PRIVACY STATEMENT
1. Cookies
This website uses so-called cookies. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your computer and saved by your browser. Cookies are used to store non-personal data that is used to manage your experience on our website and to analyze user behavior or optimize our advertising offers. Generally, you can configure your browser to notify you when cookies are set, allow cookies only in specific cases, exclude the acceptance of cookies for certain cases or in general, and enable the automatic deletion of cookies when closing the browser. If cookies are disabled, the functionality of this website may be limited.
Some of the cookies we use are so-called "session cookies." They are automatically deleted after your visit. Other cookies remain stored on your device until you delete them. These cookies allow us or the tools we use (see below) to collect website usage statistics or recognize your browser the next time you visit. No data is collected that would allow us to personally identify you. These cookies automatically expire after a period defined by us.
Cookies help us understand how visitors use our website so that we can optimize our content accordingly and develop better services in the future. By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies.
2. Website Analysis, Remarketing, and Cookies
This website uses Google Tag Manager ("GTM") by Google, Inc., or its European subsidiary Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland) – hereafter "Google." Through this tag management system, website tags can be managed and deployed on our website via an online interface. GTM only implements tags, meaning that no cookies are used by GTM, and no personal data is collected. Google Tag Manager triggers other tags that may collect data. However, Google Tag Manager does not access this data. If a deactivation has been made on the domain or cookie level, it remains in effect for all tracking tags implemented with Google Tag Manager.
This website implements Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, using GTM. Google Analytics uses cookies that enable the analysis of your use of the website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there for a maximum of two years.
IP anonymization is active on this website. The option to anonymize IP addresses is managed via an internal setting in Google Tag Manager that is not visible in the source code of this page. This internal setting ensures that the anonymization of IP addresses required by telecommunications law (AT) is achieved. The IP address of users is shortened by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area before transmission. Only in exceptional cases is the full IP address transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there. On behalf of the operator of this website, Google will use this information to evaluate your use of the website, compile reports on website activity, and provide other services related to website usage and internet usage to the website operator.
The IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics will not be merged with other data from Google. You can prevent the storage of cookies by configuring your browser software accordingly - however, we would like to point out that in this case, you may not be able to use all the functions of this website to their full extent. Users can also prevent the collection of data generated by the cookie and related to their use of the website (including your 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: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en.
To better analyze and continuously improve this website, we have enabled the Google Analytics report on demographics and interests (Google Signals). In Google Analytics reports, web analytics data is broken down by demographics and interests. Google uses, among other things, third-party cookies (e.g., DoubleClick cookies) and your Google advertising ID to recognize you across different devices. You can prevent this data collection by Google Analytics by clicking on the following link. An opt-out cookie will be set that prevents the future collection of your data when visiting this website: Disable Google Analytics.
This website also uses the Google Remarketing function to reach visitors at a later time in the Google advertising network via remarketing campaigns with interest-based advertising. For this purpose, our website or your browser stores cookies (maximum validity of 140 days) on your device. This enables us and the Google system to recognize visitors when they access a website in the Google advertising network. As a user, you have the option to deactivate the use of cookies by Google by visiting the deactivation page of Google at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated or setting an opt-out cookie.
What is the Google Advertising Network?
A group of several million websites, videos, and apps where online advertising can appear. These websites are partners of Google and allow advertisers to display ads (e.g., text or image ads).
Privacy is important to us, so we will never link the information we collect with personal data. The cookies set after visiting this page also have a limited validity (e.g., 30 or 60 days) and will automatically become invalid afterward.
More information about data protection at Google can be found in the Google Privacy Policy.
3. Google Ads Conversion Tracking
This website uses Google AdWords. AdWords is an online advertising program of Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States (“Google”).
As part of Google AdWords, we use conversion tracking. When you click on a Google ad, a cookie is set for conversion tracking. These cookies expire after a maximum of 90 days and do not serve to personally identify users. If the user visits certain pages of this website and the cookie has not yet expired, Google and we can recognize that the user clicked on the ad and was redirected to this page. Each Google AdWords customer receives a different cookie. The cookies cannot be tracked across the websites of AdWords customers. The information obtained using the conversion cookie is used to create conversion statistics for AdWords customers who have opted for conversion tracking. The customers learn the total number of users who clicked on their ad and were redirected to a page tagged with a conversion tracking tag. However, they do not receive information that can personally identify users.
More information on data protection in Google Ads and Google Conversion Tracking can be found in the Google Privacy Policy.
4. Facebook Pixel
Within our online offering, the so-called "Facebook Pixel" of the social network Facebook, which is operated by Facebook Inc., 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA, or if you are located in the EU, Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Facebook"), is used for remarketing purposes and to create custom audiences and measure Facebook conversions.
The purpose of these functions is to present visitors to this website with interest-based advertisements ("Facebook Ads") when they use the social network Facebook. When you access our site, a direct connection to Facebook's servers is established through the embedded remarketing function of the Facebook Pixel. This allows Facebook servers to be informed that you have visited this site. Facebook will process this information, possibly associate it with your Facebook account, and use it to generate interest-based advertisements.
Furthermore, the mentioned Facebook functions can be used to track the behavior of website visitors after they have clicked on a Facebook ad to reach our website. This allows us to analyze the effectiveness of Facebook ads for statistical and market research purposes and to optimize future ads.
The cookies set by the Facebook Pixel and the data collected from them are anonymous to us as the operator of this website, and we cannot use them to identify the identities of our website users. However, the data is stored and processed by Facebook, which may link it to your Facebook profile and use it for its own advertising purposes, as specified in Facebook's data protection policy. This allows Facebook to display ads on both Facebook and third-party websites. We have no control over how this data is used.
Further information on protecting your privacy can be found in Facebook's data protection policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.
You can also deactivate the remarketing function for custom audiences in the ad settings section under https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen. You need to log in to Facebook first. If you don't have a Facebook account, you can opt out of Facebook's usage-based advertising on the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance website: http://www.youronlinechoices.com/.
5. Use of Social Media Plugins
We currently use the following social media plugins: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We use the so-called two-click solution. This means that when you visit our site, no personal data is initially passed on to the providers of these plugins. You can recognize the plugin provider by the marking on the box above its initial letter or logo. We allow you to communicate directly with the plugin provider via the button. Only if you click on the marked field and thereby activate it, the plugin provider receives the information that you have accessed the corresponding website of our online offer. In addition, the data mentioned in this declaration is transmitted. By activating the plugin, your personal data is transmitted to the respective plugin provider and stored there (for US providers, in the USA). Since the plugin provider collects data mainly via cookies, we recommend that you delete all cookies before clicking on the greyed-out box via your browser's security settings.
We have no influence on the collected data and data processing operations nor are we aware of the full extent of data collection, the purposes of processing, the storage periods, or the transfer of the data to other organizations. The plugin provider stores the data collected about you as user profiles and uses these for purposes of advertising, market research, and/or demand-oriented design of its website. Such an evaluation is carried out in particular (also for non-logged-in users) for the display of demand-oriented advertising and to inform other users of the social network about your activities on our website. You have a right to object to the creation of these user profiles, but you must contact the respective plugin provider to exercise this right.
The data is transferred regardless of whether you have an account with the plugin provider and are logged in there. If you are logged in to the plugin provider, your data collected by us will be directly assigned to your account with the plugin provider. If you press the activated button and, for example, link the page, the plugin provider also stores this information in your user account and communicates this publicly to your contacts. We recommend that you regularly log out after using a social network, but especially before activating the button, as this allows you to avoid being assigned to your profile with the plugin provider.
Further information on the purpose and scope of the data collection and its processing by the plugin provider can be found in the privacy policies of these providers, provided below. They will also provide you with further information on your rights and setting options for protecting your privacy.
Addresses of the respective plugin providers and URLs with their data protection information: