Cookie policy

We use cookies and other technologies in connection with the provision of our website.

With the following cookie notes, which supplement our data protection notice, we provide you as a user of our website with additional information on data processing when cookies and other technologies are used.

I. What are cookies and other technologies?

Cookies are small text files which a web server can store and read on your device (computer, smartphone or similar) via the web browser used by you. Cookies contain individual, alphanumeric character strings that enable the web browser you are using to be identified and may also contain information on user-specific settings.

Besides cookies, we use the following other technologies:

• So-called local storage technology allows data to be stored locally only – i.e. solely on your device and not on the web server – in the so-called “local storage” of your web browser. In contrast to cookies, data stored using local storage technology does not have an expiry date and is not simply erased automatically. In principle, however, you can erase this data yourself via your web browser. Please refer to the instructions from your web browser manufacturer on how to erase data stored via local storage technology.
  
  
• We also have so-called tracking pixels (also called: “pixels”, “pixel tags” or “web beacons”) on our website. Tracking pixels are small, usually invisible, image files that are automatically loaded by a web server and can provide information about your web browser or device and also about how you use our website. This information can then be used to create a profile that is recognised when you visit our website again.
  
  

The cookies and other technologies referred to above are also hereinafter referred to together as “cookies”.

II. What types of cookies and other technologies exist?

We distinguish between essential cookies on the one hand and optional cookies on the other:

• Essential cookies are cookies which are technically necessary for the functionality of our website and information technology systems as well as for ensuring their security and stability. In this category we also include cookies which store specific settings made, options selected or information entered by you until you close your web browser (at the latest). This is in order to provide the desired function that you have requested (e.g. login status, language setting etc.). Your consent is not required for storing or reading essential cookies. You cannot, therefore, manage essential cookies via the settings of the consent management service we use. This can only be done via your web browser where you can also erase cookies that have been stored or block the storage of cookies.
  
  
• Optional cookies are cookies which are not essential for the functionality of our website and information technology systems or for ensuring their security and stability, but are instead used for analysis or marketing purposes. These cookies can be used, for example, to compile anonymous statistics and collect information on how you use our website. This enables us to analyse the use of our website and therefore to optimise it. In this category we also include cookies which store specific settings made, options selected or information entered by you; these cookies remain after you have closed your web browser in order to provide the desired function you have requested (e.g. login status by selecting “Remember my e-mail address”, wishlist, comparison list, etc.) over a longer period of time. Your prior consent is generally required for storing or reading optional cookies. You can consent to the use of optional cookies and withdraw any consent you have granted at any time with future effect via the settings of the consent management service we use.
  

Both essential and optional cookies may be so-called session cookies or persistent cookies. These differ in terms of their intended lifetime or functional life:

• Session cookies are stored on your device and are automatically deleted when you close your web browser.
  
  
• Persistent cookies (or permanent cookies) are stored on your device and are not automatically deleted when you close your web browser. They remain on your device for a predefined period of time.
  
  
• Data stored using local storage technology does not have an expiry date and therefore has an unlimited functional life.
  

Please note: You can generally erase cookies and data stored using local storage technology yourself via your web browser. For details, please refer to the instructions from your web browser manufacturer.

I. Essential cookies

1. Which essential cookies are used for what purpose and for how long?

• Consent management
  Opening settings

To allow you to manage the use of optional cookies on our website, we have implemented a consent management service. The first time you access our website you will be presented with a previously defined query (“Cookies, other technologies and miscellaneous services”) via the consent management service. This allows you to accept or decline the use of optional cookies by clicking the appropriate button. Clicking on “Settings” will also take you to the settings of the consent management service, where you will find a simplified list of cookies classified by type, for example. The consent management service enables you, for example, to find out about the purposes of the cookies we use, the data processed in each case as well as any data recipients. Also, in the case of optional cookies, you can give or withdraw your consent at any time by selecting or deselecting the relevant box.

Please note that essential cookies are already stored when our website is accessed and that the relevant box is preselected. Essential cookies cannot be deselected via the consent management service. The functionality of the consent management service itself in turn requires the use of certain cookies.

Service provider information:
Usercentrics GmbH, Sendlinger Straße 7, 80331 Munich

Usercentrics website:
https://usercentrics.com/de

General Terms and Conditions on the Use of Usercentrics Software:
https://usercentrics.com/de/agb/

Usercentrics data protection notice:
https://usercentrics.com/de/datenschutzerklarung/

• Security and stability

To optimise the loading times of our website, we use a so-called “Content Delivery Network” (hereinafter “CDN”). A CDN is a network of geographically distributed servers that are connected via the Internet. This network can be used to deliver web content faster and more securely. Within the CDN, personal data is transferred to various countries. Transfer to countries outside the EU or the EEA, so-called “third countries”, takes place in compliance with the conditions laid down in Chapter V of the GDPR.

Service provider information:
Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA

Representative in the European Union:
Cloudflare Portugal, Unipessoal Lda., Largo Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro 29, 1200-369 Lisboa, Portugal

Cloudflare website:
https://www.cloudflare.com

Cloudflare privacy policy (English):
https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/

We use a so-called load balancer for load distribution. A load balancer enables web requests to be sent to a load balancing server which then redirects the web request to an internal server. Your web requests are forwarded to the same server so that you are not routed back and forth between different servers within a session and standardised processing is guaranteed. We use a session cookie to identify the server and ensure correct forwarding.

• Language detection

We use a session cookie to enable user-oriented language display of our website. This recognises the language of your web browser and displays our website in the same language.

2. On which legal basis are essential cookies used?

In order to be able to demonstrate that – or whether – you have consented to the use of optional cookies requiring your consent, we store the information about your consent, whether granted or not, in order to fulfil our legal obligation to provide evidence in accordance with Art. 6(1)(c), (3)(a) GDPR in conjunction with Art. 7(1) GDPR.

We also use essential cookies for the purposes of legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Our legitimate interests are:

• Ensuring the security and stability of our website and information technology systems, for example by protecting against attacks in the form of targeted server overloads (Denial of Service attacks) or by using optimal load distribution on servers
  
  
• Asserting, exercising and defending legal claims
  
  
• Providing and guaranteeing the proper functionalities of our website
  

3. How can I object to the use of essential cookies?

You can exercise your right to object by using the blocking options described under point C. (see Art. 21 para. 5 GDPR), i.e. by blocking essential cookies via your web browser settings.

Please note that, in the case of erasing without blocking, essential cookies will be set again when you access our website again at a later point in time. Please also note that deactivating or erasing or blocking essential cookies may adversely affect the performance and functionality of our website and may cause certain features and functions to be unavailable.

II. Optional cookies

We would like to use the information below to enable you to make a sound decision for or against the use of optional cookies and the associated data processing.

1. Which optional cookies are used for what purpose and for how long?

• Web analytics

Subject to your consent, we use web analysis cookies to allow us to analyse the use of our website and therefore improve it continuously. The anonymised user statistics obtained (e.g. number and origin of website visitors) enable us to optimise our website and make its design more attractive - e.g. by positioning frequently accessed information or topics appropriately on our website in line with customer requirements.

For web analysis, we use “Google Analytics”, a web analysis service of Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (hereinafter “Google”), with the extension of “IP anonymisation” (also known as the “IP masking method”). For this we have concluded a data processing agreement with Google in accordance with Art. 28 GDPR. In accordance with this, Google will process the data collected (data about your device or your web browser, IP addresses and your website or app activities) on our behalf for the purposes of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services for us relating to website and internet usage.

The data collected using Google Analytics can be stored and processed in the USA or in any other country in which Google, or subprocessors of Google, maintain facilities. However, the IP masking method we use means that before transfer to a Google server in the USA and before storage there, the IP address is shortened within EU member states or in other EEA member states so that no IP address is transferred in its entirety. This prevents identification of a person or makes this significantly more difficult. Only in exceptional cases will the complete, i.e. unshortened, IP address be transferred to a Google server in the USA and only be shortened once it is there.

For a data transfer to a third country, i.e. a country outside the EU or EEA, appropriate safeguards for the protection of your personal data are generally required. After the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1250 of 12 July 2016 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Privacy Shield was declared invalid by the European Court of Justice, the EU-US Privacy Shield can no longer be used to guarantee an adequate level of protection in the USA in line with EU standards. This means that currently in the USA there is no level of data protection that is equivalent to that in the EU pursuant to Art. 45 GDPR, and we also cannot provide appropriate safeguards under Art. 46 GDPR to make up for this shortcoming. Data transfer to the USA is consequently only permitted in this case with your explicit consent in accordance with Art. 49(1)(a) GDPR. Possible risks of data transfer are that access by state authorities such as security agencies and/or intelligence services cannot be ruled out and your data, possibly without you being specifically informed about it and without being granted enforceable rights and effective legal remedies, can be processed by them for reasons of national security, prosecution or for other purposes in the public interest of the USA.

Service provider information:
Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

Representative in the European Union:
Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland

Terms and conditions of commissioned data processing for Google advertising products:
https://privacy.google.com/businesses/processorterms/

Terms of Use für Google Analytics:
https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/terms/de/

Overview of data usage in Google Analytics:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=de

Google privacy policy:
https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de

Technical explanation of "IP anonymisation (or IP masking method)" in Analytics:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2763052?hl=de

Additional note:
If you wish to deactivate Google Analytics across all websites, you can download and install the “Browser add-on for deactivation of Google Analytics” at the following address https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de. This option only disables web analysis so long as you are using a web browser on which you have installed the add-on.

• Marketing

We use marketing cookies, subject to your consent. Marketing cookies can detect whether you have accessed an advertised website and which content has been and is being used by you. This is in order to display advertising content relevant to you and tailored to your interests, to limit the frequency with which advertisements appear and to measure the success and effectiveness of advertising campaigns.

For marketing purposes, we use the following advertising products of Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (hereinafter referred to together as “Google”).

We use the advertising product “Google Ads” (formerly known as AdWords), through which we can place adverts, including in Google search results, in the Google partner network or on other Google platforms. When you interact with an advertisement placed through Google Ads, such as by clicking on an advertisement, “Google Ads Conversion Tracking” uses a cookie to track whether you have subsequently completed an action (“conversion”) defined by us, such as subscribing to a newsletter. The information obtained with the cookie used is provided to us by Google in the form of so-called conversion statistics, which tell us, for example, the total number of anonymous users who have clicked on our advertisement. We receive no information ourselves that would enable personal identification. In addition to Google Ads Conversion Tracking, we use “Google Ads Remarketing”, which enables advertisements to be displayed in the Google partner network during your subsequent internet usage following your visit to our website. For this purpose, Google records your usage behaviour when you visit various websites in the Google partner network, for which, according to Google, pseudonymisation is used. As a further advertising product, we use the “Google Ad Manager” (formerly known as DoubleClick) to present you with targeted adverts based on your presumed interests. A pseudonymous identification number is assigned to the web browser you are using in order to check which advertisements have already been displayed in your web browser and which of these you have accessed.

Data collected in the context of Google's advertising products may be stored and processed by Google, for example in the USA. We have no influence over subsequent data processing by Google. For a data transfer to a third country, i.e. a country outside the EU or EEA, appropriate safeguards for the protection of your personal data are generally required. After the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/1250 of 12 July 2016 on the adequacy of the protection provided by the EU-US Privacy Shield was declared invalid by the European Court of Justice, the EU-US Privacy Shield can no longer be used to guarantee an adequate level of protection in the USA in line with EU standards. This means that currently in the USA there is no level of data protection that is equivalent to that in the EU pursuant to Art. 45 GDPR, and we also cannot provide appropriate safeguards under Art. 46 GDPR to make up for this shortcoming. Data transfer to the USA is consequently only permitted in this case with your explicit consent in accordance with Art. 49(1)(a) GDPR. Possible risks of data transfer are that access by state authorities such as security agencies and/or intelligence services cannot be ruled out and your data, possibly without you being specifically informed about it and without being granted enforceable rights and effective legal remedies, can be processed by them for reasons of national security, prosecution or for other purposes in the public interest of the USA.

Service provider information:
Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland;
Parent company: Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

Website:
https://marketingplatform.google.com

Google privacy policy:
https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de

2. On which legal basis are optional cookies used?
We use optional cookies on the basis of consent in accordance with Art. 6(1)(a) in conjunction with Art. 7 GDPR.

3. How can I withdraw the consent I have granted for the use of optional cookies?
When you (first) access our website, we request among other things your consent for the use of optional cookies by means of a predefined query (“Cookies, other technologies and other services”). You can withdraw the consent you have granted at any time with effect for the future and thereby prevent further collection of your data by deselecting optional cookies (web analysis, marketing) in the settings of the consent management service.

If and insofar as you do not consent or withdraw consent already granted, (further) data collection by means of optional cookies requiring consent and any data processing associated with this will cease. This has no disadvantages in terms of using the website unless you also deactivate the cookie functions for essential cookies.

The revocation of consent will not affect the legality of the processing carried out on the basis of the consent up until the revocation.

As an alternative to revoking your consent, you have the options described under point C. for deleting or blocking cookies with the information provided there.