We have written this privacy policy (Version 12.01.2021-311249779) 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 choices you, as a visitor to this website, have.
Unfortunately, it goes without saying that these explanations do sound very technical; despite this, we have tried to explain the most crucial points as simply and clearly as possible.
COOKIES
Our website uses HTTP cookies to save user-specific data.
We will explain what cookies are and why they are used so that you can better understand this privacy policy.
What 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 save 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. More precisely speaking, they are HTTP cookies, as there are other cookies for other areas of application. HTTP cookies are small files that our website stores on your computer. These cookie files are automatically placed in the cookie folder, which is your browser's "brain", effectively. A cookie has 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 call up our site again, your browser transmits the "user-related" information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you your usual standard settings. 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 from our site, whereas third-party cookies are created by partner websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie must be assessed individually, as each cookie stores different data. The expiry 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 "malicious items". Cookies cannot access information on your PC.
Cookie data can, for example, look like this:
Name: _ga
Expiry time: 2 years
Use: Differentiation of website visitors
Exemplary value: GA1.2.1326744211.152311249779
A browser should support the following minimum sizes:
A cookie should be able to contain at least 4096 bytes
At least 50 cookies should be able to be stored per domain
A total of at least 3000 cookies should be able to be stored
What types of cookies are there?
The question of which cookies we specifically use depends on the services used and is explained in the following sections of the privacy policy. At this point, we would like to briefly discuss the different types of HTTP cookies.
There are 4 types of cookies:
Absolutely necessary cookies
These cookies are necessary to ensure basic functions of the website. For example, these cookies are required when a user puts a product in the shopping cart, then continues browsing through other pages and checks out later. These cookies ensure that the shopping cart is not deleted, even if the user closes his or her browser window.
Functional cookies
These cookies collect information on user behaviour and whether the user has received any error messages. In addition, these cookies are used to measure the loading time and the behaviour of the website in different browsers.
Goal-oriented cookies
These cookies improve user-friendliness. For example, entered locations, font sizes or data from forms are saved.
Advertising cookies
These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They serve to deliver customised advertising to the user. This can be very useful, but also very annoying.
When you visit a website for the first time, you will usually be asked which of these types of cookies you would like to allow. And naturally, this decision is also saved in a cookie.
How can I delete cookies?
You decide for yourself how and whether you want to use cookies. Regardless of which service or website the cookies originate from, you always have the option of deleting, deactivating or only partially allowing cookies. For example, you can block third-party cookies but allow all other cookies.
If you wish to find out which cookies have been stored in your browser, if you wish to change or delete cookie settings, 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 generally do not want to receive cookies, you can set up your browser so as to alert you when a cookie is being sent. For each individual cookie, you can then decide to accept or deny the cookie. The procedure is different depending on your browser. It is best to search for the instructions in Google with the search term "delete cookies Chrome" or "deactivate cookies Chrome" if you have a Chrome browser, or replace the word "Chrome" with the name of your browser, e.g. Edge, Firefox, Safari.
What about data protection?
So-called "cookie guidelines" have been around since 2009. They state that saving cookies requires your consent. Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these guidelines. In Germany, cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, this guideline has been largely implemented in Section 15(3) of the Telemedia Act (TMG).
If you want to know more about cookies and have no reluctance towards technical documentation, we recommend https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265, the Request for Comments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) called "HTTP State Management Mechanism".
STORAGE OF PERSONAL DATA
Personal data that you transmit electronically on this website, such as your name, email address, address, or other personal details by submitting a form or comments in blogs, along with the time and IP address, will only be used by us for the purpose stated in each case, will be stored securely, and will not be passed on to third parties.
We therefore only use your personal data for communicating with those visitors who request contact and for processing the services and products offered on this website. We will not pass on your personal data without your consent, but we cannot rule out that these data will be viewed in the event of illegal behaviour.
If you send us personal data by email – outside this website – we cannot guarantee the secure transmission and protection of your data. We recommend that you never send confidential data unencrypted via email.
Article 6 para. 1 lit. a) GDPR is the legal basis for this processing of personal data, provided you give us your consent for processing the data you have entered. You can revoke this consent at any time – an informal email is sufficient. Our contact details can be found in the site notice.
GOOGLE MAPS PRIVACY POLICY
We use Google Maps from Google Inc. on our website. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. With Google Maps, we can better show you locations and thus adapt our service to your needs. By using Google Maps, data are transmitted to Google and stored on Google's servers. We want to go into more detail about what Google Maps is, why we use this service, which data are stored and how you can prevent this.
What is Google Maps?
Google Maps is an internet map service from Google. With Google Maps, you can search for the exact locations of cities, sights, accommodations or companies online using a PC, tablet or app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, additional information about the company is displayed in addition to the location. In order to show you how to get there, map sections of a location can be integrated into a website using HTML code. Google Maps shows the earth's surface as a road map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to Street View images and high-quality satellite images, very precise representations can be offered.
Why do we use Google Maps on our website?
All of our efforts on this page are aimed at providing you with a useful and meaningful time when visiting our website. By integrating Google Maps, we can provide you with the most important information on various locations. You can see at a glance where we are based. The route description always shows you the best or fastest way to get to us. You can find the route for journeys by car, public transport, on foot or by bike. For us, providing you with Google Maps is part of our customer service.
Which data are stored by Google Maps?
For Google Maps to offer you a full service, the company must record and save data from you. This includes the search terms entered, your IP address and the latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner feature, the entered start address is also stored. However, this storing of data takes place on the Google Maps website. We can only inform you about it, but we cannot influence it. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google uses at least one cookie (name: NID) in your browser. This cookie stores data about your user behaviour. Google uses this data primarily to optimise its own services and to provide you with individual, personalised advertising.
The following cookie is set in your browser due to the integration of Google Maps:
Name: NID
Value: 188 = h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ311249779-5
Purpose: NID is used by Google to adapt ads to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google "remembers" your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. This way, you always get customised ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal settings for advertising purposes.
Expiry date: after 6 months
Note: We cannot guarantee that information on the stored data is complete. Changes can never be ruled out, especially when using cookies. In order to identify the NID cookie, a separate test page was created, where only Google Maps was integrated.
How long and where will the data be stored?
The Google servers are located in data centres around the world. Most of the servers are located in America, however. For this reason, your data are increasingly stored in the USA. Here you can see exactly where the Google data centres are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en
Google distributes the data to various data carriers. This means that the data can be accessed more quickly and are better protected against any attempts at manipulation. Each data centre also has special emergency programs. If, for example, there are problems with Google's hardware or a natural disaster interrupts the servers, the data will almost certainly remain protected.
Google stores some data for a specified period of time. For other data, Google only offers the option of manually deleting them. The company also anonymises information (such as advertising data) in server logs by deleting part of the IP address and cookie information after 9 and 18 months, respectively.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
With the automatic location and activity data deletion feature introduced in 2019, information on location determination and web/app activity – depending on your decision – is stored for either 3 or 18 months and then deleted. You can also manually delete these data from your history at any time via the Google account. If you want to completely prevent your location from being recorded, you must pause the "Web and App Activity" section in your Google account. Click "Data & personalisation" then click the "Activity controls" option. Here you can turn the activities on or off.
You can also deactivate, delete or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on which browser you are using, this always works a little differently. The following instructions show how to manage cookies in your 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
If you generally do not want to receive cookies, you can set up your browser so as to alert you when a cookie is being sent. For each individual cookie, you can then decide on whether to accept it or not.
Google is an active participant in the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure data transfer of personal data. More information can be found at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI. If you want to learn more about Google's data processing, we recommend the company's own privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS PRIVACY POLICY
On our website, we use the Google Analytics (GA) analysis tracking tool from the American company Google Inc. 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, if you click on a link, this action is saved in a cookie and sent to Google Analytics. With the help of the reports we receive from Google Analytics, we can better adjust our website and our service to your needs. Below, we go into more detail about the tracking tool and, above all, give you information about which data are stored and how you can prevent this.
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a tracking tool that is used to analyse traffic on our website. In order for Google Analytics to work, a tracking code is built into the code of our website. When you visit our website, this code records various actions that you carry out on our website. As soon as you leave our website, these data are sent to the Google Analytics server and stored there.
Google processes the data, and we receive reports on your user behaviour. These reports can include the following:
Target group reports: target group reports allow us to get to know our users better and receive more precise information on who is interested in our service.
Ad reports: ad reports make it easier for us to analyse and improve our online advertising.
Acquisition reports: acquisition reports give us helpful information on how we can get more people interested in our service.
Behavioural reports: these tell us how you interact with our website. We can see how you move through our site and which links you click.
Conversion reports: conversion is a process in which you carry out a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you go from being a pure website visitor to becoming a purchaser or newsletter subscriber. With the help of these reports, we can find out more about how our marketing measures come across to you. This is how we wish to increase our conversion rate.
Real-time reports: here, we always find out immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we can see how many users are reading this text.
Why do we use Google Analytics on our website?
Our goal with this website is clear: we wish to offer you the best possible service. The statistics and data from Google Analytics help us achieve this goal.
The statistically evaluated data give us a clear picture of our website's strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, we can optimise our site so that those who are interested can find it more easily on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to better understand you as a visitor. Therefore, we know very well what we need to improve on our website in order to offer you the best possible service. The data also help us carry out our advertising and marketing measures more individually and cost-effectively. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested in them.
Which data are stored by Google Analytics?
Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID that is linked to your browser cookie. This is how Google Analytics recognises you as a new user. The next time you visit our site, you are recognised as a "returning" user. All collected data are saved together with this user ID. This is the only way to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles.
Your interactions on our website are measured by identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs. Interactions are all types of actions that you carry out 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 pass on any Google Analytics data unless we, as the website operator, approve this. Exceptions can be made if required by law.
The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:
Name: _ga
Value: 2.1326744211.152311249779-5
Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to save user IDs. Basically, it is used to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: _gid
Value: 2.1687193234.152311249779-1
Purpose: The cookie is also used to differentiate between website visitors.
Expiry date: after 24 hours
Name: _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id>
Value: 1
Purpose: Used to lower the request rate. If Google Analytics is provided via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is given the name _dc_gtm_ <property-id>.
Expiry date: after 1 minute
Name: AMP_TOKEN
Value: no information
Purpose: The cookie has a token with which a user ID can be retrieved from the AMP client ID service. Other possible values indicate a logout, a request, or an error.
Expiry date: after 30 seconds up to a year
Name: __utma
Value: 1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
Purpose: This cookie can be used to track your behaviour on the website and measure performance. The cookie is updated every time information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: __utmt
Value: 1
Purpose: The cookie is used like _gat_gtag_UA_<property-id> to throttle the request rate.
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 are sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 30 minutes
Name: __utmc
Value: 167421564
Purpose: This cookie is used to set new sessions for returning visitors. This is a session cookie and is only stored until you close the browser again.
Expiry date: after closing the browser
Name: __utmz
Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
Purpose: The cookie is used to identify the source of visitor traffic on our website. This means that the cookie stores from where you came to our website. That could have been another page or an ad.
Expiry date: after 6 months
Name: __utmv
Value: not specified
Purpose: The cookie is used to save custom user data. It is always updated when information is sent to Google Analytics.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Note: This list is by no means exhaustive, as Google keeps changing the choice of its cookies.
Here we show you an overview of the most important data that are collected with Google Analytics:
Heatmaps: Google creates so-called heatmaps. Via heatmaps, one can see exactly those areas you click on. That way we get information about where you are "moving around" on our site.
Session duration: Google describes the time you spend on our site without leaving the site as session duration. If you have been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.
Bounce rate: Only viewing one page on our website and then exiting our website again is referred to as bouncing.
Account creation: When you create an account or place an order on our website, Google Analytics collects these data.
IP address: The IP address is only shown in truncated form so that no clear allocation is possible.
Location: The country and your approximate location can be determined via the IP address. This process is also known as IP location determination.
Technical information: The technical information includes, among other things, your browser type, your internet provider or your screen resolution.
Source of origin: Google Analytics/we are of course also interested in which website or which advertising you used to come to our site.
Further data include contact details, any ratings, playing media (e.g. when you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media or adding items to your favourites. The list is by no means exhaustive and only serves as a general guide to data storage by Google Analytics.
How long and where will the data be stored?
Google has servers all over the world. Most of the servers are located in America and therefore your data are mostly stored on American servers. Here you can see exactly where the Google data centres are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en
Your data are distributed on various physical data carriers. This has the advantage that the data can be accessed more quickly and are better protected against manipulation. Al Google data centres have appropriate emergency programs for your data. If, for example, the hardware at Google fails or natural disasters immobilise servers, the risk of Google suffering service interruption remains low.
Google Analytics has set a standard retention period of 26 months for your data. Then your user data are deleted.
However, we do have the option of choosing the retention period for user data ourselves. There are five options for this:
Deletion after 14 months
Deletion after 26 months
Deletion after 38 months
Deletion after 50 months
No automatic deletion
After the specified period has expired, the data are then deleted once every month. This retention period applies to your data, which are linked to cookies, user identification and advertising IDs (e.g. cookies from the DoubleClick domain). Report results are based on aggregated data and are stored independently of user data. Aggregated data are a merging 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 them, delete them or restrict them. Using the browser add-on to disable Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js), you generally prevent Google Analytics from using your data. You can download and install the browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. Please note that this add-on only deactivates data collection by Google Analytics.
If you basically want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies (independent 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-US Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure data transfer of personal data. You can find more information on this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=311249779. We hope we have been able to give you an understanding of the most important information on data processing by Google Analytics. If you wish to get more information on 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=en.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS IP ANONYMISATION
We have implemented the IP address anonymisation feature of Google Analytics on this website. This feature was developed by Google so that this website can comply with the applicable data protection regulations and recommendations of the local data protection authorities if they prohibit full IP address storage. IP anonymisation or masking takes place as soon as IP addresses arrive at the Google Analytics data collection network and before data are stored or processed.
For more information on IP anonymisation, see https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=en.
Reports on demographics and interests from Google Analytics
We have switched on the advertising report features in Google Analytics. Reports on demographics and interests include age, gender and interests. This enables us to get a better picture of our users – without being able to assign these data to individual persons. For more information on the advertising features, see https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3450482?hl=en_AT&utm_id=ad.
You can stop using the activities and information of your Google account under "Ads settings" at https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated by clicking the checkbox.
Google Analytics add-on for data processing
We have concluded a direct customer contract with Google for the use of Google Analytics by accepting the "Data Processing Amendment" in Google Analytics.
You can find out more about data processing amendment for Google Analytics here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/3379636?hl=en&utm_id=ad
Google Analytics Google Signals Privacy Policy
We have activated Google signals in Google Analytics. In this way, the existing Google Analytics features (advertising reports, remarketing, cross-device reports and reports on interests and demographic characteristics) are updated in order to receive summarised and anonymised data from you, provided you have allowed personalised ads in your Google account.
The special thing about it is that it involves cross-device tracking. This means your data can be analysed across any device. By activating Google signals, data are recorded and linked to the Google account. This enables Google to, for example, recognise you viewing a product on our website using a smartphone and later buying the product using a laptop. Thanks to the activation of Google signals, we can start cross-device remarketing campaigns that would otherwise not be possible in this form. Remarketing means that we can also show you our offer on other websites.
In Google Analytics, additional visitor data such as location, search history, YouTube history and data about your actions on our website are recorded by the Google signals. We thus receive better advertising reports and more useful information about your interests and demographic characteristics from Google. This includes your age, what language you speak, where you live or your gender. There are also social criteria such as your job, your marital status or your income. All of these features help Google Analytics define groups of people or target groups.
The reports also help us better assess your behaviour, your wishes and interests. This allows us to optimise and adapt our services and products for you. By default, these data expire after 26 months. Please note that these data are only collected if you have allowed personalised advertising in your Google account. These are always summarised and anonymous data, never data on individual persons. You can manage or delete these data in your Google account.
GOOGLE TAG MANAGER PRIVACY POLICY
We use the Google Tag Manager from Google Inc. on our website. Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. This Tag Manager is one of many helpful marketing products from Google. With the Google Tag Manager, we can centrally integrate and manage code sections from various tracking tools that we use on our website.
In this data protection declaration, we wish to explain in more detail what the Google Tag Manager does, why we use it and in what form data are processed.
What is the Google Tag Manager?
The Google Tag Manager is an organising tool with which we can integrate and manage website tags centrally and via a user interface. Tags are small code sections that, for example, record (track) your activities on our website. For this, JavaScript code sections are used in the source code of our site. The tags often come from internal Google products such as Google Ads or Google Analytics, however, tags from other companies can also be integrated and managed via the manager. Such tags take on different tasks. They can collect browser data, feed marketing tools with data, integrate buttons, set cookies and also track users across multiple websites.
Why do we use the Google Tag Manager for our website?
As the old saying goes: organisation is half the battle! And of course that also applies to maintaining our website. In order to make our website as good as possible for you and everyone interested in our products and services, we need various tracking tools such as Google Analytics. The data collected by these tools show us what you are most interested in, where we can improve our services and who we should show our offers to. And for this tracking to work, we have to integrate the corresponding JavaScript code into our website. In principle, we could incorporate each code section of the individual tracking tools into our source code separately. However, this would take a relatively long time, and it would be easy to lose track of things. That's why we use the Google Tag Manager. We can easily insert the necessary scripts and manage them from one place. In addition, the Google Tag Manager offers an easy-to-use user interface, and you don't need any programming skills. This is how we manage to keep order in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
What data are saved by the Google Tag Manager?
The Tag Manager itself is a domain that neither sets cookies nor stores data. It acts as a mere "administrator" of the implemented tags. The data record the individual tags of the various web analysis tools. The data are passed through to the individual tracking tools in the Google Tag Manager and are not saved.
However, tags that are integrated into various web analysis tools, such as Google Analytics is a completely different thing. Depending on the analysis tool, various data about your web-related behaviour are usually collected, saved and processed with the help of cookies. To do this, please read our data privacy texts on the individual analysis and tracking tools we use on our website.
In the Tag Manager account settings, we have allowed Google to receive anonymised data from us. However, this only has to do with the use and enjoyment of our Tag Manager and not your data, which are stored via the code sections. We enable Google and others to receive selected data in anonymised form. We therefore consent to our website data being passed on anonymously. Despite lengthy research, we were unable to find out which summarised and anonymous data are exactly forwarded. In any case, Google deletes all information that could identify our website. Google combines the data with hundreds of other anonymous website data and creates user trends as part of benchmarking measures. Benchmarking compares your own results with those of your competitors. Processes can be optimised on the basis of the information collected.
How long and where will the data be stored?
When Google stores data, these data are stored on its own Google servers. It has servers all over the world. Most of them are in America. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=en, you can see exactly where the Google servers are located.
You can find out how long the individual tracking tools store your data through our individual data privacy texts for the individual tools.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
The Google Tag Manager itself does not set cookies but manages tags from various tracking websites. You will find detailed information on how to delete or manage your data in our data privacy texts for the individual tracking tools.
Google is an active participant in the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure data transfer of personal data. You can find more information on this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=311249779. If you want to learn more about the Google Tag Manager, we recommend looking at the FAQs at https://support.google.com/tagmanager/?hl=en#topic=3441530.
NEWSLETTER PRIVACY POLICY
If you subscribe to our newsletter, you transmit the above-mentioned personal data and give us the right to contact you by email. The data that are stored when you register for the newsletter are used by us only for the newsletter and are not passed on.
If you unsubscribe from the newsletter – you will find the link for this at the bottom of every newsletter – then we delete all data that were saved when you registered for the newsletter.
Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy
We use Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) as an online marketing measure to advertise our products and services. We wish to make more people aware of the high quality of our offers on the internet. As part of our advertising measures through Google Ads, we use conversion tracking from Google Inc. on our website. In Europe, however, Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With the help of this free tracking tool, we can better adjust our advertising offer to your interests and needs. In the following text, we would like to go into more detail about why we use conversion tracking, which data are stored and how you can prevent this data storage.
What is Google Ads Conversion Tracking?
Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is Google Inc.'s own online advertising system. We are confident about the quality of our offer and want as many people as possible to get to know our website. In the online area, Google Ads offers the best platform for this. In addition, we of course want to obtain a precise overview of the cost-benefit factor of our advertising campaigns. That's why we use the Google Ads conversion tracking tool.
But what exactly is a conversion? A conversion takes place when you change from a purely interested website visitor to an active visitor. This happens whenever you click on our ad and then perform another action, such as visiting our website. With the conversion tracking tool from Google, we record what happens after a user clicks on our Google Ads ad. We can see, for example, whether products are being purchased, services are being used or whether users have registered for our newsletter.
Why do we use Google Ads conversion tracking on our website?
We use Google Ads to draw attention to our offer on other websites. The aim is for our advertising campaigns to really only reach those people who are interested in our offers. With the conversion tracking tool, we can see which keywords, ads, ad groups and campaigns lead to which desired customer actions. We see how many customers interact with our ads on a device and then execute a conversion. These data enable us to calculate our cost-benefit factor, measure the success of individual advertising measures and, as a consequence of this, optimise our online marketing measures. Furthermore, with the help of the data obtained, we can make our website more interesting for you and can adapt our advertising offer even more individually to your needs.
What data are saved by Google Ads conversion tracking?
We have integrated a conversion tracking tag or code snippet into our website to be able to better analyse certain user actions. If you now click on one of our Google Ads ads, the "Conversion" cookie from a Google domain will be saved on your computer (usually in the browser) or mobile device. Cookies are small text files that save information on your computer.
Here are the data from the most important cookies for Google's conversion tracking:
Name: Conversion
Value: EhMI_aySuoyv4gIVled3Ch0llweVGAEgt-mr6aXd7dYlSAGQ311249779-3
Purpose: This cookie saves each conversion you make on our site after you have come to us via a Google Ad.
Expiry date: after 3 months
Name: _gac
Value: 1.1558695989.EAIaIQobChMIiOmEgYO04gIVj5AYCh2CBAPrEAAYASAAEgIYQfD_BwE
Purpose: This is a classic Google Analytics cookie and is used to record various actions on our website.
Expiry date: after 3 months
Note: The _gac cookie only appears in connection with Google Analytics. The above list is not exhaustive, as Google repeatedly uses other cookies for analytical evaluation.
As soon as you complete an action on our website, Google recognises the cookie and saves your action as a so-called conversion. As long as you keep browsing our website and the cookie has not yet expired, we and Google will discern that you have found us via our Google Ads ad. The cookie is read out and sent back to Google Ads with the conversion data. Other cookies may also be used to measure conversions. Google Ads conversion tracking can be refined and improved with the help of Google Analytics. For ads that Google shows in different places on the web, cookies with the name "__gads" or "_gac" may be set under our domain. Since September 2017, various types of campaign information have been saved by analytics.js with the _gac cookie. The cookie saves these data as soon as you visit one of our pages for which Google Ads' automatic tagging has been set up. In contrast to cookies that are set for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies when you are on our website. We do not collect or receive any personal data. We get a report from Google with statistical evaluations. For example, we find out the total number of users who clicked on our ad, and we can see which advertising measures were well received.
How long and where will the data be stored?
At this point, we wish to point out that we have no influence on how Google uses the collected data. According to Google, the data are encrypted and stored on secure servers. In most cases, conversion cookies expire after 30 days and do not transmit any personal data. The cookies with the names "Conversion" and "_gac" (which are used in connection with Google Analytics) have an expiry date of 3 months.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage? You can choose not to participate in Google Ads conversion tracking. If you deactivate the Google Conversion Tracking cookie via your browser, you block conversion tracking. In this case, you will not be included in the statistics of the tracking tool. You can change the cookie settings in your browser at any time. This works a little differently for each browser.
Here you can find instructions on how to manage cookies in your 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
If you generally do not want to receive cookies, you can set up your browser so as to alert you when a cookie is being sent. For each individual cookie, you can then decide to accept or deny the cookie. By downloading and installing this browser plug-in at https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996, all "advertising cookies" will also be deactivated. Please note that by deactivating these cookies you will not be stopping all ads, but only personalised ads.
Due to certification for the American-European data protection agreement "Privacy Shield", the American Google LLC group must comply with the data protection laws applicable in the EU. If you wish to find out more about data protection at Google, we recommend Google's general data protection declaration here: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en.
EMBEDDED SOCIAL MEDIA ELEMENTS PRIVACY POLICY
We incorporate elements from social media services on our website in order to display images, videos and texts. When you visit pages that display these elements, data are transferred from your browser to the respective social media service and stored there. We have no access to these data.
The following links take you to the pages of the respective social media services where you can find out how they handle your data:
Instagram privacy policy: https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875
Google's privacy policy applies to YouTube: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Facebook data policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy
Twitter privacy policy: https://twitter.com/en/privacy
LinkedIn privacy policy
We use social plug-ins from the social media network LinkedIn, LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA on our website. These social plug-ins can be feeds, content sharing or links to our LinkedIn page. The social plug-ins are clearly marked with the well-known LinkedIn logo and allow, for example, interesting content to be shared directly via our website. LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company Wilton Place in Dublin is responsible for data processing for the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
By embedding such plug-ins, data can be sent to LinkedIn, saved and processed there. In this privacy policy, we wish to inform you which data are involved, how the network uses these data and how you can manage or prevent data storage.
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn is the largest social network for business contacts. In contrast to Facebook, for example, the company concentrates exclusively on establishing business contacts. Companies can present services and products on the platform and establish business relationships. Many people also use LinkedIn to search for a job or to find suitable employees for their own company. The network has over 11 million members in Germany alone. Austria has about 1.3 million members.
Why do we use LinkedIn on our website?
We know how busy you are. You can't follow all social media channels individually. Even if it's worth it, as in our case. So we keep posting interesting news or reports worth spreading. That is why we have made it possible on our website to share interesting content directly on LinkedIn or to refer directly to our LinkedIn page. We see built-in social plug-ins as an extended service on our website. The data that LinkedIn collects also helps us to show possible advertising measures only to people who are interested in our offer.
Which data does LinkedIn store?
LinkedIn does not store any personal data simply by integrating social plug-ins. LinkedIn calls these data, which are generated by plug-ins, passive impressions. However, if you click on a social plug-in, for example, to share our content, the platform saves personal data as so-called "active impressions". Regardless of whether you have a LinkedIn account or not. If you are logged in, the collected data will be assigned to your account.
Your browser establishes a direct connection to the LinkedIn servers when you interact with our plug-ins. In this way, the company logs various usage data. In addition to your IP address, this can involve, for example, registration data, device information or information on your internet or mobile network provider. If you use LinkedIn services via your smartphone, your location can also be determined (after you have given permission). LinkedIn can also pass these data on to third parties in "hashed" form. Hashing means that a data record is converted into a character string. This allows the data to be encrypted in such a way that people can no longer be identified.
Most of the data on your user behaviour are stored in cookies. These are small text files that are usually added to your browser. In addition, LinkedIn can also use web beacons, pixel tags, display tags and other device identifications.
Various tests also show which cookies are placed when a user interacts with a social plug-in. By finding data, no claim to completeness can be made. They only serve as an example. The following cookies are set without being logged in to LinkedIn:
Name: bcookie
Value: = 2&34aab2aa-2ae1-4d2a-8baf-c2e2d7235c16311249779-
Purpose: The cookie is a so-called "browser ID cookie" and consequently saves your identification number (ID).
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: long
Value: v=2 & long=en-en
Purpose: This cookie stores your preset or preferred language.
Expiry date: after the session has ended
Name: lidc
Value: 1818367:t=1571904767:s=AQF6KNnJ0G311249779...
Purpose: This cookie is used for routing. Routing records the ways in which you came to LinkedIn and how you navigate through the website there.
Expiry date: after 24 hours
Name: rtc
Value: kt0lrv3NF3x3t6xvDgGrZGDKkX
Purpose: No further information could be obtained on this cookie.
Expiry date: after 2 minutes
Name: JSESSIONID
Value: ajax: 3112497792900777718326218137
Purpose: This is a session cookie that LinkedIn uses to maintain anonymous user sessions through the server.
Expiry date: after the session has ended
Name: bscookie
Value: "v=1&201910230812...
Purpose: This cookie is a security cookie. LinkedIn describes it as a secure browser ID cookie.
Expiry date: after 2 years
Name: fid
Value: AQHj7Ii23ZBcqAAAA...
Purpose: No further information could be found on this cookie.
Expiry date: after 7 days
Note: LinkedIn also works with third parties. That is why we also recognised the two Google Analytics cookies _ga and _gat in our test.
How long and where will the data be stored?
Generally, LinkedIn retains your personal data for as long as the company considers it necessary to offer its own services. However, LinkedIn will delete your personal data if you delete your account. In some exceptional cases, LinkedIn retains some data in a summarised and anonymous form even after you delete your account. Once you delete your account, other people will no longer be able to see your data within a day. LinkedIn generally deletes the data within 30 days. However, LinkedIn retains data if it is required by law. Data that can no longer be assigned to any person will be stored even after the account has been closed. The data are stored on various servers in America and probably also in Europe.
How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?
You have the right to access your personal data at any time and also to delete them. You can manage, change and delete your data in your LinkedIn account. You can also request a copy of your personal data from LinkedIn.
This is how to access account information on your LinkedIn profile:
Click on your profile icon in LinkedIn and select the "Settings and Privacy" section. Now select "Data Privacy" and then click "Change" in the section "How LinkedIn uses your data". You can download selected data about your web activity and your account history in no time.
In your browser, you also have the option of preventing data processing by LinkedIn. As mentioned above, LinkedIn saves most of the data via cookies that are set in your browser. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies. Depending on which browser you are using, managing this always works a little differently. Instructions for the most popular browsers can be found here:
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
You can generally set your browser to notify you when a cookie is to be placed. Then you can always decide individually whether you wish to allow the cookie or not.
LinkedIn is an active participant in the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework. This framework ensures correct data transfer between the USA and the European Union. For more information on this, see https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000L0UZAA0. We have tried to provide you with the most important information on data processing by LinkedIn. You can find out more about data processing carried out by the social media network LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy.
