1) Introduction and Contact Details of the Controller
1.1 We are pleased that you are visiting our website and thank you for your interest. Below, we inform you about how we handle your personal data when you use our website. Personal data refers to all information that can be used to personally identify you.
1.2 The person responsible for data processing on this website in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is Barbara Hermann, Wortmagie – Freie Rednerin, Gutsstr. 1C, 86899 Landsberg am Lech, Germany, Tel.: +49 176 72221982, Email: [email protected]. The responsible party for the processing of personal data is the natural or legal person who alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.
2) Data Collection When You Visit Our Website
2.1 When you use our website for informational purposes only, that is, if you do not register or otherwise provide us with information, we collect only the data that your browser transmits to the server of the website (so-called “server log files”). When you visit our website, we collect the following data, which is technically necessary for us to display the website to you:
- Our website
- Date and time of access
- Amount of data sent in bytes
- Referrer URL (the page from which you accessed the site)
- Browser used
- Operating system used
- IP address used (possibly in anonymized form)
The processing is carried out in accordance with Article 6(1)(f) GDPR based on our legitimate interest in improving the stability and functionality of our website. The data will not be shared or used for other purposes. However, we reserve the right to review the server log files retrospectively if there are concrete indications of unlawful use.
2.2 This website uses SSL or TLS encryption for security reasons and to protect the transmission of personal data and other confidential content (e.g., orders or inquiries sent to the controller). You can recognize an encrypted connection by the character string “https://” and the lock symbol in your browser’s address bar.
3) Hosting & Content-Delivery-Network
To host our website and display its content, we use a provider that delivers these services either directly or through selected subcontractors exclusively on servers located within the European Union.
All data collected on our website is processed on these servers.
We have concluded a data processing agreement with the provider, which ensures the protection of our website visitors’ data and prohibits unauthorized disclosure to third parties.
4) Cookies
To make visiting our website attractive and to enable the use of certain functions, we use cookies—small text files that are stored on your device. Some of these cookies are automatically deleted after you close your browser (so-called “session cookies”), while others remain on your device for a longer period and allow us to save your site settings (so-called “persistent cookies”). In the latter case, you can find the storage duration in the cookie settings overview of your web browser.
If any of the cookies we use process personal data, this processing is carried out in accordance with Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR for the performance of a contract, in accordance with Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR in the case of consent given, or in accordance with Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR to safeguard our legitimate interests in ensuring the best possible functionality of the website as well as a user-friendly and efficient website experience.
You can configure your browser to inform you about the setting of cookies and to allow cookies only in individual cases, to exclude the acceptance of cookies for certain cases, or to generally disable them.
Please note that if you do not accept cookies, the functionality of our website may be limited.
5) Contacting Us
5.1 WhatsApp-Business
You have the option to contact us via the messaging service WhatsApp, operated by WhatsApp Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2, Ireland. For this purpose, we use the so-called “Business version” of WhatsApp.
If you contact us via WhatsApp in connection with a specific transaction (for example, a placed order), we store and use the mobile phone number you provided on WhatsApp as well as—if provided—your first and last name in accordance with Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR to process and respond to your request. Based on the same legal basis, we may ask you via WhatsApp to provide additional information (order number, customer number, address, or email address) to be able to assign your inquiry to a specific case.
If you use our WhatsApp contact for general inquiries (such as questions about our range of services, availability, or our website), we store and use the mobile phone number you provided on WhatsApp as well as—if provided—your first and last name in accordance with Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR based on our legitimate interest in providing the requested information efficiently and promptly.
Your data will always be used solely to respond to your inquiry via WhatsApp. No data will be shared with third parties.
Please note that WhatsApp Business has access to the address book of the mobile device we use for this purpose and automatically transfers the phone numbers stored in the address book to a server of the parent company Meta Platforms Inc. in the USA. For operating our WhatsApp Business account, we use a mobile device whose address book contains only the WhatsApp contact data of users who have contacted us via WhatsApp.
This ensures that every person whose WhatsApp contact data is stored in our address book has already consented to the transmission of their WhatsApp phone number from the address books of their chat contacts upon first use of the app on their device by accepting WhatsApp’s terms of use, in accordance with Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. The transmission of data from users who do not use WhatsApp and/or have not contacted us via WhatsApp is therefore excluded.
Please refer to WhatsApp’s privacy policy for information on the purpose and scope of data collection, the further processing and use of data by WhatsApp, as well as your rights and settings options to protect your privacy: https://www.whatsapp.com
We have concluded a data processing agreement with the provider that protects the data of our website visitors and prohibits any transfer to third parties.
As part of the aforementioned processing activities, data may be transferred to servers of Meta Platforms Inc. in the USA.
For data transfers to the USA, the provider has joined the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which ensures compliance with the European data protection standards based on an adequacy decision by the European Commission.
5.2 When you contact us (e.g., via contact form or email), personal data is collected. The data collected when using a contact form can be seen in the respective contact form. This data is stored and used solely for the purpose of responding to your inquiry or for contacting you and the associated technical administration.
The legal basis for processing this data is our legitimate interest in responding to your inquiry in accordance with Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. If your contact aims at concluding a contract, the additional legal basis for processing is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. Your data will be deleted after your inquiry has been fully processed. This is the case when it can be concluded from the circumstances that the matter has been finally resolved and provided that no statutory retention obligations oppose the deletion.
6.) Web Analytics Services
Google Analytics 4
This website uses Google Analytics 4, a web analytics service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, 4 Barrow St, Dublin, D04 E5W5, Ireland (“Google”), which enables the analysis of your use of our website.
By default, when you visit the website, Google Analytics 4 sets cookies—small text files stored on your device—that collect certain information. This information includes your IP address, which Google anonymizes by truncating the last digits to prevent direct personal identification.
The information is transmitted to Google servers and processed there. Transfers to Google LLC, based in the USA, are also possible.
Google uses the collected information on our behalf to evaluate your use of the website, compile reports on website activity for us, and provide other services related to website and internet usage. The anonymized IP address transmitted by your browser as part of Google Analytics is not combined with other data from Google. The data collected through Google Analytics 4 is stored for two months and then deleted.
All the aforementioned processing activities, especially the setting of cookies on your device, only take place if you have given us your explicit consent in accordance with Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR.
Without your consent, Google Analytics 4 will not be used during your visit to the website. You can revoke your consent at any time with future effect. To exercise your right of withdrawal, please disable this service using the “cookie consent tool” provided on the website.
We have concluded a data processing agreement with Google that ensures the protection of our website visitors’ data and prohibits unauthorized disclosure to third parties.
Further legal information about Google Analytics 4 can be found at https://business.safety.google
Demographic data
Google Analytics 4 uses the special feature “demographic characteristics” and can generate statistics about the age, gender, and interests of website visitors. This is done by analyzing advertising and information from third parties. As a result, target groups for marketing activities can be identified. However, the collected data cannot be linked to any specific individual and is deleted after being stored for a period of two months.
Google Signals
As an extension to Google Analytics 4, this website may use Google Signals to generate cross-device reports. If you have enabled personalized ads and linked your devices to your Google account, Google—subject to your consent to the use of Google Analytics pursuant to Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR—can analyze your usage behavior across devices and create database models, including for cross-device conversions. We do not receive any personal data from Google, only anonymized statistics. If you wish to stop the cross-device analysis, you can disable the “Personalized Advertising” function in your Google account settings. To do so, follow the instructions provided on this page: https://support.google.com
UserIDs
As an extension to Google Analytics 4, this website may use the “User-ID” feature. If you have consented to the use of Google Analytics 4 pursuant to Art. 6 (1)(a) GDPR, created an account on this website, and logged in with this account on different devices, your activities—including conversions—can be analyzed across devices.
For data transfers to the USA, the provider has joined the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which ensures compliance with the European level of data protection based on an adequacy decision by the European Commission.
7) Tools and Miscellaneous
Cookie-Consent-Tool
This website uses a so-called “cookie consent tool” to obtain valid user consents for cookies and cookie-based applications that require consent. The “cookie consent tool” is displayed to users when accessing the site in the form of an interactive interface, allowing them to grant consent for specific cookies and/or cookie-based applications by ticking checkboxes. All cookies/services requiring consent are only activated if the respective user has granted their consent by ticking the relevant box. This ensures that such cookies are only stored on the user’s device if consent has been given.
The tool sets technically necessary cookies to store your cookie preferences. Personal user data is generally not processed in this context.
If, in individual cases, personal data (such as the IP address) is processed for the purpose of storing, assigning or logging cookie settings, this is done on the basis of our legitimate interest in a legally compliant, user-specific and user-friendly management of cookie consents and thus in the legally compliant design of our online presence in accordance with Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.
Another legal basis for the processing is Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR. As the data controller, we are legally obliged to make the use of non-essential cookies dependent on the respective user consent.
Where required, we have concluded a data processing agreement with the provider to ensure the protection of our website visitors’ data and to prohibit unauthorized disclosure to third parties.
Further information about the provider and the settings options of the cookie consent tool can be found directly in the corresponding user interface on our website.
8) Rights of the Data Subject
8.1 The applicable data protection law grants you the following rights as a data subject vis-à-vis the controller regarding the processing of your personal data (rights to access and intervention), with the respective legal basis for exercising these rights indicated:
- Right of access pursuant to Article 15 of the GDPR;
- Right to rectification pursuant to Article 16 of the GDPR;
- Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) pursuant to Article 17 of the GDPR;
- Right to restriction of processing pursuant to Article 18 of the GDPR;
- Right to notification pursuant to Article 19 GDPR;
- Right to data portability according to Article 20 GDPR;
- Right to withdraw given consents according to Art. 7 (3) GDPR;
- Right to lodge a complaint according to Art. 77 GDPR.
8.2 Right to object.
If we process your personal data based on our overriding legitimate interests following a balancing of interests, you have the right at any time to object to this processing for reasons arising from your particular situation, with effect for the future.
If you exercise your right to object, we will stop processing the affected data. However, further processing may be permitted if we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, fundamental rights, and freedoms, or if the processing serves the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.
If your personal data is processed by us for the purpose of direct marketing, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you for such marketing purposes. You can exercise the objection as described above.
If you exercise your right to object, we will stop processing the affected data for direct marketing purposes.
9) Duration of Storage of Personal Data
The duration of storage of personal data is determined based on the applicable legal basis, the purpose of the processing, and—where applicable—the respective statutory retention periods (e.g., commercial and tax law retention obligations).
When processing personal data based on an explicit consent according to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR, the affected data will be stored as long as you do not revoke your consent.
If statutory retention periods exist for data processed within the scope of contractual or contract-like obligations based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR, these data will be routinely deleted after the expiration of the retention periods—provided they are no longer necessary for contract fulfillment or contract initiation and/or we no longer have a legitimate interest in further storage.
When processing personal data based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR, these data will be stored as long as you do not exercise your right to object under Art. 21 para. 1 GDPR, unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or the processing serves the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.
When processing personal data for the purpose of direct advertising based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR, these data will be stored until you exercise your right to object pursuant to Art. 21 para. 2 GDPR.
Unless otherwise specified in the other information of this declaration regarding specific processing situations, stored personal data will otherwise be deleted when they are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed.
