Privacy Policy

Introduction

With the following privacy policy, we would like to inform you about the types of your personal data (hereinafter also referred to simply as “data”) that we process, for what purposes, and to what extent. This privacy policy applies to all processing of personal data carried out by us, both in the course of providing our services and, in particular, on our websites, in mobile applications, and within external online presences, such as our social media profiles (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “online offering”).

The terms used are not gender-specific.

Effective date: 21 April 2026

Controller

Balls Unlimited GmbH
Riederner Äcker 12
85302 Gerolsbach
Germany

Email address: info@balls-unlimited.com
Phone: +49 (8445) 1610
Legal Notice: https://www.balls-unlimited.com/impressum/

Overview of Processing Activities

The following overview summarizes the types of data processed and the purposes of their processing and refers to the data subjects concerned.

Types of Data Processed

Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses).
Content data (e.g. entries in online forms).
Contact data (e.g. email addresses, phone numbers).
Meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
Usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times).
Location data (information on the geographic position of a device or a person).
Contract data (e.g. subject matter of the contract, term, customer category).
Payment data (e.g. bank account details, invoices, payment history).

Categories of Data Subjects

Business and contractual partners.
Interested parties.
Communication partners.
Customers.
Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).

Purposes of Processing

Assessment of creditworthiness and solvency.
Provision of our online offering and user-friendliness.
Conversion tracking.
Office and organizational procedures.
Cross-device tracking (cross-device processing of user data for marketing purposes).
Direct marketing (e.g. by email or post).
Interest-based and behavioral marketing.
Contact inquiries and communication.
Conversion measurement (measurement of the effectiveness of marketing measures).
Profiling (creation of user profiles).
Remarketing.
Reach measurement (e.g. access statistics, recognition of returning visitors).
Security measures.
Tracking (e.g. interest-based/behavioral profiling, use of cookies).
Performance of contractual services and customer service.
Administration and response to inquiries.
Target group creation (determination of target groups relevant for marketing purposes or other output of content).

Automated Decisions in Individual Cases

Credit check (decision based on a credit assessment).

Relevant Legal Bases

Below we provide the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on which we process personal data. Please note that, in addition to the provisions of the GDPR, national data protection regulations may apply in your or our country of residence or registered office. Furthermore, if more specific legal bases are applicable in individual cases, we will inform you of these in this privacy policy.

Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR) – The data subject has given consent to the processing of personal data concerning them for one or more specific purposes.
Performance of a contract and pre-contractual inquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR) – Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract.
Legal obligation (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. c GDPR) – Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.
Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR) – Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject requiring protection of personal data.

Security Measures

In accordance with the legal requirements and taking into account the state of the art, implementation costs, the nature, scope, circumstances and purposes of processing, as well as the varying likelihood and severity of the risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, we implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk.

These measures include, in particular, safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data by controlling physical and electronic access to the data, as well as access, input, transfer, safeguarding availability and separation of the data. Furthermore, we have established procedures that ensure the exercise of data subject rights, the deletion of data and responses to data breaches. In addition, we take the protection of personal data into account already during the development or selection of hardware, software and procedures, in accordance with the principle of data protection by design and by default.

SSL encryption (https): To protect your data transmitted via our online offering, we use SSL encryption. You can recognize encrypted connections of this kind by the prefix https:// in your browser’s address bar.

Transfer and Disclosure of Personal Data

As part of our processing of personal data, it may happen that the data is transferred to or disclosed to other bodies, companies, legally independent organizational units or persons. Recipients of this data may include, for example, financial institutions in the context of payment transactions, service providers entrusted with IT tasks, or providers of services and content integrated into a website. In such cases, we observe the legal requirements and, in particular, conclude corresponding contracts or agreements with the recipients of your data that serve to protect your data.

Data Processing in Third Countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e. outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or if processing takes place in the context of the use of third-party services or the disclosure or transfer of data to other persons, bodies or companies, this shall only take place in accordance with the legal requirements.

Subject to express consent or contractually or legally required transfer, we process or have data processed only in third countries with a recognized level of data protection, on the basis of contractual obligations by means of so-called standard contractual clauses of the EU Commission, in the presence of certifications or binding internal data protection rules (Art. 44 to 49 GDPR, information page of the EU Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/international-dimension-data-protection_de).

Within the framework of the so-called “Data Privacy Framework” (DPF), the EU Commission has also recognized the level of data protection for certain companies from the USA as adequate under the adequacy decision of 10 July 2023. The list of certified companies and further information on the DPF can be found on the website of the U.S. Department of Commerce at https://www.dataprivacyframework.gov/ (in English). In the context of our privacy notices, we inform you which service providers used by us are certified under the Data Privacy Framework.

Use of Cookies

Cookies are small text files or other storage notes that store information on end devices and read information from end devices. For example, to save the login status in a user account, a shopping cart content in an e-shop, the content accessed or functions used in an online offering. Cookies may also be used for different purposes, e.g. for the functionality, security and convenience of online offerings as well as for the creation of analyses of visitor flows.

Information on consent: We use cookies in accordance with the statutory provisions. Therefore, we obtain prior consent from users unless this is not legally required. In particular, consent is not necessary if storing and reading information, including cookies, is strictly necessary in order to provide the user with a telemedia service expressly requested by them (i.e. our online offering). Revocable consent is clearly communicated to users and contains information about the respective use of cookies.

Information on data protection legal bases: The legal basis on which we process users’ personal data with the help of cookies depends on whether we ask users for consent. If users consent, the legal basis for processing their data is the declared consent. Otherwise, the data processed with the help of cookies is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. in the commercial operation of our online offering and improvement of its usability) or, if this is done in the context of fulfilling our contractual obligations, if the use of cookies is necessary in order to fulfill our contractual obligations. We explain the purposes for which cookies are processed by us in the course of this privacy policy or in the context of our consent and processing procedures.

Storage duration: With regard to storage duration, the following types of cookies are distinguished:

Temporary cookies (also: session cookies): Temporary cookies are deleted at the latest after a user has left an online offering and closed their end device (e.g. browser or mobile application).
Permanent cookies: Permanent cookies remain stored even after the end device has been closed. For example, the login status can be saved or preferred content can be displayed directly when the user visits a website again. Likewise, user data collected with the help of cookies can be used for reach measurement. Unless we provide users with explicit information on the type and storage duration of cookies (e.g. when obtaining consent), users should assume that cookies are permanent and that the storage duration may be up to two years.

General information on revocation and objection (opt-out): Depending on whether processing is based on consent or legal permission, you have the option at any time to revoke consent you have given or to object to the processing of your data by cookie technologies (collectively referred to as “opt-out”). You can initially declare your objection by means of your browser settings, e.g. by disabling the use of cookies (although this may also restrict the functionality of our online offering). An objection to the use of cookies for online marketing purposes can also be declared by means of a variety of services, especially in the case of tracking, via the websites https://optout.aboutads.info and https://www.youronlinechoices.com/. In addition, you may receive further information on objection options in the information on the service providers and cookies used.

Processing of cookie data on the basis of consent: We use a cookie consent management procedure in the context of which users’ consents to the use of cookies or to the processing operations and providers named in the cookie consent management procedure can be obtained, managed and revoked by users. The consent declaration is stored so that it does not have to be requested again and so that consent can be proven in accordance with the legal obligation. Storage may take place server-side and/or in a cookie (so-called opt-in cookie, or by means of comparable technologies) in order to be able to assign the consent to a user or their device. Subject to individual information about the providers of cookie management services, the following applies: The storage duration of the consent can be up to two years. A pseudonymous user identifier is created and stored together with the time of consent, information on the scope of consent (e.g. which categories of cookies and/or service providers), as well as the browser, system and end device used.

Cookie settings / objection option:

Consent Management with Borlabs Cookie

We use the consent management tool “Borlabs Cookie” on our website to obtain, manage and document your consent to the use of cookies and comparable technologies.

The provider of this service is Borlabs GmbH, Rübenkamp 32, 22305 Hamburg, Germany.

When our website is accessed, a technically necessary cookie is set in which the consents you have given or revoked are stored. This storage serves exclusively the legally compliant administration of your cookie settings.

To the best of our knowledge, this data is not passed on to Borlabs itself.

The stored information remains stored until you delete the relevant cookie, request us to delete it, or the purpose for storing the data no longer applies. Mandatory statutory retention obligations remain unaffected.

Processing takes place to fulfill our legal obligations in connection with consent management on the basis of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c GDPR.

Commercial and Business Services

We process data of our contractual and business partners, e.g. customers and interested parties (collectively referred to as “contract partners”), within the framework of contractual and comparable legal relationships as well as related measures and within the framework of communication with the contract partners (or pre-contractually), e.g. in order to answer inquiries.

We process this data in order to fulfill our contractual obligations, safeguard our rights and for the purposes of the administrative tasks associated with this information as well as the corporate organization. We only pass on the data of the contract partners to third parties within the scope of applicable law insofar as this is necessary for the aforementioned purposes or for the fulfillment of legal obligations or with the consent of the data subjects (e.g. to participating telecommunications, transport and other auxiliary services as well as subcontractors, banks, tax and legal advisors, payment service providers or tax authorities). The contract partners are informed about further forms of processing, e.g. for marketing purposes, within the scope of this privacy policy.

We inform contract partners of which data is required for the aforementioned purposes before or during data collection, e.g. in online forms, by special marking (e.g. colors) or symbols (e.g. asterisks or similar), or personally.

We delete the data after expiry of statutory warranty and similar obligations, i.e. in principle after expiry of 4 years, unless the data is stored in a customer account, e.g. for as long as it must be retained for legal reasons of archiving (e.g. for tax purposes generally 10 years). If a period does not expressly begin on a specific date and is at least one year, it automatically begins at the end of the calendar year in which the event triggering the period occurred. In the case of ongoing contractual relationships in which data is stored, the event triggering the period is the time at which the termination or other ending of the legal relationship takes effect. Data disclosed to us by the contract partner within the scope of an assignment will be deleted in accordance with the requirements of the assignment, generally after the end of the assignment.

Insofar as we use third-party providers or platforms for the provision of our services, the terms and conditions and privacy notices of the respective third-party providers or platforms apply in the relationship between the users and the providers.

Customer account: Contract partners may create an account within our online offering (e.g. customer or user account, referred to briefly as “customer account”). If registration of a customer account is required, contract partners will be informed of this as well as of the information required for registration. Customer accounts are not public and cannot be indexed by search engines. In the course of registration as well as subsequent logins and use of the customer account, we store the IP addresses of the customers along with the access times in order to be able to prove the registration and prevent possible misuse of the customer account.

If customers have terminated their customer account, the data relating to the customer account will be deleted, subject to its retention being required for legal reasons. Customers are responsible for securing their data upon termination of the customer account.

Business analyses and market research: For business reasons and in order to identify market trends, wishes of contract partners and users, we analyze the data available to us on business transactions, contracts, inquiries, etc., whereby the group of data subjects may include contract partners, interested parties, customers, visitors and users of our online offering.

The analyses are carried out for the purpose of business evaluations, marketing and market research (e.g. to determine customer groups with different characteristics). In doing so, we may, if available, take into account the profiles of registered users together with their information, e.g. regarding services used. The analyses serve us alone and are not disclosed externally unless they are anonymous analyses with aggregated, i.e. anonymized values. Furthermore, we take into account the privacy of the users and process the data for analysis purposes as pseudonymously as possible and, where feasible, anonymously (e.g. as aggregated data).

Shop and e-commerce: We process the data of our customers in order to enable them to select, purchase and/or order the selected products, goods and related services, as well as their payment and delivery and/or execution. If necessary for the execution of an order, we use service providers, in particular postal, freight and shipping companies, in order to carry out delivery and/or performance vis-à-vis our customers. For processing payment transactions, we use the services of banks and payment service providers. The required information is marked as such within the order or comparable purchase process and includes the information required for delivery and/or provision and billing as well as contact information in order to be able to consult in the event of any queries.

Processed data types: Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history), contact data (e.g. email, phone numbers), contract data (e.g. subject matter of the contract, term, customer category), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
Data subjects: Interested parties, business and contractual partners, customers.
Purposes of processing: Performance of contractual services and customer service, contact inquiries and communication, office and organizational procedures, administration and response to inquiries, security measures, conversion tracking, interest-based and behavioral marketing, profiling (creation of user profiles).
Legal bases: Performance of a contract and pre-contractual inquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR), legal obligation (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. c GDPR), legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR).

Payment Service Providers

Within the framework of contractual and other legal relationships, due to legal obligations or otherwise on the basis of our legitimate interests, we offer data subjects efficient and secure payment options and use banks and credit institutions as well as other payment service providers for this purpose (collectively “payment service providers”).

The data processed by the payment service providers includes inventory data such as the name and address, bank data such as account numbers or credit card numbers, passwords, TANs and checksums, as well as contract, amount and recipient-related information. The information is required in order to carry out the transactions. However, the data entered is processed and stored only by the payment service providers. This means that we do not receive any account or credit card-related information, but only information confirming or negatively informing us about the payment. Under certain circumstances, the data may be transmitted by the payment service providers to credit agencies. The purpose of this transmission is identity and credit checking. In this respect, we refer to the terms and conditions and privacy notices of the payment service providers.

The terms and conditions and privacy notices of the respective payment service providers, which can be accessed within the respective websites or transaction applications, apply to payment transactions. We also refer to these for further information and the assertion of revocation, access and other rights of data subjects.

Processed data types: Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), payment data (e.g. bank details, invoices, payment history), contract data (e.g. subject matter of the contract, term, customer category), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
Data subjects: Customers, interested parties.
Purposes of processing: Performance of contractual services and customer service.
Legal bases: Performance of a contract and pre-contractual inquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR), legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR).

Services and service providers used:

PayPal: Payment services and solutions (e.g. PayPal, PayPal Plus, Braintree); service provider: PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg; website: https://www.paypal.com/de; privacy policy: https://www.paypal.com/de/legalhub/paypal/privacy-full.

Provision of the Online Offering and Web Hosting

In order to provide our online offering securely and efficiently, we use the services of one or more web hosting providers from whose servers (or servers managed by them) the online offering can be accessed. For these purposes, we may use infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space and database services as well as security services and technical maintenance services.

The data processed in the context of the provision of the hosting offering may include all information concerning the users of our online offering that arises in the context of use and communication. This regularly includes the IP address, which is necessary in order to deliver the content of online offerings to browsers, and all entries made within our online offering or from websites.

Email dispatch and hosting: The web hosting services we use also include the sending, receiving and storage of emails. For these purposes, the addresses of recipients and senders as well as further information concerning email dispatch (e.g. the providers involved) and the content of the respective emails are processed. The aforementioned data may also be processed for the purpose of detecting spam. Please note that emails on the Internet are generally not sent encrypted. As a rule, emails are encrypted during transport, but (unless end-to-end encryption is used) not on the servers from which they are sent and received. We can therefore accept no responsibility for the transmission path of emails between the sender and receipt on our server.

Collection of access data and log files: We ourselves (or our web hosting provider) collect data on every access to the server (so-called server log files). The server log files may include the address and name of the accessed web pages and files, date and time of access, volumes of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user’s operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), and, as a rule, IP addresses and the requesting provider.

The server log files can be used, on the one hand, for security purposes, e.g. to avoid overloading of the servers (especially in the case of abusive attacks, so-called DDoS attacks) and, on the other hand, to ensure the utilization of the servers and their stability.

Processed data types: Content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR).

Contact Requests

When contacting us (e.g. via contact form, email, telephone or social media), the details of the requesting persons are processed insofar as this is necessary to answer the contact requests and any requested measures.

The response to contact requests within the framework of contractual or pre-contractual relationships takes place in order to fulfill our contractual obligations or to answer (pre-)contractual inquiries and otherwise on the basis of the legitimate interests in answering the inquiries.

Processed data types: Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. email, phone numbers), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
Data subjects: Communication partners, interested parties.
Purposes of processing: Contact inquiries and communication, administration and response to inquiries.
Legal bases: Performance of a contract and pre-contractual inquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR), legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR).

Services used:

Contact form: When users contact us via our contact form, email or other communication channels, we process the data communicated to us in this context in order to handle the matter communicated. For this purpose, we process personal data in the context of pre-contractual and contractual business relationships, insofar as this is necessary for their fulfillment and otherwise on the basis of our legitimate interests as well as the interests of the communication partners in answering the concerns and our legal retention obligations.

Newsletter and Electronic Notifications

We send newsletters, emails and other electronic notifications (hereinafter “newsletter”) only with the consent of the recipients or on the basis of a legal permission. If the contents of the newsletter are specifically described when registering for the newsletter, they are decisive for the user’s consent. Otherwise, our newsletters contain information about our services and about us.

To register for our newsletters, it is generally sufficient if you provide your email address. However, we may ask you to provide a name for the purpose of personal address in the newsletter or further details, insofar as these are necessary for the purposes of the newsletter.

Double opt-in procedure: Registration for our newsletter generally takes place using a so-called double opt-in procedure. This means that after registration, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that no one can register with someone else’s email address. Newsletter registrations are logged in order to be able to prove the registration process in accordance with the legal requirements. This includes storage of the registration and confirmation time as well as the IP address. Changes to your data stored by the mailing service provider are also logged.

Deletion and restriction of processing: We may store unsubscribed email addresses for up to three years on the basis of our legitimate interests before deleting them in order to be able to prove a previously given consent. The processing of this data is restricted to the purpose of possible defense against claims. An individual request for deletion is possible at any time, provided that the former existence of consent is at the same time confirmed. In the case of obligations to permanently observe objections, we reserve the right to store the email address solely for this purpose in a suppression list (so-called “blacklist”).

The logging of the registration procedure is based on our legitimate interests for the purpose of proving its proper course. If we commission a service provider to send emails, this is done on the basis of our legitimate interests in an efficient and secure dispatch system.

Information on legal bases: The newsletter is sent on the basis of recipients’ consent or, if consent is not required, on the basis of our legitimate interests in direct marketing, insofar and as far as this is legally permitted, e.g. in the case of advertising to existing customers. Insofar as we commission a service provider to send emails, this is done on the basis of our legitimate interests. The registration procedure is recorded on the basis of our legitimate interests in order to prove that it was carried out in accordance with the law.

Contents: Information about us, our services, promotions and offers.

Processed data types: Inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. email, phone numbers), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses), usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times).
Data subjects: Communication partners.
Purposes of processing: Direct marketing (e.g. by email or post).
Legal bases: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR), legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR).
Right to object (opt-out): You may cancel receipt of our newsletter at any time, i.e. revoke your consent or object to further receipt. You will find a link to unsubscribe from the newsletter either at the end of each newsletter or can otherwise use one of the contact options listed above, preferably email, for this purpose.

Services and service providers used:

Measurement of open and click rates: The newsletters contain a so-called “web beacon”, i.e. a pixel-sized file that is retrieved from our server or, if we use a mailing service provider, from its server when the newsletter is opened. As part of this retrieval, technical information such as information about the browser and your system as well as your IP address and the time of retrieval are initially collected. This information is used for the technical improvement of our newsletter based on technical data or target groups and their reading behavior on the basis of their retrieval locations (which can be determined using the IP address) or access times. This analysis also includes determining whether and when the newsletters are opened and which links are clicked. The information is assigned to the individual newsletter recipients and stored in their profiles until deletion. The evaluations serve to identify the reading habits of our users and adapt our content to them or send different content according to the interests of our users. The measurement of open and click rates as well as the storage of the measurement results in user profiles and their further processing are carried out on the basis of user consent. Unfortunately, separate revocation of performance measurement is not possible; in this case, the entire newsletter subscription must be canceled or objected to. In that case, the stored profile information will be deleted; Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR);
CleverReach: Email marketing platform; service provider: CleverReach GmbH & Co. KG, //CRASH Building, Schafjückenweg 2, 26180 Rastede, Germany; website: https://www.cleverreach.com/de; privacy policy: https://www.cleverreach.com/de/datenschutz/; data processing agreement: concluded with provider.
Mailchimp: Email dispatch and email marketing platform; service provider: Rocket Science Group, LLC, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave NE #5000, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA; website: https://mailchimp.com; privacy policy: https://mailchimp.com/legal/; data processing agreement: https://mailchimp.com/legal/; basis for third-country transfer: Data Privacy Framework, standard contractual clauses (incorporated into the data processing agreement); further information: special security measures: https://mailchimp.com/help/Mailchimp-european-data-transfers/.

Web Analytics, Monitoring and Optimization

Web analytics (also referred to as “reach measurement”) serves to evaluate the visitor flows of our online offering and can include behavior, interests or demographic information about visitors, such as age or gender, as pseudonymous values. With the help of reach analysis, we can, for example, identify at what time our online offering or its functions or content are used most frequently or invite reuse. We can also identify which areas require optimization.

In addition to web analytics, we may also use test procedures in order to test and optimize, for example, different versions of our online offering or its components.

For these purposes, so-called user profiles may be created and stored in a file (so-called “cookie”) or similar procedures used for the same purpose. Such information may include, for example, content viewed, websites visited and elements used there, as well as technical information such as the browser used, the computer system used and information on usage times. If users have consented to the collection of their location data, this may also be processed depending on the provider.

The IP addresses of users are also collected. However, we use an IP masking procedure (i.e. pseudonymization by shortening the IP address) to protect users. In general, no clear data of the users (such as email addresses or names) is stored within the scope of web analytics, A/B testing and optimization, but rather pseudonyms. This means that neither we nor the providers of the software used know the actual identity of the users, but only the information stored in their profiles for the purposes of the respective procedures.

Information on legal bases: If we ask users for their consent to the use of third-party providers, the legal basis for data processing is consent. Otherwise, users’ data is processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in efficient, economical and recipient-friendly services). In this context, we would also like to refer you to the information on the use of cookies in this privacy policy.

Processed data types: Usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses).
Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services).
Purposes of processing: Reach measurement (e.g. access statistics, recognition of returning visitors), tracking (e.g. interest-based/behavioral profiling, use of cookies), conversion tracking, profiling (creation of user profiles).
Security measures: IP masking (pseudonymization of the IP address).
Legal bases: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR), legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR).

Services and service providers used:

Google Analytics: We use Google Analytics to measure and analyze the use of our online offering on the basis of a pseudonymous user identification number. This identification number does not contain unique data such as names or email addresses. It serves to assign analysis information to an end device in order to recognize which content users have accessed within one or more usage processes, which search terms they used, accessed again or interacted with within our online offering. Likewise, the time of use and its duration are stored, as well as the sources of the users who refer to our online offering and technical aspects of their end devices and browsers.
Pseudonymous profiles of users are created with information from the use of various devices, whereby cookies may be used. Google Analytics does not log or store individual IP addresses for EU users. However, Analytics provides coarse geographic location data by deriving the following metadata from IP addresses: city (and the derived latitude and longitude of the city), continent, country, region, subcontinent (and ID-based counterparts). For EU traffic, IP address data is used exclusively for this derivation of geolocation data before being immediately deleted. It is not logged, not accessible, and not used for any further purposes. When Google Analytics collects measurement data, all IP queries are carried out on EU-based servers before the traffic is forwarded to Analytics servers for processing; service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR); website: https://marketingplatform.google.com/intl/de/about/analytics/; security measures: IP masking (pseudonymization of the IP address); privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; data processing agreement: https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms/; basis for third-country transfers: Data Privacy Framework (DPF); opt-out option: opt-out plugin: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de, settings for the display of advertisements: https://myadcenter.google.com/personalizationoff; further information: https://business.safety.google/adsservices/ (types of processing and data processed).
Google as recipient of the consent: The consent given by users within a consent dialog (also known as “cookie opt-in/consent”, “cookie banner”, etc.) serves several purposes. On the one hand, it serves us to fulfill our obligation to obtain consent to the storage and reading of information on and from users’ end devices (in accordance with the ePrivacy Directive). On the other hand, it covers the processing of users’ personal data in accordance with data protection regulations. In addition, this consent also applies to Google, as the company is required under the Digital Markets Act to obtain consent for personalized services. Therefore, we share the status of the consent granted by users with Google. Our consent management software informs Google whether consent has or has not been granted. The aim is to ensure that the consent granted or not granted by users is taken into account when using Google Analytics and when integrating functions and external services. This allows user consent and its revocation to be adjusted dynamically within the framework of Google Analytics and other Google services in our online offering depending on the user’s selection; service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR); Website: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9976101?hl=de; Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy.
Google Tag Manager: Google Tag Manager is a solution with which we can manage so-called website tags via an interface and thus integrate other services into our online offering (reference is made to further information in this privacy policy). Therefore, with the Tag Manager itself (which implements the tags), no user profiles are created and no cookies are stored. Google only learns the user’s IP address, which is necessary to execute Google Tag Manager; service provider: 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; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; data processing agreement:
https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms; basis for third-country transfer: Data Privacy Framework, standard contractual clauses (https://business.safety.google/adsprocessorterms); further information: https://privacy.google.com/businesses/adsservices (types of processing and data processed).

Plugins and Embedded Functions and Content

We integrate functional and content elements into our online offering that are obtained from the servers of their respective providers (hereinafter referred to as “third-party providers”). These may, for example, be graphics, videos or social media buttons as well as posts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as “content”).

The integration always requires that the third-party providers of this content process the users’ IP address, because without the IP address they would not be able to send the content to their browser. The IP address is therefore required for the presentation of this content or functions. We endeavor to use only such content whose respective providers use the IP address solely for the delivery of the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as “web beacons”) for statistical or marketing purposes. Through the “pixel tags”, information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website can be evaluated. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the users’ device and may contain, among other things, technical information about the browser and the operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of our online offering, and may also be linked with such information from other sources.

Processed data types: Usage data (e.g. websites visited, interest in content, access times), meta/communication data (e.g. device information, IP addresses), location data (information on the geographical position of a device or a person), content data (e.g. entries in online forms), inventory data (e.g. names, addresses), contact data (e.g. email, phone numbers).
Data subjects: Users (e.g. website visitors, users of online services), communication partners.
Purposes of processing: Provision of our online offering and user-friendliness, performance of contractual services and customer service, contact inquiries and communication, tracking (e.g. interest-based/behavioral profiling, use of cookies), interest-based and behavioral marketing, profiling (creation of user profiles), security measures, administration and response to inquiries.
Legal bases: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR), consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR), performance of a contract and pre-contractual inquiries (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. b GDPR).

Services and service providers used:

Google Fonts (retrieved from Google server): Retrieval of fonts (and symbols) for the purpose of technically secure, maintenance-free and efficient use of fonts and symbols with regard to timeliness and loading times, their uniform display and consideration of possible licensing restrictions. The provider of the fonts is informed of the user’s IP address so that the fonts can be made available in the user’s browser. In addition, technical data (language settings, screen resolution, operating system, hardware used) are transmitted, which are necessary for the provision of the fonts depending on the devices used and the technical environment. This data may be processed on a server of the font provider in the USA – when visiting our online offering, users’ browsers send their browser HTTP requests to the Google Fonts Web API (i.e. a software interface for retrieving the fonts). The Google Fonts Web API provides users with the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) of Google Fonts and then the fonts specified in the CSS. These HTTP requests include (1) the IP address used by the respective user to access the Internet, (2) the requested URL on the Google server and (3) the HTTP headers, including the user agent, which describes the browser and operating system versions of the website visitors, as well as the referrer URL (i.e. the webpage on which the Google font is to be displayed). IP addresses are neither logged nor stored on Google servers and they are not analyzed. The Google Fonts Web API logs details of the HTTP requests (requested URL, user agent and referrer URL). Access to this data is restricted and tightly controlled. The requested URL identifies the font families for which the user wishes to load fonts. This data is logged so that Google can determine how often a particular font family is requested. With the Google Fonts Web API, the user agent must adjust the font generated for the respective browser type. The user agent is primarily logged and used for debugging and to generate aggregated usage statistics to measure the popularity of font families. These aggregated usage statistics are published on the Google Fonts “Analytics” page. Finally, the referrer URL is logged so that the data can be used for production maintenance and an aggregated report on the top integrations based on the number of font requests can be generated. According to its own statements, Google does not use any of the information collected by Google Fonts to create profiles of end users or to serve targeted ads; service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR); website: https://fonts.google.com/; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; basis for third-country transfers: Data Privacy Framework (DPF); further information: https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq/privacy?hl=de.
YouTube videos: Video content; service provider: Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland; Legal basis: Consent (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. a GDPR); website: https://www.youtube.com; privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy; basis for third-country transfers: Data Privacy Framework (DPF); opt-out option: opt-out plugin: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de, settings for the display of advertisements: https://myadcenter.google.com/personalizationoff.
Vimeo video player: Integration of a video player; service provider: Vimeo Inc., Attention: Legal Department, 555 West 18th Street New York, New York 10011, USA; Legal basis: Legitimate interests (Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f GDPR); website: https://vimeo.com; privacy policy: https://vimeo.com/privacy; data processing agreement: https://vimeo.com/enterpriseterms/dpa; basis for third-country transfers: standard contractual clauses (https://vimeo.com/enterpriseterms/dpa).

Deletion of Data

The data processed by us will be deleted in accordance with the statutory provisions as soon as the consents permitting processing are revoked or other permissions cease to apply (e.g. if the purpose of processing this data no longer applies or the data is no longer required for the purpose).

If the data is not deleted because it is required for other and legally permissible purposes, its processing will be restricted to those purposes. This means that the data will be blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be retained for commercial or tax law reasons or whose storage is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims or for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person.

Further information on the deletion of personal data may also be provided within the framework of the individual privacy notices of this privacy policy.

Changes and Updates to the Privacy Policy

We ask you to regularly inform yourself about the content of our privacy policy. We adapt the privacy policy as soon as changes in the data processing carried out by us make this necessary. We will inform you as soon as the changes require an action on your part (e.g. consent) or another individual notification.

If we provide addresses and contact information of companies and organizations in this privacy policy, please note that the addresses may change over time and ask that you verify the information before making contact.

Rights of Data Subjects

As data subjects, you are entitled to various rights under the GDPR, which arise in particular from Articles 15 to 21 GDPR:

Right to object: You have the right, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you which is based on Art. 6 para. 1 lit. e or f GDPR; this also applies to profiling based on these provisions. If the personal data concerning you is processed for direct marketing purposes, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of the personal data concerning you for the purposes of such marketing; this also applies to profiling insofar as it is related to such direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: You have the right to withdraw consent at any time.
Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation as to whether data concerning you is being processed and to obtain access to this data as well as further information and a copy of the data in accordance with the statutory provisions.
Right to rectification: In accordance with the statutory provisions, you have the right to request completion of data concerning you or the rectification of inaccurate data concerning you.
Right to erasure and restriction of processing: In accordance with the statutory provisions, you have the right to demand that data concerning you be deleted without undue delay, or alternatively, in accordance with the statutory provisions, to demand restriction of the processing of the data.
Right to data portability: You have the right to receive data concerning you that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format in accordance with the statutory provisions or to request its transmission to another controller.
Complaint to a supervisory authority: In accordance with the statutory provisions, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement, if you consider that the processing of personal data concerning you infringes the GDPR.

Definitions

In this section you will find an overview of the terminology used in this privacy policy. Many of the terms are taken from the law and are defined above all in Art. 4 GDPR. The legal definitions are binding. The following explanations, on the other hand, are intended above all to aid understanding. The terms are sorted alphabetically.

Conversion tracking: “Conversion tracking” refers to a process by which the effectiveness of marketing measures can be determined. For this purpose, a cookie is generally stored on the users’ devices within the websites on which the marketing measures take place and then retrieved again on the target website. For example, this allows us to understand whether the advertisements we placed on other websites were successful.
Credit report: Automated decisions are based on automatic data processing without human intervention (e.g. in the case of automatic rejection of a purchase on account, an online loan application, or an online application procedure without any human intervention. Such automated decisions are only permitted under Art. 22 GDPR if data subjects consent, if they are necessary for the performance of a contract, or if national laws permit such decisions.
Cross-device tracking: Cross-device tracking is a form of tracking in which users’ behavioral and interest-related information is recorded across devices in so-called profiles by assigning users an online identifier. This makes it possible to analyze user information for marketing purposes regardless of the browser or device used (e.g. mobile phones or desktop computers). For most providers, the online identifier is not linked to clear data such as names, postal addresses or email addresses.
IP masking: “IP masking” refers to a method in which the last octet, i.e. the last two digits of an IP address, is deleted so that the IP address can no longer be used to uniquely identify a person. Therefore, IP masking is a means of pseudonymizing processing procedures, especially in online marketing.
Interest-based and behavioral marketing: Interest-based and/or behavioral marketing refers to the process where potential user interests in ads and other content are predicted as precisely as possible. This is done on the basis of information about previous behavior (e.g. visiting certain websites and spending time on them, purchasing behavior or interaction with other users), which is stored in a so-called profile. Cookies are generally used for these purposes.
Conversion measurement: Conversion measurement is a process by which the effectiveness of marketing measures can be determined. For this purpose, a cookie is generally stored on users’ devices within the websites on which the marketing measures take place and then retrieved again on the target website. For example, this allows us to understand whether the advertisements we placed on other websites were successful.
Personal data: “Personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter “data subject”); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier (e.g. cookie) or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
Profiling: “Profiling” means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of such personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person (depending on the type of profiling, this includes information relating to age, gender, location data and movement data, interaction with websites and their content, purchasing behavior, social interactions with other people) to analyze, evaluate or predict them (e.g. interests in certain content or products, click behavior on a website or location). Cookies and web beacons are often used for profiling purposes.
Reach measurement: Reach measurement (also known as web analytics) serves to evaluate visitor flows of an online offering and can include behavior or interests of visitors in certain information, such as website content. With the help of reach analysis, website owners can, for example, recognize at what time visitors visit their website and which content they are interested in. This allows them, for example, to better adapt website content to the needs of their visitors. Pseudonymous cookies and web beacons are often used for reach measurement purposes in order to recognize returning visitors and thus obtain more precise analyses of the use of an online offering.
Remarketing: “Remarketing” or “retargeting” refers to the practice of recording, for advertising purposes, which products a user was interested in on a website, in order to remind the user of these products on other websites, e.g. in advertisements.
Location data: Location data arises when a mobile device (or another device with the technical requirements for location determination) connects to a radio cell, a WLAN or similar technical intermediaries and location determination functions. Location data serves to indicate at which geographically determinable position on earth the respective device is located. Location data can, for example, be used to display map functions or other location-dependent information.
Tracking: “Tracking” refers to the ability to trace the behavior of users across several online offerings. As a rule, with regard to the online offerings used, behavioral and interest information is stored in cookies or on the servers of the providers of the tracking technologies (so-called profiling). This information can then be used, for example, to display advertisements to users that are likely to correspond to their interests.
Controller: “Controller” means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.
Processing: “Processing” means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means. The term is broad and encompasses virtually any handling of data, whether collection, evaluation, storage, transmission or deletion.
Target group formation: Target group formation (or “custom audiences”) refers to the process of determining target groups for advertising purposes, e.g. the display of advertisements. For example, based on a user’s interest in certain products or topics on the Internet, it may be inferred that this user is interested in advertisements for similar products or the online shop in which they viewed the products. “Lookalike audiences” (or similar target groups), in turn, refers to the display of content considered suitable to users whose profiles or interests are presumed to resemble those of the users for whom the profiles were created. Cookies and web beacons are generally used for the purposes of creating custom audiences and lookalike audiences.

Privacy Policy

Introduction

Table of Contents

Controller

Overview of Processing Activities

Types of Data Processed

Categories of Data Subjects

Purposes of Processing

Automated Decisions in Individual Cases

Relevant Legal Bases

Security Measures

Transfer and Disclosure of Personal Data

Data Processing in Third Countries

Use of Cookies

Consent Management with Borlabs Cookie

Commercial and Business Services

Payment Service Providers

Provision of the Online Offering and Web Hosting

Contact Requests

Newsletter and Electronic Notifications

Web Analytics, Monitoring and Optimization

Plugins and Embedded Functions and Content

Deletion of Data

Changes and Updates to the Privacy Policy

Rights of Data Subjects

Definitions