Privacy Policy

VEM Metal GmbH

Hafenstr. 73

D-47809 Krefeld 

Tel +49 (0) 2151 / XXX

Fax +49 (0) 2151 / XXX

E-Mail: info@vem-metal.de

We have drawn up this data protection declaration (version 15.08.2022) to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the basic data protection regulation (EU) 2016/679, what information we collect, how we use data and what decision-making options you have as a visitor to this website.

Automatic data storage

When you visit websites today, certain information is automatically created and stored, including on this website.

When you visit our website as you are doing right now, our web server (the computer on which this website is stored) automatically saves data such as

• the address (URL) of the accessed web page
• Browser and browser version
• the operating system used
• the address (URL) of the previously visited page (referrer URL)
• the host name and IP address of the device from which access is made
• Date and time
• in files (web server log files).

Usually web server log files are stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not pass on this data, but cannot exclude the possibility that this data may be viewed in the event of illegal behaviour.

Cookies

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

In the following we explain what cookies are and why they are used so that you can better understand the following privacy policy.

What exactly are cookies?

Whenever you surf the Internet, you are using a browser. Some popular 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 of them cannot be dismissed: Cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. More precisely, they are HTTP cookies, as there are other cookies for other applications. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically stored in the cookie folder, quasi the “brain” of your browser. 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 visit our site again, your browser transmits the “user-related” information back to our site. Thanks to the cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you your accustomed 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 by our site, third-party cookies are created by partner sites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie is unique because 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
• Expiry period: 2 years
• Usage: Differentiation of website visitors
• Example value: GA1.2.1326744211.152311200011
• 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 which cookies we use in particular depends on the services used and is clarified in the following sections of the privacy policy. At this point we would like to briefly discuss the different types of HTTP cookies.

You can distinguish between 4 types of cookies:

• Essential cookies

These cookies are necessary to ensure basic functions 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 do not delete the shopping cart, even if the user closes his browser window.

• Functional cookies

These cookies collect information about user behaviour and whether the user receives any error messages. In addition, these cookies also measure the loading time and the behaviour of the website with different browsers.

• Target-oriented cookies

These cookies ensure a better user experience. For example, entered locations, font sizes or form data are stored.

• Advertising cookies

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

Usually, the first time you visit a website, you are asked which of these types of cookies you would like to allow. And of course this decision is also stored in a cookie.

How can I delete cookies?

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

If you want to find out which cookies are stored in your browser, if you want to change or delete cookie settings, you can find this in your browser settings:

• Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari
• Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not. The procedure varies depending on the browser. The best thing to do is to look for the instructions in Google using the search term “Delete Chrome cookies” or “Disable Chrome cookies” in the case of a Chrome browser, or replace the word “Chrome” with the name of your browser, e.g. Edge, Firefox, Safari.

What about my privacy?

Since 2009 there are the so-called “cookie guidelines”. This states that the storage of cookies requires your consent. Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these guidelines. In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, the implementation of this directive was largely carried out in § 15 para.3 of the Telemediengesetz (TMG).

If you want to know more about cookies and are not afraid of 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 information that you submit to us electronically on this website, such as your name, e-mail 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 purpose stated in each case, will be kept securely stored and will not be disclosed to third parties.

Thus, we will only use your personal data for communication with those visitors who expressly 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 exclude the possibility that this data may be viewed in the event of unlawful behaviour.

If you send us personal data by e-mail – thus off this website – we cannot guarantee secure transmission and protection of your data. We recommend that you never send confidential data by e-mail without encryption.

According to article 6 paragraph 1 a DSGVO (legality of processing), the legal basis is that you give us your consent to process the data you have entered. You can revoke this consent at any time – an informal e-mail is sufficient; you will find our contact details in the imprint.

Rights according to the data protection basic regulation

In accordance with the provisions of the DSGVO, you are basically entitled to the following rights:

• Right of rectification (Article 16 DSGVO)
• Right of cancellation (“right to be forgotten”) (Article 17 DPA)
• Right to restrict processing (Article 18 DSGVO)
• Right of notification – Obligation to notify in connection with the correction or deletion of personal data or the restriction of processing (Article 19 DPA)
• Right to data transferability (Article 20 DSGVO)
• Right of objection (Article 21 DSGVO)
• Right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling (Article 22 DPA)

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or your data protection rights have otherwise been violated in any way, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI).

Evaluation of visitor behaviour

In the following data protection declaration we inform you whether and how we evaluate data of your visit to this website. The evaluation of the collected data is usually anonymous and we cannot deduce your identity from your behaviour on this website.

You can find out more about how to object to this evaluation of visit data in the following data protection declaration.

TLS encryption with https

We use https to transmit data tap-proof on the Internet (data protection through technology design article 25 paragraph 1 DSGVO). By using TLS (Transport Layer Security), an encryption protocol for secure data transmission on the Internet, we can ensure the protection of confidential data. You can recognize the use of this data transmission security by the small lock symbol in the upper left corner of your browser and the use of the https scheme (instead of http) as part of our Internet address.

Google Maps Privacy Policy

We use Google Maps from Google Inc. for our website, and Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services in Europe. With Google Maps we can show you locations better and thus adapt our service to your needs. By using Google Maps, data is transferred to Google and stored on Google’s servers. Here we will go into more detail about what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored and how you can stop it.

What is Google Maps?

Google Maps is an internet map service of the company Google. With Google Maps, you can search online for exact locations of cities, places of interest, accommodations or businesses using a PC, tablet or app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, additional information about the company is displayed next to the location. To display directions, map sections of a location can be embedded into a website using HTML code. Google Maps shows the surface of the earth as a road map or as an aerial or satellite image. Thanks to the Street View images and the high-quality satellite images, very accurate representations are possible.

Why do we use Google Maps on our website?

All our efforts on this site are aimed at providing you with a useful and meaningful time on our website. By integrating Google Maps, we can provide you with the most important information about various locations. You can see at a glance where we have our headquarters. The route description always shows you the best or fastest way to reach us. You can call up the directions for routes by car, public transport, on foot or by bicycle. For us the provision of Google Maps is part of our customer service.

What data is stored by Google Maps?

In order for Google Maps to provide its full service, the company must collect and store information about you. This includes the search terms you enter, your IP address and also the latitude and longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the start address entered will also be saved. However, this data storage happens on the websites of Google Maps. We can only inform you about it, but we cannot influence it. Since we have integrated Google Maps into our website, Google sets 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 individual, personalised advertising for you.

The following cookie is set in your browser due to the integration of Google Maps:

• Name: NID
• Wert: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ311200011-5
• Purpose: NID is used by Google to adapt advertisements to your Google search. Google uses the cookie to “remember” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. So you always get customized ads. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect your personal preferences for advertising purposes.
• Expiration date: after 6 months

Note: We cannot guarantee the completeness of the data stored. Especially when using cookies, changes can never be ruled out. In order to identify the cookie NID, a separate test page was created where only Google Maps was integrated.

How long and where is the data stored?

The Google servers are located in data centers around the world. However, most servers are located in America. For this reason, your data is also increasingly stored in the USA. Here you can find out exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Google distributes the data on different data carriers. This means that the data can be accessed more quickly and is better protected against any attempts at manipulation. Each data center also has special emergency programs. If, for example, there are problems with the Google hardware or a natural disaster paralyses the servers, the data is still protected.

Some data is stored by Google for a set period of time. For other data, Google only offers the option to delete it manually. The company also anonymizes 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 deletion of location and activity data introduced in 2019, location and web/app activity information is stored for either 3 or 18 months, depending on your decision, and then deleted. You can also manually delete this data from your history at any time using your Google Account. If you want to completely stop your location tracking, you’ll need to pause the Web and App activity section of your Google Account. Click ‘Data and personalization’ and then click the ‘Activity setting’ option. Here you can turn activity on or off.

You can also disable, delete or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this always works slightly differently. The following instructions show you how to manage cookies in your browser:

• Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari
• Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. This way you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not.

You do not need to sign in or set a password to use Google fonts. Furthermore, no cookies are stored in your browser. The files (CSS, fonts) are requested via the Google domains fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. According to Google, the requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services. If you have a Google Account, you don’t need to worry about your Google Account information being submitted to Google while using Google Fonts. Google tracks the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this information securely. We’ll be taking a closer look at what exactly this data storage looks like.

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts (formerly Google Web Fonts) is a directory of over 800 fonts that Google makes available to its users free of charge.

Many of these fonts are published under the SIL Open Font License, while others are published under the Apache License. Both are free software licenses.

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

With Google Fonts we can use fonts on our own website, but we don’t have to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important component to keep the quality of our website high. All Google fonts are automatically optimized for the web, which saves data volume and is a great advantage especially for use with mobile devices. When you visit our site, the low file size ensures a fast loading time. Furthermore, Google Fonts are secure web fonts. Different image synthesis systems (rendering) in different browsers, operating systems and mobile devices can lead to errors. Such errors can visually distort some texts or entire web pages. Thanks to the fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), there are no cross-platform problems with Google Fonts. Google Fonts supports all major browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera) and works reliably on most modern mobile operating systems, including Android 2.2+ and iOS 4.2+ (iPhone, iPad, iPod). So we use Google Fonts to make our entire online service as beautiful and consistent as possible.

What information does Google store?

When you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded via a Google server. This external call transfers data to the Google servers. In this way Google also recognises that you or your IP address are visiting our website. The Google Fonts API was developed to reduce the use, storage and collection of end user data to what is necessary for the proper provision of fonts. By the way, API stands for “Application Programming Interface” and serves, among other things, as a data transmitter in the software sector.

Google Fonts stores CSS and font requests securely at Google and is therefore protected. Through the collected usage figures, Google can determine how well the individual fonts are received. Google publishes the results on internal analysis pages, such as Google Analytics. Google also uses data from its own web crawler to determine which websites use Google fonts. This data is published in Google Fonts’ BigQuery database. Entrepreneurs and developers use Google’s BigQuery web service to examine and move large amounts of data.

However, it should also be noted that each Google Font request automatically sends information such as language settings, IP address, browser version, browser screen resolution and browser name to the Google servers. Whether this data is also stored cannot be clearly determined or is not clearly communicated by Google.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google stores requests for CSS assets for one day on its servers, which are mainly located outside the EU. This allows us to use the fonts with the help of a Google style sheet. A stylesheet is a style template that allows you to easily and quickly change, for example, the design or font of a web page.

The font files are stored at Google for one year. Google’s goal is to improve the loading time of web pages. If millions of web pages link to the same fonts, they are cached after the first visit and reappear immediately on all other web pages visited later. Sometimes Google updates font files to reduce file size, increase language coverage and improve design.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The data that Google stores for a day or a year cannot simply be deleted. The data is automatically transmitted to Google when the page is called up. To delete this data prematurely, you must contact Google support at https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=311200011. In this case, you only prevent data storage if you do not visit our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unlimited access to all fonts. This means that we have unlimited access to a sea of fonts and can thus get the best out of our website. You can find out more about Google Fonts and other questions at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=311200011. Although Google addresses privacy issues there, it does not provide really detailed information about data storage. It’s relatively difficult to get really detailed information about data storage from Google.

You can also read about what data Google collects and how it is used at https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

On our website we use Google fonts from Google Inc. The company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for the European area. We have integrated the Google fonts locally, i.e. on our web server – not on the servers of Google. This means that there is no connection to Google servers and therefore no data transfer or storage.

What are Google Fonts?

In former times Google Fonts were also called Google Web Fonts. This is an interactive directory with over 800 fonts, which Google provides free of charge. With Google Fonts you could use fonts without uploading them to your own server. But to prevent any information transfer to Google servers, we have downloaded the fonts to our server. In this way, we act in accordance with data protection laws and do not send any data to Google Fonts.

Unlike other web fonts, Google gives us unlimited access to all fonts. This means we have unlimited access to a sea of fonts and can thus get the best out of our website. More about Google Fonts and other questions can be found at https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=311200011.

OpenStreetMap Privacy Policy

We have integrated map sections of the online map tool “OpenStreetMap” on our website. This is a so-called open source mapping, which we can call up via an API (interface). This function is offered by the OpenStreetMap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WS, United Kingdom. By using this map function, your IP address is forwarded to OpenStreetMap. This privacy policy explains why we use features of the OpenStreetMap tool, where what data is stored and how you can prevent this data storage.

What is OpenStreetMap?

The OpenStreetMap project was launched in 2004. The goal of the project is and was to create a free world map. Users collect worldwide data about buildings, forests, rivers and roads. Over the years, a comprehensive digital world map was created by users themselves. Of course, the map is not complete, but in most regions it contains a lot of data.

Why do we use OpenStreetMap on our website?

Our website is primarily intended to be helpful to you. And from our point of view, it always is when information can be found quickly and easily. On the one hand, it is of course about our services and products, but on the other hand it is also intended to provide you with further helpful information. That is why we also use the map service OpenStreetMap. This way we can show you exactly how to find our company. The map shows you the best way to reach us and your journey becomes child’s play.

What data is stored by OpenStreetMap?

When you visit one of our websites that OpenStreetMap offers, user data is transmitted to the service and stored there. For example, OpenStreetMap collects information about your interactions with the digital map, your IP address, data about your browser, device type, operating system and the day and time you used the service. Tracking software is also used to record user interactions. The company specifies the analysis tool “Piwik” in its own privacy policy.

The data collected is subsequently made available to the relevant working groups of the OpenStreetMap Foundation. According to the company, personal data will not be passed on to other persons or companies, unless this is legally necessary. The third-party provider Piwik does store your IP address, but in abbreviated form.

The following cookie may be set in your browser when you interact with OpenStreetMap on our website:

• Name: _osm_location
• Wert: 9.63312%7C52.41500%7C17%7CM
• Purpose: The cookie is needed to unlock the contents of OpenStreetMap.
• Expiration date: after 10 years

If you want to view the full screen map, you will be linked to the OpenStreetMap website. Among other things, the following cookies can be stored in your browser there:

• Name: _osm_totp_token
• Value: 148253311200011-2
• Purpose: This cookie is used to ensure the operation of the map section.
• Expiration date: after one hour
• Name: _osm_session
• Wert: 1d9bfa122e0259d5f6db4cb8ef653a1c
• Purpose: With the help of the cookie, session information (i.e. user behaviour) can be stored.
• Expiration date: after session end
• Name: _pk_id.1.cf09
• Wert: 4a5.1593684142.2.1593688396.1593688396311200011-9
• Purpose: This cookie is set by Piwik to store or measure user data such as click behaviour.
• Expiration date: after one year

How long and where is the data stored?

The API servers, databases and ancillary service servers are currently located in the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and the Netherlands. Your IP address and user information, which is stored in abbreviated form by the web analytics tool Piwik, is deleted after 180 days.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the right to access your personal data at any time and to object to its use and processing. You can manage, delete or deactivate cookies that may be set by OpenStreetMap in your browser at any time. However, this will prevent the service from working to its full extent. The administration, deletion or deactivation of cookies works slightly differently in each browser. Below you will find links to the instructions of the most popular browsers:

• Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari
• Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you want to learn more about data processing by OpenStreetMap, we recommend that you read the company’s privacy policy at https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy.

Google Analytics Privacy Policy

On our website we use the analysis tracking tool Google Analytics (GA) of the American company Google Inc. For the European area the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. 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 enable us to better tailor our website and services to your needs. In the following we will go into more detail about the tracking tool and inform you above all 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 analyse the data 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 servers and stored there.

Google processes the data and we receive reports about your user behaviour. These reports may include the following:

• Target group reports: Through target group reports we get to know our users better and know more precisely who is interested in our service.
• Advertising reports: Advertising reports help us to analyse and improve our online advertising.
• Acquisition reports: Acquisition reports provide us with helpful information on how we can get more people interested in our service.
• Behavioral Reports: Here we learn how you interact with our website. We can track which path you take on our site and which links you click on.
• Conversion reports: Conversion is the process by which you perform a desired action based on a marketing message. For example, when you change from a mere website visitor to a buyer or newsletter subscriber. These reports help us to learn more about how our marketing activities are received by you. This is how we want to increase our conversion rate.
• Real-time reports: Here we always know immediately what is happening on our website. For example, we 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 want 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 the strengths and weaknesses of our website. On the one hand, we can optimize our site so that it can be found more easily by interested people on Google. On the other hand, the data helps us to understand you as a visitor better. 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 more individually and cost-effectively. After all, it only makes sense to show our products and services to people who are interested.

Which data is stored by Google Analytics?

Google Analytics uses a tracking code to create a random, unique ID associated with your browser cookie. This allows Google Analytics to recognize 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 makes it possible to evaluate pseudonymous user profiles in the first place.

Through identifiers such as cookies and app instance IDs, your interactions on our website are measured. Interactions are all kinds of actions 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 pass on any Google Analytics data unless we, as the website operator, give permission to do so. Exceptions may be made if required by law.

The following cookies are used by Google Analytics:

• Name: _ga
• Wert: 2.1326744211.152311200011-5
• Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to differentiate between website visitors.
• Expiration date: after 2 years
• Name: _gid
• Wert: 2.1687193234.152311200011-1
• Purpose: The cookie is also used to differentiate between website visitors.
• Expiration date: after 24 hours
• Name: _gat_gtag_UA_ Value: 1
• Purpose: Used to lower the request rate. When Google Analytics is delivered via Google Tag Manager, this cookie is named _dc_gtm_ .
• Expiration date: after 1 minute
• Name: AMP_TOKEN
• Value: not specified
• 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 logoff, a request or an error.
• Expiration date: after 30 seconds up to one year
• Name: __utma
• Wert: 1564498958.1564498958.1564498958.1
• Purpose: With this cookie you can track your behaviour on the website and measure performance. The cookie is updated each time information is sent to Google Analytics.
• Expiration date: after 2 years
• Name: __utmt
• Value: 1
• Purpose: The cookie is used like _gat_gtag_UA_ to throttle the request rate.
• Expiration date: after 10 minutes
• Name: __utmb
• Value: 3.10.1564498958
• Purpose: This cookie is used to determine new sessions. It is updated each time new data or information is sent to Google Analytics.
• Expiration date: after 30 minutes
• Name: __utmc
• Value: 167421564
• Purpose: This cookie is used to establish new sessions for returning visitors. This is a session cookie and is only stored until you close the browser.
• Expiration date: After closing the browser
• Name: __utmz
• Value: m|utmccn=(referral)|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/
• Purpose: The cookie is used to identify the source of traffic to our website. This means that the cookie stores where you came to our website from. This may have been another site or an advertising campaign.
• Expiry date: after 6 month
• Name: __utmv
• Value: not specified
• Purpose: The cookie is used to store user-defined user data. It is always updated when information is sent to Google Analytics.
• Expiration date: after 2 years

Note: This list cannot claim to be complete, as Google constantly changes the choice of its cookies.

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

• heat maps: Google creates so-called heat maps. With Heatmaps you can see exactly those areas that you click on. This way we get information where you are “on the road” on our site.
• Session duration: Google defines session duration as the time you spend on our site without leaving the site. If you’ve been inactive for 20 minutes, the session ends automatically.
• Bouncerate: A bouncer is when you view only one page on our site and then leave our site.
• 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 shown 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 known as IP location determination.
• Technical Information: Technical information includes your browser type, your Internet provider or your screen resolution.
• Source of origin: Google Analytics or us, is of course also interested in which website or which advertisement brought you to our site.

Other data includes contact details, any ratings, playing media (e.g. when you play a video on our site), sharing content via social media or adding to your favorites. This list does not claim to be exhaustive and serves only as a general orientation for data storage by Google Analytics.

How long and where is the data stored?

Google has distributed your servers around the world. Most of the servers are located in America and therefore your data is usually stored on American servers. Here you can find out exactly where the Google data centers are located: https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de

Your data is distributed on different physical media. This has the advantage that the data can be retrieved more quickly and is better protected against manipulation. In every Google data centre there are appropriate emergency programs for your data. For example, if Google’s hardware fails or natural disasters paralyze servers, the risk of service interruption at Google remains low.

Google Analytics has a standard retention period of 26 months for your user data. Then your user data will be deleted. However, we do have the option of choosing the retention period for user data ourselves. We have five options for this:

• Deletion after 14 months
• Cancellation after 26 months
• Cancellation after 38 months
• Deletion after 50 months

No automatic deletion

When the specified period has expired, the data is deleted once a month. This retention period applies to your data linked to cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs (e.g. cookies from the DoubleClick domain). Reporting results are based on aggregated data and are stored independently of user data. Aggregated data is a fusion 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 obtain information about your data, to update, delete or restrict it. You can use the browser add-on to disable Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js, dc.js) to 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 basically want to deactivate, delete or manage cookies (independent of Google Analytics), there are separate instructions for each browser:

• Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari
• Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage 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 about this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=311200011. We hope we were able to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Google Analytics. If you want 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 IP anonymization

We have implemented the IP address anonymisation of Google Analytics on this website. This function was developed by Google so that this website can comply with the applicable data protection regulations and recommendations of local data protection authorities if they prohibit the storage of the complete IP address. The anonymization or masking of the IP address takes place as soon as the IP addresses arrive in the Google Analytics data collection network and before the data is saved or processed.

You can find more information about IP anonymization at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=de.

Google Tag Manager Privacy Policy

For our website we use the Google Tag Manager of the company Google Inc. For the European area the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. This tag manager is one of many helpful marketing products from Google. The Google Tag Manager allows us to centrally install and manage code sections of various tracking tools we use on our website.

In this privacy policy we would like to explain to you in more detail what the Google Tag Manager does, why we use it and in what form data is processed.

What is the Google Tag Manager?

The Google Tag Manager is an organization tool that allows us to integrate and manage website tags centrally and through a single interface. Tags are small sections of code that, for example, record (track) your activities on our website. For this purpose JavaScript code sections are inserted into the source code of our website. The tags often come from Google internal products such as Google Ads or Google Analytics, but tags from other companies can also be integrated and managed via the manager. Such tags take over 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 they say: Organization is half the battle! And that of course also applies to the maintenance of our website. To make our website as good as possible for you and all people interested in our products and services, we need various tracking tools such as Google Analytics. The data collected by these tools show us what interests you most, where we can improve our services and to which people we should still show our offers. And for this tracking to work, we have to integrate appropriate JavaScript codes into our website. Basically we could integrate each code section of the individual tracking tools separately into our source code. However, this requires a relatively large amount of time and it is easy to lose track. Therefore we use the Google Tag Manager. We can easily integrate the necessary scripts and manage them from one place. In addition, the Google Tag Manager offers an easy-to-use interface and no programming skills are required. This is how we manage to keep order in our tag jungle.

What data is stored by Google Tag Manager?

The Tag Manager itself is a domain that does not set any cookies or store any data. It acts as a mere “manager” of the implemented tags. The data captures the individual tags of the different web analysis tools. The data is virtually routed through the Google Tag Manager to the individual tracking tools and is not stored.

However, the situation is completely different with the tags of the various web analysis tools, such as Google Analytics. Depending on the analysis tool, different data about your web behaviour is usually collected, saved and processed with the help of cookies. To do this, please read our data protection texts on the individual analysis and tracking tools that we use on our website.

In the account settings of the Tag Manager we have allowed Google to receive anonymized data from us. However, this only concerns the use and usage of our Tag Manager and not your data, which is stored via the code sections. We allow Google and others to receive selected data in anonymized form. We thus agree to the anonymous transfer of our website data. We were not able to find out exactly which summarized and anonymous data is forwarded – despite long research. In any case, Google will delete 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. In benchmarking, we compare our own results with those of our competitors. On the basis of the collected information, processes can be optimised.

How long and where is the data stored?

When Google stores data, this data is stored on its own Google servers. The servers are distributed all over the world. Most are located in America. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de you can find out exactly where the Google servers are located.

How long the individual tracking tools store data about you can be found in our individual privacy texts for each tool.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

The Google Tag Manager itself does not set any cookies, but manages tags of various tracking websites. In our privacy policy for the individual tracking tools, you will find detailed information on how to delete or manage your data.

Google 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 about this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=311200011. If you want to learn more about the Google Tag Manager, we recommend the FAQs at https://www.google.com/intl/de/tagmanager/faq.html.

Google Site Kit Privacy Policy

We have integrated the WordPress plugin Google Site Kit from the American company Google Inc. into our website. For the European area, the company Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland) is responsible for all Google services. With Google Site Kit, we can quickly and easily view statistics from various Google products such as Google Analytics directly in our WordPress dashboard. The tool or the tools integrated into Google Site Kit also collect personal data from you. In this privacy policy we explain why we use Google Site Kit, how long and where data is stored and which other privacy texts are relevant to you in this context.

What is Google Site Kit?

Google Site Kit is a plug-in for the content management system WordPress. With this plugin we can view important statistics for website analysis directly in our dashboard. These are statistics that are collected by other Google products. First of all by Google Analytics. In addition to Google Analytics, the services Google Search Console, Page Speed Insight, Google AdSense, Google Optimize and Google Tag Manager can also be linked to Google Site Kit.

Why do we use Google Site Kit on our website?

As a service provider it is our task to offer you the best possible experience on our website. We want you to feel comfortable on our website and find exactly what you are looking for quickly and easily. Statistical evaluations help us to get to know you better and to adapt our offer to your wishes and interests. We use various Google tools for these evaluations. Site Kit makes our work much easier in this respect because we can view and analyze the statistics of Google products right in the dashboard. We no longer need to register for each tool separately. Site Kit thus always provides a good overview of the most important analysis data.

What data is stored by Google Site Kit?

If you have actively agreed to tracking tools in the cookie notice (also called script or banner), Google products such as Google Analytics will set cookies and send data from you, for example about your user behavior, to Google, where it is stored and processed. This includes personal data such as your IP address.

For more detailed information on the individual services, we have separate text sections in this privacy policy. For example, take a look at our data protection declaration on Google Analytics. Here we go into the collected data in great detail. You will learn how long Google Analytics stores, manages and processes data, which cookies can be used and how you can prevent data storage. We also have our own privacy policy with comprehensive information for other Google services such as Google Tag Manager or Google AdSense.

In the following, we show you exemplary Google Analytics cookies that can be set in your browser, provided that you have basically agreed to the data processing by Google. Please note that these cookies are only a selection:

• Name: _ga
• Wert:2.1326744211.152311200011-2
• Purpose: By default, analytics.js uses the _ga cookie to store the user ID. Basically, it is used to differentiate between website visitors.
• Expiration date: after 2 years
• Name: _gid
• Wert:2.1687193234.152311200011-7
• Purpose: This cookie is also used to differentiate between website visitors.
• Expiration date: after 24 hours
• Name: _gat_gtag_UA_ Value: 1
• Purpose: This cookie is used to lower the request rate.
• Expiration date: after 1 minute

How long and where is the data stored?

Google stores collected data on its own Google servers, which are distributed worldwide. Most of the servers are located in the United States and therefore it is easily possible that your data is also stored there. At https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/inside/locations/?hl=de you can see exactly where the company provides servers.

Data collected by Google Analytics is stored for 26 months in a standardised way. Afterwards your user data will be deleted. The retention period applies to all data linked to cookies, user recognition and advertising IDs.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You always have the right to obtain information about your data, to have your data deleted, corrected or restricted. You can also deactivate, delete or manage cookies in your browser at any time. Here we show you the corresponding instructions for the most common browsers:

• Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari
• Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

Google 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 about this at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI&tid=311200011. To learn more about data processing by Google, we recommend that you read Google’s comprehensive privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Google Ads (Google AdWords) Conversion Tracking Privacy Policy

We use Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) as an online marketing measure to promote our products and services. In this way we want to make more people aware of the high quality of our offers on the Internet. As part of our advertising activities through Google Ads, we use conversion tracking from Google Inc. on our website, but in Europe, all Google services are provided by Google Ireland Limited (Gordon House, Barrow Street Dublin 4, Ireland). This free tracking tool allows us to better tailor our advertising offer to your interests and needs. In the following articles, we’ll go into more detail about why we use conversion tracking, what data is stored and how you can prevent it.

What is Google Ads Conversion Tracking?

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is the in-house online advertising system of Google Inc. We are convinced of 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. Of course, we also want to get an exact overview of the cost-benefit factor of our advertising campaigns. Therefore we use the conversion tracking tool of Google Ads.

But what is a conversion actually? A conversion occurs when you go from being a purely interested website visitor to an acting visitor. This happens whenever you click on our ad and then perform another action, such as visiting our website. With Google’s conversion tracking tool, we record what happens after a user clicks on our Google Ads ad. For example, we can see if products are purchased, services are used or if users have subscribed to our newsletter.

Why do we use Google Ads conversion tracking on our website?

We use Google Ads to promote our offer on other websites. The goal is to ensure that our advertising campaigns really only reach those people who are interested in our offers. With the conversion tracking tool we see which keywords, ads, ad groups and campaigns lead to the desired customer actions. We see how many customers interact with our ads on a device and then make a conversion. With this data we can calculate our cost-benefit factor, measure the success of individual advertising measures and consequently optimize our online marketing measures. Furthermore, we can use the data obtained to make our website more interesting for you and adapt our advertising offer even more individually to your needs.

What information is stored in Google Ads conversion tracking?

We have included a conversion tracking tag or code snippet on our website to better analyze certain user actions. When you now click on one of our Google Ads ads, the “conversion” cookie from a Google domain is stored on your computer (usually in the browser) or mobile device. Cookies are small text files that store information on your computer.

Here are the data of the most important cookies for Google’s conversion tracking:

• Name: Conversion
• Value: EhMI_aySuoyv4gIVled3Ch0llweVGAEgt-mr6aXd7dYlSAGQ311200011-3
• Purpose: This cookie stores every conversion you make on our site after you have come to us via a Google Ad.
• Expiration 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.
• Expiration date: after 3 months

Note: The _gac cookie only appears in connection with Google Analytics. The above list does not claim to be complete, as Google always uses other cookies for analytical evaluation.

As soon as you complete an action on our website, Google recognizes the cookie and saves your action as a so-called conversion. As long as you are surfing on our website and the cookie has not expired, we and Google recognize that you have found us through our Google Ads display. The cookie is read and sent back to Google Ads with the conversion data. It is also possible that other cookies are used to measure conversions. The conversion tracking of Google Ads can be further refined and improved using Google Analytics. For ads that Google displays in multiple locations on the web, our domain may set cookies named “__gads” or “_gac”. Since September 2017, analytics.js has been storing various campaign information with the _gac cookie. The cookie saves this data as soon as you visit one of our pages for which Google Ads has set up automatic tagging. In contrast to cookies that are set for Google domains, Google can only read these conversion cookies if you are on our website. We do not collect or receive any personal data. We receive a report with statistical evaluations from Google. For example, we find out the total number of users who clicked on our advertisement and we see which advertising measures were well received.

How long and where is the data stored?

At this point we would like to point out that we have no influence on how Google uses the collected data. According to Google, the data is 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 name “Conversion” and “_gac” (which is used in connection with Google Analytics) have an expiration date of 3 months.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

You have the option of not participating in Google Ads conversion tracking. If you disable the Google Conversion Tracking cookie through your browser, you are blocking conversion tracking. In this case, you will not be included in the tracking tool’s statistics. You can change the cookie settings in your browser at any time. Each browser works slightly differently. Here you will find instructions on how to manage cookies in your browser:

• Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari
• Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. In this way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether you want to allow it or not. Downloading and installing this browser plug-in on https://support.google.com/ads/answer/7395996 will also deactivate all “advertising cookies”. Please note that by deactivating these cookies you do not prevent the advertising, but only the personalized advertising.

Through the certification for the American-European data protection agreement “Privacy Shield”, the American company Google LLC must comply with the data protection laws applicable in the EU. If you would like to learn more about data protection at Google, we recommend Google’s general data protection declaration: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Embedded Social Media Elements Privacy Policy

We integrate elements of social media services on our website to display images, videos and text.

When you visit pages that display these elements, data is transferred from your browser to the respective social media service and stored there. We have no access to this data.

The following links will take you to the pages of the respective social media services where it is explained how they handle your data:

• Instagram Privacy Policy: https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875

• For YouTube the Google Privacy Policy applies: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de

• Facebook data policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy

• Twitter Privacy Policy: https://twitter.com/de/privacy

Instagram Privacy Policy

We have included features from Instagram on our website. Instagram is a social media platform of the company Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA. Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook Inc. since 2012 and is part of the Facebook products. The embedding of Instagram content on our website is called embedding. This allows us to show you content such as buttons, photos or videos from Instagram directly on our website. When you visit web pages on our website that have an Instagram feature embedded, data is transferred to Instagram, stored and processed. Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook. Your data is therefore processed across all Facebook companies.

In the following, we would like to give you a more detailed insight into why Instagram collects data, what data is involved, and how you can largely control the data processing. Since Instagram is part of Facebook Inc., we obtain our information from the Instagram guidelines on the one hand, but also from the Facebook data guidelines themselves on the other.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is one of the most popular social media networks worldwide. Instagram combines the advantages of a blog with the benefits of audiovisual platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. You can upload photos and short videos to “Insta” (as many of the users casually call the platform), edit them with various filters and also distribute them in other social networks. And if you don’t want to be active yourself, you can also just follow other interesting users.

Why do we use Instagram on our website?

Instagram is the social media platform that has really gone through the roof in the last few years. And of course we have also reacted to this boom. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible on our website. That’s why a varied preparation of our content is a matter of course for us. The embedded Instagram functions allow us to enrich our content with helpful, funny or exciting content from the Instagram world. Since Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook, the data collected can also be used for personalized advertising on Facebook. This way, our ads are only shown to people who are really interested in our products or services.

Instagram also uses the collected data for measurement and analysis purposes. We get summarized statistics and thus more insight into your wishes and interests. It is important to note that these reports do not personally identify you.

What data is stored by Instagram?

When you come across one of our sites that has Instagram features (such as Instagram images or plug-ins) built in, your browser automatically connects to Instagram’s servers. Data is sent to Instagram, stored and processed. This is regardless of whether you have an Instagram account or not. This includes information about our website, your computer, purchases made, advertisements you see and how you use our services. We also record the date and time of your interaction with Instagram. If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram stores much more information about you.

Facebook differentiates between customer data and event data. We assume that this is the case with Instagram. Customer data includes, for example, name, address, phone number and IP address. It is important to note that this customer data is only submitted to Instagram after you have been “hashed”. Hashing means that a data set is transformed into a string. This allows you to encrypt the contact information. In addition, the “event data” mentioned above is also transmitted. By “event data” Facebook – and consequently Instagram – understands data about your user behavior. It can also happen that contact data is combined with event data. The contact data collected will be compared with the data that Instagram has already collected from you.

Via small text files (cookies), which are usually set in your browser, the collected data is transmitted to Facebook. Depending on the Instagram features used and whether you have an Instagram account yourself, different amounts of data are stored.

We assume that data processing at Instagram works the same way as on Facebook. This means: if you have an Instagram account or have visited www.instagram.com, Instagram has at least one cookie set. If this is the case, your browser sends information to Instagram via the cookie as soon as you come into contact with an Instagram feature. After 90 days (after matching) at the latest, this data is deleted or anonymized. Although we have studied Instagram’s data processing, we cannot say exactly what data Instagram collects and stores.

In the following we show you cookies that are set in your browser at least when you click on an Instagram function (such as a button or an Insta image). In our test we assume that you do not have an Instagram account. Of course, if you are logged in to Instagram, significantly more cookies will be set in your browser.

These cookies were used in our test:

• Name: csrftoken
• Value: “”
• Purpose: This cookie is most likely set for security reasons to prevent fake requests. However, we could not find out more about this.
• Expiration date: after one year
• Name: mid
• Value: “”
• Purpose: Instagram uses this cookie to optimize its own services and offerings inside and outside Instagram. The cookie defines a unique user ID.
• Expiration date: after the end of the session
• Name: fbsr_311200011124024
• Value: not specified
• Purpose: This cookie stores the log-in request for users of the Instagram app.
• Expiration date: after the end of the session
• Name: rur
• Value: ATN
• Purpose: This is an Instagram cookie that ensures functionality on Instagram.
• Expiration date: after the end of the session
• Name: urlgen
• Wert: “{\”194.96.75.33\”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe311200011”
• Purpose: This cookie is used for Instagram’s marketing purposes.
• Expiration date: after the end of the session

Note: We cannot claim completeness here. Which cookies are set in each individual case depends on the embedded functions and your use of Instagram.

How long and where is the data stored?

Instagram shares the information it receives between the Facebook companies with external partners and with people you connect with around the world. The data is processed in accordance with our own data policy. For security reasons, among others, your data is distributed on Facebook servers around the world. Most of these servers are located in the USA.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Thanks to the basic data protection regulation, you have the right to information, transferability, correction and deletion of your data. You can manage your data in the Instagram settings. If you want to completely delete your data on Instagram, you must permanently delete your Instagram account.

And this is how the Instagram account deletion works:

First open the Instagram app. On your profile page, go down and click on “Help Area”. You will now be taken to the company’s website. On the website, click on “Manage your account” and then click on “Delete your account”.

If you delete your account completely, Instagram will delete posts such as your photos and status updates. Information that other people have shared about you is not part of your account and will not be deleted.

As mentioned above, Instagram stores your information primarily through cookies. You can manage, disable or delete these cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, the administration will always work slightly differently. Here we show you the instructions of the most important browsers.

• Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari
• Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

You can also basically set up your browser so that you are always informed when a cookie is to be set. Then you can always decide individually whether you want to accept the cookie or not.

Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook Inc. and Facebook is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. This framework ensures correct data transfer between the USA and the European Union. You can learn more about it at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC. We have tried to provide you with the most important information about data processing by Instagram. Auf https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875

you can learn more about Instagram’s data policies.

LinkedIn Privacy Policy

On our website we use social plug-ins from the social media network LinkedIn, the company LinkedIn Corporation, 2029 Stierlin Court, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. The social plug-ins may be feeds, content sharing or linking to our LinkedIn site. The social plug-ins are clearly marked with the well-known LinkedIn logo and allow, for example, to share interesting content directly through our website. For the European Economic Area and Switzerland, LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company Wilton Place in Dublin is responsible for data processing.

By embedding such plug-ins, data can be sent to LinkedIn, stored and processed there. In this privacy policy we would like to inform you what data is involved, how the network uses this data and how you can manage or stop the data storage.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the largest social network for business contacts. Unlike Facebook, for example, it focuses exclusively on building business contacts. Companies can present services and products on the platform and establish business relationships. Many people also use LinkedIn for job search or to find suitable employees for their own company. In Germany alone, the network has over 11 million members. In Austria there are about 1.3 million.

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, as in our case, it would be worth it. Because we always post interesting news or reports that are worth spreading. That’s why we have created the possibility on our website to share interesting content directly on LinkedIn or to link directly to our LinkedIn page. We consider built-in social plug-ins as an extended service on our website. The information that LinkedIn collects also helps us to show potential advertising to people who are interested in our services.

What information does LinkedIn collect?

LinkedIn does not store any personal data simply by integrating the social plug-ins. LinkedIn calls this data, which is generated by plug-ins, passive impressions. However, if you click on a social plug-in, for example to share our content, the platform stores personal data as so-called “active impressions”. This is the case regardless of whether you have a LinkedIn account or not. If you are logged in, the data collected is associated with your account.

Your browser connects directly to LinkedIn’s servers when you interact with our plug-ins. This is how the company logs various usage data. In addition to your IP address, this may include, for example, login information, device information, or information about your Internet or mobile service provider. If you access LinkedIn services from your smartphone, your location (after you allow it) can also be determined. LinkedIn may also share this information in “hashed” form with third-party advertisers. Hashing means that a record is converted into a string. This makes it possible to encrypt the data so that people cannot be identified.

Most data about your user behaviour is stored in cookies. These are small text files that are usually set in your browser. But LinkedIn can also use web beacons, pixel tags, display tags and other device identifiers.

Various tests also show which cookies are set when a user interacts with a social plug-in. The data found cannot claim to be exhaustive and is only used as an example. The following cookies were set without being logged in to LinkedIn:

• Name: bcookie
• Wert: =2&34aab2aa-2ae1-4d2a-8baf-c2e2d7235c16311200011-
• Purpose: The cookie is a so-called “browser ID cookie” and thus stores your identification number (ID).
• Expiration date: After 2 years
• Name: long
• Value: v=2&lang=en-en
• Purpose: This cookie saves your preset or preferred language.
• Expiration date: after session end
• Name: lidc
• Wert: 1818367:t=1571904767:s=AQF6KNnJ0G311200011…
• Purpose: This cookie is used for routing. Routing records how you got to LinkedIn and how you navigate through the website.
• Expiration date: after 24 hours
• Name: rtc
• Value: kt0lrv3NF3x3t6xvDgGrZGDKkX
• Purpose: No further information could be found out about this cookie.
• Expiration date: after 2 minutes
• Name: JSESSIONID
• Wert: ajax:3112000112900777718326218137
• Purpose: This is a session cookie that LinkedIn uses to maintain anonymous user sessions through the server.
• Expiration date: after session end
• Name: bscookie
• Value: “v=1&201910230812…
• Purpose: This cookie is a security cookie. LinkedIn describes it as a secure browser ID cookie.
• Expiration date: after 2 years
• Name: fid
• Value: AQHj7Ii23ZBcqAAAA…
• Purpose: No further information could be found for this cookie.
• Expiration date: after 7 days

Note: LinkedIn also works together with third party providers. That’s why we recognized the two Google Analytics cookies _ga and _gat during our test.

How long and where is the data stored

As a general rule, LinkedIn keeps your personal information as long as the company considers it necessary to provide its services. However, LinkedIn will delete your personal information when you delete your account. In some exceptional cases, LinkedIn may retain some information in aggregate and anonymous form even after you delete your account. Once you delete your account, other people will not be able to see your information within one day. LinkedIn generally deletes the data within 30 days. LinkedIn does, however, retain data when required by law. Data that can no longer be assigned to any person remains stored even after the account has been closed. The data is 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 and delete your personal data at any time. In your LinkedIn account you can manage, change and delete your data. You can also request a copy of your personal information from LinkedIn.

This is how you access the account information in your LinkedIn profile:

• In LinkedIn, click on your profile icon and select the “Settings and Privacy” section. Now click on “Privacy” and then in the section “How LinkedIn uses your data” click on “Change”. In a short time, you will be able to download selected information about your web activity and account history.
• You also have the option to disable LinkedIn’s data processing in your browser. As mentioned above, LinkedIn stores most data through cookies that are set in your browser. You can manage, disable or delete these cookies. Depending on which browser you have, the administration works slightly differently. The instructions for the most common browsers can be found here:
• Chrome: Delete, activate and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari
• Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

You can also set up your browser so that you are always informed when a cookie is to be set. Then you can always decide individually whether you want to accept the cookie or not.

LinkedIn is an active participant of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. This framework ensures a correct data transfer between the USA and the European Union. You can find out more about it at https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000L0UZAA0. We have tried to provide you with the most important information about data processing by LinkedIn. At https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy you can learn more about the data processing of the LinkedIn social media network.

Source: Created with the data protection generator of AdSimple in cooperation with hashtagmann.de