Privacy & Cookie Policy

We have written this privacy policy (version 22.02.2020-311155229) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, what  information we collect, how we use data and what decision-making options you have as a visitor to this website.

Unfortunately, it is in the nature of things that these explanations sound very technical, but we have tried to describe the most important things as simply and clearly as possible.

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 browse the Internet, you use a browser. Well-known 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 thing cannot be denied: Cookies are really useful little helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. More precisely, they are HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other areas of application. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically placed in the cookie folder, the “brain” of your browser, so to speak. 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 cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you your usual default setting. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file, while in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.

There are both first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created directly from our site, third-party cookies are created by partner websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie must be evaluated individually, as 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, this is what cookie data can look like:

• Name: _ga
• Expiry time: 2 years
• Use: Differentiation of website visitors
• Example value: GA1.2.1326744211.152311155229

A browser should support the following minimum sizes:

• A cookie should be able to contain at least 4096 bytes
• It should be possible to store at least 50 cookies per domain
• In total, at least 3000 cookies should be able to be stored

What types of cookies are there?

The question of 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.

There are 4 types of cookies:

Strictly necessary 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 later goes to the checkout. These cookies do not delete the shopping cart, even if the user closes his browser window.

Functional cookies:
These cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages. In addition, these cookies are also used to measure the loading time and the behavior of the website in different browsers.

Target-oriented
 cookies These cookies provide a better user experience. For example, entered locations, font sizes or form data are saved.

Advertising cookies
These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to provide the user with individually adapted advertising. This can be very convenient, but also very annoying.

Usually, when you visit a website for the first time, you will be 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 whether you want to use cookies is up to you. Regardless of which service or website the cookies originate from, you always have the option of deleting cookies, only partially allowing them or disabling them. For example, you can block third-party cookies, but allow all other cookies.

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

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: How to delete and manage cookies

If you generally do not want cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is to be set. For each individual cookie, you can decide whether or not to allow the cookie. The procedure varies depending on the browser. It is best to search for the instructions in Google with the search term “Delete cookies Chrome” or “Disable cookies Chrome” 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, the so-called “cookie guidelines” have been in place. It states that the storage of cookies requires the consent of the website visitor (i.e. from you). Within the EU countries, however, there are still very different reactions to these directives. In Germany, the cookie guidelines have not been implemented as national law. Instead, the implementation of this guideline was largely carried out in Section 15 (3) of the Telemedia Act (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 data that you transmit to us electronically on this website, such as name, e-mail address, address or other personal information in the context of submitting a form or comments on the blog, will only be used by us together with the time and IP address for the purpose stated in each case, stored securely and not passed on to third parties.

We therefore only use your personal data for communication with those visitors who expressly wish to be contacted and for the processing of the services and products offered on this website. We do not pass on your personal data without your consent, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed in the event of unlawful conduct.

If you send us personal data by e-mail – i.e. outside of this website – we cannot guarantee secure transmission and protection of your data. We recommend that you never send confidential data unencrypted by e-mail.

According to Article 6 (1) (a) GDPR (lawfulness 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 General Data Protection Regulation

According to the provisions of the GDPR, you are generally entitled to the following rights:

• Right to rectification (Article 16 GDPR)
• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) (Article 17 GDPR)
• Right to restriction of processing (Article 18 GDPR)
• Right to notification – obligation to notify in connection with the correction or deletion of personal data or the restriction of processing (Article 19 GDPR)
• Right to data portability (Article 20 GDPR)
• Right to object (Article 21 GDPR)
• Right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling (Article 22 GDPR)

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that 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 privacy policy, we inform you whether and how we evaluate data from your visit to this website. The evaluation of the collected data is usually anonymous and we cannot infer your person from your behavior on this website.

You can find out more about the possibilities of objecting to this evaluation of the visit data in the following privacy policy.

TLS encryption with https

We use https to transmit data on the Internet in a tap-proof manner (data protection through technology design Article 25 (1) GDPR). 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 security of data transmission by the small lock symbol in the upper left corner of the 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. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) on our website. With Google Maps, we can visually display locations better and thus improve our service. By using Google Maps, data is transmitted to Google and stored on Google’s servers. Here we want to go into more detail about what Google Maps is, why we use this Google service, what data is stored and how you can prevent this.

What is Google Maps?

Google Maps is an online map service provided by Google Inc. With Google Maps, you can search for exact locations of cities, attractions, accommodations or businesses on the Internet via a PC or via an app. If companies are represented on Google My Business, other information about the company is displayed in addition to the location. In order to show how to get there, map sections of a location can be integrated into a website using HTML code. Google Maps displays the earth’s surface 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 page 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. Thanks to Google Maps, you can see at a glance where we have our headquarters. The directions will always show you the best or fastest way to get to us. You can get 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 fully offer its service, the company needs to record and store data from you. This includes, among other things, the search terms entered, your IP address and the latitude or longitude coordinates. If you use the route planner function, the entered start address will also be saved. However, this data storage happens on the websites of Google Maps. We can only inform you about this, 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 behavior. Google uses this data primarily to optimize its own services and to provide individual, personalized advertising for you.

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

• Name: NID
• Expiry time: after 6 months
• Usage: NID is used by Google to tailor ads to your Google search. With the help of the cookie, Google “remembers” your most frequently entered search queries or your previous interaction with ads. So you always get tailor-made advertisements. The cookie contains a unique ID that Google uses to collect personal settings of the user for advertising purposes.
• Example value: 188=h26c1Ktha7fCQTx8rXgLyATyITJ311155229

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

How long and where is the data stored?

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

Google distributes the data on various data carriers. As a result, the data can be retrieved more quickly and is better protected against any manipulation attempts. Each data center also has special emergency programs. For example, if there are problems with Google’s hardware or a natural disaster affects the servers, the data is likely to remain protected.

Google stores some data for a fixed period of time. For other data, Google only offers the option of deleting it manually. Furthermore, 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 and then deleted, depending on your decision. In addition, you can also manually delete this data from the history at any time via the Google account. If you want to completely prevent your location tracking, you have to pause the “Web and App Activity” section in your Google account. Click on “Data and Personalization” and then click on the “Activity Setting” option. Here you can turn the activities on or off.

You can also deactivate, delete or manage individual cookies in your browser. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. The following instructions show how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: How to delete and manage cookies

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

Google is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. More information can be found on https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI. If you would like to learn more about Google’s data processing, we recommend that you read the company’s own privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de.

Google Fonts Privacy Policy

We use Google Fonts from Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) on our website.

You do not need to log in or enter 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, requests for CSS and fonts are completely separate from all other Google services. If you have a Google account, you do not need to worry that your Google account data will be transmitted to Google while using Google Fonts. Google records the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and the fonts used and stores this data securely. We will look at exactly what data storage looks like in detail.

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts (formerly Google Web Fonts) is an interactive directory with more than 800 fonts that Google LLC provides for free use.

Many of these fonts are released under the SIL Open Font License, while others have been released under the Apache License. Both are free software licenses. Thus, we can use them freely without paying royalties.

Why do we use Google Fonts on our website?

With Google Fonts, we can use fonts on our own website and do not have to upload them to our own server. Google Fonts is an important building block for keeping the quality of our website high. All Google fonts are automatically optimized for the web and this saves data volume and is a great advantage especially for use on mobile devices. When you visit our site, the low file size ensures a fast loading time. Furthermore, Google Fonts are so-called 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).

We therefore use Google Fonts so that we can present our entire online service as beautifully and uniformly as possible. According to Art. 6 para. 1 f lit. f GDPR, this already constitutes a “legitimate interest” in the processing of personal data. In this case, “legitimate interest” means both legal and economic or non-material interests that are recognized by the legal system.

What data is stored by Google?

When you visit our website, the fonts are reloaded via a Google server. Through this external call, data is transmitted to the Google servers. In this way, Google also recognizes that you or your IP address. Your IP address visits our website. The Google Fonts API is designed to reduce the collection, storage, and use of end-user data to what is necessary for efficient font delivery. 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 with Google and is therefore protected. Through the collected usage figures, Google can determine the popularity of the fonts. Google publishes the results on internal analysis pages, such as Google Analytics. In addition, Google also uses data from its own web crawler to determine which websites use Google fonts. This data is published in the BigQuery database of Google Fonts. BigQuery is a web service from Google for companies that want to move and analyze large amounts of data.

However, it should also be borne in mind that every Google Font request automatically transmits information such as IP address, language settings, screen resolution of the browser, version of the browser and name of the browser to the Google servers. Whether this data is also stored is not clearly ascertainable 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 stylesheet. A stylesheet is a style sheet that can be used to easily and quickly change the design or font of a website, for example.

The font files are stored by Google for one year. Google’s goal is to fundamentally 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 immediately reappear on all other web pages visited later. Sometimes Google updates font files to reduce file size, increase speech 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 accessed. In order to be able to delete this data prematurely, you must contact Google support on https://support.google.com/?hl=de&tid=311155229 . In this case, you can only prevent data storage if you do not visit our site.

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unrestricted access to all fonts. So we can have unlimited access to a sea of fonts and get the most out of our website. You can find out more about Google Fonts and other questions on https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=311155229. Although Google deals with data protection issues there, it does not contain really detailed information about data storage. It is relatively difficult (almost impossible) to get really precise information about stored data from Google.

You can also find out which data is generally collected by Google and what this data is used for  on https://www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/.

Google Fonts Local Privacy Policy

We use Google Fonts from Google Inc. (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) on our website. We have integrated the Google fonts locally, i.e. on our web server – not on Google’s servers. As a result, there is no connection to Google’s servers and therefore no data transmission or storage.

What are Google Fonts?

Google Fonts (formerly Google Web Fonts) is an interactive directory with more than 800 fonts that Google LLC provides for free use. With Google Fonts, you could use the fonts without uploading them to your own server. But in order to prevent any transfer of information to the Google server in this regard, we have downloaded the fonts to our server. In this way, we act in compliance with data protection regulations and do not send any data to Google Fonts.

Unlike other web fonts, Google allows us unrestricted access to all fonts. So we can have unlimited access to a sea of fonts and get the most out of our website. You can find out more about Google Fonts and other questions on https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq?tid=311155229.

Automatic data storage

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

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

• the address (URL) of the accessed website
• 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).

As a rule, web server log files are stored for two weeks and then automatically deleted. We do not pass on this data, but we cannot rule out the possibility that this data may be viewed in the event of unlawful conduct.

Facebook Pixel Privacy Policy

We use the Facebook pixel from Facebook on our website. For this purpose, we have implemented a code on our website. The Facebook pixel is a snippet of JavaScript code that loads a collection of functions that allow Facebook to track your user actions if you have come to our website via Facebook ads. For example, if you purchase a product on our website, the Facebook pixel is triggered and stores your actions on our website in one or more cookies. These cookies enable Facebook to compare your user data (customer data such as IP address, user ID) with the data of your Facebook account. Then Facebook deletes this data again. The data collected is anonymous and cannot be viewed by us and can only be used in the context of advertisements. If you are a Facebook user yourself and are logged in, your visit to our website will automatically be assigned to your Facebook user account.

We want to show our services and products only to those people who are really interested in them. With the help of Facebook pixels, our advertising measures can be better tailored to your wishes and interests. In this way, Facebook users (if they have allowed personalized advertising) get to see suitable advertising. Furthermore, Facebook uses the collected data for analysis purposes and its own advertisements.

In the following, we will show you those cookies that were set by integrating Facebook pixels on a test page. Please note that these are only sample cookies. Depending on the interaction on our website, different cookies are set.

Name:  _fbp
Value:  fb.1.1568287647279.257405483-6311155229-7
Purpose: This cookie uses Facebook to display advertising products.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Name:  fr
Value: 0aPf312HOS5Pboo2r.. Bdeiuf… 1.0.Bdeiuf.
 Purpose: This cookie is used to ensure that Facebook pixels work properly.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Name:  comment_author_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062311155229-3
Value: Name of the  author
Purpose: This cookie stores the text and name of a user who, for example, leaves a comment.
Expiry date: after 12 months

Name:  comment_author_url_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062
Value: https%3A%2F%2Fwww.testseite…%2F (URL of the author)
Purpose: This cookie stores the URL of the website that the user enters in a text field on our website.
Expiry date: after 12 months

Name:  comment_author_email_50ae8267e2bdf1253ec1a5769f48e062
Value: Author’s e-mail address Purpose:
 This cookie stores the user’s e-mail address, provided that he has disclosed it on the website. 
Expiry date: after 12 months

Note: The above-mentioned cookies refer to individual user behavior. Especially when using cookies, changes to Facebook can never be ruled out.

If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements under https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen yourself. If you are not a Facebook user, you can  generally manage your usage-based online advertising on http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/. There you have the option of deactivating or activating providers.

If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend that you read the company’s own data policies on https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

Facebook Automatic Advanced Matching Privacy Policy

We have also activated Automatic Advanced Matching as part of the Facebook pixel function. This function of the pixel allows us to send hashed e-mails, name, gender, city, state, zip code and date of birth or telephone number to Facebook as additional information, provided that you have provided us with this data. This activation allows us to tailor advertising campaigns on Facebook even more precisely to people who are interested in our services or products.

Newsletter Privacy Policy

When you sign up for our newsletter, you submit the above personal data and give us the right to contact you by e-mail. We use the data stored as part of the registration for the newsletter exclusively for our newsletter and do not pass it on.

If you unsubscribe from the newsletter – you will find the link for this at the bottom of each newsletter – we will delete all data stored with the registration for the newsletter.

Embedded Social Media Elements Privacy Policy

We integrate elements of social media services on our website to display images, videos and texts. By visiting pages that display these elements, data is transferred from your browser to the respective social media service and stored there. We do not have 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
• The Google privacy policy applies to YouTube: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=de
• Facebook Data Policy: https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy
• Twitter Privacy Policy: https://twitter.com/de/privacy

Facebook Privacy Policy

We use selected Facebook tools from Facebook on our website. Facebook is a social media network of Facebook Ireland Ltd., 4 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Harbour, Dublin 2 Ireland. With the help of these tools, we can offer you and people who are interested in our products and services the best possible offer. In the following, we provide an overview of the various Facebook tools, what data is sent to Facebook and how you can delete this data.

What are Facebook tools?

In addition to many other products, Facebook also offers the so-called “Facebook Business Tools”. This is the official name of Facebook. However, since the term is hardly known, we decided to simply call them Facebook tools. These include:

• Facebook pixel
• social plug-ins (such as the “Like” or “Share” button)
• Facebook Login
• Account Kit
• APIs (Application Programming Interface)
• SDKs (collection of programming tools)
• Platform Integrations
• Plug-ins
• Codes
• Specifications
• Documentation
• Technologies and services

Through these tools, Facebook expands services and has the opportunity to obtain information about user activities outside of Facebook.

Why do we use Facebook tools on our website?

We only want to show our services and products to people who are really interested in them. With the help of advertisements (Facebook ads) we can reach exactly these people. However, in order for users to be shown suitable advertising, Facebook needs information about people’s wishes and needs. For example, the company is provided with information about user behavior (and contact details) on our website. As a result, Facebook collects better user data and can show interested people the appropriate advertising about our products or services. The tools thus enable tailor-made advertising campaigns on Facebook.

Facebook calls data about your behavior on our website “event data”. These are also used for measurement and analysis services. This allows Facebook to create “campaign reports” on our behalf about the impact of our advertising campaigns. Furthermore, analyses give us a better insight into how you use our services, website or products. As a result, we use some of these tools to optimize your user experience on our website. For example, you can use the social plug-ins to share content on our site directly on Facebook.

What data is stored by Facebook tools?

By using individual Facebook tools, personal data (customer data) can be sent to Facebook. Depending on the tools used, customer data such as name, address, telephone number and IP address can be sent.

Facebook uses this information to match the data with its own data it has about you (if you are a Facebook member). Before customer data is transmitted to Facebook, a so-called “hashing” takes place. This means that an arbitrarily large data set is transformed into a string. This is also used to encrypt data.

In addition to the contact details, “event data” is also transmitted. “Event data” refers to the information we receive about you on our website. For example, which subpages you visit or which products you buy from us. Facebook does not share the information it receives with third parties (such as advertisers) unless the company has explicit permission or is legally obliged to do so. “Event data” can also be linked to contact details. This allows Facebook to offer better personalized advertising. After the aforementioned matching process, Facebook deletes the contact details again.

In order to be able to deliver advertisements in an optimized manner, Facebook only uses the event data if it has been combined with other data (which has been collected by Facebook in other ways). Facebook also uses this event data for security, protection, development and research purposes. Much of this data is transmitted to Facebook via cookies. Cookies are small text files that are used to store data or information in browsers. Depending on the tools used and whether you are a Facebook member, different numbers of cookies are created in your browser. In the descriptions of the individual Facebook tools, we go into more detail about individual Facebook cookies. General information about the use of Facebook cookies can also be found on https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies.

How long and where is the data stored?

Basically, Facebook stores data until it is no longer needed for its own services and Facebook products. Facebook has servers spread all over the world where your data is stored. However, customer data will be deleted within 48 hours after it has been compared with your own user data.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to information, correction, portability and deletion of your data.

A complete deletion of the data will only take place if you completely delete your Facebook account. Here’s how deleting your Facebook account works:

1) Click Settings on the right side of Facebook.

2) Then click on “Your Facebook Information” in the left column.

3) Now click “Deactivation and deletion”.

4) Now select “Delete Account” and then click on “Continue and Delete Account”

5) Now enter your password, click on “Next” and then on “Delete Account”

The data that Facebook receives via our site is stored, among other things, via cookies (e.g. social plugins). In your browser, you can deactivate, delete or manage individual or all cookies. Depending on which browser you use, this works in different ways. The following instructions show how to manage cookies in your browser:

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: How to delete and manage cookies

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

Facebook is an active participant in the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which regulates the correct and secure transfer of personal data. More information can be found on https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt0000000GnywAAC. We hope we have provided you with the most important information about the use and data processing by the Facebook tools. If you want to learn more about how Facebook uses your data, we recommend that you read the data policies on https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update.

Facebook Social Plug-ins Privacy Policy

So-called social plug-ins from Facebook Inc. are installed on our website. You can recognize these buttons by the classic Facebook logo, such as the “Like” button (the hand with a thumbs up) or by a clear “Facebook plug-in” marking. A social plug-in is a small part of Facebook that is integrated into our site. Each plug-in has its own function. The most commonly used features are the well-known “Like” and “Share” buttons.

The following social plug-ins are offered by Facebook:

• “Save” button
• Like, Share, Send, and Quote
• Page plug-in
• Comments
• Messenger plug-in
• Embedded posts and video players
• Group plug-in

On https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins you will find more detailed information on how to use the individual plug-ins. On the one hand, we use the social plug-ins to offer you a better user experience on our site, and on the other hand, because they allow Facebook to optimize our advertisements.

If you have a Facebook account or have  visited facebook.com before, Facebook has already set at least one cookie in your browser. In this case, your browser sends information to Facebook via this cookie as soon as you visit our site or interact with social plug-ins (e.g.dem “Like” button).

The information received will be deleted or anonymized within 90 days. According to Facebook, this data includes your IP address, which website you have visited, the date, time and other information concerning your browser.

In order to prevent Facebook from collecting a lot of data during your visit to our website and linking it to the Facebook data, you must log out of Facebook during your visit to the website.

If you are not logged in to Facebook or do not have a Facebook account, your browser will send less information to Facebook because you have fewer Facebook cookies. Nevertheless, data such as your IP address or which website you visit can be transmitted to Facebook. We would also like to expressly point out that we do not know exactly about the exact contents of the data. However, according to our current state of knowledge, we try to inform you as much as possible about data processing. You can also read about how Facebook uses the data in the company’s data policy under https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/update .

At a minimum, the following cookies are set in your browser when you visit a website with Facebook social plug-ins:

Name:  dpr
Value:  not specified
Purpose: This cookie is used to make the social plug-ins work on our website.
Expiry date: after the end of the session

Name:  fr
Value: 0jieyh4311155229c2GnlufEJ9.. Bde09j… 1.0.Bde09j
Purpose: The cookie is also necessary for the plug-ins to function properly.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Note: These cookies have been set after a test, even if you are not a Facebook member.

If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements under https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen yourself. If you are not a Facebook user, you can basically manage your usage-based online advertising on http://www.youronlinechoices.com/de/praferenzmanagement/. There you have the option of deactivating or activating providers.

If you want to learn more about Facebook’s data protection, we recommend that you read the company’s own data policies on https://www.facebook.com/policy.php.

Facebook Login Privacy Policy

We have integrated the practical Facebook login on our site. So you can easily log in with your Facebook account without having to create another user account. If you decide to register via Facebook Login, you will be redirected to the social media network Facebook. There you can log in via your Facebook user data. Through this login procedure, data about you or your account will be collected. Your user behavior is stored and transmitted to Facebook.

In order to store the data, Facebook uses various cookies. In the following, we show you the most important cookies that are set in your browser or already exist when you log in to our site via the Facebook login:

Name:  fr
Value: 0jieyh4c2GnlufEJ9.. Bde09j… 1.0.Bde09j
Purpose: This cookie is used to ensure that the social plugin on our website works in the best possible way.
Expiry date: after 3 months

Name:  datr
Value:  4Jh7XUA2311155229SEmPsSfzCOO4JFFl
Purpose: Facebook sets the “datr” cookie when a web browser accesses facebook.com, and the cookie helps identify login activity and protect users.
Expiry date: after 2 years

Name:  _js_datr
Value:  deleted
Purpose: This session cookie is set by Facebook for tracking purposes, even if you do not have a Facebook account or are logged out.
 Expiry date: after the end of the session

Note: The cookies listed are only a small selection of the cookies available to Facebook. Other cookies are, for example, _ fbp, sb or wd. A complete list is not possible, as Facebook has a large number of cookies and uses them variably.

On the one hand, the Facebook login offers you a quick and easy registration process, on the other hand, we have the possibility to share data with Facebook. This allows us to better tailor our offer and promotions to your interests and needs. Data that we receive from Facebook in this way is public data such as

• Your Facebook name
• Your profile picture
• a stored e-mail address
• Friend Lists
• Buttons (e.g. “Like” button)
• Birthday date
• Language
• Residence

In return, we provide Facebook with information about your activities on our website. This includes, among other things, information about the device you are using, which subpages you visit or which products you have purchased from us.

By using Facebook Login, you consent to data processing. You can revoke this agreement at any time. If you would like to learn more about data processing by Facebook, we recommend that you read the Facebook privacy policy at https://de-de.facebook.com/policy.php.

If you are logged in to Facebook, you can change your settings for advertisements under https://www.facebook.com/ads/preferences/?entry_product=ad_settings_screen yourself.

Instagram Privacy Policy

We have integrated Instagram functions on our website. Instagram is a social media platform of the company Instagram LLC, 1601 Willow Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025, USA. Instagram has been a subsidiary of Facebook Inc. since 2012 and is one of Facebook’s products. Embedding 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 of our website that have an integrated Instagram function, data is transmitted to Instagram, stored and processed. Instagram uses the same systems and technologies as Facebook. Your data will therefore be processed across all Facebook companies.

In the following, we want to give you a more detailed insight into why Instagram collects data, what data it is, and how you can control data processing to a large extent. Since Instagram belongs to 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 well-known social media networks in the world. Instagram combines the advantages of a blog with the advantages 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 on other social networks. And if you don’t want to be active yourself, you can 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 recent 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. Through the embedded Instagram functions, we can 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 useful for personalized advertising on Facebook. In this way, our advertisements are only sent to people who are genuinely 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 mention that these reports do not identify you personally.

What data is stored by Instagram?

If you come across one of our pages that have built-in Instagram functions (such as Instagram images or plug-ins), your browser automatically connects to Instagram’s servers. In the process, data is sent to Instagram, stored and processed. And regardless of whether you have an Instagram account or not. This includes information about our website, about your computer, about purchases made, about advertisements you see and how you use our offer. Furthermore, the date and time of your interaction with Instagram are also stored. If you have an Instagram account or are logged in, Instagram stores significantly more data about you.

Facebook distinguishes between customer data and event data. We assume that this is exactly the case with Instagram. Customer data includes, for example, name, address, telephone number and IP address. It is important to mention that this customer data is only transmitted to Instagram if it has been “hashed” beforehand. Hashing means that a record is turned into a string. This allows you to encrypt the contact data. In addition, the above-mentioned “event data” will also be transmitted. Facebook – and consequently Instagram – understands “event data” to mean data about your user behaviour. It can also happen that contact data is combined with event data. The contact data collected is compared with the data that Instagram already has about you.

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

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

In the following, we will 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 don’t have an Instagram account. If you are logged in to Instagram, of course, 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 in order to prevent falsification of requests. However, we could not find out more precisely.
Expiry date: after one year

Name: mid
Value: ““Purpose
:  Instagram sets this cookie to optimize its own services and offers in and outside of Instagram. The cookie sets a unique user ID.
Expiry date: after the end of the session

Name:  fbsr_311155229124024
Value: not specified
Purpose: This cookie stores the log-in request for users of the Instagram app.  Expiry date: after the end of the session

Name:  rur
Value: ATN
Purpose: This is an Instagram cookie that ensures functionality on Instagram.
Expiry date: after the end of the session

Name:  urlgen
Value: “{\”194.96.75.33\”: 1901}:1iEtYv:Y833k2_UjKvXgYe311155229″
Purpose: This cookie is used for Instagram’s marketing purposes.
Expiry date: after the end of the session

Note: We cannot claim completeness here. Which cookies are set in individual cases 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 worldwide. The data processing is carried out in compliance with the company’s own data policy. Your data is distributed on Facebook’s servers around the world, among other things for security reasons. Most of these servers are located in the United States.

How can I delete my data or prevent data storage?

Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to information, portability, correction and deletion of your data. In the Instagram settings, you can manage your data. If you want to completely delete your data on Instagram, you need to delete your Instagram account permanently.

Here’s how Instagram account deletion works:

First, open the Instagram app. On your profile page, go to the bottom and click on “Help Section”. Now you come 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 entirely, Instagram will delete posts, such as your photos and status updates. Information that other people have shared about you does not belong to your account and consequently will not be deleted.

As mentioned above, Instagram primarily stores your data via cookies. You can manage, deactivate or delete these cookies in your browser. Depending on your browser, the administration always works a little differently. Here we show you the guides of the most important browsers.

Chrome: Delete, enable, and manage cookies in Chrome

Safari: Manage cookies and website data with Safari

Firefox: Delete cookies to remove data that websites have stored on your computer

Internet Explorer: Deleting and managing cookies

Microsoft Edge: How to 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 allow 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 United States and the European Union. You   can find out 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. On https://help.instagram.com/519522125107875,  you can take a closer look at Instagram’s data policies.

Source: Created with AdSimple‘s Privacy Generator in cooperation with slashtechnik.de