate interest pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f. GDPR. The data recipients are Google Ireland Ltd, based at Google Building Gordon House, Barrow St, Dublin 4, Ireland, (https://policies.google.com/privacy) and our website hosting provider. While your personal data is processed within the EU, the retention period for the processed data is determined by Google Ireland Limited. Further information can be found in Google reCAPTCHA's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

Website analysis

When you visit our website, we collect information about your usage through a web analytics tool provided by our hosting service. This tool collects and combines your IP address and your user agent, shortens them and stores this data with a hash function. This process creates a visitor identifier that is encrypted with a randomly generated value (SALT) that changes every 24 hours. This method ensures that your IP address cannot be reconstructed from the stored visitor identifier, thus preserving your anonymity. In addition, we do not merge this information with other data and it is only stored on the hosting provider's server.

We also process web analytics data, HTTP data and web analytics profile data. The web analytics tool we use creates and stores a web analytics profile that contains details about your use of the website, such as page views, frequency of visits, time spent on each page and the user agent of your device. This includes usage data (such as web pages visited and access times) and communication data (such as browser type, operating system and IP addresses).

By processing this data, we want to analyse user behaviour in summarised form in order to improve the presentation and content of our website. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interest (Art. 6 para. 1 lit. (f) GDPR), in particular in carrying out web measurements in order to improve our products and our website.

The data collected is shared with our website hosting provider and processed within the EU.