Cookie Policy

This website uses cookies and similar technologies (collectively “tools”) provided either by us or by third parties.  

A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your device by the browser. Comparable technologies are in particular web storage (local / session storage), fingerprints, tags or pixels. Most browsers are set by default to accept cookies and similar technologies. However, you can usually adjust your browser settings so that cookies or similar technologies are rejected or only stored with your prior consent. If you refuse cookies or similar technologies, you may not be able to use all of our services without problems.  

In the following, the tools we use are listed by category, whereby we inform you in particular about the providers of the tools, the storage period of the cookies and the transfer of data to third parties. We also explain in which cases we obtain your voluntary consent to use the tools and how you can revoke this consent.  

Legal basis and revocation 

Legal basis

We use tools that are necessary for the operation of the website on the basis of our legitimate interest in enabling you to use our website more conveniently and individually and to make use of it as time-saving as possible. In certain cases, these tools may also be necessary for the performance of a contract or to carry out pre-contractual measures. In these cases, access to and storage of information in the terminal device is absolutely necessary and is carried out in Germany on the basis of the implementation laws of the ePrivacy Directive of the EU member states in accordance with Section 25 (2) TTDSG.  

We use all other tools, especially those for marketing purposes, on the basis of your consent. In these cases, access to and storage of information in the end device is subject to consent and takes place in Germany on the basis of the implementation laws of the ePrivacy Directive of the EU member states according to Section 25 (1) TTDSG.   

If personal data is transferred to third countries, we refer you to our privacy policy (“Where are you storing / transferring my data?”), also with regard to the risks this may entail. We will tell you when we have standard contractual clauses or other safeguards with the providers of certain tools. If you have given your consent to use certain tools, we will (also) transfer the data processed when using the tools to third countries on the basis of this consent.  

Obtaining your consent 

Our website uses the WordPress plugin “Borlabs Cookie” to collect and manage consent and any revocations. When you make a decision in the consent banner, a cookie is set (“borlabs-cookie”) that records your consent or refusal. We use this technically necessary cookie on the basis of our legitimate interest in documenting your consent. Access to and storage of information in the end device is absolutely necessary in these cases and is carried out in Germany on the basis of the implementation laws of the ePrivacy Directive of the EU member states in accordance with Section 25 (1) TTDSG. If you delete your cookies, we will ask you for your consent again when you access the site at a later date.  

Withdrawing your consent or changing your selection 

You can revoke your consent for certain tools at any time. To do so, click on Cookie settings in the footer. There you can also change the selection of tools you wish to consent to as well as find additional information on the cookies and the respective storage period. Alternatively, you can assert your revocation for certain tools directly with the provider.  

Necessary tools

We use certain tools to enable the basic functions of our website (“Necessary Tools”). Without these tools, we could not provide our service. Therefore, necessary tools are used without consent based on our legitimate interests or to fulfil a contract or to carry out pre-contractual measures. This includes, for example, “pll_language”, which stores the selected language of our website.  

Analysis and marketing tools 

In order to improve our website, we use tools to collect statistics and analyse general usage behaviour based on access data (“analysis and marketing tools”). We also use analytics services to evaluate the use of our various marketing channels. The legal basis for the analysis tools is – unless otherwise stated – your consent.  

Google Tag Manager

Our website uses Google Tag Manager, a service provided by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland for persons from the European Economic Area and Switzerland and by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (“Google”) for all other persons.  

The Tag Manager is used by us to manage the tools and external services that we use on our website and allows the use of so-called tags. A tag is a code element that is stored in the source code of the website in order to control, for example, which page or service elements and tools are activated and loaded in which order. In some cases, the data is processed on a Google server in the USA.  

We have concluded a data processing agreement with Google Ireland Limited for the use of Google Tag Manager. In the event that personal data is transferred from Google Ireland Limited to the USA, Google Ireland Limited and Google LLC have concluded standard contractual clauses (Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/914, Module 3) in accordance with Art. 46 (2) lit. c DSGVO. You can find more information about the Google Tag Manager in Google’s information about the Tag Manager.  

Cookie used: Google Tag Manager sets the following cookies for the specified purpose with the respective storage period:  

“_gcl_au” (90 day): Provided by Google Tag Manager to test the advertising effectiveness of websites using their services.  

Google Analytics 4

Our website uses the web analytics service Google Analytics 4, which is provided to people in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) by Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland (“Google”). We embed Google Analytics 4 via Google Tag Manager. If you have not consented to the use of the analytics tools, your data will not be collected as part of Google Analytics 4.  

Google Analytics 4 uses JavaScript and pixels to read information on your terminal device and cookies to store information on your terminal device. This is used to analyse your usage behaviour and to improve our website. The access data is compiled by Google on our behalf into pseudonymous usage profiles and transferred to a Google server in the USA. We will process the information obtained in order to evaluate your use of the website and to compile reports on website activities.  

The data collected as part of the usage analysis of Google Analytics 4 is enriched with data from the Google Search Console and linked to data from Google Ads, in particular to measure the success of our advertising campaigns (so-called conversions).  

Processed data: The following data may be processed by Google Analytics 4:  

• IP address;  
• User ID and device ID;  
• Referrer URL (previously visited page);
• pages viewed (date, time, URL, title, length of stay);
• downloaded files;
• Clicked links to other websites;  
• achievement of certain goals (conversions);
• technical information (operating system; browser type, version and language; device type, brand, model and resolution);
• Approximate location (country, region and city, if applicable, based on anonymised IP address).  

Privacy settings: We have made the following privacy settings on Google Analytics 4:  

• IP address anonymisation;  
• deactivated advertising function;
• deactivated personalised advertising;
• disabled remarketing;
• retention period of 2 months (and no reset of retention period on new activity);  
• disabled cross-device and cross-page tracking (Google Signals);
• disabled data sharing (specifically Google Products and Services, Benchmarking, Technical Support, Account Specialist).  

Cookies used: Google Analytics 4 sets the following cookies for the specified purpose with the respective storage period:  

• “_ga” (2 years) and “_gid” (24 hours): Recognition and differentiation of visitors by a user ID;
• “_ga_[GA4-ID]” (2 years): Retention of the information of the current session;
• “_gali” (37 seconds): Collection of statistics on the use of the website (reach measurement).
• “__gcl_au” (90 days): Storage of campaign-related information and, if applicable, linking with Google Ads Conversion Tracking.  

For more information on Google Analytics 4, please see Google’s privacy policy and the Google Analytics privacy statement. You can also find more information about the cookies used by Google Analytics 4 in Google’s documentation.  

January 2023